What is an explainer video and how can you use it in your business? Here’s our quick guide on on everything you need to know about explainer videos.Â
So, what is an explainer video?Â
An explainer video is a short animated or live action videos that explain how something works, in a way that is simple and easy to understand.
The reason why they are widely used by businesses, government departments, and nonprofits, is plain and simple — they just work.
Explainer videos are great sales tools and for creative storytelling that connects with your audience on a personal level. We’ve created a few use cases for business, and some of the explanation videos we’ve made. In the 15+ years we’ve been making explainer videos, we’ve had the privilege to work with some of the best brands from round the world.
So, we decided to reveal the most common use cases for explainer videos. This is based on our research from the hundreds of businesses we’ve worked with, across multiple industry verticals, and the thousands of videos we’ve made for them.
| Common Use Cases | Recommended Length | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Explain Your Business | Most sales explainer videos are 1-2 minutes long |
| 2. | Simplify a complex concept | 1-3 minutes |
| 3. | Launch a new product or service | 1-2 minutes is the typical length |
| 4. | Educate your audience | 2-5 minutes for most topics |
| 5. | Demonstrate how your product works | 3-10 minutes for a detailed demo |
| 6. | Raise awareness or funds for your nonprofit | 1-3 minutes of storytelling |
| 7. | Train your staff | 3-5 minute clips |
| 8. | Animated Ad | 15-60 seconds based on delivery channel |
| 9. | Short Animated Stories | 5-10 minutes |
| 10. | Social Video Clips | 6-15 seconds reels |
Here are some explainer video examples and their use cases in detail. After creating thousands of videos for hundreds or business we’ve polished our process and have come to know what works and what doesn’t. Check out the most common explainer video uses cases to inspire your next project.
For most of our videos we use motion graphics, character animation, whiteboard animation, and 3D animation. We’ve done our best to explain the best uses cases for each style of animation. While there’s no hard and fast rules on what animation style you should use, we can work with you to evaluate your goals, target audience, and the most ideal style to use.
You can use 2D animation across multiple communication touchpoints, such as product marketing, training and education, social and online advertising, and brand storytelling.
Make complex products, services, or programs easy to understand in under two minutes. With strong script writing and clean 2D animation you can clarify your value proposition, remove confusion, and guide viewers toward a clear next step.
3D animation, often called CGI animation or computer-generated imagery, is used in just about everything: Pixar films, video games, architecture previews, and product animation for marketing. It’s the reason a digital character can walk through a fully rendered city or a toothbrush can spin in slow motion in a commercial.
You’ll find 3D animation in modern children’s TV shows and movies due to the ability to use the same character design in many scenes, without having to redraw the character. When you need realism, control, and flexibility, 3D animation delivers.Â
Connecting with your audience has never been easier. We use video to help our clients communicate their value proposition in the shortest possible time.
This is your flagship explainer video that gives an overview of your offering, and what sets you apart from your competition. It sets the tone for your next discussion with a prospect or target audience. For a business, this would be a sales video, and for nonprofits, your corporate overview video.
How long does it take for site visitors to understand your business and value proposition? 5-10 minutes? No easy answer to that question.
You can save your visitors time by adding a landing page video the explains your business in the simplest way possible.
With a 1-2 minute explainer video visitors can easily understand what you do and why they should buy from you. Research has shown that explainer videos can increase website conversions by up to 80%.
We’ve developed a meticulous step-by-step process for making animated explainer videos. From discovery, script writing, storyboarding, design, and the final animation, we’ve perfected our skills over the years.
For video content such as marketing, education, SaaS, product promotion, training, and B2B videos, the process is pretty much the same.
Leverage our experience and creativity and create videos that give you the results you want to see. Below is a step by step process of how we create explainer videos for any purpose.
This style had a major moment in explainer videos, thanks to how easy it made us learn complicated concepts. It’s still widely used in educational videos and business training.
Whiteboard animation works because it captivates the viewer by keeping our eyes interested in seeing the graphics being revealed. For companies, it’s a go-to style when simplifying a process, service, or strategy. Whiteboard videos are still common in onboarding, sales, and internal training content.
Here are some of the most common questions about making explainer videos.
Depending the video company you’re working with, making an explainer video takes 4-6 weeks for a 1-2 minute video. More complex videos require an average of 6-8 weeks to complete.
If you need your video faster, we’ll be happy to help. Speeding up our process may require an adjustment to the budget.
