For any business that operates in the digital marketing field, one of the best tools available to them is an explainer video. It doesn’t matter if you are a small business startup or an established brand; an explainer video will give you another creative and engaging storytelling tool to help you showcase your value proposition, describe your brand story, and connect with your users. The benefits of explainer videos – increased customer engagement, better conversion rate, and improved brand recall – contribute to the rise of explainer video marketing.
A well-crafted explainer video simplifies complex products or services making it easy for customers to understand your offering. Animated explainer videos are sure-fire winners when it comes to simplifying complex ideas, meaning they play the biggest role of all in marketing explainer videos. But many businesses make errors in making their explainer video that diminish its effectiveness. These mistakes can hinder the benefits of an explainer video if left unaddressed, hurting your brand reputation.
This article will point out five typical explainer video marketing mistakes businesses make and tips to avoid them. We’ll discuss how to use animated explainer videos to boost your audience engagement and conversions.
Why Explainer Videos Matter for Businesses
Explainer videos have a pivotal role in breaking down complex ideas and concepts and putting them in a way that can be easily understood by the audience. They are one of the most efficient methods of getting your brand message across when you are launching a new product or describing how your service works. This is one of the key advantages of explainer videos: they simplify complex concepts for business. When executed correctly, an explainer video can enhance conversions, increase brand exposure, and manage end-user retention.
There are research-backed benefits to explainer videos. Data suggests that visitors engage more with video content than static content. A well-crafted explainer video can increase the landing page conversion rates up to 80%! This makes explainer video marketing an essential tool in driving traffic, improving engagement, and converting leads into customers.
One key benefit of explainer videos is that they improve brand recall. In an oversaturated digital atmosphere where countless marketing messages bombard people every second, it is necessary to develop material that makes an enduring impact. Animated explainer videos, specifically, offer a compelling, curated visual experience that lingers with your audience long after the video is complete.
But with all of these benefits also come pitfalls to avoid. The critical aspects of explainer video marketing are a no-show for many businesses, and they are missing out. By understanding what you should avoid, you can guarantee that your explainer video is not only seen but also achieves the desired outcome.
5 Common Mistakes to Avoid in an Explainer Video
Mistake 1: Lack of a Clear Message
A lot of mistakes are made when creating an explainer video, and one of the most common is not being clear. Business owners often tend to cram too much information into one video. They take this to mean that by listing every last detail about their product or service, they’ll make a more complete and effective video. It simply bombards the audience and obscures the central point.
Concise and focused on one clear and concise message. If a message is focused, chances are that your audience will understand and remember it. Covering too many points — a bad approach to any video marketing, but especially to explainer video marketing, where each second of your video is precious.
Writing to a problem-solution-benefit formula is effective. Identify the main problem that your product or service solves for your audience, present your product or service as the solution, and then offer a solution for how they can benefit from your offer. With this simple structure to follow, your explainer video stays on track and relevant, helping you to deliver the right message without overwhelming the viewer.
Tip: Focus on one key message in your explainer video. Stick to one idea that resonates with your audience, and keep this message prominent and succinct.
Mistake 2: Poor Script and Storytelling
The script of your explainer video acts as the groundwork on which the rest of the video is built. Even the most impressive animated explainer videos will fail miserably without a strong narrative. Having a bad script can make the video sound stiff, robotic, and boring, failing to capture the viewer’s attention at all.
Effective storytelling is crucial. The most effective explainer videos tell an engaging story that creates an emotional story arc for the audience. Address the problems your ideal customers are encountering, share how your offering is the solution, and communicate the value in a way that they can relate to. Using too much jargon, a dry tone, or an overly complicated explanation risks alienating your audience and making them tune out.
One common mistake when making explainer videos is excluding the clear call to action (CTA) at the end. Without a call-to-action (CTA), your audience may be left confused as to what to do next, which limits the impact of the video. Your call to action should be straightforward, easy to follow, and linked to the video’s central theme.
Tip: Keep your script to the problem-solution-benefit structure, no fluff! Just don’t forget to end with a strong CTA that leads viewers towards their next step.
Mistake 3: Ignoring the Target Audience
Without knowing your audience, your explainer video won’t work. A lot of businesses go into creating a video without considering who will be watching it, what pain points they face, or which delivery formats they prefer. Without understanding who your audience is, your video may end up falling flat.
To avoid this mistake, start by researching who your audience is, their pain points, interests, and preferences. Make a video that talks right to them, using this information. Whether you’re creating an animated explainer video or a live-action explainer video, the tone you use, the language, and the visuals should be in line with the values and needs of your audience.
Conversely, a B2B explainer video might focus on efficiency and ROI, while a B2C explainer video would center on the entertainment and fun of your product and service. Customizing your message will make the video more interesting and relatable.
Tip: Before designing your explainer video, always create your customer persona. Speak to the needs of your audience with the content, in their language and imagery.
Mistake 4: Low-Quality Animation or Visuals
Now, for businesses taking the route of animated explainer videos, the animation quality and visuals matter. Poor quality graphics or animations can not only lead to a negative impact on the brand but also cause viewers to lose interest. Your audience will be less inclined to take your message seriously if your explainer video appears outdated or unpolished.
In order to make a successful explainer video, you need something like Professional animation, seamless transitions, and Mind-blowing designs. Not only do these elements help attract the viewer’s attention, but they also increase the memorability of your message. Use high-quality images — images communicate the professionalism and quality of your brand.
Moreover, visuals in your explainer video must harmonize with your branding, from the color palette, typography, to your logo usage. It is to make sure that your explainer video aligns with the overall look and feel of your brand.
Tip: If you cannot create the explainer video in-house, then consider investing in high-quality animation or hiring an explainer video production agency to make sure your video has a clean look and feel that is consistent with the brand.
Mistake 5: Not Optimizing for SEO and Distribution
The best explainer video will be useless if you target the wrong audience. SEO optimization of your explainer video is an essential step — it’s going to determine how many people will manage to find it. Sadly, a common mistake for lots of businesses to overlook video SEO, which ends up limiting the reach of the video itself and overall opportunity to engage with the audience.
To optimize your explainer video, begin with a relevant title, a good meta description, and a solid list of tags. Doing so helps the probability of your video showing up in search results. Adding subtitles and captions can also improve accessibility, inviting viewers who have hearing impairments to watch your video, while also helping to optimize video for SEO. Additionally, make sure your video works well on mobile — consider that more and more viewers are consuming content on smartphones, and a mobile-optimized video makes sure that your content is well optimized across all devices.
Tip: You can also optimize the visibility of your explainer video by adding some of the keywords mentioned above, such as “explainer video marketing”,” animated explainer videos”, and “benefits of explainer videos”. Also, promote your explainer video through multiple marketing channels, including social media, email campaigns, and your website, to increase its exposure and engagement.
Best Practices for a Successful Explainer Video
Here are some best practices for ensuring your explainer video delivers top value:
Keep it short and sweet: Aim for 60-90 seconds in an explainer video. This keeps control of the audience’s attention while communicating a simple and powerful message. The viewers are more likely to watch the video to the end. That boosts engagement.
Create a strong script: Focus on a single, clear message. Make it conversational and thoughtful, find ways to actively involve and/or enrapture your audience by telling a story. Make sure to always close with a strong call-to-action (CTA) that guides the viewer to the next step.
Hire professionals for visuals: High-quality animations, graphics, or any other visuals make your explainer video more effective. Effective visuals not only get more engagement but also put trust on top of your brand and express professionalism. They are particularly powerful for explaining complicated things simply and visually.
Make It SEO Friendly: Use appropriate keywords & tags so your explainer video is discoverable. This includes things like including terms such as “explainer video marketing” and “animated explainer videos” in your metadata. Hence, a well-optimized video has more chances of being discovered by your target audience from the search engine.
Distribute across platforms: Never leave an explainer video on just one platform. Distribute it by sharing it on social media, on your website, and in email campaigns to get maximum reach. The more locations your video has, the more likely it is to lead to views and attract conversions. Tailor the content for each platform to suit the audience, whether it be on YouTube, Instagram, or your website.
Conclusion
Having a great explainer video can be a game-changer for your business, creating clarity in communication and educating customers about how your products or services can help them. It is possible to add delivery to your explainer video marketing strategy by avoiding the common shortcomings highlighted by this article: unclear messaging, poor scripting, as well as low-quality visuals. From higher engagement and conversions to better brand recall, the advantages of explainer videos are indisputable.
Your explainer video can be a great asset, so to ensure that you create the right content, make your target audience your priority and talk to their pain points. Explainer videos need to be well-defined and concise, so you can focus on just one message at a time. Also, ensure that you optimize your video for SEO, as well. For explainer video marketing to work, your video needs to be discoverable by the right people. So, they should all be optimized for their titles, descriptions, and tags to include relevant keywords such as “explainer video,” “benefits of explainer videos,” and “animated explainer videos” to improve visibility.
With those tips in mind, you’re already on your way to creating a successful explainer video that can entertain, inform, and convert your audience. One of the specific types of video that tends to work well here is animated explainer videos — a clear way to visually present what you’re offering and create memorable messaging. Are you ready to bring your marketing to new heights? Contact us today, and we will design an outstanding explainer video for you that will bring in results for your business!
FAQs
How long should an explainer video be?
An ideal explainer video should be 60-90 seconds. This length gives you room to get your message across without losing the attention of a viewer. This is a perfect time to showcase the benefits of your product and a strong call to action.
What are the advantages of explainer videos in marketing?
Created, explaining complex ideas in a simplified manner, increases conversion rates, promotes the brand, and engages the audience in a way that no text can compete. They also enhance brand recall, making it easier for audiences to remember your message.
What are the advantages of animated explainer videos for my business?
Animated explainer videos are widely visually attractive and great for breaking down complex information. Explainer notes describe your product or service in an easy-to-understand way, leading to higher engagement and conversions by making the message more memorable.
How do I make my explainer video stand out?
Make sure you have a strong message, high-quality visuals, and a great story for your explainer video. If you target your tone and visuals to your audience, your engagement can find its power. Simplify the video and teach a few things, and it must be fun.
Do I need to optimize my explainer video for SEO?
Yes! The explainer video seems to be related to visibility. Optimise titles, descriptions, and tags with relevant keywords, and cross-upload content for wider reach. SEO helps ensure your video gets discovered by the appropriate viewers.
How can I make sure my explainer video speaks to my audience?
Identify the needs of your audience and adapt the video’s content in a way, such that it aligns with their interest and demographics. Speak to their pain points directly and make sure the video addresses how your product or service provides a solution.