Even if you have crystal-clear messaging on your site, your prospects may still need a little bit more to assure them what you're selling is solving their challenges. To counteract this, you need to create engaging assets that explain your product and its value proposition in multiple ways. Not everyone is ready to work with a professional video production company to have their company video created. For those instances, below we profile a few different explainer video software options out in the market.
But first, back to why you need an explainer video.
With the right explainer video, your prospects can immediately grasp what you're selling and if it’s something that will help them.
But where should you start your video creation journey? If you feel confident with your video production skills, you can attempt to create an explainer video on your own.
In this post, we'll cover the best explainer video software options for you to use in your video marketing efforts. Before we dive in, let's take a look at why startups and businesses of all sizes are investing in explainer videos.
Why Explainer Videos Are Essential for Every Business
Explainer videos are a useful asset that every company should create. A high-quality video that has a voiceover and engaging transitions will capture your prospects' attention.
As you educate them about your product in the explainer video, you'll drive more conversions and increase retention. It's a win-win for everyone involved.
Overall, explainer videos are essential because they are:
- Easily shareable on social media, subsequently increasing awareness
- Convey the product's or service's function in a digestible way
- Positively impact the prospects' understanding of the product or business
- The type of content your customers are actively seeking
While there are so many different video styles in the market, your customers are actively consuming and watching explainer video clips.
In fact, more than 96% of consumers watch explainer videos to understand more about a product or service. That's an overwhelming majority of people in the world that are specifically engaging with explainer videos!
Now that you know why you need an explainer video, let's get you on your way to creating worthwhile video content by using animated explainer video software for cases where you don’t have the budget to have a professional video produced.
Top Explainer Video Software
There are so many different types of explainer video software on the market. How do you know which one is right for you?
Business owners may not know which editing tools will enable them to create the engaging video content that they are envisioning.
Below is a list of DIY video software platforms that can help you make your own explainer videos affordably, and without the need for technical animation experience.
1. Animaker
Animaker believes it is driving "the future of video marketing." The software enables beginners and experienced video editors to make animated and live-action explainer videos to share their product's functionality with the world.
They have three distinct offerings: video making, GIF and short video making, and live video editing. You can choose from a handful of templates, fonts, and video tools to make your 2D animation or live videos come to life.
They do not offer a free version. Pricing starts at $20/month.
2. Biteable
Biteable is a simple, straightforward video maker that helps marketers "make videos that drive action." With their drag and drop functionality, you can add clips to your video that you upload or pull from their library of content. You can even personalize the colors of their animations to adhere to your brand guidelines.
Biteable offers a wide-array menu of video templates that can be filtered by the type of video you're making. The software is very intuitive, so you don't have to go through any tutorials before diving into the platform. Once you have your storyboard ready, you can film, edit, and produce your video in Biteable in just a few clicks.
Biteable offers a free plan or a paid plus plan for $29/month.
3. Toonly
Toonly prides itself in being "the simplest drag and drop video editor" that is currently in the market today. They focus fully on cartoon motion graphics videos that explain a product or can be used as sales collateral.
Their video creator interface is easy-to-use and the content library is full of animated characters, prop images, backgrounds, text animations, and more. Small businesses or solo-entrepreneurs that may not know how to create a video to convey their offering or have the resources to invest in one will be able to make their own explainer video with ease.
They do not offer a free plan. Pricing starts at $39/month.
4. Renderforest
Renderforest can assist you in your explainer video production and also so much more! The company considers its product an "all-in-one branding platform." With it, you can create an engaging explainer video as well as a personalized logo, video, graphic, and mockup for your company.
One unique feature of Renderforest is the ability to export your video into different sizes without a watermark for different platforms in just one click. You can select 16:9, 1:1, or 9:16 to prepare your video for the sizing requirements on different social channels.
In addition, Renderforest offers a "script to video" artificial intelligence feature. By importing your script, you'll be able to auto-generate a movie that closely matches it. Renderforest makes it easy to create an engaging video in a limited amount of time.
Renderforest offers a free version or a paid lite plan starting at $4.99/month.
5. Powtoon
Powtoon is a basic, but effective animation software to help create your next interactive explainer video. The software company positions itself as a "visual communication company" that enables businesses to produce short videos full of animations and engaging effects.
One of the types of videos you can create is a whiteboard doodle, a unique explainer video that walks the viewer step-by-step through a product or service by using a whiteboard as an aid. Whiteboard explainer videos are an effective way to convey your product's features in a visual and tangible way. The best part: consumers love whiteboard animation videos and they're addicting to watch!
Powtoon does not offer a free plan, but their paid pro plan starts at $89/month.
6. Yyond
Vyond's software specializes in producing effective marketing, training, and e-learning interactive animation videos. The Vyond Studio is an effective explainer video maker headquarters to create your next masterpiece.
Your Vyond files will export as a .mp4, making it easy to share your video on social media, add it to a PowerPoint slideshow, or embed it on a landing page. In addition, the software is collaborative, making it easier for multiple team members to contribute to your DIY video creation.
Vyond offers a free version or a paid essential plan starting at $49/month.
Producing Effective Explainer Videos
Explainer videos are assets that every business needs to have. This type of content is exactly what your prospects are seeking.
The right explainer video can convey your offering in an engaging way and increase awareness about your product. In the end, it can increase conversions and drive revenue for your business.
If you're planning to make an explainer video by yourself, there are plenty of software options that can help you get started. By selecting the one that fits your goals and preferences, you can be on your way to producing a memorable piece of content that resonates with your audience.
Need more help making an explainer video? Reach out to see how Levitate Media can help create an effective explainer video for your company today.