What makes things funny? Our own sense of humor isn’t always funny to the guy sitting next to us. So, let’s look at a few simple principles used in Improv to make your video funny to all of your audience!
First and foremost, there is TRUTH in COMEDY! The funny comes from the experiences we have all had in our lives. Think about sitcoms, why do they work? They take something so simple, like everyday life and exploit it. The ups and downs of dating and heartbreak or fighting for that perfect job, only to find out that it isn’t so perfect. But where does the comedy come from?
The funny comes from the unexpected. The moments of truth. It comes from showing not telling. We have all been there…the time in the grocery store when two people are having a conversation in public and you can’t help but listen, even though you know the topic should have probably been left at home…yeah that stuff.
So let’s take a look at this funny scenario….
We see two shadowy figures digging holes in a graveyard. It’s dark, but we can see that there’s a body behind them. It appears that they are covering up a murder! The scene is quite grim and creepy… so how is this funny? The car lights flicker on and we get a better look of the situation… only to reveal…two clowns? Okay, now this is way more terrifying, but their must be more to the story… so as we get closer, we overhear…
Clown 1:“Look Stan, all I’m saying is I’m sorry she left you. You deserve better!”
Clown 2:“You know Joe I just don’t understand, I did everything I could to make her happy.”
Clown 1:“Hey, you know, it’s okay if you want to cry. It’s just us brother.”
Clown 2: (in tears) “Life is just so unfair! But hey how’s the wife and kids?”
Clown 1: “They’re real good. Sally just started walking…”
The conversation continues as they are digging a shallow grave wearing their clown costumes. So, we know they are clowns, we know they are friends, and we know what happened…but they don’t have to tell us that they murdered this guy. We just know! If we focused on the body, or what happened the scene would drag on, the audience would get board with details and information that they don’t need.
This scenario leads us to the truth of comedy…Relatability!
Think about how you feel when you pop bubble wrap. Did that put a smile on your face just thinking about it? How about when you scoop peanut butter from a freshly open jar, yeah there’s that satisfaction face. See how easy it is to relate? All you have to do is capture a moment when someone has used your product in such a way that it brings a clear feeling to your audience.
Just remember that comedy is subjective, but so is being bored out of your seat. By using these tried and true principles of Improv Comedy, you can help your audience laugh at the unexpected, learn about your great product/service and keep them interested and wanting more.
So, let’s get out there and take a fresh approach to comedy, and whatever you do, if you see two clowns walking your way…RUN!
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!
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!
It was the 2nd quarter and he launched his clipboard into the ground, breaking it into pieces.
“#&*$^%^…get over here. What the #$%^$?” (we love it)
That, my friends, is Shane Battier, my coach for the next 3 days. For those of you who do not know who Shane Battier is, you should Google him. He was probably one of the best NBA players nobody ever knows.
Hoop Scoop Magazine named Shane Battier the fourth-best seventh grader in the United States. When he graduated from Detroit Country Day School in 1997, he received the Naismith Award as the best high school basketball player in the nation. When he graduated from Duke in 2001, where he won a record-tying 131 college basketball games, including that year’s N.C.A.A. Championship, he received another Naismith Award as the best college basketball player in the nation.
On day two of our tournament, Shane and I were talking basketball and warming up for the game. I tossed him the ball and watched him rim check 5 shots in a row. He told me he hadn’t shot a ball in a while, but still, I expected him to hit a couple shots at least.
My thought… “How does this guy have an NBA championship ring?”
It was at that time Shane Battier changed the way I looked at basketball forever. I will never play the game the same again. He ended up leading us to the championship where we lost to a much better team. (Just picture a bunch of old guys trying to relive their glory days. It’s a blast.)
In the 90s a virus of statistical probabilities infected professional sports.
Math geniuses began to take all the data that sports lovers keep and put it to work. Think Money Ball.
He asked me what I thought the worst shot in basketball was. I wasn’t sure, so I guessed a side shot. I was wrong. It’s a jump shot off the dribble.
Kobe Bryant, one of the best players of all time would become pretty inefficient when Shane guarded him. If Kobe dribbled left and pulled up for an 18 foot jump shot: his numbers tanked. Shane knew this.
Shane’s success did not come from his raw talent. It came because he understood the numbers. He would cause his opponents to always take the lowest probability shot.
On offense, Shane would always get the ball to the right teammate where he could take the highest probability shot. It’s all about the numbers.
Shane’s game is a weird combination of obvious weaknesses and nearly invisible strengths. When he is on the court, his teammates get better, often a lot better, and his opponents get worse.
When I step onto a court, I see a court, a basketball hoop, and my opponent. When Shane steps onto a court he sees probabilities, a grid, and numbers.
It’s genius.
Knowing the odds, Shane can pursue an inherently uncertain strategy with total certainty. He can devote himself to a process and disregard the outcome of any given encounter.
To the point…
Do you know and understand your numbers?
When Ydraw creates a video, we like to take into account the numbers.
We know, statistically speaking, a well-written script with a story is going to have a higher success rate.
We know that a testimonial is going to increase your conversions.
We know that if you start your video off from a high level of intensity, your click through rate goes up.
We know that by adding humor and some special effects you’re going to enhance the viewer’s experience in a positive way and your success rate goes up.
Lastly, we know that boring videos, have zero chance.
These types of numbers come from years of experience. We also apply this to our video marketing division. We can’t tell you all the little things we do to shift the probabilities in our favor. We just do them because we have been in the game long enough.
I watch so many video marketing campaigns fail because they are playing a game they do not understand.
Our job is to do what works statistically speaking and yet 35% of the videos that leave our office end up being sabotaged by the client.
It hurts and I am begging you to not do it.
We want to create an amazing video for your company.
Call or shoot us an email to get started.
PS. It’s that time of year. Some of you have year-end budgets left over. If you are looking for a way to spend your budget, we would like to chat. We want to show you what we have been working on. It’s amazing.
