Blog

Top 3 Most Common Mistakes in Animated Explainers

March 4, 2024

Over the course of this blog, we’ve shown you all the stats around video marketing. Like how 96% of video marketers say video marketing has increased user understanding of their product or service. But while animated explainer videos have proven to be the most successful form of online video content for businesses, there’s still some crucial mistakes in animated explainers that could make your video unsuccessful. There’s no way around it. Whether you’re making a video in-house or trust a creative agency like Digital Brew, explainer videos are hard to make. So after all that hard work and investment, to receive an ineffective explainer video would be the worst possible scenario, right? To avoid this ever happening to you and your business, let’s dive into the three most common mistakes in animated explainers.

Mistake #1: Poor Quality

Something we always say here is that a bad explainer video could actually cost you more in the long run. If you try to cut corners on making your own, chances are, it won’t be as effective as it could be. Then all the time and resources you’ve invested are totally wasted. Time to do it all over again and spend more time and money. That also means during the time you tried out that bad explainer video, you were probably missing out on clients. Remember, we only get one first impression, so there’s a good chance that bad explainer video was someone’s first impression of your company. Now they might associate that poor quality with your brand (yikes!) Creating a negative brand association is the last thing you’re trying to create with your animated explainer video. For prospects to associate quality with your brand, high-quality content is not only desired but necessary.

Mistake #2: Length

Unfortunately, length is one of the most common mistakes in animated explainers that we see. We get it, there’s a lot you want to say about your business. You do so many great things so you want potential customers to know about everything you do. You want to convey every last detail about what makes them different. That’s the best way to attract new clients, right? Wrong! With explainer videos, shorter is always going to be better. We’ve definitely had clients come to us saying they want their video to be three minutes long. And we’ll always advise against it. Not only will your video lose eyes because of a long video, but it’ll also feel unfocused. It’s even possible that the reason they stumbled onto your video is because of something you mention 2.5 minutes in. But since they’ve dropped off after two minutes, they’ll never see it. Now you’ve just lost a potential customer. The sweet spot for an animated explainer video is 60-90 seconds. And if you want to cover more topics, there’s nothing wrong with having multiple explainer videos that target different audiences. Your video is meant to be a conversation started, not replace the conversation. You want to make sure your script is concise, fun, and to the point. Keep in mind your target audience for your video. C-Suite people in charge of approving larger purposes don’t always have the most time on their hands. Believe it or not, the shorter your explainer video is, the more likely potential customers are to remember it. Something short and punchier will always be more impactful than a video that drags on.

Mistake #3: Voice Over

When used correctly, having a professional voice over is like the icing on your explainer video cake. It finishes everything with a very professional touch. The key word is professional. You don’t want to just pull Bob from Accounting into your office and record on your laptop microphone (sorry Bob, we bet your voice is lovely). It ties back into our discussion on poor quality. A professional voice actor on professional (we’re using that word a lot) equipment is the way to go. Bad or poor quality voiceover is one of the more common mistakes in animated explainers we see. Knowing your audience when choosing your voice actor comes heavily into play. Your audience will more likely resonate with and remember the animated explainer for your business if the voice over is similar to them. That’s why it’s important to choose wisely when determining the type of voiceover you want for your video. Let’s say your company does most of their business in the UK. You probably won’t want an American accent for your voiceover. Or you might not want a male voiceover for your make-up video.

Avoiding Mistakes in Animated Explainers

Those are some of the most common mistakes in animated explainers that we tend to see. And trust us, we’ve seen a lot. Clients don’t always need us to start from scratch on their video. Sometimes they need us to update their old explainer video. Keep these most common mistakes in mind so you can reap the benefits of an effective animated explainer video. So if you’re ready to update your current video, need a new one altogether, or just want a little more information about our process, we’d love to hear from you. You can always reach out to us here. Let’s Brew This!