Oct 22, 2018
Your company has a great product, an inspiring story, and a marketing department that sweats creativity.
So, why does it feel like you’re so invisible that even Haley Joel Osment can’t see you?
Allow us to be blunt. You need a snazzy explainer video to properly introduce yourself to the world. An explainer video is a key tool on your marketing utility belt.
That means you’ve got to put in the time and effort to do it right, which includes finding the right music for your video. After all, your explainer video may be the very first interaction a perspective customer has with your company.
Are your armpits getting a little clammy? Don’t worry, that’s just extra creativity seeping out of you, and you could use all the creativity you can get.
What you could also use is this article.
We’ll tell you exactly what explainer videos are, what types of companies can benefit from them, and how you can find the absolute best royalty free music for your video. Strap in, take some eye-drops, and let’s go.
What Is an Explainer Video?
Not sure what an Explainer video is? Chances are you’ve already seen oodles of them but just didn’t know what they were called.
Explainer videos are typically short, compelling videos that explain a company’s story, mission, product, or service. You’ll find many of them living on a company’s home page. In essence, these videos have replaced the long, boring “Our Story” saga that companies pasted on their “About Us” pages for the past decade and that no one ever read.
Most explainer videos include the follow features:
They are short – The majority of explainer videos are less than four minutes long, and many stay under two minutes.
They explain a problem – Companies are created to solve a consumer’s pain point, these videos need to highlight that central problem.
They show how they are the solution to the problem – It’s great if a company has an interesting backstory, but consumers really want a solution to life’s big quandaries!
Animation – Most, but not all, Explainer videos include animation, including cartoonish graphics, word art, or even whiteboard or chalkboard animation. (Some companies with a big enough budget do spring for flesh-and-blood actors.)
Cheerful music – Most companies want to showcase their good points, so explainer videos tend to be positive and energetic with complimentary music.
A call-to-action – Every piece of marketing needs to have a purpose. The explainer video is no exception. Depending on the nature of the company, explainer videos can encourage viewers to purchase a product, request a consultation, or donate to a worthy cause.
The best way to really get a feel for an explainer video is to simply watch one. You can find them all over: one a SaaS company's website, in ecommerce newsletters, or YouTube.This cheerful explainer video from financial website Mint is the perfect example. You’ll note that it hits every feature listed above with gusto.
What Types of Companies Need Explainer Videos?
Do you want people to understand what your organization is all about? Then you might benefit from an explainer video. It’s as simple as that.
For-Profit Businesses
Explainer videos are your chance to tell interested consumers about your company in a short, simple, and engaging way. An explainer video can be used to introduce your primary products or services and to establish your company’s brand identity. This excellent explainer video from Airbnb tells you everything you need to know about the company with captivating visuals and a fun narration.
Nonprofits
Nonprofit organizations are always trying to get the word out on the major problem they want to solve as well as how their company aims to make a difference.
Many nonprofits have created highly engaging explainer videos that succinctly lay out the problem and then conclude with a strong call-to-action to donate. This Explainer video from The Girl Effect is a perfect example of just how powerful an Explainer video can be and how much information it can convey even in just a handful of minutes.
Startups
Even if your company lives in your mom’s garage or just in your head, you can still use an explainer video.
Many of tomorrow’s most successful entrepreneurs are pitching their ideas on crowdfunding sites, like Kickstarter, today. On these sites, explainer videos can grab the attention of flighty investors and get them excited about your business.
One of the best crowdfunding explainer videos of all time comes from the makers of Exploding Kittens. Note how this video brilliantly encapsulates the fun and delightfully frivolous nature of the game they want to create.
What Type of Music Do You Need for an Awesome Explainer Video?
How exactly do you whip up a beautiful Explainer video for your company?
The ingredients are simple. You need an excellent script, great graphics, a talented narrator, and the right musical selection. Since we’re kind of into music here at Soundstripe, that’s what we’re going to focus on for the rest of this article.
The music you choose for your explainer video is more important than you might realize.
If it works, then it will enhance the message of your video and help establish an emotional connection between the viewer and your message.
If your music selection doesn’t work, it will distract the heck out of your viewers, and your analytics team will wonder why everyone seems to be clicking off the video after three seconds.
Don’t let that happen. Instead, follow these three steps to find the right music for your explainer video:
1. Choose Music that Matches the Emotional Impact of Your Message
Watching the videos we’ve referenced in this article, you might notice a trend.
The music tends to be cheerful, energetic, and positive. That makes sense, because most companies want to portray their companies in a good light. In most cases, you’ll want to choose a similar type of sound – something that embodies a happy or excited mood.
There are exceptions to this rule. Watch the Exploding Kittens explainer video again. The music is big and dramatic rather than cheerful and peppy, but it perfectly matches the humorous character of the product and the company.
2. Use Simple Music that Doesn’t Distract from the Video
Explainer videos have one primary purpose. They explain.
It’s a little hard to do that if you choose background music with a thudding bass or a shredding guitar solo in the middle.
Your background music really needs to stay in the background. Simpler is better. Look for music with a clean melody and simple instrumentation. The beat should be relatively steady. Steer clear of building songs, ballads, rock, or overly synthesized music. T
his type of music will compete for attention and distract your viewers from the message of your video.
One great way to assess songs to ensure they don’t get “too big” or “too loud” is to view the song as a waveform, which is a visual representation of the song’s power and volume. The waveform will let you know if you can expect any mid-song crescendos, or if the melody stays steady the whole way through.
3. Find the Right Volume
The key with music for Explainer videos is that it should not compete with the narration or with the action on screen.
Your video specialist should ensure that the music is at a proper volume so that it compliments the story rather than steals the show. It should never be as loud or louder than the narrator or live actors in the video.
Again, choosing simpler melodies and instruments can help keep the music as a supporting character in this video, which is exactly the role it needs to play.
How to Find the Right Music for Your Explainer Video
The best practices for choosing music for your explainer video are relatively simple, but what about finding the right licensed music for video in the first place? What type of music should you pick and where can you find it?
You are in luck, because both of these quandaries are easy to answer. Explainer videos have become so popular that they’ve helped spawn their own music genre, called “Corporate Music.” The corporate music genre it includes much of the happy, simplistic music you’ve heard in the explainer video samples we’ve highlighted today.
As for where can you actually find the music you need, we hope that you already know the answer to that question. At Soundstripe, of course! We are your one-stop-shop for licensed music for videos. Our music library includes many different genres of music, including a growing list of corporate music.
In fact, take a look at our corporate music selections right now in our music library. You can listen to every song all the way through.
Does your explainer video need a slightly different kind of music, like the Exploding Kittens video? Sort our music library by genre or mood to find the perfect match for your message. You can even view the waveform of each song to instantly get an idea of its highs and lows.
Best of all, the music in our library is royalty free to all of our subscribers. That means we handle all the copyright and legal concerns, so you can focus on finding just the right song to represent your company.
Now that we’ve explained explainer videos and how Soundstripe will help you put the best tune to your video, we don’t have to explain why you should subscribe today