What do you do when you need to fix something around the house that you’ve never tackled before? Do you find a user manual or look up the solution on YouTube?
What about when you need instructions for a cooking recipe or a tutorial for using an unfamiliar piece of software? Chances are, you turn to the online world to find what you need.
That’s what almost everyone does when they want to figure out how something works or learn more about various topics. And this is why you should create instructional videos for your brand.
According to the latest video marketing statistics, 66% of people would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.
Another important statistic to consider is that 84% of people say they’ve purchased a product after watching a brand’s video.
You’ll seize many opportunities for growth with instructional videos, as long as you make them relevant, compelling, and useful.
What Are Instructional Videos?
Instructional videos teach, demonstrate a process, explain a complicated or abstract concept, or show viewers how to perform a task.
The most common types of instructional videos include:
- Explainer videos
- Tutorials (how-to videos)
- Micro-videos
- Training videos
- Presentations
- Screencasts
Explainer videos explain what a business does in a fun and entertaining way. They introduce a particular brand’s products or services and explain how they can benefit consumers. They’re usually animated and don’t last longer than a few minutes.
Tutorials can last up to ten minutes, as they include step-by-step instructions to show how something works, such as a piece of software. They teach something by example to help viewers perform specific tasks without the fear of making a mistake.
As the name suggests, micro-videos are short videos (typically less than a minute long) that teach only one narrow topic. They’re straight to the point, which is perfect for viewers with a short attention span.
Quite self-explanatory, training videos provide knowledge for employees to help them hone their skills.
Video presentations are similar to tutorials or explainer videos. They’re usually longer and often contain PowerPoint slides, along with a voiceover explaining a concept or the benefits of certain products or services. There are tons of styles available for this type of videos such as 2D, 3D, Stop Motion, Live-Action, Motion Graphics and so on.
Screencast videos are also like tutorials, except they’re short and informal. Since they are video recordings of your screen containing a voiceover, their purpose is to answer a question and solve a problem quickly while showing the process of problem resolution.
Benefits of Instructional Videos
As you may have guessed by now, instructional videos can provide you with several significant benefits.
Raising brand awareness
Most people would rather watch videos than read articles about products or services, making instructional videos a no-brainer.
They can help people get to know you better, understand your values, and learn how your offers can improve their lives.
Improving customer satisfaction
Whether you create tutorials for using your products or screencasts for troubleshooting, you can help customers solve problems quickly. Easy-to-follow instructions will save time, reduce your ticket volume, and improve customer satisfaction.
Expanding your reach
All videos have viral potential, so they can help you reach a global audience. If they’re universally useful, actionable, relevant, engaging, and even humorous when applicable, people will share them on social media and spread the word about your business like wildfire.
Generating more leads and improving conversion
Search engines love video content, so they’ll boost your SEO ranking, drive more traffic to your website, and help you attract qualified leads, improve conversion, and get a solid ROI.
Improving your team’s workplace skills
Instructional videos are excellent for employee onboarding and training, mainly because your team members can rewatch them anytime and refer to them when in doubt.
Where Are They Used?
Instructional videos are commonly used in marketing, employee training, and eLearning.
Organizations across various industries often use explainer videos, tutorials, micro-videos, and presentations for marketing purposes.
Training videos, screencasts, tutorials, and presentations have many uses in employee onboarding and training. HR professionals and training instructors use them to create bite-sized chunks for training courses, which they often save in an internal knowledge base.
Similar to employee training, instructional videos are also used in eLearning. They keep users engaged, help them grasp complex concepts, and improve their knowledge retention.
How to Make an Instructional Video
Making an instructional video starts with creating a proper strategy. Consider your target audience’s needs and pain points, as well as your goals, to figure out how to convey the right message.
Once you have the right strategy, take these essential steps.
Pick a topic
Select just one topic per video to avoid confusing your viewers. Instructional videos should provide simple explanations or actionable steps that cover 100% of a particular subject. Jumping from topic to topic makes things confusing and can lead to ineffective videos.
Choose a style
Instructional videos can have many different styles. They can be live-action videos, live-action screencasts, animations with still typographic compositions or kinetic typography, whiteboard animations, motion graphics videos, 2D or 3D animations, and more.
Select a style that works best for your brand and the goal you want to accomplish.
Write a script
Avoid technical jargon when writing your video script, and make it sound like you’re explaining something to a friend. It will help you connect with your audience better and achieve great results.
You should also create a storyboard to help you visualize your plan, making video production easier.
Use a green screen
This step is necessary when making a live-action video. It enables you to add any background behind your “actors”.
An excellent practice that many businesses use is combining live-action explainer videos with 2D or 3D animation.
Find an animated video production company
Obviously, you’ll skip this step if your instructional video isn’t animated. But if it is, a custom video company (check this guide) can help you create a top-notch video, regardless of your budget limitations.
Utilize a DIY animated video maker
If you prefer taking the DIY path, you’ll need to utilize many different tools. Some of the most user-friendly DIY animated video makers are:
- Powtoon – best for animated explainer videos and presentations
- Biteable – all animation styles
- Doodly – whiteboard animations
- Moovly – all animation styles
- Animaker – animated presentations
Add voiceover or music and sound effects
If you’re going to include narration, you’ll need a voiceover recording. Make sure your voiceover sounds natural, friendly, and helps the viewers understand the content easily.
Final Thoughts
No matter what industry you are in, instructional videos can benefit your business in numerous ways. They can empower your employees, help customers solve their pain points, and bring people closer to your brand.
With the right tools, you can create them easily, but you can also leave it to professionals if you don’t know where to start with DIY tools. Either way, you won’t break the bank, as there are solutions for any budget. Your first videos will probably be mediocre, but their quality will go up as you get used to producing this type of content.