Explainer Video Ideas for Corporate Engagement Inspiration
If you own a business, you’ve probably heard that explainer videos are an important way to get the word out about your brand.
And if you’ve been watching other companies’ explainer videos, you may have realized that you can choose from many formats and styles to get your point across.
So how do you know which explainer video ideas for corporate marketing will work best to draw in potential customers for your brand?
We’ll walk you through the various types of scripts you can use for your videos and what those videos might look like. Plus, we’ll show you some fabulous examples you can draw inspiration from.
Table of Contents
- There Are Two Main Components of Corporate Explainer Videos: Format and Style
- 11 Explainer Video Ideas for Corporate Marketing Teams by Format and Style (With Examples)
- Format Option: Problem-Solution (Or Identity-Benefits)
- Format Option: Real-Life Story
- Format Option: Problem-Centric
- Format Option: Solution-Centric
- Format Option: Brand-Centric
- Format Option: Side-by-Side Comparison
- Format Option: The Customer Journey
- Create Effective and Compelling Corporate Explainer Videos With Houston Video
There Are Two Main Components of Corporate Explainer Videos: Format and Style
When deciding what type of explainer video you’d like to create for your business, you’ll usually start with figuring out which format you want. The format is the type of script that will be used.
Some examples of explainer video formats include:
- Problem-solution
- Real-life story
- Problem-centric
- Solution-centric
- Brand-centric
- Side-by-side comparison; and
- Customer journey
We’ll explain the details of each format in later sections.
After you’ve selected the format that works best for your message, you need to choose a style in which to present your explainer video. The style defines what the video looks like.
Some common styles you’ll choose from are:
- Animated — This is the most popular type of corporate explainer video and is great for describing intangible products or services. Animated videos let you get creative and are easier to update if you need to make changes in the future.
- Live action — These videos feature real people and work best when you want to explain a physical product or a service that caters to society. Since we are naturally drawn to human faces, live-action videos can help create an emotional connection that will benefit your business.
- No voiceover — Not having someone speaking on your video gives you a chance to grab a viewer’s attention with simple, short sentences or eye-catching graphics. These can be more impactful in today’s world of short attention spans.
- Bold typography — By filling the screen with dynamic and striking fonts and type styles, you can drive home the main points of your explainer videos.
- Whiteboard — These videos are simple and to the point with the information you want to explain being drawn and erased on a whiteboard. These are popular because they’re relatively easy to do and can fit into a lower budget.
11 Explainer Video Ideas for Corporate Marketing Teams by Format and Style (With Examples)
Let’s look at some of the most successful combinations of format and style used in explainer videos. We hope these will be a jumping-off point and help you start exploring the best explainer video ideas for your corporation.
Format Option: Problem-Solution (Or Identity-Benefits)
Here’s the basic script format of a problem-solution explainer video:
- Explain a common problem people face.
- Introduce your product or service as something that will solve that problem.
- Describe how it works.
- Make a call to action.
If you start by naming the customer and stating features that will help them with their problem, you can call this an identity-benefits format. But they’re basically the same thing.
This format is great because it’s easy for customers to understand.
#1: Live-Action Example of the Problem-Solution Format
Everyone has dealt with the problem of leaving the restroom stinkier than they found it. The company PooPouri produced a hilariously entertaining explainer video detailing their perfect solution.
#2: Whiteboard Example of the Problem-Solution Format
For customers who love UPS but also need international shipping, this short and simple whiteboard video shows how they can have both.
Format Option: Real-Life Story
Hearing an example of how a real person used your product or service in their life is a great way to make an engaging explainer video. It will help your viewers feel more connected to the person they’re “meeting” and what you do.
#3: Bold Typography Example of the Real-Life Story Format
This brief explainer ad from Nike uses striking kinetic typography to tell a story about a basketball player and why the brand is important to him.
#4: Live-Action and No-Voiceover Example of the Real-Life Story Format
This explainer video for Instagram shows a day in the life of real customers using their service.
Format Option: Problem-Centric
Problem-centric videos drive home the issues that a brand or product can help with. They spend a lot of time talking about the problem but aren’t as concerned about addressing the solution.
These explainer videos are great for drawing in customers with similar issues.
#5: Animated Example of the Problem-Centric Format
This fun, animated video from the company Disconnect focuses on all the problems that can stem from your information being shared and sold online.
Format Option: Solution-Centric
This type of corporate explainer video is the opposite of problem-centric. They briefly mention the problem, then spend the bulk of the video outlining the solutions a brand, product, or service can provide.
#6: Animated Example of the Solution-Centric Format
This video from Mint briefly touches on the problem — how you keep track of your money — and then goes into great detail about how their product solves it with animation and screenshots.
#7: No-Voiceover Example of the Solution-Centric Format
This video uses onscreen commentary and real-user reactions to show how easily they can unsubscribe from emails using the app Unroll.Me.
Format Option: Brand-Centric
These explainer videos don’t focus on the product or service you provide, but rather tell the customer something about your brand. It could be your history, mission, or ideas for the future — whatever you decide, it should make potential customers feel good about your company.
#8: Live-Action Example of the Brand-Centric Format
We all know what Tide does.
This video doesn’t touch on that but instead focuses on all the things the brand has done to become America’s #1 detergent: taking care of families, representing American institutions, and helping when help is needed.
#9: Bold Typography Example of the Brand-Centric Format
This explainer video doesn’t focus on why you should buy a Honda, but rather on the concept of pushing yourself and reaching your goals.
Its ever-faster, eye-catching words effectively drive home the message.
Format Option: Side-by-Side Comparison
A side-by-side comparison video shows two people — one who uses your product or service and one who doesn’t. This is a great way to highlight how much easier you can make the lives of your customers.
#10: Live-Action Example of the Side-by-Side Comparison Format
Who can forget the genius of the Mac vs. PC ads? They were a fun way to explain how much more you can do with a Mac computer right out of the box.
Format Option: The Customer Journey
A customer journey explainer video walks the viewer through someone using your product or service from start to finish. This format provides an easy way to show how your brand can solve a problem or make someone’s life easier.
#11: Animated Example of the Customer Journey Format
The analytics company Teradata uses this animated customer journey video to show the optimum steps in the retail buying process from beginning to end.
Create Effective and Compelling Corporate Explainer Videos With Houston Video
At Houston Video, we know that video production leads to corporate profit. And we don’t want you leaving that money on the table. So we specialize in creative, affordable, and effective videos for businesses of all sizes.
Whether you’re looking for an explainer video, customer testimonial, or corporate overview, we have the experience and talent to bring your ideas to fruition.
Contact Houston Video and let us produce a video in the format and style of your choice that is designed to help you achieve your goals.