Back in the early days of advertising, television became the way to communicate a brand’s message and products to the masses. The combination of sight and sound blew away the effectiveness of print and radio ads.

Fast forward about 75 years and video marketing has become the rock star. It’s much easier to distribute videos than ever and get your message out there.

With explainer videos, you can introduce your brand and your products and services. For all types of businesses, an explainer video can be an important part of your arsenal.

What are explainer videos and why are they so effective? Read on to find out.

What Are Explainer Videos?

Explainer videos are short, sometimes animated, videos that introduce people to your brand and your products or services.

They’re a great fit for B2B services because they can distill what your product is about and how it can benefit customers in just a few minutes. These videos aren’t just reserved for B2B companies, though.

B2C companies that promote a product or app have found explainer videos to be useful in communicating the company’s message to the masses.

You can see great examples of explainer videos, including this one from Mint, this one from Unroll.Me, and this one from Pinterest. From these videos, you know what these companies do in about 2 minutes.

Not only that, but people are more likely to remember the content of the video than from text itself. It’s a great way to cut across the noise of the current marketing landscape and be memorable.

What is it about explainer videos that make them so memorable and effective? Let’s take a look at the psychology behind these explainer videos.

The Psychology Behind Explainer Videos

Videos have long been an effective means to communicate your message. Companies that use video are growing revenue faster than ones that don’t.

With videos, you can appeal to a person’s visual and auditory senses. This enables you to create an emotional connection faster than just having a blog post.

With explainer videos, they can be even more effective because they have the following elements.

They’re Short and Sweet

Collectively speaking, our attention spans have dropped as we have more demands competing for our attention. The latest numbers show that the average attention span is about 8 seconds. Yep, that’s actually lower than a goldfish.

A person will see that a video is short, and they’re likely to stick around. If they saw that your video is long, say about 8 minutes, they may come back to it later.

Explainer videos cut to the chase. Well-executed videos are about to capture a viewer’s attention and keep their attention for the entire video.

Explainer Videos Get the Problem and Offer a Solution

Take a look at the videos from Mint, Pinterest, and Unroll.me. You can easily tell what the problem is and how the specific product or services solve that problem.

That’s at the heart of explainer videos. They know their core audience so well, that they can speak directly to their issues and communicate exactly how they can solve them.

This is an opportunity for you to get crystal clear on what problem you solve for people. How can you tell that story in just a few seconds?

You Can Back Up Your Points with Data

Not only can you speak to the problems your product or service solves for people, but you can also back that up with hard data.

There’s a big difference between reading charts and graphs and having statistics in animated form. It’s easier for people to digest and understand.

These numbers will build credibility for your company, too.

Your Brand Shows Through

You can also communicate your brand’s personality in explainer videos. Some videos like for The Dollar Shave Club have explainer videos that are edgy, which is true to the brand. Others are much more fun and engaging.

If you look at other explainer videos, you’ll want to ask yourself what their brand is about. You can then think about your brand and how you can bring your brand’s personality to the video.

A Video Is Really a Powerful Story

Believe it or not, an explainer video is really about telling a good story. Part of the psychology behind the effectiveness of video is that stories are 22 times more likely to be remembered than plain old facts.

Explainer videos allow you to tell a story about your prospect and how they have a problem. You then demonstrate how your product or service solves that problem in an engaging way.

That’s a story that people will remember and relate to because you’re telling their story. When the right person views that video, they’ll watch it and think, “Hey, that’s me!” They’ll be much more likely to buy your product.

That’s why you’ll see statistics that show that using explainer videos will increase conversions. You’re telling people what they already know about themselves.

Add Explainer Videos to Your Marketing Toolbox

People have been fascinated by moving pictures for over 100 years. Over time, that’s evolved into marketing and advertising. Businesses are turning to videos to get their message out and let people know about their brand.

With explainer videos, all types of businesses can create simple, concise animated shorts that cut through the marketing noise that help your business be remembered.

Are you ready to get started and add explainer videos to your marketing? Contact us to find out more about our videography services.