Why explainer videos are content worth investing in

Aah, explainer videos - what great storytelling devices they are! The snappy text, the snazzy visuals, the punchy music. No wonder businesses pay top dollar for them. For short videos, they don’t half draw you in, even if they do only skim the surface.

In the following article, I’ll explore what an explainer video is, who they serve and why they’re effective. I’ll also walk you through some explainer videos that I’ve worked on and the firm who produced them – Senate Media.

Read on for top reasons why explainer videos are content worth investing in.

What is an explainer video?

An explainer video is a short-form video that explains a product or service. A bitesize video that makes difficult information interesting and easy to understand.

Often commissioned by businesses, explainer videos come in various shapes and sizes: infographic videos, screencast videos, live action, whiteboard animations. And are designed to grab one’s attention. Some achieve this through kick-ass visuals, others a persuasive voiceover artist or presenter.

Most explainer videos are short in length – usually one or two minutes. And are there to solve a problem, explain a process, or build brand awareness.

Who do they serve?

The target audience for explainer videos are the customers that businesses are trying to reach with them. For a tech business, those customers could be product owners or service users, and, for an organisation like the Chartered IIA, internal audit professionals.

A good explainer video will target a very specific audience, whose needs are clearly defined. The video will then meet those needs by showcasing something of value to the customer. Whether that be of a product of interest or an important process that needs explaining.

What makes them effective?

At their best, explainer videos are powerful marketing tools that solve problems, make sales, grow brand awareness, and influence decision-making.

Their power lies in their ability to not only tell stories, but to translate complex ideas into simple, easy-to-follow messages and calls to action.

Successful explainer videos make tangible dense webpages, complicated reports, convoluted processes, and abstract concepts and ideas. They’re also great for SEO.

My experience with explainer videos

As a content creator, I’ve collaborated on and commissioned various explainer videos – principally for the Chartered IIA - and have come to learn a lot about them.

What I’ve learnt is that explainer videos, whilst pricy, are worth the investment and pay you back in more ways than one. From driving up clickthroughs on email to increasing one’s referral traffic from social media.

In April 2021, I initiated the launch of a new explainer video series for the Chartered IIA. A collection of videos to explain the basics like who the Chartered IIA are and what they do.

This series was a first for the Chartered IIA and required a different way of thinking. A back-to-basics look at the Chartered IIA’s identity, network and suite of services, and a willingness to communicate it in video form.

Our only foray into explainer videos up till then were the animation videos we’d produced in promotion of our Risk in Focus reports. Which, whilst explanatory in format, did little to explain the Chartered IIA’s fundamental cause and purpose.

It followed that these new videos would aim to make available information which, up to that point, had only really appeared on the Chartered IIA’s website. Stuff buried away in its ‘About’ pages – mostly static content.

In bringing together these basic facts, my feeling was that we could use these videos to solve a key problem: telling people what we do in simple terms.

The first of these videos, released September 2021, was an overview piece on the Chartered IIA. A 2D animation video simply titled ‘We are the Chartered IIA’, which gives background information on the institute and the profession it represents – internal audit.

Setting the pace for this new series, ‘We are the Chartered IIA’ would, in the space of a few months, become a top-performing video on the institute’s YouTube channel and account for a generous share of its new YouTube subscribers. The video would, similarly, play an important role in the Chartered IIA’s paid advertising (on social media).

‘We are the Chartered IIA’ was soon followed by a training overview video and two further explainer videos for the Chartered IIA’s Audit & Risk Awards – one promoting nominations, another promoting tickets. I assisted with the scripting and storyboarding for all four videos, and the series we’ve established makes for great watching.

So, who is the producer behind these videos?

Choose Senate Media for your explainer videos

Senate Media, the production firm responsible for these videos, is a master when it comes to making explainer videos. Their explainer videos make easy work of understanding complex fields and research, and the service they offer is second to none.

With a specialist focus on the non-profit and membership sector, Senate Media are the perfect partner for charities, trade unions, research bodies and trade associations. And an ideal match for a professional body like the Chartered IIA.

They can help you with everything from showcasing thought leadership material, to breaking down a difficult process or procedure and work to fair, competitive rates.

Here’s what their showreel looks like.

Conclusion

Kartoffel Films, in their article ‘Explainer Videos: What Are They And Why Are They Great?’, describe a good explainer video as being like a modern-day business card. In their words: “It’s a quick and easy way to connect with people, to get across what you’re about and how you can help them”. I couldn’t agree more.

What better advert for your business than a slick, summary video that tells customers everything they need to know about you in less than two minutes. Better that than a mountain of webpages, right?

In a world of shrinking attention spans and rising demand for help content, explainer videos really do make a difference. Question is: are you ready to invest?