Whether you’re a small business owner, marketer, or content creator, this guide will teach you how to make and create explainer videos that drive results for your business.
Introduction to Making & Marketing Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are an increasingly popular form of marketing for businesses of all sizes. These short, engaging videos are designed to educate and inform audiences about a product, service, or concept. By using animated visuals, clear messaging, and a compelling story, explainer videos can be a powerful tool to increase brand awareness, drive sales, and improve customer engagement.
In this guide, we’ll explore the power of explainer videos and how they can benefit your business. We’ll cover everything from understanding your target audience and defining your marketing goals to crafting a compelling script, choosing the right animation style, and optimizing your videos for search engines. With practical tips, advice, and real-world examples, you’ll learn how to create effective explainer videos that engage and educate your audience.
Table of Contents
- Introduction to Making & Marketing Explainer Videos
- What are Explainer Videos?
- The Best Software to Create Explainer Videos
- Understanding Your Target Audience
- Defining Your Explainer Video Marketing Goals
- Crafting a Compelling Explainer Video Strategy
- Planning and Pre-Production for Your Explainer Videos
- Writing am Explainer Video Script that Engages and Educates
- Choosing the Right Animation Style for Your Explainer Video
- The Importance of Explainer Video Voiceover and Sound Effects
- Creating Effective Explainer Video Storyboards and Animatics
- Bringing Your Explainer Video to Life with Animation
- Adding Music and Sound Effects to Enhance Your Explainer Video
- Optimizing Your Explainer Videos for Search Engines
- Publishing Your Explainer Videos on Social Media Platforms
- Leveraging Video Analytics to Improve Your Explainer Video Marketing Strategy
- Creating a Video Marketing Budget for Your Explainer Videos
- Final Thoughts on Creating & Making Explainer Videos
What are Explainer Videos?
In today’s fast-paced digital world, capturing the attention of your target audience can be a real challenge. With so much content available online, businesses need to find new and creative ways to stand out from the crowd. This is where explainer videos come in.
Explainer videos are designed to be short, engaging, and informative. They use visuals, animation, and a clear narrative to communicate complex ideas or products in a way that’s easy to understand. By doing so, explainer videos can capture the attention of viewers and increase engagement.
One of the biggest benefits of explainer videos is their versatility. They can be used to explain a wide range of topics, from product demos and how-to guides to introducing a new service or concept. They can also be used across a range of marketing channels, including social media, email marketing, and landing pages.
Another benefit of explainer videos is their ability to build brand awareness. By creating a unique visual identity and storytelling style, businesses can differentiate themselves from their competitors and build a stronger connection with their audience. This can ultimately lead to increased customer loyalty and advocacy.
The Best Software to Create Explainer Videos
InVideo is a powerful software tool for creating explainer videos. With a wide range of features and customization options, InVideo makes it easy to create engaging and informative videos that resonate with your target audience.
One of the key features of InVideo is its drag-and-drop editor, which allows you to easily add and edit text, images, and video clips. This makes it easy to create professional-looking videos without any prior experience in video editing.
In addition to the drag-and-drop editor, InVideo also offers a variety of templates and pre-built scenes that you can use to quickly create high-quality videos. These templates cover a wide range of topics and styles, from corporate presentations to product demos and explainer videos.
Another standout feature of InVideo is its library of stock footage, images, and music. With over 3,000,000 assets to choose from, you’re sure to find the perfect visuals and sounds to bring your video to life.
InVideo also offers a variety of customization options, allowing you to tailor your videos to your brand identity and target audience. You can choose from a variety of animation styles, fonts, and colors, and add your own logo and branding elements to your videos.
Finally, InVideo offers a variety of export options, allowing you to easily share your videos on social media, embed them on your website, or download them in various formats for offline use.
Overall, InVideo is an excellent tool for creating explainer videos that are engaging, informative, and visually stunning. Whether you’re a small business owner, marketer, or content creator, InVideo can help you create high-quality videos that resonate with your audience and drive action for your business.
Understanding Your Target Audience
To create effective explainer videos, it’s important to understand your target audience. Who are they? What are their pain points? What motivates them? By answering these questions, you can create videos that resonate with your audience and drive action.
Start by creating buyer personas, which are fictional representations of your ideal customer. Consider factors such as age, gender, income, education, and job title. Then, research their needs, interests, and behaviors to gain a deeper understanding of what drives them.
Once you have a clear picture of your target audience, you can tailor your explainer video strategy to address their specific needs and pain points. For example, if your target audience is tech-savvy millennials, you may want to use a more playful animation style and focus on the benefits of your product or service. On the other hand, if your target audience is older professionals, you may want to use a more formal tone and focus on the features and functionality of your product.
Defining Your Explainer Video Marketing Goals
To ensure the success of your explainer video strategy, it’s important to define your marketing goals. What do you want your videos to achieve? Do you want to drive sales, increase brand awareness, or educate your audience?
By defining your marketing goals, you can create a clear roadmap for your explainer video strategy. For example, if your goal is to drive sales, you may want to create product demos or customer testimonials that showcase the benefits of your product. If your goal is to increase brand awareness, you may want to create a series of videos that focus on your brand’s values and mission.
It’s important to note that your marketing goals should be specific, measurable, and achievable. This will help you track your progress and adjust your strategy as needed.
Crafting a Compelling Explainer Video Strategy
Now that you have a clear understanding of your target audience and marketing goals, it’s time to craft a compelling explainer video strategy. This involves determining the type of video you want to create, the animation style you’ll use, and the message you want to convey.
Start by brainstorming different types of explainer videos that would appeal to your target audience. This could include product demos, how-to videos, customer testimonials, or animated explainer videos.
Next, consider the animation style that best fits your brand and target audience. Do you want a playful, cartoonish style or a more professional, corporate look? This will depend on your brand identity and the message you want to convey.
Finally, craft a compelling message that communicates the benefits of your product or service in a way that resonates with your audience. Use a clear narrative and a call-to-action to encourage viewers to take action.
In the next section, we’ll explore the planning and pre-production phase of creating explainer videos.
Planning and Pre-Production for Your Explainer Videos
Before you start creating your explainer videos, it’s important to plan and prepare for the production process. This involves determining the budget, timeline, and resources you’ll need to create high-quality videos.
Start by determining your budget. How much can you afford to spend on each video? This will depend on factors such as the length, animation style, and complexity of the video. It’s important to be realistic about your budget and to prioritize the elements that are most important to your marketing goals.
Next, establish a timeline for your video production process. This will help you stay on track and ensure that your videos are completed on time. Consider factors such as scriptwriting, storyboarding, animation, and post-production when creating your timeline.
Once you have a budget and timeline in place, you can begin assembling the resources you’ll need to create your explainer videos. This may include hiring a scriptwriter, voice actor, or animation studio. Alternatively, you may choose to create your videos in-house using software.
Writing am Explainer Video Script that Engages and Educates
The script is the backbone of any successful explainer video. It should be engaging, informative, and easy to understand. To create an effective script, start by identifying the main message or benefit you want to convey in your video.
Next, craft a clear and concise narrative that guides viewers through your message. Use language that resonates with your target audience and highlights the unique value proposition of your product or service.
It’s also important to structure your script in a way that keeps viewers engaged from start to finish. This may involve starting with a hook that grabs their attention, or incorporating storytelling techniques to create an emotional connection with your audience.
Choosing the Right Animation Style for Your Explainer Video
The animation style you choose for your explainer video can have a big impact on how your message is received by your audience. There are a variety of animation styles to choose from, including 2D animation, 3D animation, whiteboard animation, and motion graphics.
When choosing an animation style, consider your brand identity and the message you want to convey. For example, if you’re a technology company, you may want to use a sleek and modern animation style to showcase the features and functionality of your product. On the other hand, if you’re a children’s toy company, you may want to use a colorful and playful animation style to appeal to young children.
The Importance of Explainer Video Voiceover and Sound Effects
In addition to the animation style, the voiceover and sound effects can also play a big role in the success of your explainer videos. A well-crafted voiceover can bring your script to life and help keep viewers engaged, while sound effects can add depth and emotion to your message.
When selecting a voiceover artist, consider their tone, style, and experience. Look for someone who can convey your message in a way that resonates with your target audience.
When adding sound effects, be sure to use them sparingly and strategically. Too many sound effects can be distracting and take away from the message of your video.
Creating Effective Explainer Video Storyboards and Animatics
Before you begin animating your explainer video, it’s important to create a storyboard and animatic. This will help you visualize the flow of your video and make any necessary adjustments before you start the animation process.
Start by creating a storyboard, which is a visual representation of your script. This may include sketches or drawings of each scene in your video.
Next, create an animatic, which is a rough draft of your video that includes the storyboard images, voiceover, and sound effects. This will give you a sense of the pacing and flow of your video, and will help you identify any areas that may need to be revised.
Bringing Your Explainer Video to Life with Animation
Now that you have a storyboard and animatic in place, it’s time to bring your explainer video to life with animation. This involves creating the visuals that will accompany your voiceover and sound effects.
Start by selecting the software or tool you’ll use to create your animation. There are a variety of options available, including Adobe After Effects, Toon Boom, and Blender.
Next, begin creating the assets for your video, such as characters, backgrounds, and props. Use your storyboard and animatic as a guide to ensure that your visuals match the narrative and pacing of your video.
Finally, begin animating your video, using keyframes and motion paths to bring your visuals to life. Be sure to pay attention to the details, such as facial expressions and body language, to create a video that’s engaging and entertaining.
Adding Music and Sound Effects to Enhance Your Explainer Video
Music and sound effects can add an extra layer of emotion and engagement to your explainer video. When selecting music and sound effects, consider the tone and style of your video, as well as your target audience.
There are a variety of resources available for finding royalty-free music and sound effects, including sites like AudioJungle and Epidemic Sound. Alternatively, you may choose to hire a composer to create a custom soundtrack for your video.
When adding music and sound effects to your video, be sure to balance them with the voiceover and visuals to create a cohesive and engaging experience for your audience.
Optimizing Your Explainer Videos for Search Engines
To ensure that your explainer videos are reaching your target audience, it’s important to optimize them for search engines. This involves using keywords and tags that are relevant to your target audience and industry.
Start by conducting keyword research to identify the words and phrases that your target audience is using to search for products or services like yours. Then, incorporate these keywords into your video title, description, and tags.
It’s also important to optimize your video for the platform where it will be hosted, such as YouTube or Vimeo. This may include creating a custom thumbnail, adding closed captions, and including relevant metadata.
Publishing Your Explainer Videos on Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms can be a powerful way to promote your explainer videos and reach a wider audience. When publishing your videos on social media, consider the platform and audience you’re targeting.
For example, if you’re targeting a B2B audience, LinkedIn may be a more effective platform than Instagram. On the other hand, if you’re targeting a younger audience, TikTok or Snapchat may be more appropriate.
When publishing your videos on social media, be sure to include a clear call-to-action that encourages viewers to act, such as visiting your website or signing up for a free trial.
Leveraging Video Analytics to Improve Your Explainer Video Marketing Strategy
To ensure that your explainer video strategy is effective, it’s important to track your video metrics and adjust as needed. This may include monitoring views, engagement, and conversion rates.
Use video analytics tools, such as Google Analytics or YouTube Analytics, to track the performance of your videos. Look for patterns or trends in the data and use this information to adjust your strategy as needed.
For example, if you notice that viewers are dropping off at a certain point in your video, you may want to revise that section to make it more engaging.
Creating a Video Marketing Budget for Your Explainer Videos
Finally, it’s important to create a video marketing budget for your explainer videos. This will help you allocate resources and ensure that your videos are created and promoted effectively.
Start by determining how much you can afford to spend on your video marketing efforts. This may include costs for scriptwriting, voiceover, animation, music, and promotion.
Next, allocate your budget based on your marketing goals and the needs of your target audience. For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, you may want to allocate more of your budget towards promoting your videos on social media.
It’s also important to track your expenses and adjust your budget as needed. By doing so, you can ensure that you’re getting the most out of your video marketing efforts.
Final Thoughts on Creating & Making Explainer Videos
Explainer videos can be a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. By using clear messaging, engaging visuals, and a compelling story, these videos can educate and inform your target audience, drive sales, and increase brand awareness.
In this guide, we’ve explored the process of creating effective explainer videos, from understanding your target audience and defining your marketing goals to crafting a compelling script, choosing the right animation style, and optimizing your videos for search engines.
By following the tips and strategies outlined in this guide, you can create high-quality explainer videos that resonate with your target audience and drive action for your business.