How Do Businesses Use Explainer Videos? A Q&A with Chinaimportal

The benefits of marketing aren’t new. A well-executed content marketing strategy can help convert your target audience into paying customers. 

What is relatively new is the use of videos. 

There is a huge, and growing, demand for video content because it’s engaging. People use videos to make their decisions and a well-made video on your landing page can increase your conversion rate by 80% according to SmartInsights. 

Explainer videos are one of the most common types of videos on a landing page. I interviewed Fredrik Gronkvist, founder and director of Chinaimportal, about his company’s experience using explainer videos in their marketing strategy. 

Question 1: What industry is your business in?

Fredrik: My main business is in manufacturing services, and also in product compliance and product safety. So, they are related. I lived in Shanghai for some time, and started off working in sourcing and so on, then specialized primarily as a certain product compliance.

Question 2: Why do you use explainer videos for your business?

Fredrik: Well, we are selling software for companies that want to manage the compliance procedure, meaning understanding safety standards, labelling requirements, certification, import permits, and so on. 

Now, this is not exactly like selling car insurance; it’s not a commodity. It’s sort of a product that we’ve invented. Explaining that in just written text, in an era where people don’t actually read, because they don’t, isn’t as effective as using a video. 

An explainer video helps me communicate what my services are about, the problem they solve, the cost, how they compare to other services, and I can do that in just, say, one to two minutes. 

There’s no other media that can actually achieve this. 

Question 3: Do other companies in the same industry use videos?

Fredrik: To some extent, yes, we see that. I will say that we were quite early. We started using Vyond, GoAnimate as it was called back then, in the summer of 2014. And today, it’s more common to use explainer videos, but still, there are some major competitors, some pretty big business, that don’t have a single video. 

So, there is definitely a lot of room for businesses that are interested in selling more to start using this media because nobody buys something that they don’t understand, to some extent, at least. 

And content marketing through videos can fix that. As I said, when it comes to like SaaS software and business services, this is something that we as entrepreneurs invent and it’s not a commodity like car insurance, that has to be explained. 

Question 4: What kind of explainer videos do you use?

Fredrik: Well, today, we have a landing page, a home page video, that sort of explains what we do.  At a higher level, it explains the various services we offer and also, the flagship services. In addition, we also have product specific videos that just dive into the specifics of that one service. Which is needed because that also saves me and my employees a lot of phone calls. 

So yeah, I would say that you need a main video that explains what you do as a company.  IT also helps your potential customers navigate and understand what the different solutions you offer to solve this or that problem. 

And if they want to learn more, they can click to watch another video. So, again, making these videos, of course requires a bit of resources up front, but if one video saves you a bunch of phone calls, it’s definitely worth it.

Question 5: What kind of conversion rate increase did you see when you started using explainer videos?

Fredrik: Well, it’s hard to measure because we were still in the growth stage when we started using videos. So I can’t really know. 

If you have a mature business, and then you add a number of explainer videos, you can maybe say that, okay before, I had this rate and now I have this. But I can’t really do that, as I just explained, but I hear customers referring to them on a daily basis.

It’s just human nature, people don’t read, but people watch videos. And I know, for a fact, that our videos have had a huge impact on sales. 

We also use these videos for re-targeting, if you go on our website and you go on Youtube, you’ll see one of these videos. So, every month, we have thousands of people watching these videos, either on the website, or off page, on Youtube or Facebook. 

Question 6: Have you ever used animated explainer videos?

Fredrik: Yeah, as I said, we actually started off with animated videos, and we still use them to this day. We also do quite a few screen captures, meaning we actually showcase a product. That’s been very effective because people want to know what’s in the box.. 

But that’s something you would use when you show a specific product, not when you introduce your company because you don’t want to dive into an online platform before you actually explain what your business is all about. 

Question 7: Do animated explainer videos fit for every industry?

Fredrik: Well, maybe not. Maybe I wouldn’t use animation to show a physical product, I would actually show the product. But, when it comes to something abstract, business services, software, then, yeah, definitely.

 Or, yeah, even if it is a commodity, like insurance, like car insurance, then an animated video can still be beneficial because you can’t really touch insurance. You can’t hold it, you just know the policy. And showing a photo of policy isn’t going to excite anyone.

So, anything that’s intangible, everything that is software, a service, or a mix, you can definitely use animated explainer videos. 

Question 8: In your opinion, what makes an explainer video great?

Fredrik: Well, that’s an explainer video that actually sells and makes me money. That should be obvious. 

A great video does a lot. Explaining the opportunity, explaining a problem, why established solutions don’t work, what I do- the high-level benefits, the pricing, the features, and how it actually works. 

A great video will also demonstrate how customers are already using the service. It also needs media references, and ultimately, a call to action; which could be to sign up now, or use this discount code, or book this phone call, or something like that. But ultimately, it has to increase sales. 

So yeah, you definitely need to work with someone that primarily knows how to write a good script because that is the foundation of an explainer video. Or really any good video.