When I first heard of the new safe way home from a night out doing as creatives do (drinkin craft brews obviously), I wanted to learn all I could. The service I first heard about was called Lyft. So, how did I find more information? I did what most citizens of the internet do. I Googled it.
I found Lyft’s website, scrolled past all the text and clicked the first play button I could find. After a short video, I downloaded the app ready to give the service a try. A video helped me learn what Lyft was, how it worked, why it was better than the alternative, and what to do next. All in less time than it took to order a beer.
There’s not much more compelling content than a well done overview or explainer video. See for yourself:
Why consider video?
If you’re not making your website content compelling, interesting or appealing to visual learners, a site visitor will click away and not stick around long enough to convert. Time Magazine reported most Internet users have a shorter attention span than a goldfish – that’s less than 12 seconds. Explainer and overview videos help grab attention with a delivery of your content by combining text, audio, and graphics.
Using video as your medium, however, can be challenging to anyone who isn’t prepared to spend the time and money it could take to produce a quality (and well-liked) video. Attempting to explain your product or service in a video can be more complex than writing content for a new page on your website. This can be used to your advantage, if you consider how you’ll immediately have a marketing advantage over your competition.
When is video a good idea?
As with any type of marketing, from social media and websites to traditional methods like trade shows, there must be a solid and consistent message about who you are and what you do. Changing an About page on your website is much less expensive than making changes to a video – and less time-consuming. If you have committed to your marketing messaging, then creating a video is a safe, logical step.
Not a good enough answer? Here’s 5 questions you should answer before producing an explainer video.
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What is the focus (or market) of your brand, service, or product? A consistent and well targeted message is very important.
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Are you done tinkering and tweaking? You wouldn’t want to add a significant feature shortly after releasing your video.
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Will your audience engage more by seeing faces on the screen, by seeing illustration representations, or by seeing the product at work? Hint: sometimes it’s all three.
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Do you know what you’re going to do with the video once you have it? Creating a beautiful video is quite an accomplishment but don’t forget you will need to deliver your message appropriately to viewers.
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What is your call to action? It is important to know how to measure the effectiveness of your video through the actions taken by your audience.
Your product may best be explained in a video or, perhaps, your product is video. Videos can showcase a physical product, service or even the features of a mobile app. Understanding the best way to present this information will be your next challenge.
Next Steps
The next steps to creating a quality overview or explainer video is to identify which type of video suits your business case. Should the video be animated? Perhaps a whiteboard video? Maybe you want to show the accessibility of your product or service with people from your company.
A good script will determine the success of your video, first and foremost. Even if you hire an agency to help create the video, the script should be a collaborative effort between the agency and your business. You will have a better idea of what you’re marketing, the message your audience is used to and the questions your customer’s want answered. A professional agency will help you write an engaging and authentic script.
Companies can spend thousands of dollars, and frequently do, on videos that don’t convert for them. Working with an experienced company who has created explainer and product overview videos will help you to get your message to your customers, while keeping you involved in the process.
You decide if video is right for you
Do you have a product or service, a brand and a website too? Are you looking to create unique content your customers and fans will share? Would the visitors to your website benefit from a better user experience? Can a short visually interesting video for your business capture their attention and compel them to learn more?
If the answers to these questions are a hearty “YES!” then contact us to learn more about our video production services. Here are some examples of what we do.
To learn more about our video production services and view more of our work click here.