The 5 Best Explainer Videos (& How to Make Your Own)

Explainer videos are brief, engaging videos that explain an idea or concept. They are effective tools for businesses to showcase their products and services to potential customers.

They can also be used to educate and inform customers about the company's offerings or provide a detailed overview of a product or service.

These videos are popular with B2B brands because they reduce customer support costs. According to a study by popupsmart.com, 53% of businesses admit that videos helped them reduce support queries.

This blog post is divided into 3 sections:

• The first part presents 5 great examples of explainer videos.
• The second part is about hiring an external explainer video service.
• The third part offers tips on how your business can create explainer videos internally.

PART I: 5 Best Examples of Explainer Videos

Explainer videos use animation and stunning visuals to quickly grab the attention of audiences and hold their interest long enough to deliver the necessary information. In addition, explainer videos help do the following:

The best explainer videos have the following characteristics in common: A clear and concise script; engaging visuals; appropriate length; captivating storytelling; and authentic voices.

We present our choice of 5 of the best explainer videos based on these factors:

1. Xoxoday Plum

This explainer video example is created by Explainer Video Hero for Xoxoday Plum, a rewards, incentives, benefits, and payouts company. The platform simplifies businesses' rewards programs while making end-users' experiences delightful.

The video is a great showcase for longer videos. Given the complexity of the task in this case, a shorter video would not have worked.

The cheerful host sounds more like a university professor than a voiceover artist, adding a touch of magic to the proceedings. The explanations are simple and well supported by the UI and animations. In the end, you have an animated explainer video that leaves you with a feeling that it could have been much longer! Simply put, this video is in-depth, unhurried, and engaging.

Duration: 5 minutes 46 seconds

2. UpSend

The UpSend platform allows you to redesign your business by optimizing your customer engagement workflow while streamlining customer service into a seamless experience.

If you are interested in learning how to make good use of custom illustrations and product UI, this is the right explainer video example for you. The icons are also carefully chosen.

The kaleidoscope of colors and flowing animations make the video stand out visually by a mile. What about the content? Again the voiceover does a competent job of keeping up with the relentless action in presenting a well-rounded viewing experience for the viewers.

Duration: 1 minute 10 seconds

3. JustCall X HubSpot

JustCall's integration with HubSpot provides an efficient and convenient way to keep track of conversations with customers. It allows recordings, transcripts, and comments to be neatly logged in a customer's profile, so when they contact you, you can easily pick up where you left off.

This integration also provides automated SMS options based on call outcomes, timestamps, categories, and more, saving teams hundreds of hours and streamlining the sales process.

There have been explainer videos where the narrator dominates the screen or animations take center stage. In this video, however, the precise use of UI is the highlight, and this aspect is what connects with viewers.

All in all, this is another example of how versatile animated explainer videos are, and how they offer more than one option to tell your story.

Duration: 1 minute 3 seconds

4. Surfer

Surfer provides a comprehensive suite of SEO tools to assist content creators in the content creation process. From planning to writing to optimizing content, Server's Content Planner, Content Editor, and SERP Analyzer tools can help streamline the process, enhance content quality, and increase ranking potential.

How do you explain a complex subject that is difficult for most people to get their heads around? We know explainer videos can describe practically any subject under the Sun engagingly by breaking it down into easily digestible chunks.

Well, that's only half the job done and leaves a more important task -- presenting those choice morsels simply and tastefully. Find a genial host and product screenshots, and what you have is an explainer video that yet again proves that you can stick to the basics and still produce a great video.

Duration: 2 minutes 30 seconds

5. Code Climate

By leveraging engineering intelligence, Code Climate enables organizations to unleash the full potential of their developers. All customer data stores are backed up automatically and audit logs of all activity are produced and sent to centralized storage for analysis.

The most striking feature of this animated explainer video example, produced by Content Beta, is its clean looks. The animations and the UI are top-notch and are presented to the viewers using a helpful voiceover that enhances the UX by ably complementing the visual elements.

The choice of colors is apt as it represents the company’s brand colors and helps customers associate the colors with the brand.

Duration: 1 minute 44 seconds

Part II: Hiring Explainer Video Services

Explaining the benefits of a product or service can be a daunting task if you do not know how to create an explainer video.

In this section, we will discuss how a top explainer video service like Explainer Video Hero can help B2B brands simplify complex information by quickly breaking down complex topics into easily digestible snippets that viewers can grasp quickly as well as retain and recall the information.

1. Finding a quality video service provider

When choosing an explainer video service provider, there are a variety of factors to consider. Most notably, the following questions as well as those on our checklist.

• Are they available to answer questions throughout the process?
• Do they offer assistance in strategizing and scripting the content for your video?
• Do they offer discounts or promotional specials?
• How long will it take for them to complete your project? Better yet, request an estimated timeline beforehand so that you know when you can expect a deliverable.

In addition to the above points, use the following checklist to find and select a quality video service provider:

2. Hiring a top animated explainer video service

Explainer Video Hero (EVH) is a top explainer video company that has created high-quality explainer videos for top B2B brands around the world.

Their explainer video services offered via remote video production can create customer education videos which include SaaS explainer videos, customer onboarding videos, 3d animated explainer videos, explainer video animations, 30 second explainer videos, and so on.

They follow a fixed explainer video pricing policy and their explainer video cost is as follows:

• $2,000/ minute for Animated Explainer Videos
• $1,000/ minute for Live-action Explainer Videos

PART III: Creating Explainer Videos In-House

Our objective in this section is to provide you with a high-level understanding of video production and the pros and cons of it.

1. Steps required to create a successful explainer video

Creating a successful explainer video requires careful planning and attention to detail:

• Firstly, understand the product or service to accurately convey its purpose and benefits using in-depth research.
• Secondly, develop a script that outlines the key features of the product/service as well as any other relevant information.
• Thirdly, distill the content into an engaging storyboard with key visuals to complement the narration and dialogue.
• Fourthly, hire audio recording services to create professional-sounding voice overs for use in the video.
• Finally, create the explainer video with animations and special effects to enhance quality and watchability.

Watch this animated explainer video example from Intercom, a business messaging app that enables you to chat with customers at the most appropriate time. This well-made video ticks all the boxes mentioned earlier.

2. Tips on how to create engaging visuals and animations

When creating visuals and animations, it's important to remember that the goal is to capture and retain the attention of your audience. Here are some tips for creating engaging visuals and animations:

• Use vivid colors: Incorporating bright, vibrant colors into visuals and animation can help attract attention and engage viewers.
• Create interesting movements: Keeping visuals and animations dynamic by adding movements such as fades or swipes helps keep audiences interested.
• Incorporate audio components: Adding an audio component such as music or sound effects can add an extra layer of engagement to any visual or animation.
• Be consistent with brand standards: Adhering to a company's branding guidelines when creating visuals and animations ensures consistency throughout your content.
• Keep it simple: Using more complex graphics may be impressive, but simpler is often better in terms of engaging viewers. Avoid cramming too many elements, as this could be overwhelming.

Watch this example created by Explainer Video Hero for Ibexa, a B2B Digital Experience Platform, that uses beautiful visuals and animations to engage with the viewers.

3. Choosing a voiceover artist and music

When selecting a voiceover artist and music to go along with your project, it is important to take the time to carefully consider each option.

• Research potential voiceover artists and listen to their demo reels, paying attention to factors such as tone, speed of delivery, and articulation. You may want an upbeat or energetic voice for commercials, or something more calming for narrations.
• Take into account the type of music that would best match the content of your project. If you’re creating an advertisement for a product or service geared toward older adults, try using mellow jazz or classical music in the background; if you’re aiming at a younger demographic, use upbeat pop music.
• Above all else, make sure your choice of artist and music accurately reflects the story you are trying to tell.

Watch this explainer video example that uses rap music to showcase Framer X, a platform that enables you to design websites and prototypes interactively.

4. Tools and resources

Creating an explainer video can seem daunting, but it doesn't need to be. To get started, you'll need the right tools and resources:

• First, you'll need a script to provide structure to your video and serve as the backbone of your story. Your script will help you determine how long your video should be and what topics should be covered.
• Second, you'll also need a design tool to create the visuals used in your explainer video. This can be anything from Adobe After Effects to a simple animation maker like Animaker or Biteable.
• Finally, you'll want a reliable hosting platform for your finished product for easy online access. YouTube, Vimeo, and Wistia are all great options for hosting an explainer video.

Watch this hilarious video example on how to use Adobe After Effects.

5. Benefits of creating explainer videos in-house

Let’s look at the several benefits of creating explainer videos in-house:

• Firstly, it allows you to create videos that are tailored to the specific needs of your business and target audience. You can customize the content and visuals to best communicate your message, ensuring a better impact on viewers.
• Having an in-house team of creative individuals allows you to quickly update any video with new features or changes that may be relevant as your business evolves.
• You have more control over costs associated with video production. When done correctly, there are no upfront costs and the investment into equipment is minimal, which allows you to keep production costs down.
• Finally, you own the rights and intellectual property of the content, which gives you full control over how they’re used and distributed via different channels like social media or email marketing campaigns.

Here is a comprehensive article from Content Beta, a top animated explainer video company, on the subject:

6. Drawbacks of creating explainer videos in-house

• Limited technical knowledge can result in creating a technically poor video, which may force viewers to stop watching midway.
• Having to hire and maintain expensive equipment can eat away at your resources.
• Creating a high-quality explainer video can be a time-consuming process and may require you to divert your limited resources. For example, you need professionals for writing scripts or seeking out stock footage.
• Lack of professional quality may result in difficulty in engaging an audience, especially on social media sites.

Conclusion

We saw examples of well-crafted explainer videos, along with the two ways in which you can create explainer videos.

The cost of producing the best animated explainer videos is often far less than traditional marketing expenses. Furthermore, you can add them to your website to help visitors find more information about your business, increasing the chances of conversion.

Finally, businesses of all sizes should seriously consider investing in explainer videos to reach more people with your message because you can easily share them across multiple platforms quickly.