What you can learn from our Top 12 best explainer videos
You’re here for video inspiration, so you know a subpar or mediocre explainer won’t drive results for your business. A good video makes your audience think, feel something, and then act. Think, feel, do.
But before we get into examples, let’s talk about the one thing that the best explainer videos have in common, and why it’s vital if you’re thinking of using video for your business.
We’ve studied and created tons of top-notch explainer videos like the ones in this article, and we’ve learned a thing or two along the way. And if you don’t believe us 😉 We are recognized as a top Video Production Company on DesignRush.
At Explainify, we see a lot of clients who know exactly what style video they want, but that’s usually the extent of the planning. That’s what many companies get wrong about video. Flash forward a few months and they have no idea how it’s performing or if they’re getting any return on their investment.
How do the top-notch explainer videos in this article make that happen? They’re grounded in solid strategy and concrete goals that guide video creation and how it’s used.
That’s how you create a video that makes it onto our list—by setting it up for success long before you start pricing out agencies and thinking about scripts.
While the popcorn pops, we’ll cover everything you need to do before you start thinking about aesthetics and animation styles. Then we’ll unveil the explainers that scored a coveted spot on our list.
If you’d like help figuring out how to make sure your explainer video can be tied to your business goals. Send us a message to chat about the best way to do that for your business. Book a free 30-minute call
4 Steps to Take Build Your Video Strategy
A lot of planning and goal-setting goes into the best explainer videos—before they ever approach a video creation agency. If you want to build a homerun explainer video like our picks below, let’s talk about what you need to do, think about, and plan for, before you create a video.
1. Educate Stakeholders on the Value of Video
As a marketer, you know how valuable a well-executed video can be for your business. But your boss? Does she get it? What about her boss?
A winning strategy for your video is built from the input of a lot of stakeholders—so is your budget. That’s why the very first step is to get everyone on the same page.
Plenty of today’s professionals think video marketing is cool or “the future,” but few really understand what it can do for your business or how powerful video can be. Before you can develop a strategy complete with realistic goals and a plan for how to use the video, you need to educate all of the stakeholders on the project.
2. Plan for How You’ll Promote Your Video Before Hand
A lot of people think videos can just magically drive leads, but they’re only as effective as the plan you’ve put in place to promote and use them. Videos are a tool you can use in a variety of ways—and how you’ll use it plays a big part in helping you figure out what information to include, what the tone should be, how long to make the video, and more.
We may be stating the obvious, but a video that you plan to share on your company’s social media is probably going to be shorter than a video that you would share in an email campaign.
Similarly, a video that is meant to give step by step instructions on how to use your product will take more time than a promo video of said product. Which leads us to our next point…
3. Make Sure You Pick the Right Type of Video for Your Brand
Explainer videos typically fall into one of three categories:
- A brand explainer video shows the audience what your business is all about—your mission, who you serve, and what products or services you offer. These are designed to be used at the top of your marketing or sales funnel, when leads are just learning about your company.
- A product explainer video gives specific instructions and details on how a particular product works, making it easier for customers to envision the product and, ultimately, use it.
- A sales explainer video can draw on brand and product information but it’s designed more for conversion—to target leads in the bottom of your sales funnel—and often used by the sales team.
4. Know Your Target Audience
Without proper audience research and segmentation, your video can easily fall on deaf ears, even if you get promotion right. Our picks for best explainer videos all start by targeting a very specific group of people.
Everything about your video, from the animation style to how long it should be, is driven by your target audience.
It’s vital that you know who those people are—that you understand their needs, their struggles, and what makes them tick. How does your brand or product fit into their lives? How do they talk about products like yours? How do they talk about their problem? Where will they come into contact with your brand and, ultimately, the video?
Before your video can make them think, feel something, and eventually do something, it needs to speak to that audience exclusively.
Key Takeaways from the Best Explainer Videos of 2019
Now that you know what the best explainer videos are made of, at long last and without further ado, here are our picks for the best explainer videos of 2019—to inspire your 2020 plans.
The Best Brand Explainer Videos
Awwwards.
- Type of video: Brand explainer
- Why we love it: Changing anything to a brand can be tricky. So, when Awwwards updated their logo they took this challenge head-on with a fun, short, and captivating video. It held the attention of the viewer while informing them of the new look for the Awwwards logo.
The Best Product Explainer Videos
The Neck Hammock
- Type of video: Product explainer
- Why we love it: The video keeps it simple—It showcases the product and how it works well. You’re able to see and easily relate to the scenarios in the animation.
- Type of video: Product explainer
- Why we love it: LinkedIN’s video takes the viewer “behind the scenes” of what searching for a job on their site looks like and how it’s easy and beneficial for the viewer.
Delta-Q
- Type of video: Product explainer
- Why we love it: The stylized product and use-cases make this video beautiful and unique. The design educates the viewer about the product, its ability to scale, and vehicle use-case so it’s that the viewer can see how Delta-Q is the only charging solution for them.
The Best Sales Explainer Videos
CentralApp
- Type of video: Sales explainer
- Why we love it: CentralApp does a great job of relating to the audience’s pain point while quickly providing a solution that makes taking the next steps an easy, “yes”!
GatherUp
- Type of video: Sales explainer
- Why we love it: This video is about people – the consumer and the business owner. We see that a big asset for any business is its reviews but gathering these reviews would normally seem like a challenge, right? Well, not with GatherUp!
Decibel Insight
- Type of video: Sales explainer
- Why we love it: This video devotes a larger than average amount of time speaking to the customer’s struggle, so viewers are ready to hear about Decibel’s solution and what it can do for their analytics and marketing.
Get a Head Start by Talking to an Expert
If you haven’t planned or created an explainer video before, we know all of the above can feel overwhelming. It’s tough to know what to expect from the creation process and the end result.
That’s why you can always give yourself a little head start by talking to an Explainify video expert to better understand your options and the best way to set your video up for success. Book a free 30-minute call with us.
