12 Examples of Explainer Videos to Inspire Your Business

Whether you are a small, independent business or an established industry leader, every marketer should know how to create an effective explainer video.

They are a great way to showcase your brand, product or service to your target audience in a clear, concise and engaging way.

We have provided an ultimate guide to explainer videos to optimise your business’ video marketing; with tips on where to start, best practices and some examples for inspiration.

What Is an Explainer Video?

Explainer videos are not ads – they are short-form videos that highlight your company’s product, service or brand in a compelling, informative and engaging way. Rather than taking a promotional approach, explainer videos aim to explore how your services or products can help to solve consumer problems, whilst also being a great way of showcasing your brand personality to your audience. 

As we are quickly learning, people respond to video content. According to Backlinko and Vidyard, the most popular types of videos that businesses are investing in include product demos (47%), explainers (35%), and recorded webinars (33%).

Types of Explainer Videos:

• Animated

The most popular format of explainer videos as they allow for more creative freedom, are typically cheaper than live-action, and allow you to edit or update the video in the future.

• Live Action

Live-action explainer videos use real people to explain and promote a business’s product or service – these types of explainer videos create an emotional connection for your audience as people are more likely to connect to real faces.

• Whiteboard

An explainer video in which information is hand-drawn (or animated onto) a whiteboard and erased, making this the easiest, and definitely the cheapest, form of explainer video.

• Screencast

Screencast explainer videos use images and video on a screen while an application is in use; the purpose of this style of video is to show a user how an application functions without using unnecessary text or voiceovers.

The Benefits of Explainer Videos for Your Business

Explainer videos are the perfect entry point into your brand, product and service for a potential consumer; they can highlight your USPs, benefits and key features that your consumer may not be aware of. They are also an incredibly versatile form of marketing and, if done well, work effectively for both B2C and B2B marketing.

• Simplified and Accessible Content

One of the main benefits of explainer videos is their ability to quickly capture and keep the viewer’s attention, making them typically much more accessible to a wider audience than an equivalent text-based . 

By making text-based content more digestible, it offers a multi-sensory experience that the intended viewer will enjoy, and when made well, they can be evergreen content that can live on your website to inform and engage viewers.

• Boost SEO

Explainer videos are an excellent way to attract organic tfraffic to your website as users are more inclined to learn information from video than written content. SEO is driven by creating value for the user, and explainer videos can demonstrate sales aftercare and quality customer service.

With video app Tik Tok emerging as a search engine for a number of consumer demographics, it seems more businesses are utilising video marketing for their strategies and evolving content to cater to consumer’s Tik Tok search intent, with more than half of business owners (54%) using TikTok to promote their business, posting an average of 9 times per month.

When users also search on traditional search engines like Google, relevant video content from YouTube is displayed alongside other content, meaning if your videos are optimised, your video (and therefore your brand) is more likely to rank higher on search engines.

• Build Trust and Brand Credibility

Creating an effective explainer video will allow you to showcase your expertise in a certain field/industry and demonstrate how you can provide solutions to your potential customer’s problems, promoting your business as a credible, trustworthy source.

Examples of Explainer Videos to Inspire Your Marketing

• Thornton & Ross | Anengaging animated explainer video on hand-washing. 

This video is over a minute long and prominently features one of their hero products. The styling and bright colour palette, as well as the setting, are perfect for catching the attention of the video’s target audience.

• Spotify US Launch | An animated explainer video promoting Spotify’s launch in the US. 

The video features a unique art style using their, now instantly recognisable, brand colours and font, and utilises an up-beat piece of instrumental music for the background, with the brand creatively matching the graphics to the beat, keeping the video fun, fast-paced and informative.

• NHS Deep Cleaning & Advisory Service | A live-action video to showcase benefits of their new ‘community care bag’.

Made for the nursing community, this video has been used across NHS Trusts in the United Kingdom to combat infection control. The video is a narrative-led live action explainer video with a mixture of interview and action shots to show the real-world benefit and impact the product is having on the NHS.

• Jacuzzi | A live-action explainer video, demonstrating a customer lifestyle with a Jacuzzi.

As well as answering some myths and sharing some benefits of the product, the video includes inspiring, warm content and shares a variety of lifestyles for the brand - from fitness and wellbeing, to family.

• The Dalesman Group | A stop-motion animation explainer video to educate customers on the brand’s USP. 

The video features a mixture of stop-motion, motion graphics and animated typography to promote key selling points and tell the story of the company's development process.

• Dollar Shave Club | A live-action, humorous explainer video showcasing the benefits of their hero product. 

The video features a witty script and sharp, quick visuals to hook the audience and keep them engaged.

• Digital Enterprise | A slick, engaging short-form (30 second) animated explainer video introducing the brand, showcasing statistics, regions they work in and projects they support.

• Airbnb | A creative explainer video using miniature handmade props to introduce their brand concept. 

The handmade world is incredibly creative and dramatizes the positive, wonderous feeling you get while travelling with Airbnb.

• Coral Tools | A live-action tutorial-led explainer video with tips on how to look after your product with engaging visuals and easy-to-follow guidance suitable for professional decorators and DIY beginners.

• Harrington’s | Live-action, tongue-in-cheek explainer video in collaboration with the Yorkshire Vet to give tips on puppy advice. 

The video features wholesome, warm content to develop trust and push the Harrington’s brand in front of puppy owners.

• Slack | A live-action, humorous testimonial explainer video that promotes the brand as a tool for a more effective workforce. 

By using a witty script, pop-up graphics, and trendy office setting, the video is engaging and shows the service as a non-negotiable tool every office should use.

• Duolingo | A short-form animated explainer video showcasing the positive user journey when using Duolingo. 

The video features bright colours, strong branding and graphics and animation that effectively engage the user.

How to Create an Explainer Video in 7 Steps

When it comes to understanding how to create an effective explainer video, storytelling should be at the heart of the curation. Research has proven that consumers respond to emotion and storytelling and if they can connect with your brand, the rest will follow.

Another great option is to get in touch with a professional video production company – this will not only ensure your video will look amazing, but they can also guide you throughout the planning and creation journey to ensure the end result is the best it can possibly be!

1. Research, Research, Research

It is crucial to understand your buyer persona; look into what you think they will respond to, what problems they face and ultimately, who you will be marketing to. 

• What will the key message be?
• What feeling do you want to create?
• Will your content focus on inspiring, selling a product or educating your viewer?
• What should people take away from your video?

2. Choose a Format

Review your research and choose which type of explainer video will suit your brand’s intention. If humans are at the core of your brand, consider using live-action, but if you need a format that offers more creative freedom to explore, animated video may be more your thing.

3. Write a Script

A script can be just as important as the graphics, and ensuring you have creative, engaging copy for your characters or voiceover can make or break your explainer video. 

Address the issues your potential customer might face and explain why your brand, product or service will solve this. Keep your script relevant to your intention. If it is a lighter video, consider a more colloquial or humorous script; if it is a more informative video, consider simple, easy-to-understand terms and phrases.

4. Create Assets

Start to sort a list of what assets you will need to create based on your explainer video type. These include video clips, screen recordings, voiceovers, logos and music.

Keep your assets organised and clear, so that you know where each asset type is and what needs to be done when it comes to production.

5. Create Your Video

When it comes to creating the video, there are many different ways you can approach it. Creativity is key; remember to make sure to focus on storytelling and originality.

Develop a pre-production plan with a storyboard or shot list as well as a location plan (if needed), think about suitable casting, gather up your equipment and get started! 

6. Edit

In this stage, your final explainer video will start to come to life; music, voiceovers and sound effects can be added to your video. This can be done yourself, or if you are using a professional company, they can provide high-quality editing services.

7. Promote the Video

When your final video is complete, now comes the promotion!

Add your video to your website landing page, on your social media or in a relevant blog post. 

Best Practices When Creating an Explainer Video

• Remember to Cover Everything 

Viewers may know absolutely nothing about your brand, product or service and it’s your job to explain the basics to them in an accessible format.

• Be as Clear and Concise as Possible

Present the content in an engaging way and ensure your script is clear and concise. Explainer videos don’t need to be detailed, in-depth explorations of multiple topics. Get to the point: you want to capture and keep your viewer’s attention.

• Incorporate Movement

With video marketing, the first 6 seconds are crucial. Ensure that the first few seconds incorporate movement to capture the viewer’s attention.

• Don’t Distract

Ensure you aren’t distracting viewers with unnecessary content or information; keep the story and message clear and don’t veer off the path.

• Focus on Answering Questions

Ensure that you are answering FAQs within your explainer video - viewers want to feel seen, and don’t want to leave feeling like they have an unanswered question.

With all the benefits of explainer videos, from creating deeper consumer relationships and gaining potential customers, they should be a no-brainer for your brand.

Explore Reel Film’s award-winning video production case studies for more examples of creative and effective explainer videos, or get in touch with us today to enquire about our expert services, from animation and motion graphics to gorgeous live-action content; we can arrange everything from actors, locations and voiceovers.