When it comes to content creation, explainer videos are gaining major ground. In the next few years, they may even be the most important (or one of the most important) aspects of your inbound marketing plan. Video content will account for 69% of all web traffic by 2017, according to Cisco. That's not nearly as shocking as the 92% of B2B customers who watch videos online.
We've highlighted these facts before. Video marketing is the future. But what kind of video marketing content should you be creating? There are several different types of explainer videos, and each one has a specific goal. Let's take a look at these different video types and how you can create them.
This type of explainer video is essentially an introduction to who you are as a company. It highlights your benefits and features and introduces some of your products or services. Imagine you encounter a prospect in an elevator. You have 30 seconds to wow them. What is the most important information you should tell them? What would make them want to learn more about your company? Thirty seconds is key here. We're human, we have short attention spans. So keep it brief and to the point.
An explainer video does just that—it explains how to do something that would be useful to your customer. It doesn't have to be directly linked to your product or service. Remember that inbound marketing is all about establishing yourself as an authority and expert from your customer's perspective. Create videos that are helpful and educational with a clear call to action that give them an opporunity to learn more.
These videos are excellent ways to educate your prospects and turn them into customers. Use this type to deal with common objections that your sales team faces on a daily basis and offer solutions to work around them. Create real world scenarios that they can relate to. Act out a skit that shows a real life sales scenario in their industry. Infuse it with some humor while also offering helpful solutions.
Create a video that is all hype. Make it upbeat, exciting, motivating, inspirational. The goal of this type of video is to get people excited about something—whether it's a major industry change or an amazing new feature of your product or service. We'll say it again: this video is all about excitement. Don't bore your audience with too many facts about yourself. That's salesy, and nobody wants to watch a salesy buzz video.
An extremely useful video to share with your prospects (once you have qualified them, of course) is a proposal process video. This video type explains what they can expect from working with you. The best way to get your message across with this type of video is to animate it the process.
Use real-life characters too, whether that's you or a coworker or average Joe. People like a story.
If you don't have the technology or know-how to create your own professional looking video, then hire this service out.
Takeaway: there's a lot of flexibility when creating explainer videos. Be creative and keep your customer in mind. Your videos should be valuable resources to them. If you play your cards right, they might even share it with their friends! How great would that be?