Explainer videos can be extremely compelling, but to understand how, you first need to know what makes a video an explainer video. To help we’ve created an explainer video to explain exactly what makes a video an explainer video.
Okay, we didn’t. But how cool would that have been?! It would have been so meta!
In reality, explainer videos aren’t that difficult to understand. They were originally conceived as a way for brands to tell their stories in a short, fun, and easy-to-understand format.
Generally animated, these videos take difficult concepts, like “What does NeuroDigiCyberTech Solutions, Inc. do, exactly?” and reduce them into an entertaining presentation that quickly captures the essence of the answer.
And that’s valuable because honestly, we have no freaking idea what business those guys are in. But explainer videos are beneficial in many other situations besides introducing businesses to consumers. Here are five creative ways to use the concept to improve other sorts of communications.
Simplify a Complex Concept
Explainer videos are great for detailing complicated business descriptions. So why not use them for other complex subjects? Imagine trying to describe how a blockchain — the technology that underlies cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin — works using interviews and shot footage.
It would be very difficult because the concepts involved aren’t physical or tangible. It all takes place inside a computer, and shooting footage of computers wouldn’t much help explain the topic.
Using simplified animations instead allows us to take this complicated process and visualize it in a way that helps it make sense. Symbols and visual analogies can be used to ground difficult concepts in a format that makes them relatable.
A two-minute explainer video can make better sense of complicated material than can a much longer footage-driven video.
Explain a Product or Service
Returning to the business realm, explainer videos aren’t just useful for detailing brand narratives. Organizations can also use them to explain their offerings.
Local government is notoriously opaque, and it can be difficult for citizens to know how to take advantage of the services offered.
Let’s say a small business administration wants to create a video to describe the necessary steps for getting a new business registered. Shooting footage of people standing in lines, talking to clerks, and filling out paperwork isn’t likely to help viewers gain an understanding of the process.
Instead, the agency could design a catchy animation that represents each step in the process with simple imagery and then takes viewers from beginning to end. Using an explainer video reduces the process down to easy-to-follow steps that anyone can understand.
Make “This vs That” Comparisons
Explainer videos can be used as sales tools to compare and contrast products or services against the competition as well.
Let’s say your company produces electric lawnmowers and you want to help consumers understand why they should switch from standard gas models to your product.
You could produce a video that fuses footage of people using each product with animations that drill down into the relative benefits. One animation might show the internal workings of an electric motor compared to a gas engine and detail why the electric motor is more efficient.
Graphics allow you to demonstrate difficult concepts like torque and gear ratios in a way that consumers can understand, making your message far more persuasive.
Give a Website Tour
Websites can be complicated, particularly if the site houses a web application or some other sophisticated service. It can be helpful to feature a short welcome video on the main page that provides navigation guidance, tips, and other instructions.
Explainer videos are the perfect format for this purpose because they can represent the website in graphical form and then walk users step-by-step through how to get the most out of their visit.
Recreating the website as a simple animation allows the “camera” to zoom in on important page elements and follow user actions around the site.
The video could recreate the experience of watching someone actively using the webpage, which makes understanding what it does significantly easier.
Explore Problems and Solutions
Explainer videos are excellent for illustrating classic before and after scenarios. The format makes it easy for viewers to understand the full extent of even complex problems. This makes the solution reveal more effective.
When consumers truly appreciate why your “before” scenario is problematic they’ll welcome your solution. They’ll get, on a visceral level, why your solution is so important. This greatly increases the chances that they’ll take your desired action.
Imagine, for example, that we created a video that detailed the many reasons why your business needs explainer videos and then offered Six Degrees Digital Media as the solution.
The video’s accessible problem statement would persuade you that you were missing something, making it very likely that you’d contact us to learn more about what we can do for your business.
Of course, we haven’t actually designed that video yet, but that’s really no reason not to call.
Here’s a couple of examples of explainer videos for you:
