Explainer Videos: Worth It Or Waste Of Money?

It’s 2019. Welcome to the era of Youtube. People are starting to see the value of videography and businesses are now turning to the motion picture art form as a solid marketing strategy. Audiences now have an irreversible thing for engaging, visual stories and entrepreneurs are nuts about producing whatever goes viral. Creatives are on a roll. 

But do business leaders agree? In the optical poetry of it all, are explainer videos worth the money?

Forbes says yes. In an article they published not too long ago, contributor Kate Harrison shares that businesses who resort to videos as a means to advertise their services enjoy, on average, 49% of revenue growth much faster than their contemporaries who don’t. Additionally, the same article says businesses may even notice a staggering 80% in conversion rates when these videos are produced right.  

The Rise of Explainer Videos 

The worldwide web has a variety of stories that detail how that explainer video trend began, but it was Dropbox that arguably helped shed light on how monetarily fruitful this advertising form can become. If anything, business leaders are losing potential clients by simply coming up with long blog posts and lengthy about-us sections on their websites. 

In a 2015 article published by Time, writer Kevin McSpadden reveals how our attention span as humans have dropped from 12 seconds to 8, citing that a goldfish has a better chance of keeping their mind glued on one thing at a time. As a result, creatives and business moguls have fought to win our attention, not only by coming up with stellar household and vanity products we don’t always need, but with videos that help curate lifestyles people believe they can be a part of.

Over are the days when marketers simply sell a product by talking about its features. Today, people like being told stories and being painted pictures of how exactly one’s services and products can help enhance their daily routines. This is why this type of media is getting stronger by the day; they’re very good at giving people a sneak peek at what a brand’s market can acquire, how much more these people will get, and how convenient their lives would be if only they availed of that one product or that one service this company puts out. 

Why Explainer Videos Are Worth Every Buck

They’re direct

Whereas other video ads can be more playful and don’t necessarily have to cover every spanking feature and benefit a product or service packs, these videos carry the entirety of what a company has to offer. In other words, they’re concise. These videos are a great avenue to tell your audience why your brand matters without them having to exert much effort in scrolling through paragraphs or clicking through photos. This medium is the easiest to digest when compared to blog posts or slideshows. 

The paint a picture

Almost everything a person buys is done out of a need to fix a problem or an urgency to meet a need. Here, time advances linearly with videos; which means you can present a narrative by painting a problem only to fix it in the end. Marketers basically spoon-feed their audience by telling them how their current situations can be bettered by what they have to offer. By illustrating what your company produces, you’re telling your market how easier or more fulfilling their routines will look like should they buy from you. 

They’re mostly one-size-fits-all

They can be used everywhere and anywhere. Going to an expo? Need a quick Facebook ad? Looking for a snappy pitch to present to a future business partner? These videos can fit any category you’d want them to because they’re all about your brand. They provide what problems you solve and what services you offer. Whether simply for online or offline purposes, you can play these videos anywhere you need them to be played, and people will consume and learn from them all the same. Not only are they concise, but they’re also universal. 

They’re a feasible medium

Nowadays, companies no longer have to stress over which animation group or digital agency to work with or who to cast for their ad. Thousands of companies now bank on producing this video type and all a business leader has to do is to present his ideas, and these creative agencies can take care of everything. From selecting the leads to choosing which style translates a brand message most successfully. Entrepreneurs just need to approve them and they’re freed from the creative legwork. 

They speak to old and potential customers 

What’s great about them is that they speak so easily and comfortably to people you’re trying to reach out to. Whether an old patron or a future customer, these kinds of videos present concepts, both old and new, in ways that help remind, teach, and encourage your target audience. So if you have updates about a product you once put out or a new line everyone can benefit from, your primary market is kept in the loop. They make learning about your company simply because visual storytelling isn’t hard to consume. 

They’re not difficult to edit

aBecause this video format doesn’t take hours of someone’s time, entrepreneurs can easily add or subtract elements they don’t want or offer anymore. If an old video used to highlight a benefit you no longer extend, you can simply have them edited out. This also makes them huge investments knowing that they can last you a long period. All you’ll have to think of for the next number of years is what you want to add. These videos are also incredibly easy to customize. Should you have benefits you’d like to emphasize more for certain groups of people, it wouldn’t be difficult to pull off. This saves you, not just time, but also effort. 
Overall, a business leader only ever wastes their resources when they splurge their moolah on poor video production. This is precisely why working with a credible creative company is crucial to obtain one’s desired output. Brands usually have only one collective message—and inventive explainer videos can help them make it count.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.