I am never surprised when I see a software website that tells features and benefits in great detail; and it doesn’t show the product in action.
Video is an ideal asset to display on a landing page of your website. Remember, how simple explainer video on dropbox.com website attracted customers in droves.
Explainer videos are put to following use:
1. put them on your website on landing / product / offer pages to convert a visitor into a prospective buyer
2. sales people use them to explain the product/service to the prospective clients in short and in a uniform manner. They are used on Tablets/Laptops, WhatsApp, YouTube/Vimeo or Exhibition booths
3. incorporate video into your email marketing strategy to get clients excited each time your messages land in their inbox
4. use them company intranet or closed WhatsApp groups telling employees about ‘How to do <something>’ or nudging people to do certain things differently in view of changed policy or process.
What is an Explainer video?
They are usually Whiteboard or Animation videos that explains what your product or service does and why people should buy it. They are used widely to explain what your product or service offers and its benefit or usefulness and finally a call to action part, in the hope that it will increase the business.
Good thing about Explainer or Whiteboard video is it does these things using a cartoon like characters; and explains your message with a child-like wonder to overwhelm the most jaded adult.
Explainer videos are:
• Two or Three minutes (or less) duration
• Clear and succinct
• Conversational tone
• An awareness on benefits; not highlights
• Invitation to take action
They do work. So, why not create one for your product/service? If it works for me it should work for you also. Right?
Unfortunately, answer is not that simple. Reality is most Explainer videos don’t lead to desired result. Why?
It’s because making of a video is a very complex job. It’s almost similar to making of a commercial movie, though on a much smaller scale. Nevertheless number of variables contributing to the success remain too many. Not being familiar with this complex process one is likely to take a wrong approach.
Here is a brief low down on what goes into making of an explainer video:
It’s all about how client loves to hear; and not what you think client wants to know.
We assume that if we tell people about features and benefits of the product/service that should help people to make a decision. Right? Not right when your product/service is competing with many similar products/services.
The most important part of a video is not the video quality but the story. Whether you have a high quality video or a mediocre one, if the script is not good, it won’t give you the desired result.
The goal of the video is to create correct context for the viewer and propel him to ask right questions. Point to be noted is that the video may or may not be able to answer all the questions and concerns; but the viewer should understand what your offering is; and he should be propelled ask relevant questions.
If you can do that in a short video, you’ll see increase in the effectiveness of your video. If you can’t do this, you won’t see results you expect.
Important: You may want the company who is creating the video to write the script. For this, the video company may want to know your business like you do. They would want to know what pain points your customers are experiencing; and so on.
