Are explainer videos ideal for post-lockdown communications? By Law Creative The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for many sectors, with life as we knew it pre-March 2020 now something of a distant memory. One of the results of the lockdown is the way in which society has changed, with all of us now used to observing social distancing measures whilst at the supermarket, D.I.Y. store, garden centre or even fish and chip shop. But how best to communicate measures like these to the hospitality sector’s travellers and guests post-lockdown? One answer: explainer videos. Whether you’re already an advocate or aren’t yet sure of their worth, this article looks at them in greater detail – and how they could help the hospitality industry once lockdown starts to be eased. What are they? An explainer video is a short online marketing video used to explain a company’s product or service (or in this case, how social distancing/coronavirus guidelines will affect guests in a post-lockdown world). Why are they worth doing? There are many reasons. First, explainer videos are extremely engaging, with some sites boasting an increase in conversion rates of as much as 144% after including an explainer video on their website1. Not only do videos grab people’s attention, they keep it. Videos are one of the most engaging mediums you can use, so it’s little wonder they get 1,200% more shares than text and images combined2. Second, according to a report from HubSpot Research3, more than 50% of consumers want to see videos from brands – that’s more than any other type of content. So, choosing the video content route in general is extremely popular (in fact, simply mentioning the word ‘video’ in an email subject line will increase open rates by 19%4, whilst 90% of customers also say videos help when it comes to making decisions about what to buy and what not to buy4). Third, as their name suggests, an explainer video is the best way of communicating something quickly, simply and clearly. By harnessing both the visual and auditory senses together, explainer videos can increase retention rates and clarify your message in a succinct, easy to understand way. Explainer Video Example 1: Spotify Staying with you, post-lockdown: But what does it all mean to the world of hospitality (and your hotel brand in particular)? Put simply, explainer videos could have a large role to play when it comes to communicating (and more importantly, engaging) with guests in a post-lockdown world. As I touched on at the beginning, the world as we knew it pre-COVID-19 is not going to return anytime soon. We’ve already clearly seen the massive effect the virus has had on the world of retail; now, once the hospitality industry gets the green light to reopen for business, it too will have to work out how best to meet the government’s social distancing guidelines – and, crucially, how to get these new rules across to guests. Here’s where explainer videos can prove invaluable. Send guests a video that shows them what’s changed and how the new rules will affect their stay and you create instant engagement – along with a greater sense of loyalty towards your brand. Showing them has a lot more resonance and cut through and is more memorable. Animated or live action? There is no right or wrong answer. You might prefer to produce an animated explainer video (the most popular type there is) because using graphics, bold colours, clear icons and simple text can work extremely well when it comes to informing people about something. However, it can also be good to feature real people in explainer videos too – especially if they are people who work for your hotel (as opposed to actors). Using real people can give an explainer video a sense of legitimacy and reality, and help make a human connection between the person in the film and the person watching. Explainer Video Example 2: Ebay Shorter is better In general, explainer videos should be 30-90 seconds in length (which usually translates into a written script of around 200 words or less). The Ebay example above is only 15 seconds long and yet still very clearly communicates its message. Remember, you’re trying to a) capture people’s attention, b) get them engaged and c) give them information that they can retain easily – and, hopefully, act upon in some way too. Always keep your videos short, punchy and on point. That way, you’ll achieve the maximum amount of engagement and the minimum number of guests switching off. Is video expensive? Explainer videos can be produced with relatively little budget – particularly if there’s no live action involved. The main elements:
On-screen graphics / text
Music
VO Whilst music can help set the mood and keep the viewer engaged, it’s not necessarily an absolute mandatory requirement – especially when dealing with a serious subject matter like COVID-19 and social distancing. The same goes for a VO too, as words can be easily delivered using supers and on-screen messaging. So, remove numbers two and three from the shortlist above and you have a format that just got even more affordable – whilst still being relevant, flexible and engaging. As flexible as you need it to be We know there will be restrictions and rules for hotel guests once the hospitality industry is open for business again, and that these rules will more than likely evolve and change many times over the coming months. With an animated explainer video, you have a communication tool which can be changed, amended and updated as and when it needs to be – all at a relatively minimal cost. Explainer Video Example 3: ‘We care’ demo LAW Creative produced this demo with one of our partner agencies to showcase different types of animation styles that could be used and to provide inspiration for your own video ideas: Post-lockdown hotel stays explained In summary, there are three main reasons why you should consider using explainer videos to communicate new social distancing guidelines to your guests. Explainer videos are:
Highly engaging
Very effective at communicating important messages
Cost efficient (animations can be updated as guidelines change)The question is, if your competitors are about to start using them, perhaps you should be too? At LAW Creative, we’ve produced films, scripts and storyboards for a variety of blue chip clients – including explainer videos. To talk to us about how we can communicate your post-lockdown guidelines messaging in a clear, succinct and memorable way, get in touch with brett.sammels@lawcreative.co.uk 1 https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/03/13/explainer-videos 2 https://www.brightcove.com/en/blog/2017/01/how-transcripts-boost-video-seo 3 https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-trends-global-preferences 4 https://blog.depositphotos.com/2017-video-marketing-stats-why-you-need-to-start-using-video-infographic.html
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