Explainer Videos

June 2, 2021 Video

What is an explainer video?

Explainer videos are short online marketing videos used to explain your company’s product or service. Explainer videos are often placed on a landing page, your website’s home page, or a prominent product page. These types of videos have become extremely popular – some sites boast of conversion rates increasing by as much as 144% after including an explainer video on their website.

There’s no arguing that online videos are fantastic assets for a business. The question is – how do you get your own explainer video?

Types of explainer videos

• Live-Action Explainer Videos: A non-animated promotional video explaining your business’s product or service. Examples of this include the Dollar Shave Club and PooPourri videos (see below). Live-action explainer videos are usually best for companies selling a physical product or people-oriented service, such as a restaurant or consulting group. Having flesh-and-blood people in your explainer video can create an emotional connection for viewers, as we are naturally drawn to other human faces.
• Live streams on Social Media: These are pretty much the same as live-action videos, but without the ability to edit. This is a bit scary, but having raw footage—mistakes and all— shows that you have nothing to hide and humanizes your brand. Here’s how to go live on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. You do have the option to save your videos to your account after the video is complete.
• Animated Explainer Videos: The most popular type of explainer video, animation is often the preferred format for explaining services or intangible tech products like software. Some services involve few, if any, physical objects, making live action an unrealistic option. Animated explainer videos allow for more creativity, and are easier to edit or update when you want to make future adjustments.
• Whiteboard Explainer Videos: A whiteboard video is an explainer video in which animation is hand drawn and erased on a whiteboard. This format of video has become popular due to its ease of operation and low cost, making it one of the cheapest types of explainer video to create.