Startups that face the big challenge to present their idea to investors and customers will have to ask themselves: what are the best tools to present their pitch.  As nowadays the human attention span is getting shorter and shorter, a clear visual message is always highly useful. Since people are used to commercials and short film pieces, a short video can help entrepreneurs to show their product to their audience effectively and even to discover for themselves what their real focus is (due to the short format of the video). It can be delivered on a website, to be sent as a link or used during a presentation, perhaps as an intro or as an addition to a longer verbal personal presentation on stage.

Even big investment companies have started to discover the usability and potential of this media. Find out how Simpleshow, a start-up video production company have raised 5.4 million dollars to boost their business.

 

 1. Why an explainer video is useful for startups

We asked David Trayford, start-up guru, keynote speaker on start-up conferences, founder of thehub.hu, project coach at Singularity University, Mountain View and also jury member / coach at StartupSauna:

 He put it this way: “Let’s think of tech start-ups for example. With them especially it is so easy not to deliver a very clear message. Unless they target a niche market, they always want their videos to cover all the aspects their product or service can do. This sounds logical because according to their thinking it is good that they can get involved in many things but at the beginning they really need to focus on their main direction. If they make a short video they will be encouraged to discover what it is right now. Sure, they can mention – perhaps at the end – all the other things they can do, but going through the process of delivering a very neat message in a video is a highly useful one. It gives a sense of real focus about what it is entrepreneurs should be doing. A good example is the function and purpose of TV commercials in which you don’t tell everything but you point out what makes your business different from others. The task is the same here”.

2. The always unfinished business

However, entrepreneurs need to be aware that this should not be an end product, rather part of an on-going communication strategy. Furthermore the whole process of making a video creates a system of thinking where a lot of interesting and unexpected insights will be discovered. While the main content and direction of the business will probably remain the same, there will be place for changes too. As David likes to put it: “life always gets in the way”. This means that an update of the original video is likely to be necessary too, which requires the expertise and cooperation of the video production companies – thinks David and addresses a message to the video production companies: “you’d better come up with a pricing package that reflects an on-going relationship rather than each job being a new job way of thinking. Start-ups need a different approach. Of course there will be an end result, a good video that shows what the start-up’s focus is, but one thing can be said for sure: the video will need to be updated frequently”. Nicole Carter writer of Inc.com also stresses that flexibility is one of the key factors for start-up success. In her article she reveals the 6 secrets to a successful start-up.

3. Usability during presentation and on the website

It is always difficult to create a communication tool that fits all because investors want to know different things from customers. This is easier to adapt with a personal talk or presentation. But using a well-made explainer video is a great way to demo what the product is, set the scene and to show on the big screen what it is that you are talking about. A huge percentage of live demos will not work for loads of reasons. If it is an object, it might be too small to be visible for everyone in the room. If it is too big, it might not fit the stage or the room. It might be its functionality that would rule live demonstration out, such as with a moving object but presentation on screen is a solution for this. Also, when the product is not yet at the prototype stage, showing a drawing / animation of it can work very well.

Regarding the usage of the video on the website, it is not only useful because of the obvious reason of showing the product to the audience. As previously mentioned, the product will evolve and so will the video, which in this way will also work as a perfect tool to demonstrate the evolution of the product and the company. You can keep the previous videos in the archive or somewhere on the page to show the timeline of how the business develops, how the team is able to adapt to customer feedback for instance. Showing the flexibility and talent of the team and its ability to improve, leaves a very good impression with investors and customers alike. Credibility, transparency, openness and the strength of the team are all important for investors. “They invest in the team not in an idea that is bound to change “– says David.

Have a look at The Entrepreneurs’ article on the 3 steps for assembling a start up dream team.

4. What the startup explainer video should be about

There are lots of places where videos can be used but it is recommended only when they are a better substitute than a talk, rather than just instead of a talk. Anything can happen at a presentation, even technical hitches, so you always need to be ready to deliver the message that the video is about.

During this conversation with David, we figured there might be various alternatives with using videos. They can be pieces lasting a few minutes about the whole business or a string of shorter films about the main topics that are parts of any business presentation: the market, the product, the team, where they are now, what they need, competition, finances. According to David, these topics should be looked at like miniature presentations that can be done either in separate mini-films using different formats or done all together in one longer video. It all depends on the type of business and the circumstances.

5. Choosing the right explainer video production company

Few things entrepreneurs need to keep in mind while choosing a video production company – especially if they plan a long term partnership – is that it should be one that has been on the market for a while (and will likely to stay there too) and has good references as well. Our individual response to the experts’ opinion above is that we are introducing a special package for start-ups, which contains the service of archiving and updating their video for only an incidental charge covering the costs. Plus we also offer a special, discounted price to them for making the video. Our experience is that start-ups usually do not have the finances available to spend on marketing (and videos), as they need to invest in product development first. Although the marketing strategy should be thought through beforehand, we agree that it is definitely the right approach to wait, as a video should only be done when the product is completely ready. Creating the video then will take around 4-5 weeks. We believe that the best way to make it is to include all the topics mentioned above into one 2-minute explainer video and maybe make another one of the team itself. We think that an explainer video is not only useful to tell what the start-up is about but also to generate a high profile brand image. Considering this added value we are confident that getting one done is a good investment!

Few examples of great start-up videos made by us:

Therapy Partner, Joytunes, Kompoz, Inforumobile . You can find more startup explainer videos in our explainer video portfolio.

We’d love to hear your opinion!

Do you have any experience with explainer videos?