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Explainer videos are animations that explain your product or service to potential customers.
They’re effective for converting web visitors into buyers. According to Internet Retailer, 85% of visitors are more likely to buy if they first saw an explainer video.
In this article, you’ll learn the best explainer video examples. From these examples, you’ll know how to use explainer videos to attract customers. And you’ll also learn the best practices for using animations to sell on the web.
There are 15 best explainer video examples I’d like to share with you in this article.
1. HubSpot
HubSpot is a marketing software company that sells a variety of marketing tools to businesses.
It would take a bit of time to explain everything HubSpot does with text or an ordinary video. But when HubSpot used an explainer video, they were able to quickly explain what the platform is about in less than 180 seconds.
This animated video is their most-viewed video on YouTube.
2. Ahrefs
The HubSpot explainer video was so successful that Ahrefs did something similar. But Ahrefs went further by making their animation more beautiful and shorter.
Ahrefs is one of the most popular and powerful SEO tools that digital marketers use. Marketers use the tool to analyse the organic search traffic of their websites.
Ahrefs used this explainer video to show how their tool can help online marketers drive more traffic from search engines.
This explainer video has received about 34,000 views on YouTube alone.
3. Intercom
Intercom is a customer messaging platform that allows businesses to manage all conversations on multiple marketing channels from a single place.
Intercom used this explainer video to demonstrate why every business needs its platform to manage conversations with customers.
The animation explains how the service would help you improve trust and loyalty in your business. It paints vivid pictures in the viewers’ minds.
4. Asana
Asana is my favourite project management tool. Even though I’d come across the tool multiple times, it wasn’t until I watched their explainer video that I decided to try Asana.
They did a great job combining animation and the screen recording of the app to make this explainer video.
The animation is clear. It shows their beautiful user interface. I switched from Trello to Asana after watching the video.
The explainer video is currently on their home page and posted on YouTube. Asana uses the intro to welcome visitors to its website before talking about the service.
5. PayPal
PayPal is an online banking company. And it’s popular worldwide. But the company didn’t see it that way in their explainer video. They used the video to explain what PayPal is and how it works.
After watching their animation, which is 1 minute and 13 seconds long, anyone would fully understand the way PayPal works.
The video is straightforward and answers most questions any potential user may have.
PayPal used this explainer video to talk about the steps to using its service. Viewers will learn where and how to sign up, how to add their financial information, and how to use the service to shop online.
They also use the video to guarantee users that they’re protected using the service. And if they don’t receive their goods or services from any merchant, PayPal will reimburse them.
By using the explainer video not only to promote but also calm the minds of potential users, PayPal would be able to lure more shoppers into using its payment services.
6. Braintree
Braintree is a division of PayPal. Their explainer video is even more interesting and educational than their parent company, which is why I decided to include it here.
Here’s Braintree’s animation:
Instead of trying to advertise their service, Braintree used the video to discuss how online payment works.
They used the explainer video to answer the questions most new entrepreneurs ask online: “How do I start accepting payments?”
Entrepreneurs who want to know the answer to that question would surely watch the video till the end. Braintree discussed “payment gateway” and what it means.
This is one of the best explainer video examples I’ve come across online.
7. Upwork
Upwork is a global freelancing platform where businesses and entrepreneurs can hire independent professionals from anywhere in the world.
Upwork has one of the best explainer videos. The video has a duration of 15 seconds.
Despite being short, the video is powerful and effective. Without even saying it in the video, they quickly display the talents you can hire on the platform.
The video was created to target people looking for social media strategists. But it still manages to show other skills like graphic designer, mobile developer, translator and others.
8. Chipotle
Chipotle’s “Back to the Start” animated video is one of the most successful explainer videos of all time. It puts the brand firmly on the map.
The animation illustrates the life of a farmer as he turns his family farm into an industrial animal factory before seeing the errors of his ways. He then returned to the sustainable approach of turning animals out to pasture.
The message in the explainer video is interesting and entertaining. The company used the video to make customers aware that it has shifted to more naturally grown produce, and that its beef, pork, and chicken are produced without antibiotics.
9. Headspace
While everyone knows the wonderful benefits of meditation, very few people do it. Headspace helped me to start meditating daily. And their animated video convinced me to start using the app.
I consider their video to be one of the best explainer video examples on this page. You would want to start meditating after watching the video.
The video explains how meditation works and how Headspace can help you make it a habit.
The video doesn’t just talk about the brand. It tells you the exact steps you need to take to get started.
10. Oracle
Oracle did a great job using this explainer video to educate potential customers on how to choose the best SaaS cloud service that’s ideal for their businesses.
You’ll notice that Oracle didn’t make the video to advertise their service. Instead, they want to teach customers how to spot problems with a provider.
Oracle used the video to outline questions customers should ask before migrating to a cloud service provider.
They advised them to ask questions like: how many data centres they have and if the data be kept within the boundary of a particular country for regulatory purposes?
Some customers may not have thought of that before choosing a provider. By providing potential customers with these questions and answering them, Oracle ensures that they’re likely to win the business of a potential customer.
11. Dropbox
Dropbox attributed most of its success today to a simple explainer video that describes their service.
Before recently redesigning their home page, all they had on it was an explainer video. The video helped Dropbox acquired 10 million customers.
After achieving so much success with the above video, Dropbox has published new explainer videos. They weren’t as popular as the first but still managed to convert a high percentage of visitors into customers.
12. Airbnb
Airbnb is a marketplace for arranging or offering lodging, primarily homestays, or tourism experiences. The company was founded in 2008, but never really took off until 2012.
The below explainer video is one of Airbnb’s commercials that made them become a household name.
The video has received over 5 million views on YouTube alone.
The animation was so cool that they had to show what happened behind-the-scenes at the end of the video. I consider it one of the best explainer video examples.
13. Casper
Casper went from zero to become a $100 million company in two years. The company completely reinvented mattresses. Their products are excellent and their customers love them.
In this explainer video, the company offers customers to try their mattresses for 100 nights.
That’s a bold statement to make in an explainer video. They also use the video to showcase their 2015 Time Magazine’s Best Inventions Award.
14. Slack
Right since its inception, the marketing team at Slack loves animations. Every time they redesign their home page, they always ensure that there’s an explainer video that explains their product.
The company goes even further with its use of animation. Its explainer videos are everywhere on YouTube, Facebook, and other marketing channels.
For example, there’s a short explainer video that teaches its users how to use Slack for mobile.
Slack is one of the most popular web and desktop apps. While users download its mobile version, many don’t use it.
The video has received about 250,000 views on YouTube and is currently their most popular video. The explainer video educates users on using the Slack mobile version.
15. Mint
Mint is a budget tracker and planner tool owned by Intuit.
After watching this explainer video, anyone who wants to better organize and plan their finances would sign up for the app immediately.
The video begins by asking a question: “How do you keep track of your financial life?”
The question is meant to get your attention instantly.
Then it goes on by offering the ineffective methods most people are currently using to organise their finances.
Then the video introduces Mint and offers reasons why it’s better and smarter.
It shows how to quickly sign up for the tool and set up your account. And even promise that it won’t take more than 5 minutes.
The explainer video sets the expectations for potential users. It’s been viewed over 700,000 times on YouTube alone.
Best Practices for Creating and Promoting Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are powerful content that can help you boost your overall marketing campaign.
You can use them anywhere. You can use them on your product pages, the home page of your site, landing page, and email messages to maximize your conversions.
Here are the best practices for creating and promoting animations that grow sales.
1. Create an outline
This is the first important step you must take when creating explainer videos. An outline should include the main essential points you want to reveal in the video.
Writers create an outline to get the overall picture of their article or book before writing a word. An outline is needed for an explainer video too.
2. Write the script
Start writing the script after creating the outline. The script contains everything you want to do or say in the outline.
You don’t need to have illustrations in place before writing the script. It’s the script that will determine what the illustration looks like and what it does.
How you write your script is crucial to the success of the video. Pack the most important stories or messages in the first 30 seconds. Make sure the first message or illustration holds viewers’ attention.
If the intro doesn’t capture people’s interest, most of them will leave within the first 2 – 10 seconds.
3. Make it short
The most successful explainer videos are short and to the point. Don’t ramble. If you do, you would lose viewers’ attention and won’t be able to convince them to buy.
Two of the best explainer video examples above aren’t longer than 15 seconds. Yet, they were able to get a lot of views.
4. Talk about the benefits
Your number one goal is to tell people what they’ll gain from choosing your product or service.
What’s in it for them? That’s all web users care about, and your explainer video should address that in the beginning.
Tell viewers the benefits. Let them know that they have nothing to lose.
Keep in mind that web users have low attention spans. It’s hard to keep their attention when there’s nothing in it for them.
Elville and Associates addresses the benefits of their services to potential clients the moment they start watching their videos.
5. Promote it on social media
If your business isn’t active on social media platforms, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with your audience on a deeper level. It’s easy to start and develop a relationship with anyone on social media. Your prospects are there.
In addition to being active on social channels, you should also share your explainer videos with your followers. It would further increase awareness for your business.
For example, Yumble Kids is a kid-friendly meal delivery service. They share interesting animations on Instagram. And lots of their followers, who are parents, comment on their posts.
Circle Surrogacy is a surrogacy agency based in Boston. Their animations receive the most engagements from their followers on Instagram.
6. Post it on your blog
If your company has an active blog that gets a decent number of visitors every month, you should publish animations there. Your readers would share them with their followers on social media channels.
For example, Blue Label Labs is a mobile app development agency based in New York. The agency creates explainer videos and shares them with their blog readership. Readers share the animations on social media, and it increases awareness for the business.
7. Hire a professional
You don’t have to become an animator or illustrator before you start using explainer videos to promote your business. There are affordable and talented illustrators out there who can get the job done for a reasonable price.
And that’s it! You’ve just learned about the best explainer video examples and how you can start using them for your business.
Investing in animations would spread the word about your business. Web users like sharing explainer videos with their friends and family. That’s because these videos are short, entertaining, and educating.
Here at Grow, we help small and medium-sized businesses formulate marketing plans and strategies that drive sales and revenue. Don’t hesitate to contact us today for your marketing needs.
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