In the current digital era that we live in, Social Media channels such as Instagram and TikTok have become a huge part of everyone’s daily lives. On average, people spend 2 hours and 29 minutes scrolling on social media everyday. It is no longer used merely for entertainment and leisure purposes but is now commonly used as a search engine to search for product information online. Now more than ever, marketers need to keep up with the changing of times and heavily invest in video content due to the shift in Social Media channels becoming more video-centric.
One of the best ways that marketers and companies can leverage this is by producing explainer videos – one of the most effective forms of video marketing content out there!
What is an Explainer Video?
You might be unsure of what an explainer video is, but we bet you have definitely seen one before. Have you ever searched for information about a product and come across a short video on the company’s website? That is exactly what an explainer video is!
An explainer video is short, engaging and probably the easiest way to pitch a product or service to viewers. Explainer videos are often placed on landing pages or a website’s home page to allow first time visitors a quick explanation about what the company offers. This aids in fulfilling a company’s promotion needs whilst simplifying a potential customer’s decision making process – killing two birds with one stone!
Why are Explainer Videos Essential for your Business?
Explainer videos are an effective marketing strategy and is widely used by many companies worldwide to engage with their customers through short and easily digestible videos. Explainer videos acts as a quick overview to a company’s product or service – answering the customer’s questions and delivering significant information in the shortest amount of time possible.
As it is produced in a video format, explainer videos have the ability to grab people’s attention and communicate the value of a product or service in an engaging and user-friendly manner. It is a much better approach for customers instead of asking them to read a boring wall of text; or hiring employees to pitch to customers in real life consequently spending more company funds.
Although used for marketing purposes, explainer videos do not have the same purpose as advertisements – to boost sales. An explainer video is primarily focused on explaining services and relay messages effectively. It is also a great way to for companies to improve their SEO (Search Engine Optimization) ranking as it can increase the amount of time visitors spend on a website and reduce bounce rates. Moreover, an explainer video possesses the ability to express brand value that might be difficult to achieve through text explanations.
What Makes a Good Explainer Video?
A good explainer video is generally an effective explainer video that encompasses synchronised and appealing message, visuals, tone, audio as well as pitch. It should tell an engaging story that is easily understandable whilst addressing all the questions and pain points a viewer has in relation to the product or service.
The Types of Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are a popular marketing strategy that is widely used by many companies. From animated to live action explainer video types, all of them accomplish the same goals – but in a variety of executions. Here we will be discussing the different types of explainer videos commonly used.
1. 2D Animated Explainer Videos
The all-rounder 2D animated explainer videos can easily work for any product or service out there! It is a great way for companies to introduce their brand and products in just a matter of minutes. The 2D animated explainer video is pretty much a flat two-dimensional cartoon animation where all elements move linearly from one point to another. It typically uses a main character with vivid visuals to convey a message. This creates a lasting effect which allows for better engagement – forming a stronger connection with the viewers.
Not only are 2D animated explainer videos attention grabbing with amazing visual effects, they also allow the flexibility of change – allowing more room for iterations and customisation. On top of that, this type of explainer video is faster to produce compared to 3D animated explainer videos. Hence, the production costs are also lower. Indeed the sought-after choice for companies to get their message over to their target audience and increase conversion rates. 2D animation can even produce corporate explainer videos such as training, recruitment and onboarding videos. This helps companies convey key information or even financial graphics without the hassle of reading long winded documents and articles which helps with retaining employee attention significantly.
Take a look at Superpixel’s take on a 2D animated explainer video for AIA’s Guarantee Protection Plus explainer video illustrating what is included in the insurance package. In this video, the message is conveyed by using appealing visuals centred on a main character and texts that takes you on a journey that is relatable to that of real life.
2. 3D Animated Explainer Videos
When it comes to 3D animated explainer videos, it’s all in the details. It is a terrific way to showcase situations that are difficult to depict in real-life. 3D animated explainer video creates the illusion of digital objects coming to life in a three-dimensional space. It is the perfect choice for companies who want to showcase their products realistically as if the product is just right in front of you! With 3D animation, objects can be rotated, taken apart or even opened up and viewed at any angle to provide the most accurate view of a product.
Although the production cost for 3D animated video style is much higher in comparison to all the other types of explainer videos due to its longer production time. This type of explainer video will without a doubt promote products and services more engagingly and make you stand out from your competitors. Nonetheless, it is a great investment and the best value for money for companies that specifically want to demonstrate their product design precisely to their target audience. A great example is the Daikin explainer video that thoroughly presents the maintenance services offered in a realistic and visually appealing manner.
3. Motion Graphics Explainer Videos
Unlike the 2D and 3D animation explainer videos, motion graphics explainer videos primarily do not use character animations to convey the video message. Instead, motion graphic animation as the name suggests involves animating graphics that include abstract shapes, text and even brand logo throughout the whole video. Essentially bringing all these elements come to life by visually communicating the intent of an accompanied voice over.
The two main elements in motion graphics come hand in hand with each other in order to produce both visual and auditory stimuli – capturing the viewers’ attention to continue watching the video until the end. This type of explainer video is the ideal choice for brand videos as it allows for effective integration of a brand logo and its assets with other images. It is also a great way to help viewers’ visualise abstract ideas and concepts in an entertaining fashion.
Watch Superpixel’s take on the motion graphics explainer video for Epson’s Be Cool Heat printer video where 2D animated elements are combined with graphics that morph and shift. It is a great way to showcase a product’s features while keeping it looking professional and simple – engaging and retaining viewers attention.
4. Whiteboard Animation Explainer Video
One of the popular video styles, the whiteboard animation explainer video pretty much speaks for itself – a whiteboard video. It demonstrates the process of drawing static images as well as writing to visually present and communicate information into smaller chunks. Visually, it looks just like watching an artist hand draw content on a whiteboard or a white background in real time. Because this type of explainer video uses simple illustrations, a whiteboard animation video is typically fast yet highly effective in explaining information to viewers straightforwardly.
Due to its universal ability, whiteboard explainer videos are widely used by many companies: from product commercials to promoting accounting firms and healthcare services. It is also relatively cheaper to produce making it the viable option for companies that are looking to save money but still producing an explainer video. For an example, the AXA whiteboard animation explainer video information is easily digestible whilst still being visually engaging for viewers.
5. Live Action Explainer Video
As the name suggests, live action explainer videos accomplish the same goals as animated explainer videos but using flesh and blood people instead. This allows for a more human touch through relatable interactions that is able to connect with viewers on an emotional level compared to using animation. Therefore, a live action video will require a physical decorated set, real life actors and high quality cameras to capture the raw footage which then goes into editing. Although live action videos may be perceived to be more cost effective; on the contrary, the costs are higher as companies usually will need to fork out more money to hire a professional team to carry this out.
In addition, live action explainer videos can be somewhat limiting as it involves real people and real objects that cannot be produced like you can with animation. If your product or service requires updating in the future, it would be a nightmare to do any revisions with live action videos as you would require the same set of people, props and physical set used before. Plus, it prohibits the ability to play around with imaginative and creative concepts. It would be pretty much impossible to make a dog shoot rainbows out of its mouth with a live action explainer video if that is what you are hoping to produce.
If you want to take it to another level, you can even create a mixed media explainer video which essentially combines both live action and animation. Here’s our take on this type of video for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand that showcases vivid and colourful animation along with a real person presenting the information promoted. Why choose one when you can have both!
6. Screencast Explainer Video
Many software businesses opt for screencast explainer videos as it does not require much resources and is considered the most cost effective approach. Screencast explainer videos uses a video version of a screenshot (just like a screen recording) with the appropriate voice over to demonstrate how a product or service works. Imagine watching a tutorial on how to use the features of an iPhone – that is how a screencast video will look like. It is informative and straightforward, making it easy for viewers to understand the content of the video. This type of explainer video is popularly used by up-coming tech startups that have a smaller budget to produce videos like app demos as it is uncomplicated and can easily be done even by an in-house team.
7. Kinetic Typography Explainer Video
Kinetic typography is really just a fancier and technical term for “moving text”. Think of it like a storybook come to life on your computer screen. It integrates motion with text, fonts, colours and music to grab the attention of viewers. Often times this type of explainer video will be accompanied by voice over to emphasise the animated texts moving on screen. Kinetic typography explainer videos can be effective in conveying video messages if all elements in the video are synchronised well together. But it can also allow for soundless viewing – an excellent approach to get the message over to viewers even if the video is muted as it essentially speaks through text. This type of explainer video will require the viewers’ full attention since reading is vital. Take a look at the Singlife App Ecosystem kinetic typography explainer video we did that combines vivid colours, moving texts and simple animations t0 make the video exciting and engaging to watch!
8. Stop Motion Explainer Video
Also known as “stop frame”, stop motion is one of the oldest techniques in the book that has been used for traditional animation. It involves the process of taking hundreds of photos of objects moving in the slightest increments, one frame at a time. The illusion of movement is then created when all the photos are combined into a video sequence. Although old school, stop motion explainer videos are extremely versatile in animating real life objects. However, it does take a longer time to produce as it requires photographing every movement of an object. Despite it, stop motion explainer videos can provide a nostalgic feel to viewers and keep them more engaged throughout the whole story of the video.
Which Type of Explainer Video Is Highly Recommended?
Now that you have a clearer understanding of explainer videos, we know that it can seem a bit scary when it comes to choosing the right style of explainer video for your product or service as producing be costly – especially for upcoming startup companies. It all boils down on what type of product or service you are offering and how much it costs depending on your budget.
If you intend to keep your viewers engaged with amazing visual graphics, we recommend opting for a 3D animation explainer video as it allows for an accurate representation that will certainly wow viewers and increase conversion rates. However, if you do not have the budget as it can be costly, you should definitely go for the 2D animation or motion graphics explainer video instead to retain viewer attention but at a significantly lower price.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to what your marketing goals and needs are when choosing between the different explainer video styles suited for your business. Whichever type of explainer video you decide to go for, we assure you that it will be worth the investment!
Contact Us
Here at SuperPixel, we specialise in making explainer videos from 2D and 3D animated to motion graphic types of explainer videos custom designed to suit your business goals.
If you are still unsure of what type of explainer video you would like for your company, do not hesitate to contact us and we can help you achieve your dream animated video!
Visit our website for a free consultation today!
