Do you have a hard time explaining your business to people? As you’re talking about your business, do people get that confused glazed-over look on their faces? Or you know how to explain it but it takes too much time to explain and things get lost in translation? 

If so, you need to create an explainer video! In this article, we’ll discuss what explainer videos are, why you should make them, who they’re made for, and where to put them.

You will see that explainer videos are not just for businesses! Explainer videos are also helpful for non-profit organizations and fundraising events.

 

What Are Explainer Videos?

An explainer video is a video that describes to people who you are, the product or service you can provide them, and why they should choose you. Your explainer video is your value proposition to your potential customers, allowing them to imagine working with you. 

The power of video is that it paints a visual picture and helps your potential client to see themselves in that picture.

At first, you may think that the main focus of the explainer video should be on your business. However, the main focus should be on your ideal customer. We’re going to say this again just to make sure that you caught it, the star of an explainer video is your ideal customer NOT you and your business.

The explainer video should demonstrate the customer’s needs, and wants, and showcase how your business can help them get it. By showing the customer’s journey with your business, it gives your potential customer a better picture of what to expect when working with your business and demonstrates how you can solve a problem for them. Notice how this explainer video from Jigsaw Performance shows the client as the star of the video and paints a picture of what life will be like after they work with Jigsaw Performance.

 

Crafting a compelling script for your video can be a challenge. In our program Video Fundamentals, participants learn many scriptwriting techniques and craft their own explainer videos!

 

Why You Should Use An Explainer Video?

Are you able to easily explain to others what your business does and who you do it for? Can your ideal client quickly understand that you have the perfect solution for them? If not, you need an explainer video for your business. It might even be necessary to create more than one explainer video for your business if you have different revenue streams and serve more than one type of customer.  

At Learn to Flourish, we have three explainer videos each for a different ideal client that we provide services for. For example, we have an entrepreneur explainer video that directly targets small business entrepreneurs, and another for a corporate audience in HR, communication, and Learning and Development. We also have another explainer video that is for a more broad audience.

Here are two different explainer videos that we have for our corporate and entrepreneur audiences.

Not Just for Businesses

Explainer videos aren’t just for businesses. They are also an absolute must for non-profits to attract donors, big funders, volunteers, board members, and to reach the people that they serve.

For example, this video about the Restorative Justice Society.

An explainer video can also propel the success of a fundraiser. Your donors want to know what the money is being used for and the impact that it is going to have. 

 

You will also see explainer videos being used by cities to attract tourists and new residents. For example this video that we produced for the beautiful city of Salmon Arm, British Columbia.

Explainer videos are also essential in the health and wellness industry and for other caregiving professionals. Often people are hesitant to take action and to spend money on the things that will help with their personal health and wellness. An explainer video might be just the thing that they need to convince themselves and their loved ones that it’s time to invest in themselves.

 

Video Style

Explainer videos don’t necessarily need to be an animated video. At Learn to Flourish, we love creating animated videos for our clients, but when selecting the style of video to use, you must keep in mind your target audience and the topic. Sometimes real-life style video is more effective and appropriate, like this explainer video for the Archway Society for Domestic Peace.

 

If you’re wondering what style of video might be best for your audience, have a look at the article How to pick the right video style for your audience.

 

Who is Your Ideal Client?

Before you create an explainer video you want to make sure that you really understand your ideal client so that you can craft the right message to speak to your audience. Put yourself into their shoes and speak to their pain points. Paint a picture and help them visualize the end goal of what their life will be like after they have purchased your product or service or worked with you.

 

Where and When to Use Your Explainer Videos?

You may now be wondering, now that I have my explainer video, where do I distribute it? There are many different platforms that you can put your explainer on but you must determine what platform your target audience is on. If you believe that your core audience is on Facebook, then upload it to your Facebook page. However, it doesn’t hurt to upload your explainer video to all of the social media platforms you are currently on. Now if people discover your page on any platform, they have a video that explains to them what it is you can do for them.

It’s also critical to have your explainer video front and center on your website. Customers love to be able to watch a quick video when they visit your website, so make sure that your explainer video is directly on your home page and easy to find.

Another place you can have your explainer video is in your email signature. When you have an explainer video in your email signature it gives everyone you contact the option to view your video and learn more about you in a fun and engaging way. This can be incredibly helpful when prospecting so your prospects can understand what you can do for them.

Here’s the video that we include in our email signature:

Conclusion

Explainer videos are powerful tools that demonstrate your value proposition and show potential customers who you help and what you can do for them. The main focus of the explainer video should be on the customer so you can paint a picture of what they can expect when working with you. Dig deep and clearly identify your ideal clients and consider making a different explainer video for each client segment. You can then distribute your explainer videos on social media platforms, on your website, and in your email signature. 

At Learn to Flourish, we are all about creating relevant, engaging, and effective eLearning and videos. If you need an explainer video for your business, book a free discovery call now to learn more about how Learn to Flourish can support you with video production services, or our workshops, so that you can learn how to do it yourself.

If you want to increase the quality of your educational videos, get our free training on how to make great demonstration videos for your audience.

For more tips on video and eLearning creation, check out our blog for more articles such as Video Studio Setup for Beginners and how to create online education that people will love.

 

Wishing you inspiration, innovation, and continuous learning,

Lorena and the Learn to Flourish Team