By now we all know about the power of video for boosting your online presence. Most of us created a number of animated explainer videos in whatever way we liked but all of us did not succeed to get a good return.
Before jump into creating another explainer video without any result, STOP here.
Have you ever asked yourself why are you creating an explainer video? For the only reason that your marketing agency advised you that it’s a need of the day? And they charged you by claiming that they are a great creative agency, so they are the best to create a video for you?
STOP HERE and rethink. Ask yourself these questions:
- Where do you want to place this video –website/facebook page/ youtube? Other social media?
- What is the purpose? – Explain product/service, promote product/service, increase conversion on the website?
- Who is your target- their age, location, other demographics?
- What is your inspiration? –another video? some unique message? Competitor?
Once you get all these answers, discuss with all stakeholders, you will find the picture is getting clearer to guide you. So when you have your guidelines ready, convert the idea into black and white.
Write your script:
I always insist my clients write the initial script themselves for the video. That actually makes things clearer for them as well as for creative people like us. You do not need to be a great writer. Just write down points that you want to tell people watching your video. Here is another good read about how would you prepare for writing a script.
While writing, put yourself in the shoes of your prospective buyer and you will find that your every point actually answering their queries or problems.
Another great way of doing this is to think of an imaginary client. Make him/her the central character of your video and develop a story. Write down their problems as if they are sharing or facing and then how they are solving those problems with your product/service. These ‘Meet John..’ videos are very much successful in creating a problem scenario through animation and explaining solutions. Even you can use this central character as an animated brand ambassador for your series of animated explainer videos.
A very simple format of writing the script for a video is a two column table- left column with description and right column with visual references. This is a great exercise for you and your marketing team as you start visualizing your ideas at this stage. At the same time, this is a great input for your creative agency. This is something that makes a video project a real team effort and the result has to be excellent.
Find a video maker:
Once you have this initial script, start finding the creative agency. Find someone who is creative and understand business as well. There are some the of local agencies who claim to know the audience best but that is not an advantage most of the time. Be guided by your initial guidelines and look for an agency that can match your requirements. You may try some freelancers as well. There are talented people who can create great things for lower cost. It is your creative agency who will take up the job from you initial draft script to final video.
Test before you make live:
Like all other content, test your videos too before you make it live. If needed create more than one version and do some split testing. Check the data, if needed make changes. And Voila! Your animated explainer video is ready to bring success!
