Animated explainer videos are short, engaging video clips that use animation, graphics, narration, or on-screen text to communicate and explain complex concepts, ideas, products, or services in a simple and easily digestible way.

Also known as animated whiteboard videos or video scribes, explainer videos give an overview of a topic, highlight benefits, demonstrate how something works, provide a tutorial, showcase a product, or explain a process or service. They are often between 60 and 120 seconds long, though they can range from 30 seconds to a few minutes. 

The animated storytelling makes it easier to absorb information and makes the material more memorable and shareable.

Explainer videos started becoming popular last decade as a fresh, stylized format that stands out from traditional video marketing and advertisements. 

Today, they are a core video marketing tool used by businesses of all sizes to inform, educate, attract customers, and build brand awareness. 

The creative medium and brevity make them engaging across digital platforms like websites, social media, and video hosting sites. 

What Is an Explainer Video?

An explainer video serves as a concise marketing or sales tool, adept at showcasing a company's product, service, or business concept in an engaging and effective manner. 

Typically, these short-form videos find a home on a company's landing pages or prominently feature on the homepage of their website. 

Beyond the website, businesses often leverage explainer videos for promotional campaigns on platforms like Facebook and other social media sites. Explainer videos can also be optimized for visibility on video search engines, increasing their reach and impact.

Now, let's delve into the essential components of an explainer video and provide insights into the fundamental aspects you need to consider when crafting your own compelling visual narrative.

What are Explainer Videos used for?

Explainer videos serve as versatile and effective tools across various domains, primarily finding application in marketing and communication strategies. One of the primary uses of explainer videos is to introduce and promote a company's products or services. 

These videos provide a concise and engaging way to highlight key features, benefits, and use cases, making them instrumental in capturing the audience's attention and conveying complex information in a digestible format.

In addition to product or service promotion, explainer videos are frequently employed for educational purposes. They serve as instructional tools, breaking down intricate concepts or processes into easily understandable components. Whether it's a software tutorial, a how-to guide, or an educational module, explainer videos simplify information, enhancing learning and knowledge retention for the audience.

Moreover, explainer videos are pivotal in building brand awareness and establishing a strong online presence. By crafting visually appealing narratives that align with the brand's identity, these videos help create a memorable and positive impression. They contribute to shaping the brand image, conveying its values, and fostering a connection with the target audience, thereby enhancing brand recognition.

Beyond marketing and brand-building, explainer videos are utilized in internal communication within organizations. They prove invaluable for training employees, communicating company policies, and disseminating important information in a format that is engaging and easily accessible. This ensures that internal messages are effectively conveyed and comprehended by team members.

Explainer videos play a crucial role in fundraising and investor relations. Startups and businesses often leverage these videos to present their business models, showcase their potential, and attract investors. 

The succinct and visually compelling nature of explainer videos makes them an ideal medium for conveying the value proposition of a business and persuading potential investors to get involved. 

Explainer videos find widespread utility in marketing, education, brand-building, internal communication, and fundraising, making them a valuable asset in diverse professional contexts.

What Makes a Good Explainer Video?

Characterized by brevity, explainer videos typically clock in at under three minutes, with the most effective ones often condensed to a concise one to two minutes. They incorporate a compelling call to action (CTA), clearly directing their audience on the desired post-viewing action.

A primary focus of explainer videos lies in addressing specific problems, elucidating their product or service, and emphasizing why they stand as the optimal solution. The key to success lies in aligning the video's style and tone with both the brand identity and the targeted audience.

Ensuring high-quality production and content is paramount for an explainer video to effectively convey a brand's value proposition. The five common elements shared by successful explainer videos include optimal length, a strong call to action, a problem-solving orientation, alignment with brand and audience, and a commitment to high-quality standards.

The success of these videos lies in adhering to a consistent structure. They systematically address the audience's problem, articulate how their product or service resolves it, and emphasize why the audience should choose them. However, a common pitfall arises when explainer videos become overly fixated on the 'what' and 'how' aspects, neglecting the crucial 'why.' While proficient in explaining the product or service, they often fall short in communicating the company's underlying purpose.

Effectively conveying the 'why' necessitates a deep understanding of the target audience through a comprehensive video marketing strategy. 

So, it entails presenting a robust underlying mission statement that uniquely resonates with the intended audience, ensuring a more impactful and resonant connection.

The Benefits of Using an Animated Explainer Video

Explainer videos have become an extremely popular and effective marketing tool for businesses and organizations of all sizes. Here are some of the key benefits of using an animated explainer video: 

Make Complex Ideas Easy to Understand​ 

​One of the biggest advantages of explainer videos is that they can simply communicate complex ideas, products, or services. 

Through a combination of animation, graphics, and narration, abstract concepts can be broken down in an engaging, easy-to-digest way. Explainer videos help quickly teach viewers about complicated subjects that would be difficult to grasp through text alone.

Boost Engagement and Interest​ 

Animated videos tend to capture attention and interest better than static content. Viewers are naturally drawn to motion graphics. 

The use of characters, visuals, and a conversational, friendly tone in explainer videos can further engage audiences on an emotional level. This results in higher comprehension, recall, and likelihood to take action. 

Make Your Brand More Memorable​ 

The bright, energetic motion graphics and visual motifs commonly used in explainer videos are highly memorable. Distinctive characters and quirky elements help the videos stand out and stick in the minds of viewers. 

Catchy background music also enhances recall. This gives brands an edge in becoming more recognizable and unforgettable to their target audiences.

Uses of Animated Explainer Videos​

Hiring an animated explainer video company is a great decision for versatile marketing that businesses of all sizes and industries can benefit from. Here are some of the most common uses and applications: 

Product Demos​

One of the most popular uses of animated videos is to demonstrate how a product or service works. 

The visual medium allows you to easily showcase features and functionality in an engaging, dynamic way. Brands use product demo videos on their website, at trade shows, or even in TV and online ads. 

They are an effective sales tool that allows potential customers to see your product in action before purchasing.

Startup Pitches​

Explainer videos are an impactful way for startup founders to pitch their business ideas and value propositions to potential investors.

In just 60-90 seconds, an animated video can concisely walk through the problem the startup is solving, explain its unique solution, and convince viewers to get on board. 

Videos deliver a clearer picture of the startup than a traditional slide deck.

Onboarding​

 Onboarding new employees with animated videos helps training stick better. Stylized characters and visual metaphors make complex processes or extensive information easier to digest. 

Videos standardize training so every employee learns the same way. They can serve as an engaging, interactive resource that new hires can refer back to.

Training​ 

Related to onboarding, animated videos are a compelling training tool for teaching employees new skills or refreshing existing knowledge. 

They provide a visual aid to reinforce learning through multiple modalities - auditory and visual. Videos can demonstrate proper procedures or walk users through a new software step-by-step in an easy-to-follow manner.

Elements of an Explainer Video​ 

An effective explainer video incorporates several key elements that bring the story to life.

Characters​ 

The use of characters, whether illustrated or animated, allows viewers to connect with the video on a more personal level. Characters help demonstrate concepts, engage users and add personality. 

Popular character choices include illustrated humans, animated spokespeople, and illustrated mascots.

Scenes​ 

Explainer videos utilize different scenes to transition between ideas, settings, and story points. Scenes keep the video dynamic and interesting while guiding the viewer through the narrative. 

Typical scenes show characters interacting with products, moving through settings related to the business, or demonstrating concepts.

Backgrounds​

Background environments and settings establish context, create an appropriate mood, and anchor the video. 

For example, a software company may show scenes in an office, while a restaurant explainer uses food imagery in the background. Minimalistic, solid color backgrounds are also common.

Visuals​ 

Visuals are used to clarify complex topics, display data, illustrate points, and add energy to the video. Common visuals include charts/graphs, pictographs, captions, maps, icons, and animated diagrams or infographics. Visuals simplify complex ideas into easily digestible formats.

Music​ 

An upbeat musical track creates momentum and emphasizes key messages. Music establishes the video's tone and brand personality. The explainer video style often uses cheerful, simple melodies and instrumentation.

Voiceover​ 

A clear and friendly voiceover consolidates information, delivers key messages, and connects the narrative. The script should avoid complex language and focus on communicating to the viewer conversationally. The voice talent's warmth and enthusiasm for the brand come through in tone and inflection.

Process​ 

Creating an effective animated explainer video is a multi-step process that requires collaboration between the client and the video production team. Here are the key steps:

Script​ 

The process starts with developing an engaging script and storyboard. The script outlines the video's narrative, key messages, visuals, and voiceover. A compelling script is essential for capturing the audience's attention. 

Storyboard​ 

Next, the script is transformed into a storyboard - a series of illustrations representing the scenes, characters, and flow of the video. This allows the client to visualize the video storyline before full animation begins. Feedback and revisions are incorporated at this stage.

Animation​ 

With an approved storyboard, the animation team brings the visuals to life using 2D or 3D animation techniques. Character design, backgrounds, motion graphics, and special effects are added to match the script and storyboard.

Voiceover​ 

In parallel, the voiceover script is recorded by a professional voice actor who brings the right tone and personality to match the brand. The voiceover audio files are then integrated with the animations.

Review and Revisions​ 

The initial video animation is shared for the client's review and feedback. Further revisions are made to refine the video until it aligns with the client's vision and meets objectives.

Final Video​ 

After multiple reviews and edits, the final animated video is rendered in high resolution for delivery to the client. The explainer video is now ready for launch and promotion.

Overall, good collaboration, an iterative process, and expertise in visual storytelling are key to developing a compelling animated explainer video. The multi-step creation process ensures the video aligns with marketing goals and resonates with target audiences.

Wrapping up

Animated explainer videos can provide a range of benefits for businesses, but it's important to be able to measure their success and ROI. Here are some key metrics to track:

• Completion rate: What percentage of viewers watch your entire video vs. dropping off halfway through? A high completion rate indicates you created an engaging, useful video. Use YouTube Analytics or view tracking software to monitor.
• Clicks/conversions: Does your video include calls-to-action to drive traffic, downloads, sales, etc? Track clicks on those CTA buttons as well as resulting conversions/sales. High click and conversion rates mean your video is effectively driving actions.
• Engagement metrics: YouTube and social media platforms provide engagement metrics like likes, comments, and shares. High engagement demonstrates your video is resonating with viewers. Social sharing in particular can help expand reach.
• Sales: For e-commerce businesses, look at sales before and after introducing an animated video. If sales increase, it shows the video is contributing to revenue. Consider A/B testing with and without videos.
• Brand lift studies: Commission a brand lift study periodically to gauge how your videos influence brand awareness, consideration, and associations. Results can justify continued video investment.

Analyzing these key metrics on an ongoing basis will allow you to refine and optimize your explainer video strategy over time. The most successful companies continuously test and improve based on performance data. Ultimately memorable, engaging animation combined with a strategic distribution plan will maximize results.