Ah, animated videos! They are fun, fanciful and highly integrated into the digital marketing setups of businesses of every shape and size. And in this world where everything is swiped at lightning speed, animated videos have found their niche. Is it a gold mine, or is it going to come with a hidden cost?
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Everywhere, from Facebook to Instagram, LinkedIn, and even TikTok-pop-up videos breaking down complex ideas in less than 60 seconds for fintech apps, skincare brands, and every other business under the sun have lately become the social media weapon of choice.
Like everything else in the marketing toolbox, they are not without their pros and cons. And what I’m here to give you is the inside coup d’état on whether these playful, often candy-coloured gems are the right move for your brand.
Good, bad, and “wait, what?” The Alluring Benefits of Explainer Animated Videos
An explainer animated video is that cool buddy with whom you would explain astrophysics to a five-year-old: absolutely engaging, effective, and simplifies the heck out of complicated ideas. And in this world where attention is a rare commodity, those videos are basically engagement gold.
1. Increase Engagement in a Hyper-competitive Feed
Social media is pretty loud. I mean REALLY LOUD. And if you are a brand, stopping someone’s flow to hear your message for three whole seconds is like winning the lottery.
It is where the explainer videos really come into their own. The play of visuals, voiceovers, and snappy storytelling catches a viewer’s attention. People love visuals. Put that together with storytelling, and you have a magic formula. According to HubSpot, video content will be shared 1,200% more than text and images combined.
And one thing about social media algorithms is that they go absolutely crazy about engagement. The more people watch and engage with your content, the more it’s going to appear in front of them. The animated explainer videos are going to generate more likes, shares, and comments, which are then shown exponentially to a much bigger audience in your organic reach.
Dropbox: Remember that little, hand-drawn animated video where they explained their cloud storage service? That’s how Dropbox has gone from zero to 100 million in five years. One explainer video does that!
2. Complex Ideas Made Easy
An explainer animated video is the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down. If you have an offering or a product that, well, is complicated, then these videos break things into easy-to-digest, bite-sized chunks.
For instance, consider a fintech application. Words like “blockchain,” “APY,” or “compounding interest” are quite enough to make ordinary consumer eyes glaze over instantly. In any case, the animated video simply makes concepts digestible in this manner – being oriented through metaphors, visuals, and explicit language.
The complex new features of your application probably cannot fit in a 280-character tweet. You would be fortunate if you could even get the word “hello” in there. But possibly, just possibly, with a 60-second explainer video, you walk the viewer through an entire customer journey—storytelling on steroids- no side effects.
3. Low Cost and Versatile
Micturition playtime is over with the usage of actors, location searching, and equipment rentals when it comes to traditional video production. Not so with explanatory animated videos.
And the beauty of that is, you don’t have to wait for an actor to come free, reshoot because the lighting was not correct. You are in control, thanks to animation. Want to fiddle with the script? Easy. Need to change the visuals or brand colors in the middle of a shoot? No big deal. Explainer videos are less expensive along the pipeline for the most part because you could edit without having to deal with the logistical nightmare that a live shoot could bring.
And that’s the cool part: create a number of different versions to be used on various social media platforms without needing to remake every single thing from scratch. Instagram Stories, YouTube ads, Facebook posts- you name it; you can alter the video length and dimensions to fit each of their needs.
4. Customizable for your brand
Brand voice matters. Your audience should be able to know it is yours in a moment, no matter where they find it. Try and make an animated explainer video that reflects the personality of your brand—whatever that might be: corporate and sleek, casual and fun.
Think of it: your brand colors, fonts, tone of voice—even the mascot, if you have that cute thing on your website, can be applied even on an animated video. And voilà. A smooth, all-brand experience means that with one look, your content will be recognizable.
Not-So-Sunny Side: Trade-Offs to Consider
Now, I’m not arguing at all that I love a good explainer video, just like the next guy. Having said that, they are hardly without their own pitfalls. Let’s get real about some of the challenges that may be lurking ahead.
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1. They Can Be Expensive (At Least Initially)
Animated videos are far cheaper to produce than live-action, not in any cheaply made sense, though. The better you make the animation, voiceover, and the script, the more you’ll be crying and weeping; they’re not going to be free.
Sure, sure, there’s DIY if one wants to do it themselves, but let us just talk about animated videos—having that look of professionalism and also converting. It calls for collaboration with a reasonable animation team or agency, which comes with a price tag attached to it.
Pro Tip: Plan ahead when you are creating your video. Contemplate how you are going to use that content in different ways. A single video can be both Instagram Reels, blog content, and even a Facebook ad campaign. When you leverage the extended lifespan of your video, it makes that initial investment feel like a much better ROI.
2. Huge Viewer drop-off
The thing about online attention is that it is very, extremely short—a blink of an eye. Your video has to hook them in the first few seconds or they are gone. Your nice, animated bells and whistles cannot compete with someone just wanting to get on to read the rest of the text.
The graph shows viewer drop-offs shoot up after the first 10 seconds. In other words, your video must hook people into it in the first 10 seconds; this is quite rare. You need a good story arc, excellent visuals, and a hook that you would like to catch their attention right from the very start.
3. Little Personalization
Now, let’s discuss personalization. It is the buzzword in the entire digital marketing these days. People want content that is personally targeted and meets their specific needs and preferences.
The explainer is a tad bit too broad. Animated explainers, by default, are an even broader category because you’re really creating content for an incredibly vast audience. It’s tough to deliver hyper-personalized content. Of course, you can contour things like messaging and design, but this just isn’t the same as those personalized emails or product recommendations.
However, to fight back, you can be sure to spend money on A/B testing and most likely create several versions of your video for targeting different segments of your target audience. The more such versions are in number, the more will be the cost.
Advantages vs. Disadvantages of Explainer Animated Videos
| ADVANTAGES | DISADVANTAGES |
| Increased engagement and social shares | Stiffly expensive when ‘proper’ production is sought |
| Tough ideas made easy | High drop-off rate amongst viewers if done poorly |
| More economical in the long run | Less personalized to your brand image |
| Brand image can be flexible according to the needs of the company | Version and potentially even A/B testing may be in order |
It all depends on what you want to achieve. If it’s a new product introduction or some kind of complex service, an explainer animated video will be your best buddy. However, if you have an audience that craves personalized content, then perhaps you need to think twice or maybe use videos in a bigger, more diverse plan.
Some Important Tips for Killer Explainer Animated Videos:
- Brief: A perfect corporate video should not exceed 60 to 90 seconds. The more time your viewers spend watching you, the higher your chance they may lose interest.
- Hook them within the first five to ten seconds.
- Storyline: Not about telling the story of your product, but the story that suits them.
- On Brand: A video speaks the voice, colours and personality of the brand.
- Give a Call-To-Action: Don’t leave your audience hanging in the air. Always give them something to do next whether it is to visit your site, signup for a newsletter, or make a purchase.
Final Words
Like any other tool, explainer animated videos for social media make all the difference. A whole lot of different kinds of challenges arise once you use such videos. Knowing their benefits and drawbacks, now you will be able to determine whether or not this is the right choice for your brand. Whether simplification of complex ideas or trying to boost engagement, the results will finally pop up if made correctly.
Now it’s your turn. It’s time to unleash some of that explainer animated video power and really up the ante on your social media!