Explainer Videos

[Alan]

Hi,

We are thinking that we have difficulty in getting across why what we do is different to the norm on our website. We have no problem when we explain to potential clients face to face, they instantly get it.

So we are thinking about getting an animated explainer video produced, but with no experience of procuring such services.

So looking for any tips that people my have, e.g. what is the ideal length etc or even do you have recommended providers.

Thought?

 

[JonathanSEO]

Shorter the better. People have short attention spans. So sub 60 seconds.

But a video should only ever be supplemental not the main way of getting the message across so you should probably work on a clear value proposition and key points on what you offer to be displayed prominently on your homepage.

 

[Ashley_Price]

When you say "animated" do you mean like a cartoon, or similar?

If so, then these can be very expensive as the drawing/filming process takes a very long time.

You might find it's actually easier (and a heck of a lot cheaper) just to do a live action video.

 

[jennyporteous]

Have a look at Videoscribe from Sparkol (I can't post URLS but you can find them through Google).

 

[Alan]

When you say "animated" do you mean like a cartoon, or similar?

If so, then these can be very expensive as the drawing/filming process takes a very long time.

You might find it's actually easier (and a heck of a lot cheaper) just to do a live action video.

Yes, I mean the sort with text flying around and bouncing in and out and perhaps cartoon style depecition of the message.

I know that I can get a video done of me talking cheaply (A local video firm offers that for around £300) but I don't think it would be appealing - by expensive - any ball parks?

 

[Alan]

Have a look at Videoscribe from Sparkol (I can't post URLS but you can find them through Google).

Yes perhaps a whiteboard video might be a good way.

 

[Ashley_Price]

I mean the sort with text flying around and bouncing in and out

Just as an aside. I don't think that would be a good idea, if there's text on the screen it is meant to convey a message and be read. Text "flying around" just makes it look overly busy. If the text is an animation, then it shouldn't be there.

 

[fisicx]

Yes perhaps a whiteboard video might be a good way.

Will you be doing it in your Mel Brookes voice?

 

[Alan]

@fisicx lol, I thought I'd use Sean Connery, I'll check if he is free.

@Ashley I didn't really mean bouncing around - I meant more like this sort of Whiteboard explainer - http://vimeo.com/61682362?width=640&height=480 - opinions, would something like this be effective / valuable asset?

 

[Gord]

my 10p worth.

Yes, I mean the sort with text flying around and bouncing in and out and perhaps cartoon style depecition of the message.

I think your website represents simple, effective, professional service that you offer. There is a danger that stuff moving around on there might actually take away from this. If you do go down that route, I think would need to be subtle & simply re-enforce the message the website gives, rather than be the message itself, as has been said earlier.

I know that I can get a video done of me talking cheaply (A local video firm offers that for around £300) but I don't think it would be appealing

Well yes. If your offer IS appealing and different , then you can make that point with a video but why people should trust you more than others is possibly more important.
Seems to me you are offering a relatively cheap, "hassle free" package to new businesses so I would say if you go down this route you would probably want half a dozen or so customers making the points. It's all about price and trust imho.

Maybe something more along these lines. It has Commercial director video stating aims at the top of the page & customer feedback at the bottom.
http://www.yourpowergridplan.com/#!our_stakeholders

 

[webvideo]

Interesting thread. There are many ways to handle something like this several of which have been discussed there are others.

The 'animated' or motion graphics option works extremely well in certain circumstances. They are good for explaining concepts, lists of facts and so forth in quirky, fun manner. The downside is that they are impersonal and can be expensive.

Having a simple video of say yourself explaining your company, it's services, ethos etc would certainly be cheap but could be a little stale. You could do a 'presenter' style video, an actor or actress in front of a green screen rig, explaining your company with images/footage/text relevant to what they are saying. This can be very effective but is more suited to large organisations.

Looking at your website it seems to me that you are a small local firm that provides a personal service, not a large provider of generic websites. Your video should reflect that, make people feel at ease, as if they already know you, so it builds trust. Have yourselves talking about your services, mixed with footage of you at work, the office (shed, I like that), visiting a client, build familiarity before they even email or phone you. You could have video testimonials as well or instead or included. Client talking about your great service cut with footage of their website. Get peoples attention in a gentle way, nice and relaxed without being to long, with good information but it has to be well shot and edited. As for length keep it short!
Hope that gives you some other ideas.

 

[crystalballltd]

We've just had ours completed by Wyzowl. (Based in Southport)
Great team and we are really happy with the results which you can see by clicking the link below:
Lone Worker Protection Mobile App by Crystal Ball

 

[Alan]

Did they write the script?

 

[crystalballltd]

They do offer script writing as part of their services, however as our offering is a fairly technical product, we opted to write it ourselves.

 

[BusyVids]

Most marketing videos should not exceed 3 minutes. Explainer videos, and tutorials can be longer at around 4-5 minutes. These days videos can be created as whiteboard, screen capture, 3D HD, animated and Powerpoint. Explainers are best created using screen capture software like Camtasia, as this will allow you to take the viewer on a tour of your website and explain everything as you go along.

You will need to provide a rough guide for the script, so the video team know what to film and the writer knows what to write for the voiceover script. You should then be sent a copy of the script for your approval before production begins. You will have the choice or recording the script yourself or the video production company can have this professionally recorded for you.

Expect to pay around £200 for a 4-5 minute explainer video. Let me know if you need any further information.

 

[Alan]

Personally I think 3 to 4 minutes is too long. Having done a lot of research into this now, I find that I switch off at about 45-50 seconds!!!

Maybe there is a gap in understanding what I mean by an explainer video, what I was referring to was was a marketing video to headline a website.

I have built many tutorial videos explaining how to do technical things with screen recording (I use the open source camstudio for that as no polishing is required, just my dulcet tones saying click here and capture the screen as I go) those do take 3 or 4 minutes more often or not, but then they are not for marketing purposes.

 

[BusyVids]

Personally I think 3 to 4 minutes is too long. Having done a lot of research into this now, I find that I switch off at about 45-50 seconds!!!

Maybe there is a gap in understanding what I mean by an explainer video, what I was referring to was was a marketing video to headline a website.

I have built many tutorial videos explaining how to do technical things with screen recording (I use the open source camstudio for that as no polishing is required, just my dulcet tones saying click here and capture the screen as I go) those do take 3 or 4 minutes more often or not, but then they are not for marketing purposes.

3-4 minutes (for explainer videos) is not really very long if what you are watching is interesting. If what you are watching is boring then it can seem like an age. It's like the old saying about long-form sales letters. They can never be too long only too boring. 3-4 minutes is only one and a half pages of written script.

General marketing videos should be around 2-3 minutes long and include lots of visuals, clear interesting voice (not monotone), and include a backing soundtrack. If it is to go on your website then it can be as short as you want. If you want to put it on Youtube, get it ranked and get free traffic then 3 minutes is better because longer videos rank better.

(It's just my view, which is based on my experience of successfully creating marketing videos for almost 3 years now).

 

[Alan]

Maybe I just have a short attention span

 

[PIngels]

I agree with BusyVids that 3-4 minutes is not really very long if what you are watching is interesting but it has to be really engaging and not loaded with to much information (which is not easy to accomplish)

We did this video to explain the role of visual communication in content marketing.

Online Spaghetti Demystified

Although we received a lot positive feedback for the animation and it paid for itself in terms of lead generation there was a feeling that it was a bit to long (and I agree).

Just something to consider as well: we re-purposed the illustrations from the video and produced a SlideShare presentation as well as posters that we uploaded to Facebook, Twitter, Behance and Pinterest which also drove leads.
It is well worth investing in quality visuals.

 

[Alan]

Well, to be honest, I really wanted to give your video a chance, but at 1 minute 46 it lost my attention despite forcing myself to watch. To be fair I tried again 1 hour later, interesting it was the same 1 minute 46 where I really struggled to keep my attention.

For me, it was all too slow and nothing really interesting for me, but then I know as much or maybe more about the subject than the creator, so I'm not an ideal measure.

 

[PIngels]

Well, to be honest, I really wanted to give your video a chance, but at 1 minute 46 it lost my attention despite forcing myself to watch. To be fair I tried again 1 hour later, interesting it was the same 1 minute 46 where I really struggled to keep my attention.

Fair enough - it would be interesting to know what you think of this one (roughly the same technique but another theme - just over 4 minutes long)

Where good ideas come from

 

[Alan]

Obviously you tapped into one of my personal core values - development of ideas.

I actually got to 4:06 before hitting the pause.

2 comments
1. voice over was very good, good script and good intonation in the voice
2. the writing hand was VERY annoying. That has made me decide I would definitely NOT use the white board writing hand in an explainer video, if I produced one.

Thanks for your input so far.

 

[MokaBox]

Really interesting thread this.

My company started producing videos at the start of this year (shameless plug - explainer videos using professional presenters on a green screen...).

We initially offered "1 subject videos" that lasted just over 1 minute, "two subject videos", that last 1:30 - 2:00 minutes, and "three subject videos" that last 2:00 - 2:30 minutes.

The short one minute videos are overwhelmingly the most popular, not because they cost less - but because almost everybody agreed that anything longer loses the viewer's retention.

I agree with BusyVids point that a lot depends on the quality of the video of course (and btw think that he has an awesome youtube offer!) but it is very expensive to produce a video that is so good that viewers will watch it for more than a couple of minutes. Businesses want something short, to the point, AND cost effective.

 

[benwilkie]

From our experience, I agree that 3-4 minutes tends to be too long for a first attempt at gaining someone's attention. However if someone is actually interested in your product then 1 minute is too short.

My two pence would be actually to create two videos. A short 45-60 second introduction which gets the facts out in an attention grabbing way, followed by a longer 3 minute explainer with more of the benefits and features you can offer.

Both of these videos I'd suggest a presented piece to camera but cut-aways to footage of sites or clients/etc as appropriate to keep things interesting. You do need to get the personal side across if you want to make an impact against your competition. Website companies can sometimes come across very corporate and 'hide behind the code' and you want to break that.

Then push the first video to everyone, as it's only short they'll hopefully watch the entire thing, and at the end link people through to the longer video if they want to see more.

As you can film all the content back to back and realistically editing wouldn't take too much more time than just creating the one video, you shouldn't find the cost of producing two videos like this too much more than just the one on it's own.

We're only in Guildford if you want to meet up for a chat and talk through some options on what may work for you.

Ben