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.
How Getting Your Audience Into a Story Can Increase Revenue
The weekend is almost here!
For most, weekends are times to relax and unwind from the day-to-day stresses that are part of a productive week. They are characterized by events, busier roads, packed restaurants, increased movie ticket sales and red box rentals.
One of the most popular activities is to sit in a cool dark theater and be consumed by actions on the big screen and surround sound.
What makes going to the movies so popular? Why do people line up, sometimes for hours, to sit and eat over-priced greasy food in a room full of strangers and spend about two hours watching something that is not real?
Because–everyone needs a break once in a while!
Taking a break is not only enjoyable but imperative to maintain a healthy life balance and mental state.
One of the best ways to take a break is to get lost in a story.
People are naturally drawn to stories because they provide a quick and easy temporary escape from pressing deadlines or situations.
Whiteboard storytelling is so attractive because it plays on the human tendency to pause and get wrapped up in a story.
Here are 7 reasons whiteboard storytelling can help you build your business.
1-Whiteboard Storytelling Gets Past the Infamous 9 Second Attention Span
How long is your attention span? Maybe a better question is, do you have a smart phone? Followed by “How long can you go without picking your smart phone up?”–be honest here.
I admit that unless I’m on a date with someone I really like, I will check or at least think about checking my iPhone at least every 45 minutes–and that’s only if I’m in the middle of something important like a work meeting or if I’m at a movie theater where I can subtly peek in my purse to see if something earth shattering has come across my tiny iPhone screen once or twice. Otherwise, it is conveniently at my side where I can be alerted the instant someone reaches out to me.
I think I can safely say I’m not alone in my iPhone dependence.
We live in a society where we are blessed to have access to almost any information we want in the palms of our hands. It’s a blessing but also a curse where we are constantly bombarded with so much, that we have become almost expert at weeding things out quickly.
In Jace Vernon’s article Today’s Double Down Audience he mentions that recent studies show online viewers have an attention span of 9 seconds! And that’s only if they come across something they find interesting enough to pause and actually take a real look.
Think about it. Think about how you scroll through your Facebook feed or Instagram, scanning what your thousands of friends find important at that particular moment and how you mechanically show your virtual approval with “likes”. Think about what goes through your head as you settle on a YouTube video to watch.
Now think about how you would react to a video set up as a story. Chances are you do pause.
Then you see a hand quickly drawing a concerned looking man and you wonder what he’s worried about. You watch intently as the hand draws a house on the screen..and then…FLAMES coming out of the house! OH NO!! You feel anxious for this poor cartoon man as you sit glued to the screen long enough to see that happily, in the end, the angst on his face is replaced with peace and satisfaction because ABCD Insurance had his home repaired without a hitch.
Your attention span went from 9 seconds to about 90 because you got involved in a story.
2-Stories Distract Us From Noise Around Us.
I just illustrated this point a little with the man and the burning house. Your focus was on learning the outcome of the firey disaster despite other things that are always in the background or just a click away. You were distracted from those distractions long enough to zero in on one story.
Author Jonathan Gottschall wrote, “The human mind is a wanderer by nature. The daydream is the mind’s default state.”
Stories help us focus on one thing and, in most cases, we enjoy it! The mind can still be in that “default state” and sometimes even learn something in the process when it is drawn into a Once Upon a Time kind of setting.
It’s human nature to appreciate being taken away from our distractions and escape into a story. Even a sad or frightening tale is enough to temporarily remove us from our current reality and give our brains a break from all the other noise that is constantly present.
3-The Brain Connects with Patterns, Pictures, and Stories
With so much information being thrown at us to process, the human brain copes by using past experiences to categorize things into little boxes that it can understand and relate to. One way it does this is by connecting patterns, pictures and stories to the new information provided.
In one of Ydraw’s favorite references, the book, Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath provide two different explanations of what a pomelo is on page 53 to illustrate how people use past experience to understand new information.
“Explanation 1: A pomelo is the largest citrus fruit. The rind is very thick but soft and easy to peel away. The resulting fruit has a light yellow to coral pink flesh and can vary from juicy to slightly dry and from seductively spicy-sweet to tangy and tart.”
“Explanation 2: A pomelo is basically a supersized grapefruit with a very thick and soft rind”
Chances are you’ve never tried a pomelo. Explanation 1 is very detailed, but “spicy-sweet” could describe anything from sweet and sour chicken to cinnamon bears to, what it is really similar to which is a grapefruit. With Explanation 2, you have a better idea of what to expect when you prepare to bite into a refreshing and tangy pomelo–because chances are very high that you’ve actually tried a grapefruit before.
With this example, you are able to take something you’re familiar with to better understand something you aren’t.
A primary goal of your whiteboard video is to get your audience to see themselves successfully utilizing your product or service.
Where on average, you have 30 seconds to 2 minutes to get your point across, you don’t have the luxury of putting in all the nitty gritty details necessary to do justice to what you are trying to promote.
Give your audience metaphors or situations they can relate to so you don’t have to recreate the wheel.
With whiteboard storytelling, you can portray a scenario general yet specific enough that your target audience can use past experiences to see and themselves in the story you present. Mission 1.. accomplished!
4-Stories Appeal to Senses and Emotions
Imagine a video like this:
Scene 1: A triangle tent is drawn and then a campfire next to it. Dark blue pops onto the screen around a bright yellow crescent moon and a couple stars. The soundtrack is crickets, the crackle of fire and distant singing to an out of tune guitar.
Scene 2: A griddle is drawn with two strips of bacon and two eggs sunny side up. The soundtrack is sizzling and popping and a faint sound of a brook in the background.
What did you experience when you read that?
Could you smell the bacon cooking and did it make your stomach growl? Could you smell the pine trees, crackling fire and taste marshmallow from the s’mores you consumed before curling up on the cold hard ground? Could you smell the nylon tent mixed with bug spray?
Did your heart lift and sink because your Grandpa John, may he rest in peace, loved to sing around the campfire and play his guitar that was never in tune? Did you feel the cool mountain air, the warmth of the rising sun and a rush of freedom that came from being away from the office for a few days?
My guess is, even just reading the scenes helped you experience some sort of flashback or emotion. I did while writing it! Though I just explained a fraction of a story, it is set up in a way where the mind can fill in the blanks with past memories and experience. The escape into a story already exists right there!
Storytelling in detail that appeals to the senses will almost always conjure some kind of emotion. Senses and emotion go hand in hand. For example, when I hear the song “Return to Pooh Corner” or smell Irish Spring soap I instantly get teary-eyed because those things trigger subconscious memories of my dad who died when I was young.
People buy into things that trigger the right emotions.
Narratives are everywhere–and as a marketer, that’s a very good thing–since narratives that appeal to the senses and emotions really do sell!
5-Storytelling Influences People’s Actions
In most cases, if someone stops on a video, they are curious about something in the description (so you better use the right key words and title–more on that another day). They are watching your video to help them make a decision, generally about putting their money and/or time into something new.
Reason 5 is a compact way of reminding you that when people hear stories that trigger emotions they will act one way or another whether it be clicking off your video or clicking the link under your video for more information.
Keep the story interesting enough that they will want to know more and ACT on your call to action.
6-Facts Tell Stories Sell
You’ve got seven seconds to sell your audience on watching more of your video. This is not the time to bog them down with facts–start with a story!
By now you should have an idea in mind of what kinds of characters and what your basic plot will be for your video.
You’re not even close to being done..
WHAT?!
Seriously–you need more than one “story” in your video.
What I mean is that besides the main narrative, you also need sub-stories, like a line about how your business started. You definitely need testimonials from outsiders who briefly share their experiences with your company. Testimonials are like mini one liner autobiographies.
Don’t go overboard but definitely, add more for your audience to chew on with a mini “story” or two.
Save your bulleted facts for your website; let your stories sell you and your business.
7-People Like to Share Stories—So Why Not Your Video?
Finally, another primary goal is for your video to get watched..and get watched a lot!
People love to share stories, particularly if those stories make them smile, laugh, or shock them.
Where word of mouth is the most trusted form of advertising, make sure your video story is the caliber that your audience will want to spread the word about by sharing your video.
In closing, I just want to remind you that whiteboard storytelling can be fun! Stretch your brain and come up with relatable stories that will keep your audience captivated and give them a great and lasting impression of you and your company.
I just gave you the WHY of using whiteboard storytelling; check in next week for tips on HOW you do it!
Thank you for your time. I hope these 7 Reasons Whiteboard Storytelling Builds Business have given you something to think about as your business continues to grow!
It’s a given that not all information is going to have people on the edge of their seats, especially when it comes to business content. Ideas, concepts and new products need and deserve exposure for sure, and video is a great way to make it happen.
But seriously..where is the logic behind investing time and money intosomething with no entertainment value whatsoever–even if it happens to be informative? At best, people are forced to watch and try to digest it, and worst case, it gets completely ignored and/or even criticized. Boring videos can be a waste of your viewers’ and your time.
Put yourself in your audience’s shoes.
Think about your life. Think about your typical routine from how you feel when your alarm clock goes off, to getting up and ready, to starting work whether you work in an office, from home, or on the road. Think about what you do and where your mind and mood are at different times throughout the day.
Now think about how you feel when you take a quick break to check your phone and surf the web, Facebook or YouTube. What kinds of things catch your attention and what will you skip over?
Finally, think of yourself at the end of the day. How does your brain feel? What do you want to think about and what do you want to avoid? Chances are, the last thing you want to do as you unwind is sit and watch some boring video explaining…anything. In fact, if you come across dry information not only are you likely to quickly move past it, you might also be slightly annoyed by it.
Boring Videos = Lost Messages = Lost Money
I think I can fairly speak for the general population and reiterate what has been said on this site before when I say that people just don’t like boring videos!
And yet, they keep getting produced. They’re everywhere! From promoting the latest scientific wonder of a supplement to hit the shelves to teaching employees about harassment policies, to rounding up support for a cause that will save the world; these important, informative and boring videos are being created, not watched…and…messages….are….getting…lost!
We all know that video is by far one of the best ways to market a product or idea. People remember more when visual is combined with audio, so yes, please, make videos and use them to put your point across. Just be sure those videos are attention-grabbing so any time and money you invest into them doesn’t go down the drain.
Entertaining Videos Can Make You Money
I get it; there are some pieces of critical information that just aren’t that interesting but can be if you present them the right way. Entertaining marketing and corporate videos can definitely make you money!
Marketing: It’s obvious how an entertaining video can help sell just about anything. Marketing is all about catching and keeping the attention of clients or potential clients as a message is delivered. With all the competition out there, you’ve got to be creative to get noticed!
Corporate: How can corporate videos be profitable? Good guestion. They’re necessary and people generally get paid to watch them. Step one is getting colleagues and/or staff to watch the video. Step two is keeping them engaged so they actually remember what it’s all about.
If your training videos are interesting enough, your employees will pay attention, remember what they’ve been taught and actually act on it. If they make your employees smile or laugh–even better! Happy employees who know what they’re doing, love their jobs and think their company is cool, work harder by default. When they work harder, production goes up and you make more money.
If your concept catches your colleagues’ attention you’re more likely to get their support. More support means more recognition and in most cases more recognition leads to…you guessed it…more money.
Ydraw Can Take the Boring Out of Boring Videos
Ydraw videos are well known for their high-quality art and quirky storylines that keep audiences engaged. It’s no secret that we pride ourselves on the effectiveness of our entertaining videos.
As our client, we ask that you be open to our suggestions as we work together to make sure your audience isn’t bored. That way we can deliver an entertaining, memorable share-worthy video that will help your company produce amazing results and increased revenue.
Thank you for reading Why Businesses Create Boring Videos!
How Can You Produce the Right Message and Get Magical Results?
Let’s talk scripting. How can you write a perfect script?
Simply put, no script=no video, bad script=bad video.
Over the years Ydraw has published (and will continue to publish) posts about script writing since the topic is so important and sometimes can be a hard one to truly grasp.
Your script is the framework or skeleton and life’s blood of a video that will deliver your core message to your audience and draw them in to learn more about you and your company.
I may be stating the obvious here, but everything else that is done with your video, from scene planning to art to voice over, follows and builds on your script. Unscripted delivery is called improv and that only works on stage or on the sales floor.
Whether you’re working with one of our creative directors/script writers or writing on your own, following the six guidelines in this article will save you time and frustration during the script writing process and help you create a perfect and effective script for your video.
1-Know Your Audience and Speak To Them..not At Them.
You have a product or service that will change peoples’ lives and the world deserves to know everything about it! Right?? Wrong!!
Let’s face it, your audience is priority #1 so before you start bullet-pointing all you have to offer, make sure you really understand who you’re trying to reach, put yourself in their shoes, and see how long you’d be willing to listen to your own message.
What is your audience dealing with, how can you help them, what will make them listen to you and why should they? If you were them, what would catch and keep your attention?
Create a fictional person or avatar. Know everything about him or her—write to connect with that “person”.
As a professional writer, whether I’m writing scripts, blogs, articles, screenplays or a full blown novel, I’ve noticed my best work is done when I put my ego aside and find a specific target or “person” to write to. It helps me write in a way that creates a much deeper connection with my audience as a whole.
In the article Script Writing 101: Know Your Audience, Ydraw Creative Director Linne Marsh goes into detail about how to identify your audience and how to gain trust and interest by showing that a product or service you have can “ease their pain”. She also warns against going off on tangents that could drive potential customers away.
2-Include Five Key Elements in Your Script:
These elements are your structure and must be included somewhere in your script, no matter what and no matter how. You can be creative and hint at or even combine some of the elements (your B-Problem can also be your A-Header depending on how you write it) but make sure you incorporate all five.
A-Header: Have a powerful header or hook to draw your audience in.
B-Problem: Clearly identify a problem your audience can relate to.
C-Solution: Show how your product, service or idea will remedy that problem.
D-Testimonial or Proof: Provide testimonials or an example of when or how it has worked for others.
E-Call to Action or Offer: Invite your audience to buy, click a link, send an email or make a call, whatever it is you want them to do, at least once during your video.
3-Follow the Made to Stick Principles:
Jace Vernon wrote an in-depth article called 5 Step Guide to Writing A Script the “Made to Stick” Way about one of his favorite marketing tools; The Made to Stick Model by Chip and Dan Heath. Read the book. If not the book, at least read or re-read Jace’s article—it is well worth your time!
Put these tried and true Made to Stick guidelines listed below into practice and you will see results!
A-Simple: Save the nitty gritty details of your product, business or people until after you’ve gotten your audience wanting to know more. Keep your message clear, simple and relatable.
B-Unexpected: Have an element of surprise to your message to catch and keep attention. Have fun with this. Use off the wall ideas or metaphors, unexpected facts and definitely include humor when you can!
C-Concrete: Create a very clear picture of your message for the audience. Avoid being too abstract.
D-Credible: Use statistics or authorities/experts to validate the benefits of what you are offering.
E-Emotional: Playing to your audience’s emotions is so critical! People remember messages when they feel something during delivery. So many decisions are made emotionally!
F-Stories: Make sure your script has an engaging story your audience will get involved with and want to watch through to the end.
4-Write in Memorable Scenes
We love what we do and we love our videos! What isn’t to love about watching a cartoon being drawn and listening to an entertaining story, right?
Where making people smile is definitely right at the top of our list, the reason we are here is to help you market your message. If too much focus is on creating a captivating cartoon, your message could get lost in the art of your video.
Keep in mind, the human brain thinks in pictures.
This is why Ydraw videos are done in shorter scenes rather than one long visually stimulating story.
For example, say you want to market a program to help with finances. It could look like this:
Scene 1: A family of five is having financial struggles.
Scene 2: Your amazing program can help them organize their finances just like it has helped dozens of others.
Scene 3: The family uses your program and they are able to afford a trip to Disneyland.
Scene 4: Invite your audience to call the number on the screen and talk to a financial expert NOW!
Of course there would be a lot more to the script, but if you focus on the main points, put them into scenes and write catering to those scenes, your audience is going to walk away remembering what you want them to remember.
5-Write with Pictures in Mind
Writing a whiteboard script is very different than just about any type of writing. You have a short period of time to tell a story while it’s being drawn to life on the screen before your audience’s eyes.
Yes, your script is the foundation and most critical part of your video, but the pictures are what people see and remember–and that’s why you’re here.
As you think of your scene, think of potential accompanying visuals and write only what will be said by the voice over artist.
The beauty of whiteboard video is that pictures do a lot of the explaining for you and this cuts down on your word count. A good rule of thumb for word count is to keep it between 150-160 words per minute. Writing that way might be more challenging than you think but you’ll notice much more clear and memorable messages as you write with the pictures in mind.
6-Make Sure Your Script Isn’t Boring
There are enough boring things to read and watch in this world.
Clients admittedly come to us with necessary but less than exciting products and services. We make learning about somewhat mundane things un-boring with metaphors, humor and unexpected twists.
Enlist the right side of your brain and add life and character to your message so it grabs and keeps attention, is memorable, and makes magic that encourages potential clients want to learn more about your business and you!
Thank you for reading “How to Write a Perfect Script”
Does Your Business Really Slow Down during Summer or Are You Missing an Opportunity to Keep it Growing?
Ah, summer! The very word brings images of freedom and soaking up the sun at the beach or poolside. You can smell bar-b-que in the air and feel cool soft grass beneath your feet as you jump to grab a frisbee being thrown in your direction.
Spring has officially sprung and Spring Fever has once again become epidemic in places where winter is actually cold. CEOs and students alike can be prone to distracting thoughts of vacation and..getting…OUTSIDE!!
This is yet another time where having a really strong attention grabbing whiteboard video can get your audience thinking about you and your business again.
Spring Fever used to be deadly to a lot of businesses. Not so much nowadays. It doesn’t kill anymore; let me tell you why.
Clients Unintentionally Take You with Them Everywhere They Go
Thanks to mobile devices your business can be in front of millions of viewers faces at times where they aren’t completely immersed in work and/or school. They actually have time to pay attention. This particularly applies when they 1-work remotely or 2-go on vacation.
1-People Work Remotely
Technology has made it so people can work remotely, or, take work on vacation with them. They are able to focus on work without the distractions of daily life or the office buzz. It is just them and their laptop. You can take part of their undivided attention.
2- Vacating Your Life Completely on Vacation is almost IMPOSSIBLE!
Imagine a family going on vacation to the Florida Keys. How many times will they use their mobile devices during the trip?
A-Travel Time
Chances are there will be very little singing in the car and the alphabet game, if played at all, will be short lived. GPS will periodically chirp directions at the driver, interrupting his or her favorite Pandora station.
There will be either a movie going in the back seat or, you guessed it, everyone else will be playing on his or her phone or tablet. If they’re flying, once the airplane hits cruising altitude–guess what?
Long gone are the days when travel time meant being forced to come up with something creative to do while just sitting.
B-Meal and Leisure Times
It takes conscious effort to be present and detached from your cell phone in any situation. This family will likely have good interaction and conversation during meal and leisure times, but with conversation lulls and as family members wind down for the evening, cell phones will come out at least once or twice.
C-No Service and Cell Phone Free Zones
What will happen when they volunteer or are forced to surrender their beloved cell phones for hours on end to “unplug” in a cell phone free zone or an area without service?
SEPARATION ANXIETY!!
Imagine the relief on their faces as screens light up and the buzz of new text messages and emails announcing their existence are heard!
D-Vacation Documentation
Finally, while they are “vacating” their lives they will make sure to post selfies and pictures of the cool food they eat and the fun things they see and do on Instagram, Facebook and their YouTube channels.
How You Can Use Whiteboard Video During Spring Fever Season to Ignite More Interest in Your Business
Let’s face it–dependency on mobile devices is real and is not likely to go away any time soon! So why not utilize this state of the human condition in your marketing plan? It can be a great thing for your business when peoples’ noses are pointed phone-ward.
This is a fantastic time to start putting them into practice if you haven’t already.
Let’s go back to our traveling family in the last section.
After a fun filled day of deep sea fishing, CEO Joe proudly posts a picture of he and Joe Jr. holding up the 11-foot swordfish they caught on Instagram and/or Facebook. CEO Joe, like most of the general population, will probably glance at his news-feed for at least a few seconds before or after posting, since, it’s really hard to enter the social media world without getting at least a glimpse of what’s going on there.
He will likely revisit and either add more posts or see what kind of popularity rating his post earned among his friends and followers. He might even post a video on his YouTube channel of the glorious moment when the swordfish was caught.
This is where a fun whiteboard video from your company could get noticed, watched and possibly even shared. After all, CEO Joe is on vacation and has leisure time to enjoy social media.
2-A New Season is a Great Time to Make an Online Announcement and/or Launch a New Video
People love “new” things and “news”. They will do a double take at something they haven’t seen before. If you’re planning on releasing a new product or bringing on new programs, aspects or talent, announcing it during a slower season could breathe extra life into your business.
Be strategic and make sure the timing is just right. Your announcement doesn’t even have to be earth shattering or company-changing; news is news and news turns heads.
New seasons can be a great time to consider launching or looking toward creating a new video–just to spice things up!
3-Use a Seasonal Topic to Bring Attention to Your Current Video(s).
Your customers need to know you’re there for them. This means bringing up topics they could be interested in, even if those topics aren’t directly related to what your business offers or sells.
One option is to blog or maybe even create a short newsletter with some helpful hints or healthy summer recipes. You could also post a picture of your amazing office softball team to help reinforce the human side of your business and connect them to you even more.
Regardless, make sure and link your video, old or new, to any form of online communication you put out there. It will get views and repeated views, and repetition is a good thing!
Become part of your audience’s leisure time with a fun distracting and informing whiteboard video that will make them smile.
Approached the right way, Spring Fever won’t kill your business; your whiteboard video really can light a fire under it and help keep it growing!
Thanks for reading How Whiteboard Video Can Keep Your Business from Dying of Spring Fever!
When the words “voice over artist” are brought up what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Chances are you can hear that kid in grade school who could perfectly impersonate the 98-year-old librarian, or your Uncle Dave who used his best Donald Duck voice and made you laugh when you were 6 years old. You might close your eyes and think of the soothing intonation of the lady on your yoga DVD who helps you wind down from a long stressful day…”just brrreeeeaaattthhheeee,” and who could forget celebrities who brought your favorite Disney characters to life by giving them a voice? Now that’s magical! Regardless, the combination of tone, speed and inflection in a person’s voice makes you respond emotionally; whether it wakes you up, puts you to sleep, sets off alarm or makes you smile..OR..piques your interest in what is being said..or SOLD. Indeed, voices over artists are and should be our favorite people! Here are 8 reasons why…
1-VO Artists make us smile
Ydraw videos are power-packed, concentrated stories or overviews of a company or product that are used for marketing. We do what it takes to maintain the attention of your audience from the right script to the right art. It must catch attention and make a lasting memory—a memory they will revisit.
For example, eight years ago, on the last night of a humanitarian trip to Mexico, I was finally falling asleep in a tent. BOOM!!!! We were hit by a torrential thunder storm. All 50 twenty-somethings ran around frantically shoving muddy sleeping bags, tents and coolers into about a dozen cars, knowing we had just minutes to climb to the top of a very, very, very steep and slippery half-mile high dirt road in order to get back to the good old USA.
Our poor leader stood in the rain shouting out orders amidst the chaos. The driver of the car I was in sat wide-eyed and white-knuckled as the heaviness of dread almost buried us all. “You vill listen to vhat I say! You hear me?!” My friend Ben broke the semi-silence with a strong sharp German accent. “You must…stay in line! You must…move forwaaad…” The weight lifted instantly as we erupted in belly laughs with tears streaming down our faces. Ben’s irreverent impersonation of our leader (who actually had a California surfer boy accent) changed our mood in seconds.
We obviously made it out alive and Ben…well, he went on to be a key player in a reality TV show and supported himself for the next almost decade in Hollywood. His voice over talent definitely paid off! To this day that moment is one of my fondest memories and I can’t think about it without smiling!
2-What they say sticks
This is especially important with your video. Our imaging and the words are critical, but what helps a message stick even more is the way it is heard. Though it has been over 8 years since that car ride, Ben’s pseudo German tirade is still fresh in my mind. We want a similar result for your video. The combination of music, visual and the way things are said will create a sense of memorable happiness, possibly urgency and definitely a call to action.
3-What they do is NOT EASY!
It’s a known fact that getting ahead in the entertainment industry takes a lot of guts and sustained effort. Making money as an actor, a model, a hand model, a hair model, a rock and roll legend or a voice actor means sacrifice, lots of time, constantly putting your best foot forward and hoping people with a budget love you, and love you enough to keep hiring you.
Kendra, an instructor at Edge Studio, a voice over school and agency in New York, told me her feelings about what it takes to become a successful voice over artist. She said “If someone wants to get into (the industry), they need to know there is a lot of work to it and requires training. It isn’t a super easy get rich quick scheme that you can do at home in your PJs. Make sure you know you will be marketing yourself or need an agent.”
She said the most successful voice over artists are hard workers who take direction well, are coach-able, easy to work with and understand lots of practice is required in order to succeed. Great voice over generally cannot be done on the fly. Just because you made your 4th grade class laugh and your teacher angry doesn’t mean that same impersonation is going to feed your family. It is a fun profession, but takes real work and is not easy!
4-They will make you money
This point has already been addressed, but to drive it in, I’ll just remind you that the whole point of hiring a voice over artist is to make people love your product or service and to become customers. The old cliché “you get what you pay for” applies here. If you hire an inexperienced voice over artist, you are looking at investing in longer hours of recording to get the desired result, or gambling on a short session where you might end up settling with what you get in the time allotted.
5-The wrong voice can drive potential clients away
“Wake up! Allicia, you fall asleep every time I talk to you and it makes me feel bad.” Oops…it was true. I looked up apologetically at my roommate. Her soft, slow, slightly-slurred, verbal delivery put me to sleep despite my genuine interest in what she had to say.
Hiring the wrong voice talent can make your potential clients miss the message entirely or even worse, be like fingernails on the chalkboard and make them stop listening. If you try to pitch a medical product with a lazy accent dripping with slang or have a not-so-trained boisterous actor energetically push a call to action too hard you’re going lose credibility and drive people away.
6-For better or for worse, your voice over artist will set the tone of your video from the very beginning
The magic number for making a first impression is seven seconds. Those first seven seconds should be filled with an inviting sense of authority that keeps your audience captivated. The thing is, the absolute worst accent for one video might be the absolute best for another. Aunt Sally Mae with her sweet southern drawl might be the perfect person to talk about brisket night at your home town café, but please don’t let her invite people to invest in the stock market! You get the picture. Let’s set the tone well and keep your audience listening.
7-They can create zillions of different meanings out of the same sentence just by the way they make it sound.
“You bring that HERE!” “YOU bring that here!” “You bring THAT here!” You get the picture; the same four words request three totally different actions. We all know there are multiple facets to getting meaning from the spoken word. Intonation, just like music, can set the stage. A dark room on a movie screen can be terrifying, alluring, or hilarious, depending on what music is being played in the background. Where voice isn’t necessarily that powerful, it’s pretty darn close!
Just think about how the same sentence can sound hateful or complimentary, excited or exasperated depending on where the emphasis is and that the tones are. Even the slightest change of tone can change the entire meaning and mood.
Listen below as Mike O’Brien, one of our top voice over artists, gives an example of this.
8-They are just great people
At Ydraw we love our voice over artists for all the reasons above and the fact that they are just great people. We want the best videos for our clients so of course we only hire the best in the industry. Good grief, we even have the Little Ceasar’s guy and Barney the Dinosaur on our team! Before I end, I would like to introduce you to our most frequently requested voice talent and let you read and hear for yourselves why they are some of our favorite people!
When as a kid, Mike O’Brien asked Morgan Freeman for the chance to interview him, he couldn’t have dreamed that the next day he would be invited to the set of Shawshank Redemption and granted that interview by the actor himself. He also had no idea that years later he would own his own in-home art studio where he “works” as a voice actor 7 days a week. He has passed on his love for his career/hobby/way of life to his wife and three kids who have also earned a little cash on the side with their voice talents. Mike absolutely loves what he does and it shows in his work! He has been in the industry just ten years and has done commercials for Best Buy, Amazon, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Levis among countless others.
Acting was in Lauren’s blood from the time she was a tiny kid. She left the Poconos of Pennsylvania out of high school to shoot for the stars in New York City. After graduating with her BFA in Acting and booking her first radio ad she knew voice over was her passion. Her road was not an easy one with life changing events such as losing her mother to Lung Cancer. She left New York and followed her heart back to mountains and a small city vibe in Asheville, North Carolina where she found success. She is the Associate Producer for FaffConn, a voice over UN-conference and has companies like AT&T and Starbucks on her resume. As she helps others pursue their dreams we are so glad she pursued hers and ended up giving a perfect voice to so many of our characters!
Pizza! Pizza! Those two words immortalized by Dawson McKay have influenced the dinner decision for countless Americans for decades. Dawson started practicing for his career when he was 5 years old, but didn’t realize it until years later. As a working professional he successfully tried his hand in several creative industries such as cartooning, sound design, video editing, acting, magic and puppetry until he found his niche in and love for voice over. From X-Box games to electric cars to Marriott hotels to rock and roll announcements to voicing little old ladies and animated villains; Dawson McKay’s diversity speaks for itself and delights audiences across the board.
When Stephanie graduated with her BFA in Musical Theater she never would have dreamed that she would find her professional passion behind the curtain. She enjoyed singing and dancing in front of audiences on professional New York City based tours like West Side Story and High School Musical. She has also delighted families on Disney Cruise Lines. When she took her first voice over class in 2009 she was hooked and hasn’t turned back. This singing, dancing photography loving actress now gives characters from Goody to Good Housekeepng a voice full time. And she’s only just beginning! We’re grateful she jumped the cruise ships and came aboard as one of our most requested voice over artists!
Some voices just make you feel comfortable and at home and Greg Simms’ talent is a textbook example. His voice carries a sense of calm authority that companies like Wal-Mart, BMW and Coca Cola among countless others have used frequently to market their brands. Greg is an LA based voice actor who honed his trade under some of the greatest legends in the industry, including the voice of Porky Pig. Besides being “the conversational guy next door” Greg also specializes in redneck, folksy, even a little leprechaun among other specialized dialects. This West Coast boy will bring the hometown feel to any script.
Kelley loves..her..job! She also loves Jeeps. On February 25, 2016 AdWeek featured her love for both in an article about an 8 video campaign she put together to get Jeep to hire her (read the article and watch one of her videos by clicking the link below). Where this voice of Amtrak Acela Express is not hurting in the slightest for paying customers, she hopes to combine two of her primary passions in the paying gig of her dreams! Kelley hadn’t planned on acting as a career. It was a fun hobby and side moneymaker for her through high school and as a DJ and VJ in college that spilled over into her post college life when the Michigan born Public Relations grad got a job at a country radio station in Tucson, Arizona. Moving forward she experienced success with several forms of media, ultimately choosing to go full time utilizing her signature voice to make a living and make money for her clients.
With professional background and training in acting, singing and even as a recording studio engineer Dean brings much more to the table than just his animated narrations. He has an impressive string of clients and accents worth mentioning but way too long to list. Dean has also been delighting children for decades! As the first DJ on Radio Disney and as Barney the Dinosaur he’s kept countless kids captivated. Unless you’ve spent your life under a rock, at some point you have heard and likely been influenced by the voice of Dean Wendt.
With talent like this you can see why we pride ourselves on every aspect of our videos! Pair up a Disney animator, one of our award winning creative directors, a highly organized and detail oriented project manager, and one of these rock stars, and you’ll have a memorable masterpiece of a video that will stick with your audience and make that call to action heard on a deeper level. Who do you want to tell your next story? We’re here to help, and so are our voice over artists!
