Teddy Roosevelt has been quoted many a time, “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” And this goes especially for Marketing to Your Audience!
You see, you CAN begin your marketing by sharing your giant Pedigree* of Success, your giant Rolodex* of clients that come at your every beck and call, and your impressive collection of Vintage Star Wars action figures, boxed in mint condition. BUT THEY DON’T CARE!
Okay…maybe the Star Wars figures, I mean especially if they have that one Rare Boba Fett*…
My point being, don’t make your first impression with your audience ABOUT YOU. In fact, you may consider, minimizing the mention of “you” to the smallest amount possible. Your marketing NEEDS to be about THEM.
FOR INSTANCE!
The Mom who is exhausted carrying around a giant purse that contains everything known on the periodic table of elements. She wants to know that you care about her and her plight, when you sell her your amazing, mega-organizational handbag.
Spend the time in your marketing, connecting with her. Show empathy for how hard it is to carry that overgrown purse. Use humor to help her have a chuckle about it because she knows how impossible it is to find that lip gloss when her chapped lips are screaming for moisture, and the kids are clawing their way to find a granola bar in there too. She will totally think to herself, “Been there done that!”
By doing this, you will establish a relationship with your audience, in this case the Moms of the world. Now, they’ll care to listen to YOU! You have their attention because you relate to each other, on an emotional level. You are selling a relationship BEFORE you sell a product or service. So now, proceed to show some of the cool features of this “Heavenly Handbag” and again relate those features to them.
On a side note, keep your features explanation brief. They don’t need to know the process of “cutting and stitching every nuanced detail” that you researched; they just want the HIGH LEVEL facts that relate to them. This will keep them EMOTIONALLY engaged in your marketing.
In the case that you do spend time talking about YOU, make sure it’s to show how you relate to them. The purpose of sharing this piece of you is to connect with them, and not to gloat about you or in any way make you seem superior. If you don’t connect with them, be on their level, share their emotions, they will see right through you and go elsewhere for a solution to their need.
So…QUICK 5 POINT RECAP
Marketing is about THEM
Show Empathy
Use Humor
Emotional Engagement
Sell a Relationship
NOW, get your groove on and practice that Electric Slide together! It’s all about the relationship, and your audience will respond to you once they know that you care about them.
*Pedigree – Pretty sure it’s some type of dog food.
*Rolodex – The Stone Age variety of a contact list on your smart phone. Geesh, writing all those cards sucked.
*Rare Boba Fett – A Boba Fett figure that was designed exclusively as a cereal box mail-in item in 1979. It was advertised with a Rocket firing backpack, but the actual production firing rocket was made stationary, as it was deemed a “choking hazard.” This figure is still highly sought after by collectors and has fetched upwards of 20K at auction.
At one point or another, each of us have had that gut feeling that defies the facts and numbers. When everything looks right on paper but for some reason it just doesn’t “feel” right.
So where does that feeling come from?
Contrary to what you may be thinking, it actually comes from the BRAIN!
Simon Sinek, a British-American author and motivational speaker, does a great job explaining this in his book called “Start with Why.”
He talks about the two parts of your brain
The Neocortex or “the what” and the Limbic or “the why”
The Neocortex being responsible for our rational and analytical thought and language and the Limbic being responsible for our feelings, behavior and decision making. He also talks about how our Limbic brain has no capacity for language.
What this means is the part of our brain that DRIVES BEHAVIOR, our Limbic Brain, doesn’t even understand the vast amounts of information you are throwing at it. It just hears BLA BLA BLA!
So how does knowing all this, help make better videos?
Studying the human brain helps us understand what motivates our audience leading to lifelong business.
Like Simon mentions, when we first communicate the “why” and get our viewer believing what we believe, we establish an emotional connection. After that connection is formed, it doesn’t really matter what we have to offer them or how we have it because “people don’t buy what you do they buy why you do it.”
You can explain to your viewer till your blue in the face what all of the facts, features, benefits and details are of your company but at the end of the day, if they don’t trust you, they aren’t going to click on your website or set up that free consultation or even think about contacting you.
So before smack your viewers in the face with 7 million reasons why your company is exponentially greater than your competitors….
Ask your self WHY you do what you do. Ask yourself if you actually need all that nitty gritty, technical jargon in your video. Ask yourself if you are selling a product or selling an idea.
Understanding the role of the emotional unconscious and how it plays a role in the decision-making process of your audience is critical in making your video successful.
Remember…. “People don’t buy what you do they buy why you do it.”
Video Marketing is seen as one of the most effective ways for brands to reach new prospects and engage clients without having to break the bank. While there are plenty of different formats to choose from, one of the quickest ways to implement this marketing strategy is through “Whiteboard Animation”.
The reason whiteboard animation is so praised by the marketing community comes down to two factors: 1-ease of production and 2-higher conversation rates. We’ll dive into the details below as to why whiteboard animation has been so successful over the years, and how to effectively incorporate it into your marketing strategies.
What is Whiteboard Animation?
I’m sure by now you’ve already seen these videos whether you have been surfing YouTube or scrolling down your Facebook Newsfeed. Essentially, whiteboard animation are the videos that “draw out” an image while a voice over explains what is going on.
Whiteboard animation focuses on ‘one thought per frame’ and advances the storyline with a heavier emphasis on the voice over than on the graphics. This doesn’t mean that the graphics are less important, it simply means that the voice over is responsible for a lot of the storytelling.
For the most part, brands like to utilize a ‘hand graphic’ that is drawing out the picture while the voice over occurs. This is implemented to give it a ‘motion graphics feel’ while not requiring the same effort to produce.
Cost Efficient Means of Marketing
Due to the fact that it requires less effort to produce these types of videos, the associated price tag is significantly lower. While you can get whiteboard explainer videos for as little as $50 USD per 30 seconds, or in some cases even cheaper, it is important to look for the best deal that provides both cost efficiency and quality.
Nonetheless, compared to other video formats, whiteboard explainer videos are definitely the most cost efficient means of marketing. For brands that have a limited budget and would still like to utilize video within their marketing campaigns, whiteboard animation is definitely the most cost effective manner to achieve this.
In addition, the timeframe required to create these videos is significantly shorter, meaning that you can have your message polished and ready to be presented to the masses much more quickly.
High Engagement with Simple Imagery
Another fantastic benefit of whiteboard explainer videos comes down to engagement. As opposed to Motion Graphic-oriented explainer videos, whiteboard animation guides the eyes of the viewer to specific points.
When the image is being revealed within the video, only portions of it appear at a time in the attempt to convince the viewer that the image is being ‘drawn’ out. This achieves two things:
1. It triggers the curiosity factor in your prospects who will continue to look at the video while the image is being revealed.
2. It keeps them engaged and more susceptible to your marketing message. Since the V.O. is pretty much giving meaning to the imagery, people are more inclined to sit through the entire presentation and the images tend to have a greater impact as a result.
Visual imagery is one of the best ways to captivate your audience, allowing them to be receptive to your message and helping drive up both engagement and conversions.
Ease of Production
As mentioned, the production of whiteboard explainer videos is much simpler than other mediums such as Motion Graphics or Real Footage. This is due to the fact that you are essentially working with ‘still images’ and applying minor motion to the frame to give it that dynamic feel.
In most cases, production companies will create a visual storyline with a set of images based on the V.O. script. Each frame will have one major idea attached to it represented in the form of a picture. While the voice over in the frame explains the point, the ‘animation’ will be drawn onto the frame to reinforce the message.
Each new frame will reveal another image and the voice over will guide the viewer through the storyline. Once the visual story has been established, it comes down to synchronizing it with the voice over.
This is the main reason whiteboard animation is so cost efficient, where a savvy video producer would be able to create a compelling video in a much shorter timeframe. It also requires a lot less processing power to create these videos meaning less expensive equipment is needed.
Where to Utilize Whiteboard Explainer Videos
Whiteboard animation serves multiple purposes, from selling, adding depth and value to your brand and of course, ‘explaining things’.
For the most part, brands utilize whiteboard animation as an introduction to their product or brand. These videos are mostly implemented on landing pages, home pages and of course for mass marketing on platforms such as YouTube and Facebook to name a few.
When utilizing it on your homepage, you can exceed the industry standard of 90 seconds. For the most part, the 90-second rule applies to videos when its purpose is to reach new prospects, however when prospects lands on your homepage, they have already developped an interest in your brand or company website, so exceeding this ‘rule of thumb’ is permitted.
You would rather provide them with a 2-3-minute video that gives them a deeper understanding of what you do than 90 seconds where they could still be kept wondering exactly what it is you do.
When we talk about Whiteboard Explainer Videos for marketing or selling, you’ll want to keep it below 90 seconds. This is due to the fact that your video needs to compete with other videos, and keeping it short has shown to increase engagement and conversions.
Depending on your need, you will adapt your whiteboard animation purposes accordingly.
Key Take Aways
Whiteboard animation has become a staple in the video marketing world due to the fact that it is cost efficient, easy to produce and still maintains stellar engagement and click through rates. If you find yourself on a tight budget and still want to get into the world of video marketing, then Whiteboard Explainer Videos are definitely a great starting point.
Every single day multi-level marketers are asking the same tough questions:
• How do we communicate more in less time?
• Or: How do we communicate more, and not only make it stick, but also actionable?
• Or even tougher: How do we communicate more, and make it stick, actionable, and worthy of sharing—in less time?
Tough indeed.
The deficit of attention is killing your organization
You’ve already heard that America is suffering from a deficit of attention. In fact, the whole world has the same diagnosis.
Attention spans have measurably shrunken. In 2008, Lloyds TSB Insurance commissioned a shocking study that found our average attention span halved in a decade, from twelve minutes to five minutes.
Then, just this spring (2015), a study from Microsoft had researchers announcing that the average human attention span was just eight seconds! Think of it: twelve minutes to eight seconds in 15 years.
Don’t think for a minute that the direct sales, also known has the multi-level marketing industry, hasn’t been affected by the short attention span trend.
Direct Sales offices from Amway to Zurvita have been struggling with this phenomenon—and it’s not going away or getting better.
What should direct sales do? What does the future hold for multi-level marketing companies that are determined to grow?
A big part of the answer actually lies in the past
More than four decades ago, a young Don Failla started an MLM empire by reducing his entire “presentation” to being able to draw it on a simple plain paper napkin. It was simple, visual, memorable, and repeatable!
You’ve probably already used a napkin presentation and not known it:
Imagine you’re sitting in a booth at a diner with a close friend. She asks, “Hey, tell me about _________.” You say, “Well, it’s really very simple…” You reach over, grab a napkin from the holder, and start to draw. And you explain as you draw it out. After a short moment, your friend says, “Oh! I get it! That’s cool!”
Message transmitted, received, understood, and remembered!
If you took that simple, effective napkin presentation and gave it a 21st century twist, you’d have a whiteboard-style explainer video.
What are whiteboard explainer videos?
Instead of a napkin, we start with a blank whiteboard and tell your story with fun drawings and images along with sound effects, music, and a professional voiceover.
Generally speaking, Ydraw whiteboard videos grab and hold viewers’ attention by telling a story—usually about a company, product, or service. Viewers often relate to the character in the video, which results in imagining themselves in the character’s position, using the product or service.
In fact, nothing is more powerful than a whiteboard video to hold the attention of an audience ranging from school children to business executives. (Their attention spans being roughly equal.)
And that’s exactly why Ydraw videos work so well—they capture and hold attention long enough for your message to be transmitted, and even shared!
Whiteboard-style explainer videos are an updated version of the napkin presentation!
Whiteboard videos allow you to leverage the power of social media
And here’s the best part—they don’t have to be presented one-to-one like the old napkin presentation. Your Independent Business Owners can leverage the power of email, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and personal websites to share a whiteboard video about your opportunity, or a new product or benefit.
Living and working in Utah makes it difficult to ignore the presence of the Direct Sales or Multi-Level Marketing industry. After all, about a dozen of the top companies make Utah their headquarters. We’ve consulted with several of them and been allowed “behind the curtain” to learn their biggest worries.
Nothing is more approachable and non-threatening than a brief whiteboard explainer video. Tell a simple “before/after” “problem/solution” story. You don’t have to focus on the mechanics of your business, instead, focus on the benefits of your opportunity: more income, more time, more freedom, more control, and so on.
Your Independent Business Owner places the video in an email or on their website or social media site and invites prospects to view the video and contact them if they’d like to know more. You can see the benefits of having a brief, fun, concise introduction to your company. Remember, at this point, your presentation should be more about the viewer and how you understand and can help them—than about your company.
2-Sales prospecting
Most of the companies we’ve worked with have two approaches with sales—promoting the benefits of their business opportunity and inviting the prospect to benefit from being their own Independent Business Owner; or promoting the benefits of their products and inviting the prospect to purchase the products.
Imagine if every IBO had both approaches posted on their sites, and could email one or the other to prospects!
3-Retention
Retention is a toughy because your retention campaign starts on day one. Retention works best through relationships and frequent and relevant communication. We don’t recommend “canned” videos—instead, if you want to use video, make sure it’s fresh and up-to-date.
4-Product understanding
Imagine having an entire video library of each of your products and product benefits! Your friend talks about her struggle with weight loss, then send an email or log on with her to watch a brief video about your amazing weight loss products!
If your company isn’t focused on health supplements, you still get the idea of how to use whiteboard videos to promote what you do.
5-Leadership training
Training is another sweet spot for whiteboard explainer videos! The number one complaint from the field is lack of training! The number one complaint from headquarters is untrained representatives!
Training doesn’t have to be complex or drudgery—especially when it’s fun and bite-sized!
Imagine an explainer video library available to IBOs from their first day on. Each one in the problem/solution format and ending in a challenge to try a specific action. An email is sent each week from headquarters to every representative inviting them to focus on the technique of the week!
6-You already have an in-house video department?
That’s perfect! Then you already know how important a role video plays in communication today.
However, side-by-side, whiteboard explainer videos outperform “talking head” videos at every level. Whiteboard-style videos create viewer anticipation—viewers pay attention and stay engaged in order to guess what’s being drawn next. Whiteboard viewers stay engaged with the video longer than a “live” video, and have better recall on four out of five memory tests after the video.
Well-crafted whiteboard videos do take time and resources, but it’s possible to begin a production schedule that eventually delivers two or three a month—and that adds up to messages that are received, understood, remembered, and appreciated!
Thank you for reading How Whiteboard-Style Explainer Videos are the Updated Version of a 40-year-old MLM Breakthrough!
We are always producing new explainer videos and I at times I forget to check out our latest merchandise. Well here are some fun new and exciting explainer videos.
