Henry Reich regularly logs one million plus views with each video posted to his "Minute Physics" YouTube channel. The videos run somewhere in the neighborhood of one to three minutes and tackle the task of explaining advanced physics concepts to the average Joe. Recent offerings include takes on why "E=mc2 is incomplete" and a look at "Einstein and the Special Theory of Relativity."
Through the use of animated video, Henry is able to dissect highly cerebral topics and present the core concepts of each topic to a general audience that isn't necessarily accustomed to the ideas that are being discussed. Just like with physics, there are often complicated concepts that need to be explained in the tech world; especially in the B2B technology market where product offerings can be difficult to break down and explain in just a sentence or two.
Companies that offer products involving niche specializations, sophisticated methodologies or abstract technical concepts are perfect candidates for the use of animated videos on their websites. In fact, any business that finds they are using a lot of technical language over the course of several paragraphs could probably benefit from using multiple channels (text, audio, video) to get their point across.
This is often the case when you're dealing with leading-edge software or hardware seeking to solve today's problems with tomorrow's technology. In these cases, companies are often put in the position of having to provide hyper-focused descriptions of both (a) the problem being solved and (b) the unique approach to solving it, and these descriptions can end up being overly technical by necessity.
Really take a look at your site - or better yet have someone you know who is not familiar with your business offerings or industry take a look - and ask yourself: Are there areas of the site where explanations and descriptions become unwieldy and difficult to take in with just a quick read or skim over? Might a business-minded CEO (as opposed to the more technically-minded CTO or IT Director) have difficulty digesting the intricacies of your offering and its value propositions?
1. Your potential customer is then able to read, hear and see the information, as opposed to just reading about it on a web page. Absorbing information in multiple ways aids in increasing the level of understanding and improves retention rates for the people visiting your site.
2. Incorporating video into your site adds an element of personalization. Especially with B2B, marketing communications can feel cold and sterile, but using animated video on your site allows for a human voice to come into play. The narrator of the video acts as a spokesperson for your brand, lending a voice and personality to the information being delivered, and will help your customers relate to your business on a more personal level while also ensuring that you stand out among your competitors. Additionally, the visual style that you elect to incorporate into your brand via the animation provides an opportunity to convey a specific identity to your audience.
Keep in mind, people are watching videos more and more every day. In fact, 89 million people in the U.S. will watch 1.2 billion videos online today*.
So if you think video could be helpful in getting your point across, please feel free to reach out - we specialize in the production of animated videos for disruptive tech companies.
*Source: comScore July 2012