There is nothing like the view from the summit of a mountain; that big view, bursting with clarity, stretching out in front of you. It feels even better because of the journey it took to get there. Solving problems, small or big, feels similar, and it is the job of the buyer journey to guide people from the foothills of uncertainty up the mountain to that perfect solution.
One of the best ways of doing this with your buyer journey is to embrace the power of whiteboard explainer videos at every stage. Not only are videos a great way to engage viewers and make information understandable and memorable, they are also very popular. Daily, people watch more than a billion hours of video on YouTube and Google found that 46% of global viewers use video content to learn something new.
The Buyer Journey
On the journey to the summit and a purchase, there are several basecamps. Each stage plays a vital role in the process potential clients go through, and each stage is bursting with messages and information that are perfect for whiteboard animation videos.
Awareness
The first stage is awareness, where people seek to understand their challenge or problem in more detail. This stage is essential and lays the foundations for the buyer journey someone will go on. It’s important not to sell or promote at the awareness stage, people are still making sense of the issue they face - choosing a product or service to solve it comes much later.
Whiteboard animation videos are a good fit here because they are great at explaining information whether it’s a complex idea or an everyday issue. You can use them as an explainer that gives more information on the subject. Whiteboard animation videos can focus on individual ideas and to show how these ideas or points fit with others in the bigger picture. Because they are illustrated, they can tackle the most abstract and the most everyday topics - leaving viewers with a detailed knowledge and the next steps, if you use a call to action.
Consideration
The awareness stage research leads to the consideration stage and the search for a solution. This stage may be close to the peak and the final decision, but this still isn’t the time to heavily push your brand or product. This is the time to talk about your solution in a more general sense and how it can help the viewer to solve their problem.
Whiteboard explainer videos are also very effective here. They can again be used to explain a solution, but you can take them a step further and use whiteboard explainer videos to create how-to videos. These allow you to guide the viewer through a solution step by step, drawing on the unlimited canvas of whiteboard animation to create exactly what is needed. This makes whiteboard animation videos a great way to explain something in the perfect way while also tailoring it to your brand and target audience.
A major benefit that comes with using a whiteboard animation video is that they make information memorable. Not only does this give the solution a more lasting impact but it makes your name and brand more likely to stick with a viewer when it comes to the all-important decision stage.
Decision
This is the final stretch, where someone is almost up to the summit with a solution and a decision about who will provide it. After deciding on a solution, in this phase someone compares options. Now is the perfect time to let your brand and your product or service shine, celebrating what it offers a customer and what makes you unique.
Even in this stage, whiteboard explainer videos still have you covered. Using a whiteboard explainer video, you will be able to create product and service explainers that share what you do and how you do it alongside your personality and values. You will also be able to create case study films which can bring every element of the experience to life, informing, inspiring and engaging viewers. Taking this a step further are whiteboard animation testimonials, which combine the direct experience of clients or customers with the versatility and visual thinking of whiteboard animation videos.
The cherry on top
It’s quite a journey to go from basic research about a problem to a final decision, where you have been selected. It shows that at every stage you have given the client or customer what they need. Now it’s time to exceed their expectations. By using the bespoke nature of whiteboard explainer videos, you can create tailored animations and assets for your clients, completing the experience for them with a big positive that sets you apart from the competition.
A start like this helps to create a good and long working relationship, and further signifies your quality and professionalism.
How do whiteboard explainer videos work?
Whiteboard explainer videos combine several key ingredients to supercharge stories and to make information memorable, engaging and shareable. We go into more detail about how to make a whiteboard animation here.
Scripts - it all starts with a professional script, which is timed to the second. The script allows you to create the narrative and to explain points and messages in a way which does them justice and appeals to the audience. It sets the tone and feel of the video, and acts as the springboard for visual thinking for illustrators and animators.
Engaging illustrations and visuals - these bring the script to life, using a combination of charming illustrations, cultural references, humour, visual metaphors, icons and set pieces to communicate and connect ideas and messages.
Onscreen text - this adds extra detail and is often used to highlight important points in the voiceover.
Animation - animation plays two essential parts in a whiteboard video. It injects even more charm, emotion and engagement into the illustrations by bringing characters and other parts of the design to life. It also focuses viewer attention on the key points in the scene. These two parts mean that not only do viewers take the right information on board, but it is more memorable and engaging.
Voiceover - the voiceover reads the script, telling your story and guiding the viewer through your message. The choice here is important, picking the voiceover artist that reflects your brand and your audience will allow you to create a strong connection with your audience.
By combining all these aspects, whiteboard animations are able to make information understandable, memorable and entertaining to viewers. By using multiple information streams, whiteboard animation videos are able to make use of the multi-modal learning approach and deliver lots of information in a short amount of time. All these elements are made uniquely for every client and message, meaning they are primed to tell your story in the best way for you and your audience.
This combination also gives whiteboard animation videos the edge over ‘talking head’ videos. We were delighted to conduct whiteboard animation research with Professor Richard Wiseman, comparing whiteboard videos with ‘talking head’ videos. We tested how much people in the study remembered from each video and asked them to rate the videos in several ways. We found that:
Viewers were 66% more likely to share the whiteboard animation
The whiteboard animation resulted in a 15% increase in information retention
The whiteboard animation was 33% more entertaining
Should I use whiteboard explainer video software?
We pioneered our whiteboard animation technique while creating the RSA Animates. Since launching, the series has had over a 1,000,000, and as a whiteboard explainer video company, we have enjoyed seeing the technique taken up by others to share stories and messages. Some studios have created these by hand and some have created whiteboard explainer video software that allows people to use templates, pre-drawn characters and objects.
Depending on your budget, whiteboard explainer video software can be a great option. It allows you to harness some of whiteboard animations story-supercharging power in your messages. This software comes with a few warnings however; to get the most out of it you already need to be a bit of pro.
Whiteboard animation software also takes away some of what makes whiteboard videos so great. They are so good at telling stories and sharing messages because illustrations and characters are designed with each project in mind, making them perfect for that subject, brand and audience. When these are pre-drawn, you lose the tailored aspect of whiteboard animation and some of the impact and engagement this creates.
Whiteboard explainer video software can allow you to share your message to a certain extent, but we’d say to get full impact of whiteboard animation, it is best to work with a whiteboard explainer video company and their team of experienced illustrators and animators.
Whiteboard animation videos are ready to guide your potential clients through every stage of the buyer journey. Whether as explainers on a particular problem or as how-tos and case-studies, they have the story supercharging strengths and versatility to get your messages across.
We began life as a whiteboard explainer video company in 2004 and have perfecting and developing the technique ever since. Our passion is making bespoke whiteboard animations for our clients and bringing their story or message to audiences all over the world. If you have a message you’d like share through whiteboard animation, we’d love to talk with you about how we could help. Contact us today!
Not everything is better remote, as we’re sure anyone who has tried to deliver remote training sessions will agree. We’re happy to announce that there is a better way to deliver remote training: whiteboard explainer videos.