As a B2B SaaS business, you should always be looking for ways to better engage your audience and promote your brand because the competition to grab customers’ and prospects’ attention is intense.
A reliable way to do that is with an animated explainer video.
According to a Forbes study, 56% of consumers believe a company's website must include video content.
As you can see, animated explainer videos are a great way to promote your brand and engage your target audience. Moreover, customers seem to prefer it.
In this guide, we will discuss 6 things you can do with an animated explainer video:
1. Use it for lead generation
Challenges: Lead generation is a difficult task in the B2B SaaS market because of the complexity of the products, which makes it hard for potential buyers to decide whether they should buy the product.
It can also be difficult to get them to sign up for a free trial, which is usually necessary before they can make that decision.
Explainer videos are great for B2B SaaS businesses for lead generation because they can be used to show the benefits of using a product.
With explainer videos, you can:
- Get viewers to watch a product explainer video and show them how your software works and how it can help their business.
- Explain the benefits of using animated explainer videos to the viewer. Otherwise, you'd have to force your customers to read a manual.
- Help the viewer visualize how their company could benefit from using your product.
Here is how they are used: First, create the explainer video and share it on your social media channels.
Next, use that video as a landing page to capture potential leads. Add a call-to-action at the end of your video to encourage your viewers to take immediate action and get them to do what you want them to do -- be it signing up for a free trial or downloading a white paper or e-book.
Watch this animated explainer video for lead generation, created using mixed media animation:
2. Use it for customer retention
Challenges: It's no secret that customer retention is a huge challenge for B2B SaaS businesses. It can be difficult to keep your customers happy and engaged when you're constantly trying to upsell them on new features and products.
But did you know that animated product explainer videos can be an effective tool for retaining customers?
B2B SaaS businesses can use explainer videos to:
- Bring your product's features and benefits to the attention of a wide audience.
- Keep viewers engaged with engaging and informative content.
- Improve SEO efforts by increasing the amount of time that users spend on a website and improving click-through rates.
This animated explainer video is created by Content Beta for BenefitFlow, the prospecting platform for sales teams that sell through benefits brokers. Utilizing practical examples, the video explains the features and benefits of the product.
3. Use it for brand awareness
Challenges: Information overload is a reality in today's digital world. As a result, it can be difficult for B2B SaaS businesses to stand out from their competitors and get their message across.
Animated explainer videos can help businesses grow and improve brand awareness. Over a billion videos are uploaded to YouTube every day, so standing out is essential.
B2B SaaS businesses can use explainer videos to:
- Make their brand memorable, and build trust with their audience.
- Increase engagement and reach more customers because they are easily shareable.
- Break through the noise and create better brand awareness.
Watch this entertaining animated explainer video from Zomato that explains what their brand is about:
4. Use it for customer education
Challenges: Getting their product or service in front of their target audience is one thing, but educating them on how to use it properly is a different kettle of fish.
B2B SaaS businesses can use explainer videos to:
- Engage viewers with informative and engaging content.
- Create a personal connection with the audience, show their personality, and explain complex topics in an easy-to-understand manner.
- Use humor and visuals to convey information in a memorable way to viewers.
In the end, the more information businesses provide their customers, the more likely they are to purchase their product or service. A business is more likely to realize customer lifetime value when customers use its product more frequently.
Moreover, finding new customers is a lot more expensive than retaining existing customers by helping them master your product and use it to solve their business problems.
Check out this animated explainer video from WordPress 301 ReDirects:
5. Use it for marketing
Challenges: Marketing is considered challenging in B2B SaaS business because it requires a different approach. The reason for this is that SaaS products are intangible; the value of the product is difficult to convey using conventional methods.
B2B SaaS businesses can use animated explainer videos as an effective marketing tool to:
- Introduce the company to new customers who might not be familiar with your brand.
- Explain in an engaging way why they are different from competitors.
- Improve SEO efforts by increasing the amount of time that users spend on a website and improving click-through rates.
Content Beta created this animated explainer video for Kore.ai. This SaaS explainer video takes the viewers through how their Experience Optimization platform helps improve conversations between customers and employees:
6. Use it for social media promotion
Challenges: B2B SaaS businesses should not be afraid of increasing their social media presence. One way they can do it is by using animated explainer videos to promote their products and services to a large audience on social media networks.
Animated explainer videos are a great way to:
- Ensure that a company's values, mission, and product or service benefits are communicated effectively.
- Engage with potential customers by providing them with a quick, fun, and easy-to-understand introduction to the product or service.
- Showcase your company's brand personality and values by posting your video on your social media channels and encouraging your followers to share it.
For example, this tweet from Content Beta shares 8 explainer video ideas for SaaS which can help businesses optimize their videos and increase signups and trial requests.
Wrapping up the article
Animated explainer videos are a great way to improve brand awareness and build trust with your audience.
These videos can be used in a variety of marketing campaigns, from landing pages and webinars to social media posts. They provide an effective and engaging way to tell your story and share your message with your target audience.
Finally, if you are not using them already, you should definitely consider doing so.