Explainer videos have proved themselves to be the twenty-first century sales machine.

The stories of explainer video’s sales success generally starts with Dropbox, which in 2009 used an explainer video to boost their conversion by 10%.

To some, 10% may not sound much, but for Dropbox, it meant 10 million more customers and $48,000,000 extra revenue. This explainer video story triggered a ‘big bang’ in the marketing world. It sent an alert signal to every smart entrepreneur that video overviews are highly effective customer acquisition tool, and they should get one fast.

So, one by one, more numbers came popping out.

We heard that Rypple, a social performance management tool, drove 20% conversion and got sold to Salesforce. Crazy Egg too began earning an extra $21,000 per month while RankWatch upped their conversion by 27% and CaseComplete reported of 23% more customers.

All these big numbers emerging out of a short, 90 second animatic would make you wonder if explainer videos are some sort of magical item. Well, they aren’t, and you could easily get your own explainer video made too. It’s high time we demystify this ‘magic’ of explainer videos and reveal those 8 main factors by which explainer videos convert the targeted viewer into a customer.

1. Makes the Consumer Realize Their Problem & Piques Their Interest

Explainer videos present your business story using a problem-solution approach, whereby the viewer is first introduced to the consumer problem that the product solves and then goes on to explain exactly how their product solves that problem and makes the consumer life easy and better.

Now, how would this “problem-solution approach of explainer videos” increase sales?

Because some percentage of your target consumers may not be aware of this problem that they are facing, and thus are not interested in your product. That’s a huge loss. But with explainer video, you can grab their attention and convert them into customers.

2. Video Recall

A survey launched by the Online Publishers Association claimed that 80% visitors could recall the video ad that they had seen in the past 30 days. 12% of these viewers even went on to purchase the product shown in the video.

It’s the same with explainer videos. They use powerful visual stories to showcase the product in such a way that it connects with the prospects and stays in their heart and minds for a while.

And, when they face that specific problem, it would be your product that they would remember, and purchase.

3. Emotional Attachment

Explainer videos use language and visuals designed to “connect” with the target audience. While building an explainer video, the objective is to ensure that it “resonates” with the end consumers, such that they “like” your product and “trust” it.

Once they are emotionally attached with your business, then it becomes much easier to “mold” or convert them to customers.

4. Satisfies Our “Try Before You Buy” Need & Gives Purchase Confidence

You don’t buy a car without going for a test drive. You don’t buy a dress without trying it out first, and checking if it looks good on you.

In short, you need some form of guarantee that the product works.

With explainer videos, this guarantee comes in the form of visuals, i.e. the video gives a quick demonstration of what your product is and how it solves a consumer problem in a visually engaging and persuasive manner. Since seeing is believing, it makes your targeted audience willing to buy.

In fact, 90% of online shoppers said that video helped them make better shopping decisions.

Besides the matter of confidence and trust, explainer video also increases the likelihood of a purchase by 85%.

Likewise, we could say that people don’t buy products. They rather buy the product experience. Here also explainer videos win big as they take the prospect on a journey from the current world (where they face a problem) to a better world (where the problem is solved thanks to your cool product, and life is easy. Or better.).

5. Makes Your Product Authentic & Credible

Explainer videos are not just meant to improve sales but to also add a touch of authenticity to your business. They don’t sound like an ad, and hence pack credibility.

There’s nothing salesy about the video (i.e. if they are made right). It is just about the product and how it solves the targeted consumer’s problem.

Your prospects therefore take the video as a quick guide to understanding your product, and in that process, they get sold. After all, explainer videos are tailored to show your product in the best light.

6. Text Vs Video Retention (Explainer Videos Provide Greater Understanding)

Not only videos are 41% more likely to get clicked than text post, but these explainer videos also provide better understanding of your company’s value proposition. Mayer and Anderson did a research on the matter and concluded that videos led to 74% increase in the viewer’s understanding of the brand’s product and services.

In short, explainer videos ensure that your target audience understand your brand message clearly as well as the value of the product.

7. Grabs Attention & Makes Your Prospect Listen Excitedly To Your Business Pitch

Explainer videos are great for businesses who see lots of visitors that land on their website and just bounce away to another website. They might have turned into your valuable customer. But because of this 8 second human attention span thing, your prospects are least interested in reading through your information pile and therefore runs away.

Well, this is the current scenario. Your target audience are not just in the mood for another plate of business information.

That’s where explainer video comes in for the rescue. They present your business in an exciting and engaging format through the use of visuals and story that are designed to grab attention from the first few seconds and engages the viewer till the end.

So if you had an exciting 90 second explainer video put up on your homepage, then visitors would be more than happy to watch it. And, since the explainer videos are tailored to put your best sales pitch forward in the most persuasive way, voila, you have got yourself another customer. Again, it depends on how well your explainer video is made. If it’s interesting, then sales will rise.

8. Explainer Videos Have Viral-ibility Factor

A good example would be that of Dollar Shave Club, which received 12000 new orders within just 2 days of releasing their explainer video on YouTube.

The reason for this viral-ability is simple – people love videos.

Videos are 41% more likely to get clicked than its text version. Moreover, videos get shared 1,200% more times than links and text combined? In that sense, your explainer video can you get a large number of organic backlinks.

Google also loves videos, which means that by putting your explainer video on your homepage, you can improve your website’s search engine visibility by 53%. What does this mean in regards to sales? That showing up on the very first page of the search engine results means prospects visit your website and not your competitors (or at least they don’t ignore you anymore).

It’s the same with Facebook too. SocialBbakers report that videos reach large number of fans on Facebook than any other posts. So, uploading your explainer video on Facebook will yield you 135% increase in organic reach.

And, this is how you reach out to more audience, and make them yours.

Conclusion

Explainer videos can maximize sales. But to get the most out of your explainer video, you have to position them strategically. For instance, you should place your explainer video on the above-the-fold section of your landing page such that your website visitors can see it instantly.

Likewise, you can also share the video over your social network to reach out to new customers. Attach it in email pitches to make a good impression on your prospect, and include it in your sales presentations to boost your chances of closing a deal.

By: Deepasha Kakkar

Let's crackitt for you.