 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I am working on establishing a business, and everything seems to be going quite well at the moment. Communication, however, is at the heart of what we do - both in terms of advertising, and in terms of the product we offer.
Consequently, I have been spending quite a bit of time recently thinking about platforms that would be useful to us both in conveying messages to the 'outside' world - that is, the 'market' we are trying to attract - as well as internally, in terms of making our messages accessible to users.
Then, I started getting advertisements for 'explainer' video software, and I wondered if those types of videos were really all that effective. So, STW... what do you think?
Are explainer videos - either the animation sort, or the sketch-up sort - interesting to you? What sorts of things capture your attention, either as a potential customer, or as a student, when it comes to someone trying to communicate a message to you?
What doesn't bore you?
Answers and thoughts from anyone would be welcome, but if there are any marketing folk on here, I would really appreciate their input as well!
Also, artists (like Binners): do you find this ready-made stuff online offensive? Should I just find an advertiser/graphic artist/animator/video producer with whom I can work, bearing in mind that, as yet, we have very little income to use for the purpose...
What age is your target audience? Watching tutorial videos is very much the preferred medium of Millennials whereas crusties like me would rather read something in five minutes than watch someone read something to me for 20.
Obviously though the correct answer is "both," give people the choice.
It's very much a mixed audience. The business is open education, so we are seeking to make opportunities available to everyone from the undergraduate who wants to explore a certain line of thought more deeply to an older person at home who hasn't had a good learning opportunity since high school.
Communication, however, is at the heart of what we do
and yet... I have no idea what you're on about. 😆
Is an "explainer" video the same as what Cougar says? A tutorial, instructional video?
We have animated "training" videos for work stuff and yes, they are extremely offensive and demeaning as they all look like they're aimed at 12 year olds. Is that the sort of thing? Training videos in things like company policy, anti-bribery etc?
I think it may be the content rather than the format. But then it doesn't have to appeal to the end-user, just the person with the role of buyer of such things.
What age is your target audience? Watching tutorial videos is very much the preferred medium of Millennials whereas crusties like me would rather read something in five minutes than watch someone read something to me for 20.
Whereas I recon I am probably about the same age as Cougar and do like a GOOD video tutorial. Of course if I need to go back and check some details or refresh my memory six months later a document is much easier to skim back through - there are ways to have video content with clickable links to jump to certain sections/chapters but it will push up your production and delivery costs.
The golden rule is not to use a medium for the sake of it - but because its actually easier to follow, but you know that because communication is at the heart of what you do. I have used and commissioned explainers - they are a bit common these days so won't win you points just for novelty, and they are really exactly what they suggest - little short clips to explain simple concepts; if you are running to several minutes its a lecture not an explainer. Either way, the public's expectation of production values/quality is considerably higher than it used to be.