In the digitized business ecosystem, explainer videos have emerged as a powerful tool for businesses to connect with their customers. These videos not only help out the viewers by guiding them on various topics but help give the brand a good image and boost sales in multiple ways. A professionally made 3D animation video explaining the features of a product can quickly draw the attention of potential buyers. In case you’re a small business owner, you might be wondering what type of explainer videos would work best for your company.

7 most effective types of explainer videos for your small business

Figuring out what type of explainer videos to publish might feel like a challenge, especially for small businesses. After all, you have a limited budget and can’t afford to make mistakes by experimenting around. Here are seven types of explainer videos that work for small businesses – pick the ones that suit yours the best.

1. Screencast videos

These videos have become quite popular in recent times, especially among software companies. Screencast explainer videos involve recording the tasks on a screen while narrating and explaining them, such as providing app tutorials. When launching a new software product, a business can publish a screencast video explaining its functions to its target audience and entice them to purchase it. Besides, advanced software can sometimes be quite difficult to use, especially for those who aren’t very tech-savvy. When faced with multiple software products to pick from, they’d choose the one with the most easily available training materials.

2. 3D animation videos

You may also rope in a 3D animation video company to create an explainer video using 3D animation. The biggest advantage of using 3D animation explainer videos is that you can provide in-depth demonstrations of complex processes with ease. These explainer videos are especially useful when making tutorials for large industrial equipment or other complex machinery. The use of such videos is also rising rapidly in the healthcare industry, where complex surgical procedures are demonstrated through 3D animation.

3. 2D Character Animation

2D character animation videos have emerged as one of the most popular types of explainer videos. Like 3D animation, these videos are completely computer-generated too. However, making a 2D animation video is much cheaper and this makes it a viable option for businesses with a very small budget. These videos are perfect for showing interactions that address common pain points or explain the features of a product. However, it falls behind 3D animation in terms of diversity and detail. 2D animation is suitable only for relatively simple content.

4. 2.5D animation videos

If 2D animation isn’t suitable for the video content you need to publish, and you don’t have the budget for 3D animation either, consider getting a 2.5D animation explainer video. As you might guess, 2.5D animation offers a middle ground between 2D and 3D by using both 2D images and 3D objects. However, creating a 2.5D animation video takes a fair deal of skill and effort as it’s much more complicated than 2D animation. Make sure to rope in a team of experienced professionals to make a 2.5D animation video.

5. Infographic animation

Although this type of video involves the use of 2D animation too, it’s quite different from the character animation videos mentioned earlier. Instead of showing character interactions, these explainer videos mostly deal with text, numerical data, and statistical graphs. The use of 2D infographic animation is relatively less common, but it can still be crucial in some cases. For instance, if you had to present a large volume of boring information, infographic animation is your best choice. It not only helps explain the data properly but also keeps the audience engaged.

6. Live-action videos

You may also get the videos shot in real life rather than using computer-generated videos. Known as live-action videos, these are suitable for a variety of explanatory tasks. This sort of video is perfect for addressing the audience or providing a demonstration. Live-action videos are great for audience engagement as the participation of real people helps build a human connection. However, it can be quite expensive to make videos this way if you have to hire well-known public figures as actors. The editing and production costs significantly add to the expenses too. If you have a larger budget, you may also hire a 3D animation video agency to add track elements and other special effects.

7. Outline videos

This is yet another 2D animation technique that you can use in explainer videos. It’s the minimalistic approach and appearance that sets this style of animation apart from the rest. In these videos, the 2D images are created only using their outlines, without adding much detail. This makes outline videos extremely affordable and quick to create. Several startups have taken up this style of explainer videos to get the job done within a tight budget. Outline videos look quite creative and neat, and allow the viewers to focus on the information by removing distractions.

Conclusion

Unless you go for live-action videos, you’re going to need 3D animation video services to get the job done. Considering live-action videos aren’t always the best choice and can potentially be quite expensive. You might want to start looking for a 3D animation company. Professional 3D animation services are well worth your money. Moreover, the best 3D animation video agencies offer quite reasonable rates. They can even guide you on video ideas to help make your explainer videos more interesting and effective.