Have you noticed that nearly every imaginable brand now has a number of explainer videos to introduce the company, and its products, to new people? It’s not a coincidence. Explainer videos have become much more popular in the past few years, being leveraged as a marketing and communication tool by businesses of all shapes and sizes.
But why did this trend emerge? And how can you capitalize on it?
The Surge in Explainer Video Popularity
There are several possible explanations for why explainer videos became as popular as they did. These are some of the most influential factors at play.
- Internet download speeds. Internet download speeds have gotten much faster and much more reliable over the past couple of decades, making it more practical to host, stream, and enjoy video content. Almost anyone with a reasonable internet connection can click a button and start watching your video instantly.
- Mobile devices. Mobile devices have steadily become more popular, with more than two-thirds of all global web traffic now coming from mobile devices. Mobile devices are extremely convenient because of their portability in size, but they come with a few drawbacks. For example, they can make it difficult to read conventional written articles. For this reason, people are increasingly shifting away from making content and toward video content.
- Simplicity and approachability. The concept of an explainer video is easy to understand, even if you don’t have much of a background in sales or marketing. All you’re doing is explaining how your product works in a way that persuades people to try it. That approachability makes explainer videos an accessible strategy for nearly every conceivable business.
- Tools and services. Some companies have dedicated themselves almost exclusively to helping other businesses create dynamic, effective explainer videos, either by introducing specialized tools or providing a team of experts to create the video on your behalf. The number of tools and services available to entrepreneurs and marketers continues to grow, making it easier and easier to create the perfect explainer video.
- Versatility. Explainer videos can also be used in several different contexts, adding to their popularity. You can host them on your website, use them in your advertising campaigns, or even put them in a television commercial.
- Measurable impact. Once you’ve adopted an explainer video and started publicizing it, you’ll be able to measure its impact objectively. Companies that create excellent explainer videos come to realize just how powerful they are, so they swear by the strategy and evangelize it to others.
- Copycats and the new paradigm. Explainer videos have gotten more and more popular, adding a layer of mystique and intrigue to them. As entrepreneurs see more business websites with explainer videos prominently featured, they get more excited about the prospect of creating one of their own. This creates a feedback loop of increasing popularity, with each new explainer video making the strategy more common.
Using Explainer Videos for Your Own Brand
Here are some fast tips if you plan on using explainer videos for your own brand.
- Keep it concise. You may have heard that the average person’s attention span is now less than 8 seconds – the truth is a bit more complicated than that, but it’s true that most people don’t have the attention span or the patience to deal with lengthy, bloated videos. If your explainer video is 10 minutes long, people aren’t going to watch to the end. They may not even watch it if it’s 5 minutes long. Try to keep your explainer video length to 2 minutes for best results.
- Make it professional. Your explainer video needs to be as professional-looking as possible. If it’s evident that someone inexperienced threw it together in an hour, it’s going to turn people off and potentially cause reputational damage for your brand. Instead, make sure you hire a professional, like a video marketing agency or a veteran freelancer. Always look at samples of past work before enlisting help from anybody.
- Remain authentic and true to your brand. The most effective explainer videos are ones that are authentic. It’s tempting to ditch your natural persona to appear more distinguished and more professional, but this may end up coming off as disingenuous. Instead, be yourself and talk the way you would talk to a friend.
- Analyze your results objectively. Finally, make it a point to measure and analyze your results as objectively as possible. Just because you subjectively like the video doesn’t mean that it’s going to be good at converting people. Only your conversion metrics and other data can confirm or deny this.
The Future of the Explainer Video Phenomenon
Will explainer videos remain popular for the foreseeable future? While it’s hard to predict which technologies are waiting for us around the corner, video has always been an effective communication medium, and it’s unlikely that that’s going to change in the near future.
If anything, as more brands realize the full potential of explainer videos, we can expect explainer videos to become even more popular.
