Small-business owners are often caught in a dilemma whether to invest in the production of animated explainer videos. Does it really make a difference to their top line? Ultimately, it comes down to return on investment and the growth it promises. Every marketing effort requires dedication and follow-up to get some results out of it. But you’ll see that the case is a bit deviated when it comes to explainer videos.
What are explainer videos?
Explainer videos are short and quirky videos used by companies to introduce an idea, company, new products and resolve a problem but not limited to that. Though you need to produce high quality and original video content to reap benefits, but it is also true that explainer videos are constantly on work after they are produced. Once uploaded on your website, it will garner multiple views in a day creating awareness about your product.
Likewise, you’ll observe that sales queries are pouring in after watching your explainer videos. In addition to that, explainer videos act as do-it-yourself assistance that your customers can watch and follow. A visitor satisfied with the explanation (which is mostly the case) of the video will be pleased to be your customer.
On the other hand, even if your existing customers watch the video and get their queries resolved, you can turn them into loyal customers for added sales in the later run. As we see, the benefits of explainer videos are manifold.
Let us see how explainer videos influence customers to buy your product:
1.Customer engagement
We often see that customers lose their interest while watching a video on a website. It is probably due to two reasons. One is that you are saying the same thing as your competitor. And the other is that you are unable to create interest. Offering them valuable content is critical to your success. You can’t just expect them to see the whole video if you are not using the screen time effectively.
Explainer videos are meant to be short. You have to make sure that every second you take from viewers should provide information that appeal to your target audience. Besides, if you can make it entertaining, it is an added benefit. Customers love animated effects, caricature and graphics to learn a new thing. If you maintain an element of excitement, people will be interested to hear you and thus will stay engaged.
Never compromise on the quality of the video otherwise it will be ignored. Make sure that you give this task to a professional video production team rather than dumping your money in the bin by hiring unprofessional freelancers from sites like Fiverr. 80% of the customers who see the complete video are likely to look for more information on your website, so it is important to having a gripping video content. Ask the viewers to subscribe to your online newsletter, video subscription etc in line with your marketing campaign.
2.Easy to comprehend
Nobody appreciates the beauty of the video until they understand your message. While texts carry the risk of misinterpretation, videos are explicit in nature. You know your product and your company very well. But is it enough to start making an explainer video? I am sure you will do it all wrong if you do that.
You have to know thy customers. What is your target audience? What do you want them to understand? What are the key takeaways from the video? What should be their next step if they like your video? You need to have an answer to these basic questions before you proceed. Explainer videos are fairly easy to understand if you follow a well-crafted script.
Build a framework before you start going into details. Use a story to describe a situation. Try to relate to existing knowledge of your customers before you introduce a new idea. Look at the bigger picture and keep your focus on the key points of your script. Avoid going into too much detail as detailing can be handled by your textual content. Once that your audience is convinced with the video, introduce call-to-action buttons to get them one step closer to you.
3.Raises visibility
Customers tend to spend more visiting time on your website after watching an explainer video. They are so impressed with the video that they treat your company as worth checking or to say they don’t mind knowing you better. Thus, the visibility of your main content i.e. text, images and infographics is fairly increased.
Marketers use the video as an auxiliary object to drive their customers either to their website, blogs, social media, e-store or subscriptions. Another way of looking at it is the SEO point of view. From the SEO perspective, videos gather higher ranking on search engines as compared to text and images. So a website carrying an explainer video on its landing page will definitely get more clicks.
But do remember to use appropriate SEO measures for optimizing your video like appropriate title, meta–description and tag words. A website with higher visibility will be able to generate more traffic and get achieve conversion rate. Using multiple explainer videos dealing with different subjects on your website and a sitemap for creating links further enhances your visibility on search engines.
4.Smarter than elevator pitch
We have known that elevator pitch is crucial to our business for it being concise. It is a short summary often used by businessmen to quickly explain their product and value proposition. Isn’t it great if the same idea is converted into explainer video which communicates the same message but with stunning visual illustration?
There is time when it becomes difficult for you to meet the prospects personally due to other commitments. While in other cases, you don’t get an appointment with your prospects easily. Quite often, your unfamiliarity to them is what keeps you at bay. Nevertheless, you are determined to expand your clientele unabashedly. In such a scenario, explainer videos do the job for you.
They pitch for you to new customers so that you prepare them to listen to you face-to-face. They even help you save your travel time to meet a disinterested customer. This way you generate powerful leads and you know the customers who are actually interested in your product. Doesn’t it make you a good organizer too?
5. Easily shared
As a marketer, you always want to be heard in every nook and corner of your market. It is understandable because your ultimate goal is to meet your sales target. Explainer video does exactly what you desire. They spread your message across the online marketing channels to the extent that they go viral in many cases.
Explainer videos posted on your website must be embedded with social media links like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other networking site you are present on. This enables the visitors to like, follow and share your video with their connections. I would advise you to post your explainer video not only on your blog but also the blogs frequented by your customers. This will allow your message to be shared by the online community in awe of your product.
One thing you must remember, shareable video content does not mean that it has to be funny or behold extreme emotions so that people start sharing it. No, you have to be very careful what you serve your target audience. The content should appeal them and deliver a consistent message. It should live up to the expectations of your brand image. Creating an explainer video and sharing it with influencers and decision-makers in the company will connect you to a large number of prospects.
Looking forward
It is clear by now that video marketing through explainer video has immense potential to increase awareness of your product and services. Do remember to brand your videos with your company logo and name to boast of its originality. Even if you are answering the queries of your target customers through explainer video, you are winning their trust and building your brand image.
Knowingly or unknowingly, you are making a sales pitch to your customers through these videos. Like any other marketing tool you use, explainer videos also demand interaction with your customers. Ask for their opinion, respond actively to their doubts and invite them for further queries. This is a chance that you get to prove your superiority over your competitors by emphasizing on your USP (Unique Selling Proposition).
How did explainer videos help your company? Please share your experience with us.
