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5 Ways Startup Explainer Video Boosts Visibility and Impact

To launch your startup out of the coworking space and onto the stock exchange, you need to achieve three big goals:

  1. Let people know you exist
  2. Convince them they should care
  3. Differentiate yourself from others in the industry

A startup explainer video can do all that and more. Whether you make an animated explainer video or a live action demo video, your startup marketing plan isn’t complete without one. By presenting your startup in an accessible, engaging way, you quickly establish a relationship with potential customers and investors.

Here are the top five ways your startup could benefit if you make an explainer video.

1. Video captures attention

It can be hard to get and keep the attention of customers, investors and press. Fortunately, video is a natural attention grabber. The combination of sound, color and movement is harder to ignore than a still image or a block of text.

The numbers show that a 2-minute startup explainer video is likely to garner more engagement than a blog post. According to an article by retail dive, 72% of consumers prefer to watch marketing messages rather than read them.

In addition to all that, startups without a video also risk being left behind. Across all business types, 82% of businesses use video as a marketing tool. According to Wistia, 42% of marketers plan to increase their video marketing budgets this year.

There’s a reason that apps like TikTok and Instagram Reels are exploding in popularity right now. They deal exclusively in video and video is the format of the moment. People love to watch it, and just as important, they’re better at remembering it than they are at retaining what they read.

Wellvii could have published a blog about how their product works, but they opted for a video that could actually show the product in action.

2. Video gets viewers engaged with your startup

While a visitor will spend an average of 1.5 minutes on a page without video, they’ll stay twice as long on pages with video. That means that adding an explainer video to your landing page can improve your SEO ranking and hold the attention of someone who might otherwise have clicked away. That extra minute and a half is valuable. Once visitors have watched your video, they’re much more likely to buy your product or service.

Pretty much everyone–93% of surveyed marketers – marketers say that video has conversion rates as good or better than other types of content.  In short, creating an explainer video should be among your top priorities if your goal is to get more people interested in your startup.

This video from Warby Parker aims for engagement by keeping things simple but still surprising their audience.

3. Video helps you get to know your customers

Most of the time, we think about explainer video in terms of how they help you convey information. Most people don’t think deeply about how explainer videos can help startups collect information. It turns out they can. By tracking video metrics, you can learn a lot about the people who are interested in your startup.

Social media sites like Facebook and YouTube, and video hosting sites like Wistia, share user data to help you get to know your customers and investors better. This is particularly valuable to a startup for two reasons:

  1. At this early stage, you’re still figuring out who your customers are and understanding what they want to know. Data can help you make more content of interest to them.
  2. As a startup, you’re also still figuring out who you are. Video metrics can help you test ideas and know if you’re heading in the right direction.

4. Explainer video tells your story

In a crowded marketplace, who you are matters as much as what you are selling. While the what may be easy to understand, the who is more abstract. A startup intro video can help you create an emotional connection with your target audience.

It can convey your:

  • Mission
  • Values
  • Tone
  • Voice
  • Origin Story
  • and, of course, value proposition

When we say a startup explainer video can do these things, we mean it absolutely should. Almost 70% of investors say it’s important to them to invest in a socially responsible way. They don’t want to back just any company. They want one that reflects their values and what they believe about the world. So, yes, product demo videos are great. But a startup promo video that conveys your mission and values might be even better.

This heart-melting explainer video from AirBnB doesn’t just tell you what the company does, it shows you what they believe in using animation and the true story of one guest’s experience with the company.

Customers also care about these things. Specifically, they care about whether your mission, values and story fit their definition of morality. Consumers make at least some of their purchasing decisions based on how well your message aligns with their beliefs.

5. Startup explainer video works

There’s a reason brands like Dropbox, Dollar Shave Club, and Warby Parker used explainer videos — they work. Well-crafted explainer videos have launched countless startups out of obscurity and into IPO territory.

The explainer video format is uniquely qualified to tell the story of your startup and convey your values. It’s perhaps the most effective way to engage customers, investors and potential employees on an emotional level.

If your startup wants to capture attention, boost awareness and start telling its story to the world, IdeaRocket is here to help. We craft engaging live-action and animated videos for businesses at all stages of development. Contact us today.

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