How to Benefit from Your Animated Explainer Videos

Updated: April 29, 2022

Animated explainer videos are not new to the marketing arsenal of tools but many people still don’t use their full potential. Today we’ve decided to share with you how to use animated marketing videos to your advantage. But first, let’s answer the most important question for those who are not familiar, yet: What are animated explainer videos?

Animated explainer videos are a style of explainer videos whose purpose is to explain a business, a product, or a concept through a short animation. They are short-length marketing videos (30 sec – 2 min) with specific objectives- making the viewer sign up, subscribe, download a product, visit a specific page, send a message, etc. Animated explainer videos are one of the most influential marketing tools which can easily turn your target audience into loyal clients. So, let’s see how animated explainer videos can work to your advantage and your success.

Article overview:

Why use animated explainer videos?

Animated explanations are a great way to deliver your message in a much more entertaining way, all without sacrificing results. Let’s see the top 9 reasons why animations might be your perfect companion.

1. Reach more people

Videos are among the most engaging marketing tools these days if not the top one. This is why it’s your duty and the most valuable opportunity for your business to take full advantage of this highly engaging medium.

How will animated explainer videos help you reach a bigger portion of your target audience? More people will prefer to watch your 1-minute animated explainer video rather than read and assimilate the same information in written form. To back up our claim with words, up to 95% of viewers retain the message in a video form, compared to only 10% as a text.

As a result of having an animated explainer video, more people will be familiar with your brand and your business.

2. Attract people via various channels

Why just put your animated explainer video on your homepage? Use the power of social networks!

YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook… All of these networks are perfect for presenting your video and your brand to the world. Even Twitter allows you to upload videos up to 2:20 minutes, so most animated explainer videos can fit into this requirement. Think where your target audience might spend their time browsing and concentrate your efforts there.

3. As video ads

A 30-second animated explainer video could be perfect for a video ad in those channels where your target audience spends their time. It could be for brand awareness where the audience encounters your brand for the first time. Why not for a remarketing campaign where you want to remind people about you? Whatever the case is, your explainer video must be catchy, concise, and relevant to your target audience’s issues if you want it to be effective as a video ad.

4. Beat the attention span

It’s a well-known fact that the modern user’s attention span (the average time the user keeps their attention on something) has shrunk more than ever – it’s only 8 seconds! Just think about the way you scroll down your news feed stories and just scan the material until something catches your attention for a few seconds.

Most of you will say that animated explainer videos are quite longer than a few seconds. Indeed but they have one advantage! They state the problem in the first few seconds of the video and thus, nail the attention of the people who relate. In other words, your target audience’s attention span just got longer.

5. Improve your SEO performance

Utilizing videos is one of the tips to boost your SEO performance. We already cleared it up that using animated explainer videos helps you prolong the attention span of your target audience. If this video is placed on your website, this means your visitors stay longer on your website. As a result, Google will understand that your website is useful for users and start ranking you higher in the results.

6. Gain viewer’s trust

Many people who “run into” your video are already aware that they have a problem and are actively seeking a solution. Your animated video explanation might be a sign of relief for your customers’ pain points, as they might get the answer to their questions in a few steps.

Once you have made visitors watch your video, you have to focus on one huge detail: to accomplish your goal. The next step is to convince these people that it’s you who will solve their problem in the most efficient way.

Make sure your audience is aware of your industry knowledge. To gain the viewer’s trust, you need to show authority and solve the problem. Do not attempt to sell anything.

7. Influence people

Once you’ve got your viewers’ attention and trust, once you’ve made it clear that you understand their issues really well, it’s easy to get under their skin and make them listen to what you have to say. Whether it’s a solution that will put an end to their ongoing problems, or it’s a cause that they feel related to, at this point, your audience has already put themselves in the character’s shoes and you have your chance to make an impact.

Just a reminder – people will attach value to what they see in the video. This is your shot to make a good lasting impression.

8. Tell people why they should choose you

Telling people why they should choose you without telling them is probably one of the hardest parts of the whole process. Unless you’re a unicorn, there are tons of businesses just like yours. Your animated explainer videos should not focus on what you can do, but rather – on what your users can benefit from.

People often lean toward working with a business that knows its strengths and focuses on them, rather than pinpointing the competitor’s weaknesses. If you connect your competitive advantages with what people need, then you are almost ready.

9. Drive action

If your animated explainer video is powerful enough (and we are sure it is), in the end, people will be most willing to take your desired action. Whether it is to visit a web page, to subscribe for your email newsletter, download something, or even order a product – tell your viewers what the next step is. One single call-to-action per video is the rule.

Of course, you can always A/B test different call-to-action versions for your animated videos. But don’t be pushy – users don’t like this hard-selling approach.

For example, a video uploaded to YouTube may have an objective to bring traffic to your website, so your call to action should correspond with “Visit www.brandname.com”. In comparison, the same call to action wouldn’t be appropriate for the explainer video that stays on your homepage. There, you can make people sign up, download a sample, or why not – request a quote. Adjust, test, change – this is the formula that will bring you maximum results.

To sum up,

Having animated explainer videos for your brand, products, ideas, etc. will help you both in the short and long run. We hope you already have a better understanding of how animated explainer videos bring advantages to your business and help you grow. If you’d like to share your thoughts in the comments below, you are more than welcome to do so. We’d love to discuss this topic with you!