Explainer videos are great tools for marketing but with every marketing tool you need to know how to use them. For doing that you need a step-by-step plan for creating a great explainer video. Let’s look at the entire workflow to understand what you should consider before getting an animated explainer videos made.
Set goals for your video
You need to first set the main goals for your business explainer video. Do you want to explain your service, product or showcase a new feature? Do you want to increase followers and leads or tell your brand story to educate your audience? It’s extremely important to just stick with one goal. Focus is very important to hook all your viewers. You don’t want to touch way too many points. That will confuse the users. Remember, you can always create more videos for different goals. It’s important that your explainer video fits in the marketing strategy and has a purpose in the marketing and sales funnel. Harmony is the key to a well-oiled marketing and branding machinery.
Decide on the main marketing message
This is where most clients make a major mistake. They will try to say everything to as many people as possible. This is one sure shot way to fail. A good video has one main message and the rest of the concept revolves around that message. If you don’t have a target audience, your message will be general and won’t have an impact on anybody at all. If your video is not visually appealing and impactful, viewers will stop your video midway. Don’t talk to everybody, be specific. Say you run a B2B company. Simply deciding on making a B2B video isn’t going to be enough. Are you talking to the account executives, the CEOs, sales managers, CEOs of SMBs and enterprise-level corporations? These details make all the difference in the world.
Make up your mind about the style and script
Style doesn’t mean visuals. One has to also decide on the style and concept of the script. All visual styles should be custom. No online creative platform or templates are allowed if you want to create a tailored message to display your brand personality. The style should always fit your company’s image and the kind of message you’re looking to deliver. Try to avoid wacky characters and a bright colour scheme. The style of your script is also very important so that it fits the audience and your core messaging- be it formal, funny, serious or conversational. Your animated explainer videos script should be personalized and straightforward with simple language.
Get clarity about your concept
Address all the pain points, provide solutions and talk about all the benefits your customers will be receiving. Don’t talk too much about the features. It’s more important to talk about the positive results your audience will be on the receiving end of, i.e, the benefits of your offerings. Never forget the call to action. CTA is extremely important if your viewers need to be told what you want them to do after watching your video- whether you want them to head to the product page, sign up for a free trial or something else.
Decide on the length of your explainer video and where it will be placed
Most animation agencies suggest going for a 60-90 seconds animated video for business. Shorter or longer videos than that also work well. It all depends on the kind of information you’re looking to explain. It’s best to learn more and then finally make a decision about the kind of length that works best for the video. When it comes to deciding on where to use the video- marketers often start thinking about it once the video is ready. Experienced video producers always decide the platforms before starting the production process. If you use visuals on social media you can always use the CTA to point people to the location where they can learn more about you. Using the video on the homepage means they’re already there so you can use your CTA to tell a different message. Deciding the correct location for the showcasing of your video is the most important because that way it can correlate with your sales and marketing funnels.
Where to host your animated explainer videos
Animated videos for business is far more effective when used properly. You can customize your CTA to collect email addresses for different marketing and branding campaigns, convert users, integrate CRM software, etc. Different hosts have different options. All you need to do is select the one you want that can customize your call to action. Upload your video to Vimeo or Wistia. Uploading to YouTube is supremely important because it’s the second most popular search engine after Google. Having videos on YouTube helps with Search Engine optimization.