How Do You Choose the Best Explainer Video Company?

Choosing the Best Explainer Video Company: Setting Your Goals

In order to choose the best explainer video company to work with, it’s best to set your goals and expectations ahead of time. If you’re completely new to video and need guidance, evaluate a video partner by their ability to ask detailed questions and offer you insightful recommendations. If you work with a team that simply takes orders without providing any expertise, you’re putting yourself in a position of risk — which is fine if you have plenty of knowledge on video creation but dangerous if you’re unfamiliar with the process.

Think about what you would most want a video to do (as part of your marketing strategy), what exactly you want to explain or promote, and how you’ll know that you’ve achieved your goal with the video (success criteria). Will it be successful if your CMO says she loves it? Will it be successful if you are able to use it in multiple places? Will it be successful if it helps you bring in email leads? The more information that you can give to the video company, the better they’ll be able to serve you in the creation of the product.

 

Choosing the Best Explainer Video Company: Working with People Who Care About Your Brand

You can work with any video company you want — one that is experienced in hundreds of styles, one that is boutique and focused on customization, one that is simple and straightforward — but all that matters is that you work with people who genuinely care about your brand. If they’re only focused on a paycheck or their own artistic vision, you may end up with an explainer video that is unusable or doesn’t serve your purposes. Here’s how to tell if a video company cares about your brand:

  1. They do their homework. They ask you lots of questions up front, probe into your strategy (maybe even help you build a strategy!), and read up on your business through your website or any materials you send.
  2. They present options for style and make recommendations based on what you tell them… and they remember what you’ve chosen. They are always offering advice but are careful to hear everything you have to say (because they are keen on learning as much as they can about your brand and business).
  3. They educate you about their process and ensure that you will have plenty of opportunities to provide feedback and approval. They want to make sure you’re getting what you ask for and that it will ultimately work for its intended purpose.

Choosing a video company to work with can often be reduced to pricing, but there is so much more to consider — especially when you’re spending money on an asset that can serve you for years to come! You may want to keep within your budget, but don’t sell yourself short by working with a company that puts their interests in front of yours.

 

Choosing the Best Explainer Video Company: Focusing on Risk Reduction

When you’ve decided to spend a certain amount to create an explainer video, the next step is figuring out how to reduce your risk. In addition to interviewing companies to ensure that they care about your brand (as discussed above), you’ll want to ask the following questions.

 

3 Questions to Ask an Explainer Video Company Before You Hire Them

  1. What is your feedback and revision process? In other words, how many opportunities will you have to make changes to the script, voiceover, and video? How much time will you have to review? How quickly will changes be made, and who is in charge of ensuring that they are made correctly? How strict is the video company on deadlines, and can they guarantee that your deadline will be met? What happens if it isn’t?
  2. Who is the point person on this project? It’s worthwhile to know who will be giving you updates and can answer any questions you have during the process. You should get one or two people assigned to your project (two is better, so nothing falls through the cracks) and have their contact information.
  3. Will you get to keep the video files? Who owns the video? This is a question most people never think to ask because they have no idea that they would need to. You may engage with a company and only be able to license the video from them instead of owning it. If you want to own your video and all the files, make it clear. The video company may not automatically deliver all the files to you, but you’ve paid for them, so don’t walk away without them. Those assets are graphic elements that can be used in other parts of your marketing.

You also want to make sure that the video company you choose has insurance in the event of errors or omissions that cause you damage. Getting the answers to these questions will help you understand how the process will work and whether or not the company you’re speaking with is worth hiring.

Intro - What Is an Explainer Video, & How Should It Be Used?
CHAPTER 1 - Why Do You Need An Explainer Video?
CHAPTER 7 - How Do I Choose the Best Explainer Video Company?

How to Find the Best Explainer Video Company For Your Business

So, your company is looking to make an explainer video. But you’re not quite sure where to start.

If you’re like a lot of people, you might Google “explainer video company” and read a few reviews.

But, before you go with the cheapest option or the company your coworker’s husband’s boss used for his side gig.

Think about this: the explainer video company that suited your coworker’s husband’s boss may not be the right fit for you.

A lot goes into choosing the explainer video company that best meets your needs, including considerations like budget, level of customization, and industry expertise.

The right video production company doesn’t just make cool videos. They have a process that works for you and your team. They have experience in the type of video you need. They can take your product and turn it into a concise and impactful video that turns into sales.

At the end of the day, the best explainer video company for you is the one that can create a professional video that does what you need it to do.

Working with that company will lead to the best experience and the best returns from your explainer video efforts.

Here, we dive into everything you should consider to help choose the right explainer video company for you.

How to Choose the Best Explainer Video Company for You

Ideally, you want to work with a company that has relevant experience and a great portfolio of past work. Visiting the company’s website and looking at their past work should give you a good handle on those.

But something you may not be able to tell from their portfolio is this: does the video company get your business?

To build the best end result—a video that speaks to your unique market and in your brand’s own language—the production company needs to have a firm grasp on the ethos and goals of your business.

The best way to dig into this is to have a conversation with the video company and the people who will be creating your video.

Once you narrow down your options based on those things, there are a few other factors to think about like:

  • Industry and strategic expertise
  • Customization
  • Video production and feedback process
  • Price

We dive into each of those four factors below.

Industry and Strategic Expertise

High-quality, professional video is a must for your explainer, and it involves a lot more than great visuals.

Strict video quality is a given these days—so expertise is what sets the best explainer video companies a notch above the rest.

A valuable explainer video says what you need it to say. It speaks to your customers, in their language. And, of course, it looks professional, too.

When you’re looking at explainer video companies, take a look at their past portfolio of work. Do the videos look professional?

Can the company provide case studies or testimonials about how their work has performed for clients? Are they knowledgeable about your industry, market, and unique needs?

All of this is just as important as their technical video skill.

When we talk about video expertise, we’re actually looking at two different things:

  • Industry or niche experience
  • Strategic expertise

Experience in your niche means that the company already knows how to speak to your customers and about products like yours.

They know what it takes to explain and market in your industry.

That makes the process easier for you because you won’t have to educate the video team on every detail—they’re starting off with a strong foundation.

Strategic expertise is a little different, and it’s based on what you want your video to do. Some explainer video companies are great at making videos that drive brand awareness.

Some are better at conversion-oriented videos. The best video company for you has demonstrated expertise in meeting goals similar to yours for past clients.

Customization

In the explainer video world, there are 2 main categories of video: template and custom.

Template videos have their place and they often come at a lower price point than their customized friends.

On the flipside, template videos aren’t branded or unique to your company in any visual way.

If you work with an explainer video company that does custom work, you can more precisely tailor the visuals, images, and script to your brand and audience.

Video Production and Feedback Process

When the explainer video company you choose has the production and feedback elements down, your experience working with them will be a lot smoother.

Ask any companies you’re considering what their process looks like from start to finish, including timeline, milestones, and feedback opportunities.

What does that include?

  • Your timeline and the video producers’ timeline need to match up
  • You want plenty of opportunities to provide feedback throughout the production process. After all, the video needs to do and say what you need it to.
  • The right explainer video company doesn’t preach to you about video—they listen and work with you to create the best end product for your company.

Price

As much as any of us may wish otherwise, your budget is an important factor to take into account. You can’t spend money you don’t have, even if it promises to boost revenue down the line.

The important thing to keep in mind is, with explainer videos and most other things, you do usually get what you pay for.

That means if a video production company offers you prices that seem too good to be true, they probably are.

If you can afford a top-notch explainer video company, remember that it’s an investment in your brand and your company’s goals.

Custom Explainer Video Companies

Custom explainer video companies are just what they sound like. They design every aspect of your explainer video from scratch.

That means it’s 100% custom and tailored to your business.

Custom explainers are more effective because the characters are your customers, the message is your brand’s, and the entire video drives toward your specific business goals.

A custom explainer video usually comes with a more premium price and the timeline for animation from scratch can be longer, but the time and money are both worthwhile investments in your business.

When a Custom Explainer Video is Best

  • You need an explainer to drive toward a specific business goal or success metric
  • You know who your audience is, and you want characters your customers will relate to
  • You want a video that’s infused with your brand and its ethos from head-to-toe

Template Explainer Video Companies

Some explainer video companies use ready-made templates to create explainer videos. They take existing graphics, characters, and script elements, and combine them to create your video.

There are a few drawbacks with this kind of video.

For one, templates aren’t created with your brand or your customers in mind, so they can’t speak to your audience in a way that’s tailored to your customers and their struggles.

On top of that, since the graphics and characters used aren’t exclusive to your video, there can be issues with copyright and ownership of your explainer.

When a Template Explainer Video Makes Sense

All of that being said, explainer video companies that use templates can usually crank out videos faster than companies that create your video from scratch.

So if you need an explainer video made quickly, a template company may make sense for you.

The Best Explainer Video Company for Your Business

When it comes to creating an animated explainer video for your business, you have a lot of companies to choose from.

From pricing and customization to industry and strategic experience, there’s a lot to consider.

But one thing is overwhelmingly clear: taking the time to figure out which explainer video company is right for you is the best way to set your project up for success.

Click here to learn more about how we can help you, with your explainer video! 

7 Explainer Videos for Science

7 Explainer Videos for Science

Producing an exceptional explainer video for your scientific subject matter doesn’t have to be difficult.

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