7 Popular Lead Magnets to Increase Conversions

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How do you get people to sign up for your email list? By offering a high-value lead magnet in exchange for their name and email address. Here are the most popular types of lead magnets that convert. 

eBooks

eBooks have remained popular for a long time because they’re easy to produce and publish. An eBook is a PDF file with a cover and table of contents. It can be as short or as long as you’d like it to be, from a short report to a full A-to-Z guide. You can create free content related to the eBook and then offer it for free as a download.  

Assessments or Quizzes

Whether you call it an assessment or a quiz, these engaging tools are highly effective lead generators. A quiz is a tool that can help determine that person’s current level of mastery and where they have knowledge gaps. On completion of the quiz you can provide them with a personalised report to provide further information. It also provides you with an opportunity to tailor your offers to their unique needs. 

Webinars

Hold a webinar based on a topic that’s interesting to your target market. Teach them how to solve a problem or overcome a challenge they’re facing using your expertise. Make it interactive so they get the most out of it. The webinar is free to attend in exchange for signing up for your list.  

Video Training Course

Another idea for offering something educational is a free video training course. Take some long-term tasks that you can cut into bite-sized pieces and produce a video for each piece. You can send the videos in installments or give the subscriber access to the whole course at once when they sign up. 

Free Newsletter

Frame your email list as a free newsletter. Create a schedule for sending out your newsletter and pack it full of helpful tips, articles, interviews, and exclusive deals. Make sure you explain clearly to your potential subscribers exactly what they can expect from your publication. Offer a sample so they can see what they’ll get.  

Free Trial

If you have a membership site, software program, app, or other subscription-based services, offer a free trial in exchange for the person’s contact information. This serves a double purpose by getting them on your list and also offering a sample of your product. 

Toolkits

A toolkit takes a variety of media and puts it all together in one place, usually a zip file. It might include a workbook, checklists, a calculator, and video tutorials to show the subscriber how to use the tools, all related to a certain task or topic. 

Anything is fine as a lead magnet as long as it offers unique value to your audience. It should be something enticing enough for them to offer their name and address, and high quality enough to start off your relationship on the right foot.  

Your Ideal Customer Profile Needs More Than Just Demographic Data

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Your learning program’s ideal customer profile needs more than just demographic information. It’s valuable to know your target’s age, marital status, education level, and geographic location – the ‘who, what, where, and when. But you also need to know the ‘why’. Psychographics can help. They give your data some depth, providing you with a clear picture of who your target customer is and how they feel about the products they buy and use.  

Just simply relying on demographics and you may end up targeting completely different people. Take the demographic profile below as a classic example. 

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Why Your ICP Needs Psychographics

Psychographics focuses on your customers’ attitudes, values, personality traits, and interests. These are just as important as demographic information.

For example, imagine that you’re selling organic honey. It makes sense that you’d want to market your honey to people who care about health and wellness. When you advertise your product, you can highlight the fact that it’s good for health and good for the environment.

The following are the key types of psychographic data your ICP should include.

Personality

Define the personality traits your target customer exhibits when they interact with the world around them. There’s a good chance you’ll discover common patterns in your research. For example, are they introverted or extroverted? Are they concerned about tiny details or are they the type of person who doesn’t sweat the small stuff?

Lifestyle

Lifestyle refers to how your target customer lives their everyday life. This includes hobbies and interests and how they spend their leisure time. Understanding your customer’s lifestyle can help you identify the types of products and services they use and how they use them.

Buying Behavior and Attitudes

An important part of your ideal customer profile is your target market’s attitudes and behaviors toward the products they buy. This includes their budget, how and where they buy, and how they use the products they purchase. It is important to understand their decision-making process and what prompts them to purchase. This will help you to set prices and streamline the sales process.

Pain Points

It is crucial that you understand your customer’s pain points. These are areas where they’re struggling and looking for help. Your products should offer solutions to these problems. Understanding pain points will also help you figure out how to best communicate your products’ unique value to your audience.

Using Psychographic Data

Understanding the psychology of your target audience gives you the ability to focus on what they need and powerfully communicate with them. It’s not about using this information to manipulate people. Rather, you’re trying to know them well so you can help them make the right purchase decisions and improve their life. This data also helps you figure out where to reach them and how to speak to them.

Creating Your ICP

Once you’ve conducted research on your target market, you can start creating your ICP. This is a profile that describes your ideal customer as an individual who would best benefit from your products. 

6 Tips to Learn More about Your Customers

by with No Comment Course CreationTools & Technology

Does your business have an ideal customer profile? Your ideal customer profile (ICP) describes your target audience as an individual. It also tells you where you should focus your sales and marketing efforts for the best results. An ICP incorporates objective data to help you develop a clear picture of your ideal customer and streamline your marketing efforts.  

With all the resources available online, creating an effective ICP is easier than it’s ever been. Here are some tips to help you source the data you need to develop your ICP. 

Monitor on Social Media

Social media offers a wealth of opportunities to learn about your market. You can look at your own followers to gain insight into their demographic information and attitudes. Check out their profiles and listen in on their conversations. You can also post questions to generate conversations for marketing purposes. 

Go beyond your own followers and you can learn even more. Use hashtags to search for keywords related to your audience and your products. Follow the competition and see how they’re marketing to your audience.  

Customer Reviews

Check out customer reviews of your own and similar products. Often, people will explain in the reviews why they liked or didn’t like a product. This is valuable feedback you can use to learn about their tastes and attitudes. Respond to comments with further questions and you can start a dialogue that can yield even more insights 

Review Website Analytics

You can also learn about your audience by observing their behavior. Look at website analytics and see what pages people spend the most time on. Where do they take action and click? Which traffic sources are sending the most traffic and why? There are a number of free analytics programs available like Google Analytics.  

Ask Questions

At every touchpoint with your customers, ask questions and take note of their answers. Social media listening and other passive forms of data gathering are valuable, but the opportunity to directly ask your audience questions is priceless. Through these kinds of interactions, you will uncover their needs more efficiently and effectively.  

Steer Clear of Assumptions

Never make assumptions. Assumptions are the enemy of a good ICP. Each piece of information in your profile should be backed by verified data. You may be surprised by some of the discoveries you make when researching your market. Keep an open mind and you’ll reap the rewards. 

Use Your Competitors

Your competitors offer a great deal of insight into your target market. Follow them, and see how they market to their audience. What’s their position in the market? Why do people buy from them? How much do they charge and how much are people buying? What do their customers say about them?  

Getting Started with Your ICP

The first step is to look at the products and services you offer and decide who’s the perfect customer for them. Then, you can start researching and expanding your ideal customer profile.  

Want to learn more about how you can create an ideal customer profile? Check out our upcoming course “Nail Your Niche” at Mavenzeal Academy. 

Cut Your Content Creation Time in Half with Repurposing

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Content marketing requires a great deal of effort and constant content creation. This can easily be the area where you spend the bulk of your time, especially if you’re a slow writer. But there’s a handy shortcut you can take to reduce your content creation time: it’s called “repurposing.” 

What is Repurposing?

Repurposing means taking some content and changing it in some way so that it’s unique from the original. It’s not just copying, rewriting, or rearranging, but a deeper change that creates something entirely new. 

Switch Up the Format

One way to repurpose your content is to change its format. Take a piece that’s in one format and change it to another. For example, you can adapt a blog post into the script for a video. Alternatively, you can take a video and transcribe and edit it into a blog post.  

Other examples include turning video into an audio podcast, turning a press release into a social media post, or cutting up a webinar into a video series. 

Expanding and Enlarging

You can also take one section of a piece of content and expand it into its own standalone piece. For instance, if you have a blog post outlining ten tips on a topic, you could turn each tip into its own standalone post. This gives your audience a deeper dive and clearer instructions on how to do something specific. Another idea is to turn a blog post into a full report or digital information product.  

Contracting and Summarising

You can also take a piece of content and do the opposite. For example, take 7 blog posts with advice on how to do something and create one article that gives the reader 7 quick tips. Each post is shortened into 2-3 sentences. Or, take a long video and make a shorter version that just covers the main points. This offers a piece of content that’s shorter and easier to digest.  

Change the Angle

Take a piece you created before and offer a different angle. Present it from an entirely new point of view. For example, you can take an article with 4 tips and reverse them into negative “mistakes to avoid.” Another idea is to take a piece that teaches people how to do something and reframe it as a step-by-step guide so it’s easier to understand. 

Change the Audience

Rewrite your content for another segment of your audience or for a whole new audience. For example, if you have content creation tips for online entrepreneurs, you can rewrite so that you’re writing to brick-and-mortar businesses just getting started online. 

For the best results, mix and match all the ideas from above. Expand while switching the format and rewriting for a new audience. This way, you’ll create completely fresh content that will help you get more miles out of your existing material. 

Remember that repurposing isn’t about cutting corners. It’s not only a shortcut for you to create more valuable content, but a way to offer alternate formats for your audience to consume your content. Focus on delivering value and don’t be afraid to get creative. 

Three graphic design tools to help you create superb learning assets

by with No Comment Course CreationTools & Technology

If you are looking for the best graphic design tool, you will have a number of different options to select from. This can make it a little bit overwhelming, as it’s hard to know which tool is going to be right for you without trying them all.

Luckily, we have done all of this hard work for you, so you don’t have to. Read on to discover more about the main graphic design tools – Adobe Spark, Visme, and Canva.

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Canva

Let’s begin with Canva, which is a powerful drag and drop editor. If you’re looking for a simple design solution that will enable you to create impressive, professional-quality graphic designs, this is a good choice. You will have more than one-million fonts, graphics, and photographs to choose from, and the tool itself is pretty user-friendly.

The main benefits of choosing Canva

Canva is a robust and simple online design platform, which means it is suitable for all skill levels. It gives anyone the power to turn an idea into a stunning graphic with ease. If you are not graphically inclined, Canva is a good option to consider.

Canva is also budget-friendly, yet this does not mean that it has compromised in the feature department. You can achieve a lot on this platform.

What features does Canva have?

These are some of the main features you will be able to make the most of should you decide to opt for Canva:

  • Speech bubble maker
  • Image cropper
  • Add texture
  • Stickers
  • Photo frames
  • Design grids
  • Photo blur
  • Photo enhancer
  • Badges
  • Web wireframe
  • Free icons
  • Photo vignette
  • 8,000 templates
  • Image transparency tool
  • Add text to photographs
  • Photo straightener

User Experience

You need to create an account on Canva to get started. This ensures your projects are saved so you can go back to them at a later date.

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You will be asked what type of user you are, for example, a non-profit, business, personal, teacher, or student. This will impact the design types you are presented with and potentially the promotions you see.

Canva is largely based around templates, so you will pick a category and then be presented with plenty of options to select from. It’s a straightforward process, so you should find Canva pretty easy to use.

Canva plans and prices

Canva has a free plan available, as well as two paid SMB and enterprise pricing packages, ensuring different user demands are met. There is a free trial available, which is always great news.

With the free plan, you are going to get access to millions of photos, which cost $1 each. You can also upload your own images, access more than 8,000 templates, get 1GB of storage for assets and photos, add up to 10 team members for free, and use two folders for the organization of your designs.

Canva for Work will cost $12.95 per month. You get everything in the free plan, yet you can add up to 50 team members and use an unlimited number of folders. Storage is also unlimited. There are plenty of extra features too, including uploading custom fonts for your brand, setting color palettes, magically resizing designs, priority support, and much more.

If this is still not sufficient, you may want to consider Canva Enterprise. You will need to contact the company for a quote. Some of the main features of this include 99.9% uptime SLA, a dedicated account manager, advanced analytics, team administrative controls, and more.

Visme

If Canva is not the graphic design tool for you, you may want to consider Visme instead. Visme is an all-in-one content creation solution, which enables you to create and share stunning content, including graphics, videos, documents, infographics, and presentations. Like Canva, you don’t need to have any design skills to use this tool, so it really is suitable for all.

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Benefits of Visme

There are a number of benefits that stand out when using Visme. You can create animated graphics and there is a big focus on interactivity, enabling customers to interact with your content through the likes of hover-overs and pop-ups.

Graphs and charts also make up a big part of what Visme has to offer. These visuals are great for anyone seeking to communicate the latest news, studies, and stats. You also have the power of publishing projects and sharing them via URL, which is a handy feature.

The platform also comes with rich analytics, which is ideal for project managers looking to measure how their content is performing so that they can improve future output.

What features does Visme have?

These are some of the main features you will be able to make the most of should you decide to opt for Visme:

  • Graphics and charts
  • Access management
  • Animations
  • Lead generation
  • Content database
  • Drag and drop functionality
  • Offline mode
  • Project templates
  • Microsoft Office integration
  • Customer activity reports
  • Collaborative interface
  • Video and streaming support
  • Social media marketing
  • Privacy and safety
  • User interface
  • Document templates
  • Data visualization

Visme plans and prices

Visme also has a free plan available, as well as a number of paid plans. You can make considerable savings on the paid plans should you choose to pay per year, rather than per month. For example, the Standard Plan for Individual use is $25 per month, yet this reduces to $14 per month if you pay for a year upfront.

The free plan comes with public projects, a number of widgets and charts, download as JPG, limited templates, 100 MB of storage, and the ability to do up to five projects.

You then have the option of a Standard Plan for Individual Use, Single Plan For Business Use, and a Student Plan.

The Standard Plan comes with color palette creation, all charts and widgets, no Visme brand on projects, all premium assets and templates, 250 MB storage, and up to 15 projects.

The Single Business Plan boasts all of this, yet you get 10 GB of storage and unlimited projects. Other extras include being able to record audio, a brand kit, organization with folders, collecting and storing leads, privacy control, slide library, and download as HTML5.

The Student Plan is very similar to the Standard Plan, yet it is charged at $30 per semester instead.

Adobe Spark

Finally, we have Adobe Spark. This merges three Adobe properties: Adobe Voice, Adobe Slate, and Adobe Post.

User experience

It is really straightforward in terms of getting started with Adobe Spark. All you need is an account with Adobe.  Alternatively, you can log-in with your Google or Facebook credentials. There is nothing to install or download. In terms of the apps, these can be downloaded with ease from the app store.

The interface is easy-to-use. Once you have logged onto the website for Adobe Spark, you will have three simple options to select from, which are represented by big, colorful buttons. These options are Video, Page, and Post.

Each option will be presented with a short description and a plus sign.

So, what does each feature offer?

  • Video– This is for presentations and tutorials.
  • Page– This is for info pages, catalogs, and portfolios.
  • Post– This tool is designed to help you create a social meme.
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Adobe Spark Benefits

Adobe products tend to have a big learning curve, but we are pleased to say that this is not the case with Adobe Spark. The solution is accessible to complete beginners, which is quite a feat for this brand.

You can also build unique web projects quickly using Adobe Spark. From creating a landing page to turning an idea into a simple story; you can get your message you there with ease. It is a three-in-one solution, enabling you to make pages, images, and videos.

One advantage that Adobe Spark has over the competition si that it is completely free to use. You don’t have any premium parts to pay for. However, we must make it clear that Adobe branding will be included on the output, which can be a big drawback for a lot of people, especially those looking for a graphic design tool for business purposes.

What features does Adobe Spark have?

These are some of the main features you will be able to make the most of should you decide to opt for Adobe Spark:

  • Content management
  • Content permissions
  • Email integrations
  • E-commerce
  • Site analytics
  • Hosting
  • Marketing tools
  • SEO
  • Domain name
  • Drag and drop
  • HTML input
  • Templates

Final words

So there you have it: an insight into three of the best graphic design tools on the market today. We hope that this review has helped you to understand the differences between the three tools so that you can easily figure out which one is going to be the best for you.

There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing a graphic design tool. It is all about figuring out what is most important to you and then selecting a tool that aligns with this.

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Absolutely Essential Tips for First Time Webinar Hosting

by with No Comment Course CreationTools & Technology

If you are hosting your webinar for the very first time, you are probably dealing with a bad case of nerves right about now. A webinar is over the internet, but that doesn’t make it any less daunting than standing up in front of people and giving a presentation.

Even though you can’t see them, you know they are out there, waiting for you to dispense wisdom like a monk on a Bangladesh mountaintop. With that in mind, here are some absolutely essential things that you should do (and don’t) on your very first webinar.

  • DO conduct a dress rehearsal. Have a friend, family member or colleague sit through your webinar presentation and write down anything that went wrong or needs to be improved. Also, it would be helpful to know when they were bored so you can spice things up.

  • DO have a tech expert on standby on webinar day. Just because everything went right on the tech side on the dress rehearsal doesn’t mean it will when you actually present your webinar. In fact, it probably won’t. NOTE: You can solve this by choosing a webinar platform that offers customer service with your session.

  • DO remind your participants (and then remind them again). People are forgetful and some of them will forget until the very last minute.

  • DO spend five minutes explaining how the webinar will work. Talk about how people can ask questions; explain if there will be a recording that they can review and anything else they need to know.

  • DO dress for success. Maybe young Steve Jobs could get away with dressing in jeans in a t-shirt, with bare feet propped up on his desk, but you need to dress like you are presenting a grant proposal for money you really need.

  • DO set up your lighting, camera, backdrop and audio properly. Make sure that you aren’t washed out or in shadow, that your backdrop is neutral and consistent (not your untidy living room), that your camera angles are good and that your mic is positioned properly.

  • DON’T record your webinar on the same machine you are presenting on. You’ll probably have lag problems and sometimes this can result in lost audio, video or other elements.

  • DON’T use budget equipment. If you are using a cheap microphone and webcam your presentation will have much less value to your participants.

How to use a virtual background when in Zoom

by with No Comment Learning FacilitationTools & Technology

One great Zoom feature is the ability to place a virtual background for your meetings and events. This is an opportunity for you to provide a really professional-looking background that portrays the best image of you and your business. When you sign up for a Zoom account there are a number of virtual backgrounds that you can choose from to replace your existing backgrounds. These tend to be images of oceans, cityscapes, and nature which are OK but you can do better than this. 

Professional Bright Office Zoom Virtual Background

Image or Video

With the Zoom virtual background feature, you can choose an image or a video as the background to your Zoom events. We do not recommend the use of video as this can be really distracting for your audience. To get the best results from virtual backgrounds, Zoom recommends that you use a green screen and that your lighting is uniform. This allows Zoom to identify the difference between the background and you. We recommend that you create your own virtual backgrounds that include the branding of your business. It is a good idea to add your logo to your background as well as your name and website address. You need to create an image that reflects your camera type. So if you are shooting in 16:9 then the minimum image size should be 1280 by 720 pixels.

Best Setup for a Virtual Background

To get the best results from virtual backgrounds it is recommended that you use a green screen (or another solid color background). You can get these green screen backgrounds online pretty cheaply. The quality of your background depends on the quality of your camera. It also depends on the lighting in the room you are using for your Zoom event. You can get inexpensive ring lighting from Amazon that will improve things significantly for you. One important tip when setting up your virtual background is not to wear clothes that are the same color as your background. This will make it a lot harder for Zoom to identify you from the background and it will look really weird.

Enabling Virtual Backgrounds

You will need to enable virtual backgrounds in your Zoom account first. Log in to your Zoom web portal as an administrator and then select “Account Settings”. Find the option “Virtual Background” under the “Meeting” tab and then enable the setting. You can setup the virtual background feature on a group or user basis and also for Zoom rooms. The process is the same for all of these. Go into the settings for the group or user and make sure that the virtual backgrounds feature is enabled.

Using the Virtual Background Feature

You will need to install the Zoom client on your desktop or mobile device to use virtual backgrounds. For a desktop, you just need to click on your profile image and then select “Settings”. If you have the virtual background enabled in your web portal then you will see the option to use a virtual background here. You will be asked to choose if you have a green screen in place or not. It is not essential to use a green screen but it does produce the best results. If you are using a green screen then select the right color. If you have added your own virtual background image then select this now. Now you are all set and you can save your settings.

Tips for presenting during Facebook Live

by with No Comment Learning FacilitationTools & Technology

Facebook Live is a platform that should appeal to anyone who is trying to build a personal brand and establish themselves as a thought leader in their niche. This will encompass a very large proportion of digital marketers and make this a platform that a lot of people start making use of.

What this also means is that some of the people reading this and planning on creating live content won’t have much experience with creating video content. So if you’re not an experienced YouTuber, read on to learn some of the tips of the trade that will help you to create more engaging and professional video.

Video Quality

Video quality makes a huge difference on YouTube. On Facebook Live of course this isn’t such a big issue (seeing as everyone is recording from their phones) but you can nevertheless make a big difference if you invest in a high quality camera phone.

What’s arguably even more important meanwhile is that your videos be bright. Even a low quality video will look much clearer crisper if the room has lots of light! Either invest in a light box, or try to use natural light strategically. Aim for ‘Rembrandt lighting’ which means lighting your face from one side more than the other.

Audio

Your audio is equally important. Make sure that you record your sound using a lapel mic or a phone with a clear built in microphone. Speak slowly and clearly and think as well about the acoustics of the room you’re in: this can make a surprisingly big difference! Avoid echoing spaces where possible and think about your background noise. If people can’t hear what you’re saying, they’ll leave quickly!

Presenting

Being a good presenter is about being engaging and clear. It’s also about being charismatic and smart. Try to dress for the occasion but likewise don’t look overdressed as this will just make you look desperate – which is never a good look! Go for ‘effortlessly smart’ and try watching your favourite YouTubers for tips.

Set

Finally, think about your ‘set’. The area you film in is very important and will make a big difference. In particular, try to avoid filming anywhere where there’s too much activity behind you that could be distracting. Likewise, avoid filming anywhere that looks untidy or unprofessional. Your living room is not a good choice if there is lots of rubbish strewn around the place!

How To Create A Superb Explainer Video Script

by with No Comment EdupreneurTools & Technology

Are you working to create an explainer video for your brand? Here’s everything you need to know about the explainer video script including why it is so crucial and how to ensure yours is superb. Explainer videos are a brilliant way to engage and communicate with customers and clients as a brand. You just need to make sure that you are telling the right story. There are lots of different parts of an explainer video. For instance, you will need to ensure that you have fantastic visuals, but that’s just one part of the puzzle. It’s also essential that you have a fantastic explainer video script. Without the right script, you can find that your explainer video is boring and simply doesn’t hit the mark that you need. It could end up being confusing too, severely limiting the benefits the video could bring for your brand. So, why is a script so important?

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Why Do You Need A Script?

You might not be aware of this, but explainer videos are used due to scientific evidence. Specifically, they are based on Allan Paivio’s Dual-Coding Theory. Essentially, this theorizes that audio and visual information are dealt with separately in the brain. So, when you add a voice-over to visual information, it will be processed far more rapidly. This also means that it’s going to be easier to process for the individual.

The script will layout the story and that’s key. It’s how you combine the visual and audio components of the video to ensure that both work seamlessly and provide the right impact. How do you ensure that you get this right?

Understanding Different Parts Of The Script

There are four main parts of the script that you need to include and get right. These are the:

  • Opening
  • Problem
  • Solution
  • Call To Action

A lot of scriptwriters will make the mistake of writing a long-winded opening. Instead, you need to make sure that you get straight to the point without throwing your audience in at the deep end.

In the first fifteen seconds, you should be setting up the problem that your audience is facing. To do this, you need to have a clear idea of who your audience is and how they view the product.

So, the opening is the point where you quickly introduce the problem that they are facing. You then need to make sure that you show how the problem can be solved with the right solution. Remember, the brand is always going to be the solution.

In the script, you need to clearly state what you do and ensure that this is easy to understand. Remember, the solution is not the same as what you do. This comes later in the script. Once you have introduced the problem and the solution, you might want to shift the tone and aspect of the video. You can do this by playing different music or even cutting the audio completely.

When you have introduced the solution, you then need to explain why this is the right course of action. You need to push the benefits of the solution and sell the brand the right way. You need to be selective about the key points that you choose to highlight. It’s important that the language you choose suggests excitement and passion for the service or product. They need to feel as though you are compelled to deliver the solution they need.

The final part of the puzzle is the call to action. Remember, this comes at the end of the video, and if the viewer makes it that far they may already be compelled to buy. So, your words here can ensure that the sale goes through or lose the customer completely.

You need to keep things simple. You should hit the problem on the head and deliver a killer punchline that shows why they should buy from you. The best way to do this is to introduce value. This could be in the form of a deal or a key USP for the brand. Include an annotation with an email address or website for them to look at and you will ensure that they have a way forward.

How To Create A Script

Now that you understand the key parts of the script, we need to think about how to create one from scratch. 

First, you need to come up with the story. To do this, it’s useful to brainstorm ideas. You will need to try and get into the mindset of your target customer. Think about how they view the world and specifically your product or service. Try to understand what it means to them and how it could benefit them. You can mind map the story, starting with the product or service at the center. Build out with potential problems connected to the product and end with the solutions. When you find the right problem and solution, you can work to build the outline. This should be very brief. Essentially, you should be able to summarize the video script in a 30-second sentence. That sentence should provide all the information someone needs to understand it. If you can’t do this, the outline is too complicated. When you have the outline, you can set to work writing the script. Review it several times to ensure that it flows and feels natural.

Remember to think about the language that you are using. It needs to be active and it must convey the right level of excitement. At the same time, your script should also suggest both knowledge and authority relating to the problem presented. It also needs to be friendly and the tone should almost be like a conversation. When you are happy with the script, you need to add a storyboard.

This will ensure that all the different pieces – the voiceover, visuals, and music – fit together. You can make any final adjustments at this stage to ensure that your script is going to deliver the right results. Take this advice and you should have no issues creating the ultimate explainer video script for your brand.

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6 easy steps to create an explainer video

by with No Comment EdupreneurTools & Technology

Explainer videos are a common educational tool and most of us have probably watched them at some point. An explainer video (or edumercial) is simply an animated video that uses a voiceover to explain a topic, while animations and diagrams help to support the explanation and make it clearer. They are often used by businesses to explain the basics of a product or service, and they are also perfect for use in an educational setting.

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Explainer videos are so effective for learning because they make it a lot easier for people to grasp complicated subjects. People learn in different ways and some people prefer a visual element to help them wrap their head around an idea, while others prefer to have the idea explained to them in clear language. An explainer video does both, so the majority of people find it to be an effective way of learning.

Research has shown that visual elements have been shown to improve the retention of information. Information learned from visual content also tends to stick in the long term memory better, which is very important. Our capacity for storing short term memory is very limited compared with our capacity to store long term memories. When learning something new, it is important that we store it in our long term memory or we will not retain the information. Explainer videos are an effective way to ensure that information is stored in the long term memory, rather than the short term memory.

Using an explainer video also helps to improve engagement because people tend to respond better to visual stimuli. If you are trying to explain a certain topic and you present people with a large wall of text, they are likely to switch off or skim through the text without really taking it in. But when you introduce a visual element, the content immediately becomes more engaging, so focus levels are increased and people pay closer attention, so they learn more and retain more of that information. This increased focus and information retention is a result of the emotional reaction that visual stimulus causes. Visual memory is processed in the same area of the brain as our emotions, so when you use images and videos, they create an emotional reaction and activate the area of the brain that stores that information at the same time.

How To Create Your Own Explainer Video

Now that we have seen the amazing benefits of using an explainer video, you may be wondering how to create your own. The process is relatively simple once you know what you are doing and you have the right tools. Read on to find out about the six steps for creating your own explainer videos.

Write the Script

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The first step in any explainer video is always the script. The script is the foundation that you will use to build the rest of the video, so it’s vital that you get it right. Your explainer video should be to the point, covering all of the basic information in a way that is easy to digest. The biggest mistake that people make is getting too technical with the script and overloading the viewer with too many complex terms that they don’t understand.

Always keep the audience in mind and remember that the script should be written for somebody that has no prior knowledge of the topic. This can be tough if it is a subject that you are an expert in because you assume a base level of knowledge that the audience doesn’t have. In some cases, it may be better to have an outsider write the script because they will understand how to present the information in a way that everybody can understand. Clarity and professionalism are important when writing the script, but you should also have a bit of fun with it.

Adding a bit of humor and lightheartedness is a great way to make the video more engaging and make it stand out. Also, consider the story that you are telling in writing the script. People remember stories much more than facts.

Create or Curate Imagery

Once you have your script and you are happy with it, you need to find the animation and images to make up the explainer video. You can either create your own animations from scratch, curate diagrams and animations from elsewhere, or use a combination of both. When creating or curating imagery for an explainer video, the golden rule is to always keep it simple. Your animation should support the voiceover and help the viewer to understand, but if it is too complicated and you fill the explainer video with too many complex images, it distracts the viewer and makes it harder for them to follow the voiceover.

Start by going through your script and drawing a basic flowchart up on a whiteboard. This will help you to break down the script and decide which key points need to be supported and explained using imagery. Once you have a clear plan, you can start finding images or creating your own.

Simple graphs or infographics are a great way to visualize the information that you are giving and make it clear for the viewer, but you should avoid giving lots of extra information that is not covered in the voiceover because they will struggle to absorb different information from both sources at once. There are plenty of places to find good quality infographics online, but you can easily make your own.

Record Your Voiceover

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Now that you have your script and the images to go alongside it, you need to record the voiceover for your explainer video. Professionalism is key here and if the sound quality is poor or the delivery is bad, that will ruin your explainer video and people will soon switch off. If you want to create a professional explainer video, you need to invest in a good quality microphone to record your voiceovers. There is no need to buy the most expensive one that you can find, but you should invest in a good mid-range one.

You should also consider hiring a professional voiceover artist to record the script for you instead of doing it yourself. It is harder than people realize to deliver a professional voiceover and if the script for your explainer video is recorded by an amateur, it really shows. Voices is a great platform where you can find professional voiceover artists to record your video.

Animate

Next, you need to animate the video and put your images in place. You should already have decided which images coincide with which parts of the script, so this will be your basic structure. Each major point should have a visual metaphor or simple image to explain it and make it clearer to the audience. During the animation stage, it is a good idea to use color to highlight certain words or pieces of information, so the images move along with the voiceover and the audience knows which information is the most important. Keep your animations simple so they do not distract the audience from important information and they are easily followed. When moving from one animation to the next, it is important that there is a logical flow. If you find that there is not a logical flow, you may need to go back to your script and rearrange things. Each animation should build on the last and if things jump around too much, the audience can quickly become confused. If you find that you have too many animations and images in one section, you should consider breaking it down into a few smaller sections for added clarity.

Synch Audio and Animation

Now that you have a voiceover recorded and your explainer video is animated, you need to bring the two elements together to create the finished product. It is vital that you are accurate when synching the audio and animation or your explainer video will be very confusing. The animation should only remain on screen while the voiceover is discussing that specific piece of information. If one moves faster than the other, the viewer will be forced to absorb visual information while also trying to follow the voiceover, which has moved on to the next piece of information. At this stage, you may need to adjust some of the animations and change the length so they match up with the voiceover. When you are synching the audio and animation, you should consider adding some music. When used in the right way, music can set the pace of your explainer video and make it more engaging. However, it is important that you don’t choose anything that distracts from the voiceover or the animation.

Some Simple Tools for Creating Explainer Videos

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If you want to create a professional explainer video, you need to use the right tools. The good news is, there are plenty of simple tools that you can use to create explainer videos, even if you have never made one before.

Toonly

Toonly is a very popular tool for creating explainer videos because it’s so simple to use. The user interface is very intuitive and you don’t need to know anything about coding or video creation to make a great explainer video. You simply drag and drop elements into the picture and then add animations. There are plenty of pre-built scenes and animations to use as well, so you don’t always have to source your own images.

Moovly

If you are looking for a free option, Moovly is one the best. It’s a great piece of software that has a lot of features, especially compared with the other free options out there. It has a similar drag and drop interface to Toonly, so anybody can create whiteboard animations and explainer videos without any prior experience. You can easily manipulate and move images and synching up the audio and video is simple as well.

Vyond

Vyond is a more expensive option but it offers more customization options than Moovly or Toonly. In some cases, you can make do with the simple animations that other platforms offer, but if you are trying to create something specific and you need to customize animations, Vyond may be the better choice. It also has a feature that allows you to upload a script and generate a voiceover, but it does sound a little robotic so you should only use this if there is no way to find a voiceover artist to do it for you.

Animaker

Animaker is a good middle ground between Vyond and Toonly, especially if you are looking for a slightly cheaper option that still has a lot of the same great features. Although Animaker’s user interface is a little slower and slightly more complex, and a few of the features are missing, it is a lot cheaper. If you have time to play around with it and you want to save some money, Animaker is perfectly good enough to make some great explainer videos with.

Videoscribe

Many people consider Videoscribe to be the best whiteboard animation software on the market right now. It’s a great intuitive tool that comes complete with a library of high quality images and sounds that you can use in your videos. The user interface is simple to use and you can create good quality explainer videos in a very short space of time. The price is also very reasonable, considering the features that you get.

If you invest in one of these great whiteboard animation tools and follow the steps outlined in this article, you can start creating your own amazing explainer videos right away.

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