As a marketer, you’ve probably tried your hand at several digital marketing tools to engage your brand’s audience or improve its reach. If an explainer video isn’t one of those tools, your strategy might not be as strong as you think it is.

Not yet, at least.

In a time when 100 million hours of video are watched on Facebook everyday, it’s ridiculous how some Philippine companies and even marketers still choose traditional over digital video content marketing.

To those who remain unfamiliar with explainer videos, these are short videos composed of animated images or motion graphics commonly used to explain a product, business idea or a new service.

Explainer videos come in several forms, the most common being whiteboard videos. More complex executions including 2D or 3D animated videos are becoming the preferred type of explainer video by most marketers today.

A screencap of an explainer video discussing the benefits of airless bottle packaging for skin care products.

Since it was introduced by online marketers in 2010, explainer videos continue to prove its ground as one of the most effective lead generating online tools today. In fact, recent research by Ascend2 ranks explainer videos 3 for ‚’importance and effectiveness’ out of the 7 video marketing tools considered ‚’most successful’ by companies cited in the study.

The other six include customer testimonials, demo videos, expert interviews, case studies, live webinars, vlogs (video blogs), and event videos.

Now that’s established, how else would your business benefit from explainer videos?– Why should you invest in them? Simple.

It’s effective, economical and engaging. Let’s break these down, shall we?

It’s effective

New media marketers consider explainer videos the best medium for audiences to understand and appreciate a product or service in its infancy because it visually attracts a viewer into making a favourable reaction be it a simple Like or a purchase. A Western Ontario University research indicates that 64% of visitors and 85% of online shoppers are more likely to purchase a product or service if explained to them via video beforehand.

It’s economical

AVPs (demo videos in marketing speak) are more expensive to produce because it requires more logistical requirements. Imagine all the work, budgeting and talent scheduling you need to reel in to shoot a 3-minute material. It is, however, your best bet if you’re after credibility. Explainer videos practically have the same impact but at a much lower cost. All you need is one video editor, a decent motion graphics editing software, a good concept, and you’re pretty much set.

It’s engaging

Conventional wisdom tells us that nothing is superior to human connection. And it’s hypocritical to negate that. This is probably why most companies would rather invest in traditional AVPs – it has better emotional pull. Does this mean explainer videos are inferior? Not necessarily. Explainer videos thrive because most people who make it push for greater content. Content people care about and content that is made to explain the complex in a more visually creative, relatable way.

WCC Senior High School Explainer Video. An aviation school opted to use explainer videos to recruit students.

There are countless other reasons why there is no other opportune time to produce an explainer video than now. According to a recent market survey by Demand Metric, 74% of B2B marketers cited video as the better lead conversion tool compared to other digital content types. Cisco trends analysis likewise predicts that 80% of all Internet traffic will come from streaming video content by 2019.

If these don’t convince you to start investing in video content now, we honestly don’t know what would.

Whether you’re a startup with a product you find very challenging to market or an established company aiming to maintain genuine connections with your audience, you might consider hearing out the explainer video production company the next time they give you a cold call.