May 24, 2016
Almost every startup struggles with video marketing in the online world. The common problem is that they treat digital video marketing the same as TV advertising.
But until recently, with the numbers of startups going through the roof, the number of animated explainer videos have grown exponentially.
After being involved in producing animated explainer videos for hundreds of startups from around the world, we determined 4 reasons why there are tons of startups that prefer having an animated explainer video to a live-action promotional video.
1. You can explain virtually anything with animated explainer videos
Startups love innovation. Some of them like toying around with what’s already popular in the market to get a new perspective.
Explainer videos, particularly animated ones, are a huge help for startups who take on a new or unfamiliar concept as their business.
Bearing that in mind, would you be surprised if I told you we recently produced an explainer video for a (legal) marijuana online store called Green Streak? Yes, you read that right.
This startup takes the cannabis industry one step further into modern society. You probably wonder how on earth an online weed store would work, don’t you? Exactly.
Explainer videos can explain even the vaguest and the most innovative business concepts you can imagine.
2. Producing an animated explainer video is hassle-free
In contrast to producing a live-action video of any kind, producing an animated explainer video is relatively hassle-free.
Take a quick look at the stages of producing a live-action promotional for your business:
- Pre-production: The process of determining which creative direction to go, budgeting, location scouting, licensing, and the hiring of the production team, actors, and extras. This is the most time-consuming part of producing a live action video.
- Production: The actual days of shooting. This is when you’ve got all the cameras, sound devices, and lighting equipment armed and ready to go.
- Post-production: Where everything comes together. All the hard work put into getting the resources needed for production, and later capturing it all on film, now depends on the magic of the editor.
It might take months before your campaign even starts. If this happens to a startup, it could lead to their demise, or at the very least delay their growth.
Here’s a concrete example of an advertisement’s work behind the scenes:
Months of planning and uncertain success aren’t a good match for a startup that’s still learning to walk on its own.
Explainer videos, on the other hand, can be done within 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the complexity of the requested video itself, and, let’s be realistic, how much you pay the production studio.
Meanwhile, here’s what the animation process of an explainer video normally looks like:
That’s roughly how an explainer video is produced. It doesn’t take the producer anywhere except their workstation (and probably the office’s kitchen to get some coffee).
The animation software and process may differ depending on what style of animation is being produced.
When a startup produces explainer video for their content marketing, they are killing two birds with one stone: They get content for their website and an outstanding, unique means of advertising that doesn’t take ages to produce.
3. Explainer videos are easier to modify down the line
When a piece of content is no longer a nice fit for the current market due to, for example, trend changes, it leaves you with two options: Create a new piece that is specifically made for new market trends, or just repurpose the old content so it fits the market again.
Explainer videos dovetail with the latter option. In contrast to real-life video, repurposing an animated explainer video to fit the market trend is more doable.
It’s not impossible to make changes to a real-live video; if it was impossible, Captain America: Civil War wouldn’t exist in the first place.
Take a look at this before-after CGI of Captain America: Civil War world premiere trailer.
Before CGI
After CGI
Amazing what computers could do, huh?
But it does take a lot of time AND resources to create CGI (computer-generated imagery), while it only takes hours to make changes to an (already) animated explainer video.
Unlike the staff of a startup company, a movie production crew usually consists of hundreds of people.
Imagine how long it’d take and how hard it would be to do this with the number of graphic designers and animators a startup might have.
4. It stands out from other online video marketing
“But what’s wrong with live-action video for online marketing?”
Well, the answer lies in this question: “How many of your Facebook, Vine, and Instagram followings have posted their video log (vlog) for the day?”
10? 20? More?
But how many of those vlogs have you actually watched?
That’s why you want to make your startup’s video stand out: to get noticed and to get it watched by as many people as possible.
Despite the rumors that bright displays and fast internet connections have brought humans’ attention span down to a goldfish’s level, an animated explainer video has better audience retention, as shown in one of our case studies.
As a startup you want a significant growth rate, right?
If you can’t get the audience to even notice you, how can you even dream of turning them into paying customers? How can you even dream of being the next startup that goes Fortune 500, like Facebook?
Key Takeaways
Here are some takeaway points on why startups are better off using animated explainer videos:
- It’s multi-functional and flexible for any industry and business concept.
- It aligns with online marketing trends.
- Explainer videos are more modifiable down the line.
Do you have a startup or are you planning to create one? Leave a comment!
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