Recent scientific discoveries confirm what visual artists have always known instinctively. The brain processes images faster than it processes text, and it processes images 60,000 times faster than it does other kinds of information. Moreover, 65% of people in the world rely on visual learning as their dominant learning style. That’s according to Shift Learning.
The Rise of Explainer Videos for Business Use Cases
So, what does all of that have to do with creating an explainer video for your business? It’s simple. If your business sells complex products or services, an explainer video reaches the brain of the people in your target audience faster than text alone ever will.
Modern attention spans are short. According to Forbes, you need to catch your site visitors’ interest within 20 seconds. High-quality explainer videos get to the point highlighting how your product or service will benefit those in your target audience.
The Most Common Animation Styles Used in Explainer Videos
Video production companies create a number of different types of animated videos for explainer videos. This section offers an overview of each type.
Whiteboard Explainers
Whiteboard Explainer Videos are a type of animated video that utilizes a hand-drawn approach to explain a product, service, or concept.
The videos feature a whiteboard as the backdrop, with a hand or a digital pen drawing images and text to accompany the narration. The style of the videos is often informal and engaging, using simple and concise language to explain complex ideas in a way that is easy to understand.
This video style has become increasingly popular in recent years as a way to break down complex topics and make them accessible to a wide audience. The hand-drawn approach adds a personal touch, making the viewer feel like they are being given a one-on-one explanation. Additionally, the whiteboard background creates a sense of immediacy and enhances the feeling of being in a classroom-style setting.
The combination of visuals, narration, and a casual tone makes Whiteboard Explainer Videos an effective tool for businesses, organizations, and individuals looking to explain their ideas, products, or services in a way that is engaging, informative, and memorable.
Motion Graphics
Motion graphics videos are a style of animation that combines text, graphics, and sound to create a dynamic and visually engaging experience. These videos often utilize various design elements, including vector-based 2D and 3D graphics, typography, and abstract imagery, to bring concepts and ideas to life. They are often used to explain complex ideas, convey brand messages, or showcase products and services in a dynamic and engaging way.
Motion graphics videos are highly versatile, allowing for a wide range of creative expression. They can be serious, whimsical, abstract, or anything in between. This versatility makes motion graphics videos an ideal choice for businesses and organizations looking to stand out from the crowd and leave a lasting impression on their audience.
Additionally, the use of motion and sound makes the presented information more memorable and engaging, which can be particularly valuable for businesses looking to promote their products or services. Overall, motion graphics videos are a highly effective tool for creating visually stunning and engaging content that connects with the viewer on an emotional level.
2D Animation
2D video animation is a style of animation that creates a flat, two-dimensional image that appears to move on a screen. This style of animation has been a staple in the world of animation for many years and has been used in a wide range of applications, including feature films, television shows, commercials, and educational content.
In 2D animation, characters, objects, and backgrounds are drawn by hand or created using digital tools, and then those images are put together and animated frame-by-frame to create the illusion of movement.
2D video animation has several advantages over other styles of animation.
It is often more cost-effective than 3D animation and allows for a wide range of creative expression. 2D animation also has a timeless quality that makes it well-suited for a variety of content, including nostalgic throwback content as well as contemporary and cutting-edge material.
Additionally, the hand-drawn quality of 2D animation can add a personal touch to a project and help to create an emotional connection with the viewer. Overall, 2D video animation is a powerful tool for businesses, organizations, and individuals looking to create engaging, memorable, and impactful animated content.`
4 Use Cases for Animated Explainer Videos
Companies use explainer videos in a number of ways. While their purpose is often education, they’re also excellent options for marketing, company on-boarding, and other tasks.
Here’s a look at a few ways you might use an animated explainer video.
1.) Product Explainer / Overviews
In ideal circumstances, the products or services that a company sells solve a real problem in the consumer world. However, if you create a never-before-seen product or service, there may be a large target audience for it, but those people may not know about your product or service. Or if they do, they don’t know how it could help them.
An explainer video breaks down what your company does in just a few minutes. This enables your target audience to understand what you do and how you can help them solve their problem.
2.) Marketing Promotion and Sales
High-quality marketing and sales videos often go hand-in-hand with the section above, though the emphasis in these animated videos is more on sales and marketing and less on education. They may still educate consumers, but often there will be common sales techniques included in the video, like calls to action, testimonials, and more.
3.) Product Launches
Animated explainer videos are a valuable tool for businesses launching a new product. They provide an engaging and visually appealing way to introduce a new product or concept to potential customers and explain its features and benefits clearly and concisely. The use of animation makes complex information more accessible and helps to capture the viewer’s attention, while the audio component of the video adds another layer of engagement and helps to keep the viewer interested.
Additionally, animated explainer videos can be easily shared on social media, websites, and other digital platforms, helping to spread the word about the new product and reach a wider audience. Overall, animated explainer videos are an effective way for businesses to launch a new product and connect with potential customers in a memorable and impactful way.
4.) Company Overviews / Internal Training / Welcome Videos
Explainer video services companies can also help you onboard your new employees, train existing ones, and introduce your company to potential employees.
Popular Industries Leveraging Explainer Video Services
While the companies that offer animated explainer video services create videos for just about any industry, there are a few industries that have really embraced explainer videos.
Healthcare
One of the real advantages of a well-made healthcare explainer video is its ability to break down complicated concepts into something simpler and more digestible for the average video viewer.
Healthcare, by nature, covers complex ideas and procedures, and the people who need to understand what’s going on the most — the patients — can benefit from being shown these videos. In a few minutes, an explainer video can explain how a medical procedure works and what to expect during treatment or post-op rehabilitation, as well as help answer any questions they may have and put their fears to rest.
Insurance
Like the healthcare industry, the insurance industry has its share of complications. It’s highly regulated and often hard to understand. As is the case with the medical profession, insurance-focused video animation breaks down the industry’s complexities, making them easier for the common person to grasp.
SaaS (Software as a Service)
New software products hit the market every day. Some of them are complex. Knowing how software works require time and understanding. An explainer video for the SaaS market walks consumers through the software’s features, giving them a basic knowledge of how the software functions.
General Business
Although it may seem like only big industries like tech or healthcare use explainer videos, that isn’t the case. They’re an economical option to use as marketing tools, educational help, and other supports in the general business landscape.
They’re also a more economical video resource for businesses to use in many cases because they don’t require actors, expensive production teams, and many of the other elements that traditional business videos do.
The Sketch Effect Process for Creating Explainer Videos
The process of creating explainer videos follows some pretty standard steps. Although there may be some overlap between the steps, the following are the five major steps that The Sketch Effect will take to create an explainer video for your company.
Step 1. Kickoff / Brainstorming
At the beginning of our work together, we’ll sit down with you and discuss the subject of the video, its target audience, your ideas, and other elements. We’ll brainstorm, recording your ideas along the way. Over the course of time, a concept that fits your brand will develop. This is the main idea that we’ll use to create your explainer video.
Step 2. Scriptwriting / Voice-Over
Every good video starts with a good script. Explainer videos are no different. We’ll look over all of the ideas we’ve discussed in the brainstorming session and put them together in a cohesive script.
Because we were thorough in our brainstorming session, you don’t have to worry about the script needing unlimited edits. The in-depth discussions that we had together should do away with the need for that. Once you sign off on the script, a voice-over is created.
Step 3. Storyboard
Storyboarding is a common practice in video production. It allows the production teams to see the entire sequence of events in the video before production starts. The storyboarding process looks very similar to the pages of a comic strip.
Like the comic page, the storyboards feature the most important shots, the ones that are necessary to make the story understandable to the target audience.
Storyboarding also solves many problems that are harder to fix later on in the production process. They’re like a visual rough draft of your video.
Step 4. Illustrations
Once your storyboards are approved, we begin creating the illustrations for your explainer video. We draw these by hand using digital tools. We base the illustrations on the storyboards. The type of illustrations you get is based on the type of video you’ve chosen (2D animation, whiteboard, etc.)
Step 5. Final Edit
The illustrations we draw for you form the building blocks for your video. They’re assembled in the video editing software and turned into your explainer video.
Expert Explainer Video Production Services
The Sketch Effect specializes in creating high-quality visual content through animated explainer video services. Whether you’re looking for a way to build brand awareness, or in need of dedicated educational material for internal and external use, we can help you bring your message to life in the most engaging and unique way possible.
Contact our team today to discuss your video production needs and learn more about our explainer video production company.
