Instructional videos are an important part of marketing for any new product or service.
But how do you guarantee the video content successfully engages and educates your target viewers and doesn’t leave them bored?
Read on as I analyze the 10 best examples of animated instructional videos and what makes them work.
1. Dot Shop
Created by Yans Media
There are lots of different types of instructional videos, but here’s a big tip. If you’ve already chosen an animated style for your video, prioritize and show only your most important elements. Leave all the rest of the details for other videos. Your main goal here is focus, focus, focus.
The Dot Shop video teaches not only why it’s beneficial to have a Dot Shop domain, but also gives us a good lesson on how we can influence our audience to buy our product.
Keep in mind, this marketing technique only works if you have already defined and made clear your product’s strongest selling point, allowing you to build the message on that one idea.
2. Travel The Vote
Here’s a video with a unique concept, as it shows all the instructions that voters missed in the 2016 elections.
Some ballots were late, some had simple mistakes, some were missing signatures. Each of those caused issues at the polls, and often caused ballots to be disqualified.
To avoid all those rejected ballots, officials created a simple instruction to encourage voters to go to their registered locations and fill out their ballots in person.
The goal for this instructional video is to not only instruct, but to motivate the viewer to follow through on those instructions.
I’ve included this video in my list to show that an instructional video doesn’t have to be boring and filled with excessive information. It’s an example of how to create a simple message without overloading it with details.
3. Google Assistant
Google created an instructional video to launch Google Assistant’s new app integration.
If you view all the other marketing videos from Google – explainer videos, demo videos, and introduction videos – you’ll see that all those videos take the same approach. They always keep it short, simple, clear, following Google’s iconic color palette, shapes, and characters.
This instructional video from Google follows all the same rules and never bores the viewer. One trick they use – you have always something to learn from their videos. Additionally, there is always perfect timing, a concise goal, and clear message.
If you find a combination for your brand that strikes gold, make sure to incorporate it into all your marketing videos for a successful campaign.
4. Meet Asana
I find animation to be the best option for creating instructional videos. Motion graphics give us freedom and flexibility to show all the ins and outs, and all the concepts we want to share.
There is one thing you should be very careful of.
When using motion graphics you should be succinct; show only focused instructions, and convey a clean and understandable message. This will allow you to create informative content that’s digestible for your target audience.
Watching this marketing video from Asana, you can learn how to convert complex ideas into simple and understandable ones as well as get creative inspiration from the visuals.
5. IKEA – Motion Language
When creating animated instructional videos, you should avoid showing every little detail. Instead, focus on showing the global concept, like in IKEA’s app instructional video. It shows the main actions you can take.
Does this seem interesting?
Yes. Can this inspire the viewer? Yes, especially with the perfect sound design combined with the visuals.
Will the viewer understand all the main features he/she can get?
Yes.
These were the main questions the producers faced when creating this video. If you are targeting a similar audience, IKEA’s Motion Language piece is a showcase of successful techniques for how you can create a short and simple understanding of your services.
6. Your Next Computer Is Not a Computer
The iPad Pro video makes my list with its perfect timing, design, and flow.
Watching this video from a meta view, we see that an instructional video doesn’t have to be a dry explanation of features or how to’s. First and foremost, it’s a marketing message. And what should the marketing message be? To engage the attention of the viewer and pique their interest to discover more about a product.
I was searching for animated instructional videos for my list, but when I came to this one, I forgot about my mission and suddenly found myself in the Apple store viewing products.
That’s the power of marketing.
You don’t even realize you’ve been “caught.” Who else if not the Apple team knows how to use it to its fullest extent.
Useful Recourse
Useful Recourse
What’s The Ideal Length For An Explainer Video?
7. The Guardian Labs & O2 – In Your Pocket
Be My Eyes is an app that connects people who are blind or partially sighted to more than 3 million volunteers worldwide who can help with tasks.
This video makes my list because it has one of the friendliest designs. The producers used that to create a wonderful short story to show the target audience how they can use Be My Eyes to make their lives more comfortable, safe, and even fulfilled. This video also works as an example of how we can craft colorful short stories out of basic information.
Useful Recourse
Know Which Explainer Video Style Will Work Best For Your Brand.
8. BRIO Builder – Design, Build, Repeat
Ever thought of creating an instructional video for toys?
This type of content is very similar to a demo video for an app, even though one is physical and the other digital.
My personal view is that instructional videos can be useful everywhere, for every new product or service, not just those that live digitally.
Watch this video whenever you feel like there is no way you could turn a boring video into something both fun and educational.
9. What is Figma?
Figma is a great tool that makes it possible for design teams to collaborate and create content together. These kinds of tools are often crucial for creative teams, so the video producers knew all the focus should go toward describing their strongest benefit. It shows the viewer how they can unify everyone in the creative process, even if a part of the team lives on the other side of the globe.
Like all the other successful videos on my list, the Figma video stays concise in their message and effectively engages the viewers’ attention.
10. How do Electric Cars Actually Work
The objective of this video is to educate people on how exactly electric cars work, leaving no doubt that electric cars are the better alternative to petrol cars. This video shows off the skills of the production team, explaining hard technical concepts in a language that’s understandable for ordinary people who don’t have any relevant professional knowledge.
Instructional videos can play a crucial role in demonstrating a technical part of your product or service. So, if the language you’re speaking doesn’t match the knowledge of your audience, then take a step back and refine the script to make it more relatable.
Final Words
I hope you have been able to find inspiration for your own instructional video from my list. Obviously, there are plenty of other great examples out there, but these covered all the elements that are important to create a marketing video that works. If you’re ready to take the next step with your animated instructional video, or if you’re still considering the idea of one, don’t hesitate to contact us any time for a free consultation.
