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What Is an Explainer Video? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

If you're looking into a new product you've recently heard about, you're in luck: there's almost certainly a video for it. When you visit a company's website, you'll find plenty of information about their services, but one of the most popular ways to convey this information to potential customers is through an explainer video.

What is an explainer video?

An explainer video is a short-form video that highlights a company's product, service, or business idea in a compelling and efficient manner. It is typically used for marketing or sales purposes. Explainer videos are typically found on landing pages or on the homepage of a company's website. Some people even use these videos to promote their product or service on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Here are the essential components of an explainer video, as well as what you'll need to know to make your own.

What Makes a Good Explainer Video?

There are five things that every good explainer video has in common.

Explainer videos are usually under three minutes long, but the best ones are usually between one and two minutes long.

Strong call to action (CTA): Explainer videos should make it clear what they want their viewers to do after they've watched them.

Explainer videos are focused on addressing a specific problem, explaining their product or service, and explaining why they're the best solution.

Match the brand and the target audience: Explainer videos work best when the style and tone are consistent with the brand and the target audience.

High quality: To effectively communicate a brand's value proposition, explainer videos must be of high quality, both in terms of production and content.

So, how do the best explainer videos manage to keep their length short while maintaining high quality, a strong call to action, and a simple solution? They're all structured in the same way.

What: What is the issue that the audience is facing?

How will your product or service solve the problem?

Why should the audience choose you: Why should the audience choose you?

Explainer videos often get caught up in the what and how, forgetting to focus on the why. They're great at explaining a product or service, but they're terrible at communicating the company's overall mission. Your company needs to understand who their target audience is through a video marketing strategy and present a strong underlying mission statement that uniquely connects with their intended audience in order to effectively communicate the why.

What Type of Explainer Video Should You Make?

To make your own explainer video, you must first determine the type of explainer you want to make. The majority of explainer videos fit into one of three categories.

Animated Explainer Video: The most popular option, animated explainer videos are used frequently due to their visual nature and relative ease of creation – no extensive productions are required. Animated explainer videos are more visually interesting than a man standing in a room talking because of the educational format of an explainer video. Styles and functions of animated explainer videos vary, but some popular styles include:

Infographic: These use charts, graphs, and clever iconography to mimic the style of an infographic while explaining your company's key features.

Chalkboard: This overused but popular style of animated explainer video features writing on a chalkboard or whiteboard and is popular due to its simplicity.

Product Simulation: This style uses actual screencast footage of your product in use to provide a high-level overview of a software or digital platform.

Character-Driven: This explainer video tells the storey of your product or service and how it can solve your customer's problems using cute cartoon figures that should represent your prospective customer.

This type of explainer video, which is usually 3D-animated, aims to tell your product or company's storey using representational objects to pique your audience's imagination with pictures rather than words.

Live Action Explainer Video: This type of explainer video explains your company's product or service using people and objects. The live action explainer video is more difficult to pull off, but when done well, it's fantastic. It takes a lot of creativity to keep things interesting. The majority of explainer videos feature a spokesperson who takes the viewer on a visual journey while explaining the company's product and service. They're usually the company's founder or CEO, and they emphasise the company's mission and purpose.

Crowdfunding Explainer Video: A crowdfunding explainer video is another popular video style. These explainer videos can be animated or live action, and they frequently combine the two. By definition, every crowdfunding video is an explainer video; however, because they must include more information about how they plan to spend the funds raised, they frequently run longer. When done correctly, a creative crowdfunding explainer video can make or break a campaign, potentially raising hundreds of thousands of dollars more.

How Do I Create an Explainer Video?

Any video production, including explainer videos, follows the same three-step process.

Pre-production involves coming up with a concept, writing a script, assembling a crew or partnering with a video production agency, and planning your shoot or animation.

Production: You'll start animating or shooting your explainer video here.

After you've edited everything together, recorded your voiceover, and added any music or sound effects, you'll move on to post-production.

Whether you're animating or shooting a live video, the process is very different, so if you're not sure what you're doing, reach out to a third-party video producer or animation studio for assistance. Many agencies and production houses can assist you with the process, but make sure you choose one that specialises in or has previously produced explainer videos so you don't end up with a Spielberg-level production and a hefty price tag.

To make an explainer video, you'll need a lot of coordination, talent, and skill. It all starts with the script, so make sure you have a solid structure in place and stick to the five key elements that all good explainer videos share. Then it's just a matter of deciding which style and concept best suits your company's brand, mission, and product or service.

We can assist you if you require additional resources or assistance in creating your own explainer video. To learn more about how Lemonlight can assist you with all of your explainer video needs, contact one of our creative producers today.

Explainer videos take your business, your product, or a complicated concept, and break it down, describing exactly what it’s about and why people should care. Cream is a Explainer Studio that transforms brand messages, compelling stories and big ideas into meaningful visual experiences. We are your dynamic arsenal of problem solvers, path-finders and resourceful creatives. Get in touch today!

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