13 Benefits of Explainer Videos
Do explainer videos work? Are explainer videos effective? According to the latest statistics from Wyzowl, 92% of marketers value video as an important part of their strategy, and 83% of business owners say they’re effective on a homepage. Let’s take that as a yes. We’ll spend the rest of this blog outlining why they work and covering the benefits of explainer videos. But first, let's quickly define what an explainer video is.
What is an explainer video?
As the name suggests, it’s any kind of video that promotes your product by explaining your product/service and the problems it solves. They’re often animated. And the importance of explainer videos is most prominent at the awareness stage when you’re getting new prospects at the top of your funnel. They differ from a traditional T.V commercial by having a slightly more salesly approach and explicitly addressing/explaining product benefits. This is also how they differ from branded content. That said, since the benefits of explainer videos are similar to traditional TV adverts or branded content, there will certainly be examples out there that blur these lines.
Here are the benefits of explainer videos
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You’ll distill your company’s message into something that's easy to remember and understand
In a nutshell, this is the main reason why explainer videos work. There’s usually a lot of information on a webpage. Hey, there’s a lot of information on the internet! Our lives are filled with distractions. So leaving your prospects to search your website high and low for information would be risky.
You want them to hear it and they want to hear it too. So why risk them missing it or being side-tracked by something else on the page? Explainer videos stand out and cut through the noise to give your audience the important information they should know about your product.
This is particularly relevant when explaining the technical or abstract and when your product is technical but must appeal to untechnical people. Here videos are great at distilling what would otherwise sound foreign and confusing, bringing that to life, and helping your audience remember and understand your product.
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It’s a quick way of pitching your product
Closely related to their ease of consumption is an explainer video’s speed. People are busy and impatient. Often too busy or impatient to read a homepage or a brochure. But since visual data is processed 60,000 times more quickly than written words, it’s easier to communicate your message to people short on time - i.e. everyone.
Plus, some people are so short on time and so allergic to reading that a good video is the only way of reaching them. They may be so used to watching videos that asking them to read would be like asking them to do press-ups. This is the online world we live in. To make the most of it and not exclude people with no time to read, quick video communication is the only answer.
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They’re useful in various sales and marketing environments
The benefits of explainer videos extend beyond the realms of your standard digital marketing funnel. It could save you time when engaging with customers or business partners. What if your business has zero online presence, or deals with customers that avoid websites at all costs? I.e. customers over a certain age. In these scenarios, your video can serve as an all-purpose sales tool for your new business team to use.
Maybe there’s a particular message your sales team often repeats. Or maybe there’s a product demo you like to show to people in person. An explainer video can be a great in-person sales tool. For things like meetings and trade shows or pitching to investors, the clear, simple distilled message from an explainer video can offer the ultimate opening gambit
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You’ll stand out from the competition
Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. You’re browsing the web for solutions to a problem and you’re weighing up a handful of different options and visiting a handful of different websites. Then you realize it's lunchtime and you get on with your day. If one of those websites had an engaging explainer video on it then that’s probably the solution that will stand out. That’s the solution shouting the loudest. So if your competition isn’t using explainer videos then this is a great opportunity.
If your competition is using explainer videos, then there’s still an opportunity. You just need to make your video more memorable and distinctive if you want to stand out from the crowd.
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More people will remember your brand
Simply making your audience not forget your brand is half the battle. People have terrible memories. Especially if they’re reading. Animating brand guidelines, using memorable voiceovers, bringing a brand to life with a full audio-visual experience. This is how explainer videos help businesses stick in people’s memories.
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Your website’s bounce rate will be lower
You need to convince visitors of your product’s value within the first ten seconds of them arriving on your page. Granted, an effective headline and subhead can achieve this. But your product might be complex or be a relatively new concept for prospects to get their heads around. Explainer videos eliminate any potential frustrations that prospects might have when reading your homepage and trying to figure out what your company does.
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Video CTAs can be more enticing
Imagine the following; you’ve just watched a very persuasive and impressive video and you’re immediately presented with a nice juicy, in-video button asking you to take action. Much easier to click on than a button outside the video frame. You may even wish to consider putting a CTA in the middle of your video. All you need is a decent video hosting provider and this can be an option.
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Your SEO will get a boost
SEO is about providing helpful content to people searching and giving them the smoothest, most rewarding experience possible. Videos that communicate succinctly and tell people about products they want are only going to improve this experience. In a recent blog we discuss all the ways this is possible. Namely by improving bounce rate, dwell time on page, and placing keywords in video transcripts.
And that’s just the SEO for your website. You could also take on the SEO game from another angle by trying to rank well on YouTube. According to both Google and independent bodies, there’s every indication that more people are watching YouTube than T.V. It would be mad to ignore such a large audience so placing your video on YouTube has to be done.
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They increase conversions on page
Another one of the biggest benefits of explainer videos is their direct boost to performance metrics like conversion. For many reasons – all of which are covered in the blog you’re reading – the right explainer video delivering the right message will make your page perform better.
This is why explainer videos are effective on landing pages in particular. Using a carefully crafted video relevant to its place in the funnel can give your conversions that extra push. This is mostly the case at the top of the funnel but explainer videos can be useful in other stages too.
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Explainer videos can be turned into other things
Why use explainer videos only as videos? Be they animated or live-action, the imagery created can be re-purposed and used elsewhere. This is one of the benefits of explainer videos that many overlook. You could trim sections of your video and use them as GIFs for your social feed. Or you could take stills and use them as the background for physical posters. It’s your imagery to do whatever you want with so feel free to get creative and save some money on producing new design assets.
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Makes your product livelier and relatable
One reason why explainer videos are effective in comparison to written communication is due to their gift for making brands come across as more lively and human. Animation can breathe life into otherwise dull or abstract concepts. And live-action video is the ideal way to introduce your team and their personalities to your audience. This investment platform has taken advantage of all the audiovisual magic that animation can offer and made itself feel more personal and human than its competitors.
Some concepts can only be communicated with a video
You could say that the video above is an example of a concept that can only be described on video. For another example, see below.
Without a video, the above concept remains even more abstract and potentially indecipherable/boring to those less familiar with the brand and industry. To be communicated properly, some concepts need all the help they can get. Since video combines the communication tools of audio, imagery, and the written word, this gives tricky concepts every chance of being understood.
They’re super sharable
You’re much more likely to click on a video link your friend or colleague has sent you than you are to read a blog post. Thanks to the medium’s ease of consumption (i.e. efficiency of communication, easy to remember, etc.) the biggest viral sensations on the internet have been predominantly videos. So if viral video marketing is what you’re after then an explainer will be your best bet. The easier something is to consume and the more entertaining it is - two departments that video excels in – then the more likely people will be to share it.
Final thoughts
If you’re still wondering why you need an explainer video, let’s stop and consider the ROI you’ll be receiving. By many estimates from experts and real-life case studies, an investment, typically between $5 - $15,000 can generate a significant percentage increase in sales. Of course, explainer videos are by no means a magic bullet. They are the booster to all the prerequisites for success; a good offer, product-market fit, a well-crafted marketing funnel, etc.
At Bullseye Motion, before we begin any project, we like to assemble a detailed picture of both the state of your business and its marketing. This helps us ensure you maximize your ROI and take advantage of all the benefits that explainer videos offer. If you’re ready to make a video that can help you smash your targets, click below to book a meeting with me, Bullseye’s creative director.
P.S. all comments and feedback on this blog are appreciated! If there’s any way you think it could be improved, then feel free to shout and I’ll see if I can work them into a redraft. xx
