Explainer videos : What is an explainer video? Examples and styles

Explainer videos are great sales tools and for creative storytelling that connects with your audience on a personal level. We’ve created a few use cases for business, and some of the explanation videos we’ve made. In the 15+ years we’ve been making explainer videos, we’ve had the privilege to work with some of the best brands from round the world.

So, we decided to reveal the most common use cases for explainer videos. This is based on our research from the hundreds of businesses we’ve worked with, across multiple industry verticals, and the thousands of videos we’ve made for them.

Here are some explainer video examples and their use cases in detail. After creating thousands of videos for hundreds or business we’ve polished our process and have come to know what works and what doesn’t. Check out the most common explainer video uses cases to inspire your next project.

A sales video is the one tool every business should have. It clearly explains what your business does, for whom, and why your target customers should buy from you.

In this explainer video example, you can see how storytelling is able to tie in the customer’s pain points with the company’s solution.

Some of the most complex topics involve healthcare and technology. Creating an explainer video will help simplify complex tech and medical terms.

You can either use the video as an educational tool for students, or educate patients on issues affecting their health and wellness.

How do you introduce a new service to potential customers? Use an intro video.

A launch video can generate an immediate boost in signups, improve brand visibility, and drive sales. A good quality launch video will easily pay for itself in the long haul.

Training your staff on crucial topics involves many moving parts. Recording talking heads has long been the tradition, but animation introduces endless possibilities.

You can use explainer videos to train your staff on topics such as workplace health and safety.

In this product demo video, we clearly explained how Stealthbox’s grow box works. Having a product video boosts confidence in your brand, increasing brand awareness, and has been known to reduce customer returns.

We recommend using a combination of short and long-form video content.

Nonprofit organizations such as Disability Rights Oregon advocate for issues that require well planned awareness campaigns.

Use explainer videos to raise awareness on key social issues. The goal may vary, from getting people to sign up and support your cause, to raising money for a specific project.

For most of our videos we use motion graphics, character animation, whiteboard animation, and 3D animation. We’ve done our best to explain the best uses cases for each style of animation. While there’s no hard and fast rules on what animation style you should use, we can work with you to evaluate your goals, target audience, and the most ideal style to use.

Character animation videos are the most common type of video used in marketing. The character represents a typical customer, their pain points, and how the product solves their problem. We recommend character animation for most projects.

Motion graphics videos can be best described as graphics in motion. They use animated graphics and text to display information in a more interesting way. In situations where you don’t need to show animated characters, animated graphics will do the job.

3D animation can be found in traditional and emerging media, such as visualization, visual effects, product design, and more. Making 3D explainer videos is a complex process but the results are extremely rewarding.

Live-action explainer videos are shot on location using cameras, lights, and actors. Live action is great for TV Ads, Interviews, Documentaries, and video that need to show people. Live action and animation also enhance the quality of your video.

2.5D animation is created using sophisticated techniques to create a 3D look without using 3D animation software. This style is a great alternative to the more complex 3D animation, while taking the quality of your video content to the next level.

Whiteboard explainer videos consist of hand drawn visuals that are revealed over time. This simulates the illusion of a hand drawing the sketches on a white board. This animation style is mostly used in education and training, and for creating cost effective video content.

We’ve developed a meticulous step-by-step process for making animated explainer videos. From discovery, script writing, storyboarding, design, and the final animation, we’ve perfected our skills over the years.

For video content such as marketing, education, software-as-a-service, product promotion, training, and B2B videos, the process is pretty much the same.

Leverage our experience and creativity and create videos that give you the results you want to see. Below is a step by step process of how we create explainer videos for any purpose.