Ep. 27 – Interview w/ Dylan Healy

How Animated Explainer Videos Help to Simplify Visual Communication for B2B Companies

EP27-Dylan Healy

On this week’s episode, we had a conversation about animated explainer videos with Dylan Healy (Co-Founder, Animation Explainers). During our discussion, Dylan talks to us about how animated explainer videos have helped his B2B clients to effectively communicate their complex products and service offers in a way that converts. He also walks us through the process of bringing the animated video to life, some common mistakes to avoid, and how animated videos help to drive traffic to client websites.

Topics discussed in this episode:

  • How animated video and its creative process help organizations and entrepreneurs explain their complex service or product offering. [11:51]
  • Common mistakes that people make when it comes to animated explainer videos. [19:26]
  • Using video to emulate the face-to-face experience. [26:14]

Companies & links mentioned in this episode:

Transcript

SPEAKERS

Christian Klepp, Dylan Healy

Christian Klepp  00:08

Hi, and welcome to the B2B Marketers on a Mission podcast. I’m your host, Christian Klepp, and one of the founders of EINBLICK Consulting. Our goal is to share inspirational stories, tips and insights from b2b marketers, digital entrepreneurs, and industry experts that will help you to think differently, succeed and scale your business.

Alright, Hey, everyone, and welcome to this episode of the B2B Marketers on a Mission podcast. I’m your host, Christian Klepp. And today, I am thrilled to welcome a guest into the show from the Isle of Man. Now, for the listeners out there, please don’t cheat and don’t start googling it. All right, I bet I bet many of you don’t actually know where the Isle of Man is. But onto something more important. This gentleman is a successful entrepreneur who’s built up his business even during the pandemic. And he’s also established a presence for his company over here in Canada. So without further ado, Mr. Dylan Healy, welcome to the show.

Dylan Healy  01:03

Hello, Mr. Klepp. How are you doing?

Christian Klepp  01:07

I’m doing well. I’m doing well and yourself?

Dylan Healy  01:09

I’m very good. It’s an honor to be on the show, man. Really appreciate it.

Christian Klepp  01:13

No, we’re really thrilled to have you on, so you know, why don’t we just get the ball rolling and just, tell the listeners a little bit about yourself.

Dylan Healy  01:20

Sure. Sure. So I am the director and co-founder of Animation Explainers. And like Christian said, I live on the Isle of Man, which is a very small island in the middle of the Irish Sea between Ireland and Britain. And my co-founder lives in Dublin in Ireland, Aaron Connolly, and we run a global explainer video agency servicing a lot of clients worldwide. And this time last year, I was actually in Toronto, we met this time last year Christian at a conference and it was great. It was a great conference. And we built up some clients. So we’ve been working with TD Bank, ThinkTel, Tetra Bio Pharma, YSM, big charity in Toronto, MyHealth Centre, Changelly, they’re a crypto crowd out in Markham. So, you know, it was it was a great experience out in Toronto.

Christian Klepp  02:22

Well, yeah, that’s really an amazing background, Dylan, and thanks for sharing that. And I do remember that event. You know, it’s funny that we keep talking about this now. Um, yeah, we met at an in person event. And you know, we don’t, at least here in North America, we don’t have too many of those these days. And who knows when those are gonna start coming back. Right.

Dylan Healy  02:41

Hopefully, after Christmas, I think this Oxford trial looks set to, to roll out soon. So I hope there’s a bit of clarity soon.

Christian Klepp  02:53

Yeah, indeed. And, you know, so let’s hope for the best, keep our fingers crossed. And in the meantime, we just, you know, we keep on going right. All right, Dylan, talk to us about a recent project that you’ve been working on, that’s got me really excited.

Dylan Healy  03:07

Yeah. So, you know, talking about, you know, talking about the vaccine. And this is a really interesting project we’re working on for a company called LumaCyte in Charlottesville in Virginia. And their mission is to provide researchers with diagnostic tools that accelerate pharmaceutical discoveries. And so the team at LumaCyte came to us to try and explain a very complex process, and how LumaCyte’s technology is revolutionizing the vaccine industry. And so that was really timely. And we’re working on second video at the moment with them.

Christian Klepp  03:53

That’s a great story. And I think it’s incredibly, what’s the word, apt to appropriate for this period, and even moving forward? And, you know, you brought up something, which I thought was incredibly interesting, and we’re definitely gonna discuss that in further detail. You said something about simplifying something that’s complicated, and I think that’s really something that you’ve built your business around it, you’ve built your core area of expertise around. Let’s jam on that a little bit further, because, you know, that’s clearly an area where you’re a subject matter expert. So you are in the business of doing animated explainer videos. So, just give us a bit of background here. Dylan, you know, what got you started on this path?

Dylan Healy  04:35

So am myself and Aaron, we met… I was living in Dublin at the time and we both got an internship at Marketo, you probably know them yourself, Christian. They are pretty big Martech company, who have actually been recently acquired by Adobe, I think. Myself and Aaron, we had the intern job, and we all remember those jobs Christian where you’re, you know, you’re doing the grunt work, you’re doing the Excel, you’re put in, you know, you’re learning these skills, you know, prospecting, finding people on LinkedIn, building lists and clients for the sales development representatives. So looking back, it was such a valuable experience. And I think Aaron kind of, we were having… we were talking about Manchester United at the watercooler one day. And Aaron said, you know, there’s a great demand for these animated videos online. And it just, it got us, there was something about these animated videos that got us thinking. So we developed a website, we started meeting after work, and Aaron’s quite technical, whereas I’m quite creative. So together, we were really good sort of partnership. And, and yeah, we just got the ball rolling, rolling from there. And we landed our first client, a guy called Joe Author, his name is and a company called MingoCoin. And there was this crypto, it was the summer of 2017, Christian when crypto was really kicking off. And, and what we saw with these guys is that these guys were really technical, they knew their stuff in the crypto space, but they didn’t know how to get their message out there and do it in a way that was visually appealing.

Christian Klepp  06:23

How to package it, right?

Dylan Healy  06:25

Exactly, so we kind of piggybacked on that sort of trend that was going on. And, and the rest is history. It really snowballed from there, you know?

Christian Klepp  06:36

Yeah. Well, that’s a great story, man. And especially like you guys, you know, you identify them, you identify this gap, or the so called unmet need in the market. And, you know, you found a really great way to, like, you know, address that need and package your services. And as you said, the rest is history and, you know, anyone that’s taking a look at your website, or your portfolio of videos can, you know, can see that, you know, you guys do produce a lot of great work, right. So.

Dylan Healy  07:01

No, thanks, Christian, appreciate it. But you know, it’s a long journey. And it’s, you know, you kind of have to… your first few clients, you always, you know, there was one story. It’s quite funny. We, we had a client called MingoCoin, right. And they had… and they liked the video, the first video, okay, so they ordered two more. I was working in basically a call center, it was a really miserable, it was a very miserable place, right. It was a call center. And it was for a company. It was a company called Accenture. And we were in there, and I got a phone call during the day. And this guy said, Dylan, we need two more videos. So I was like, Okay, I didn’t even know how to send an invoice at that point. Later in the project, we messed up on the voiceover. So I had to go out to my car in the middle of the day, and put my jacket over my head and record the voiceover with the script. So I mean, and my fellow colleagues were looking at me going past like, what… is he lost? Has he lost his mind? But because there was a deadline and he needed the voiceover and they needed rerecorded. You know, it’s just the things you do, I suppose when you’re at that bootstrapping stage, you literally do anything to get the clients you need and bring the business forward, you know?

Christian Klepp  08:30

Yeah, Indeed, indeed. And I mean, thanks for sharing that. But needless to say, You’re obviously not recording, you know, doing any voiceover recordings that way anymore.

Dylan Healy  08:39

No, it’s all. It’s all professionally done now. But I used to do the… I did used to do some of the voiceovers. But unfortunately, the northern Liverpool Irish twang, it’s not very popular for most of our clients. So, you know, they prefer your type of American accent or, or, you know, UK English, London accents, or even an Irish accent is very nice. And so, you know, it just depends on the client.

Christian Klepp  09:07

Yeah, no, absolutely. Absolutely. So I mean, just talking a little bit further about this, you know, your entrepreneurial journey, just tell us about some of the challenges and the obstacles you faced early on in that journey and how you overcame these challenges.

Dylan Healy  09:22

Sure. So, I think the biggest, the biggest challenge, I think, for us was funding. And it was getting the cash flow that you need to kind of realize the vision that you have in your head. And I think the first year of business was always a struggle. And we were kind of living on month on month Christian because, you know, we had bootstrapped the business. And luckily myself and Aaron were, you know, we just were fresh out of college. So we don’t have any obligations in terms of, you know, loans or mortgages or wives or any, you know, any sort of big commitments. And that, you know, that life brings. So that was really hard to get the cash flow up to a level. And you know, your sales might be doing well. But, you know, if you haven’t looked at your bank account and your finances sometimes getting the cash flow in, you know, in order to build a business up and roll out a bigger strategy is, I think that’s the hardest challenge and obstacle that faces any sort of entrepreneur at that sort of level.

Christian Klepp  10:37

Yeah, absolutely.

Dylan Healy  10:39

You take it for granted, when you have a bit of financing in, you know, in the bank, I suppose that’s why a lot of folks, you know, go out and they get financing, you know, or they go for seed funding, because it just makes it that that easier. But I think I’m glad we never, we never sold out. Because, you know, it’s a 50/50 partnership between myself and Aaron, and I want to keep it like that.

Christian Klepp  11:03

No, that’s good. That’s good. Yeah, let’s, let’s go a little bit macro. For this next question, Dylan. So according to an article written by workstream.com, explainer videos have not only become extremely popular, but some sites have also posted that their conversion rates have increased by as much as 144%. Alright, so just one more time 144% after they included an explainer video on their website. So here’s the question, and I’m pretty sure you get asked this all the time. But why do you think animated videos are so effective? Most especially in the world of b2b? And what is it about this type of visual storytelling that appeals to viewers over other content forms?

Dylan Healy  11:51

Sure. And yeah, I mean, you know, we work with a lot of FinTech, cyber security, pharmaceutical companies, quite often their service or product offering is complex. And, you know, their founders… they find it very difficult to verbalize. So, I think a big part of our USP is, is the process that we have to sit down with founders, entrepreneurs, small or medium sized business owners in niches are quite difficult to unpack and help them and you kind of become the bridge to the man on the street or their customer base. Unwittingly sometimes, because, you know, I mean, I’m not, you know, I’m not an expert in FinTech. But um, I think that, you know, that collaboration with the customers on Google Drive on zoom, really helps them with their creative process. And sometimes you’re not actually involved in the conversation, Christian. So it’s a case of getting all of the stakeholders onto a zoom call, and just asking them loaded questions, and trying to get them to think about what they want to say in the video. You know, they have two minutes, what do they want? You know, do you want your viewer to understand the organization better? What do you stand for, as an organization? You know, how do you feel connected to the business? These types of questions we ask our clients, really to get to the, you know, to get to the basis of solving their problem statement, I think that we just offered that sort of space to do that. And, and that’s not even animation, I think.

Christian Klepp  13:44

Yeah, no, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I think that’s definitely a great approach Dylan, and I believe that this is not only applicable, in the world of B2B, it’s probably other industry categories as well. But do you find more often than not, people just tend to, like, have way too many things to say? Yeah, they just, you know, they, if you tell them like, Listen, you’ve only got like, a two minute video or, I don’t know, 90 seconds, or it’s less than a minute long, you know, in terms of running time, and they’re just tempted to tell their target audience every single thing about their product, like, you know, it’s like down to the most minute detail. So I think it’s a it’s a question of, and I think you’ve, you really hit the nail on the head there. It’s almost like you know, when you get them on that zoom call. It’s like you’re forcing them to come up with a 60” elevator pitch, right? Like, it’s that classic scenario where you say like, Okay, listen, you’ve only got like 40 seconds with the CEO. So you’ve only got 40 seconds to tell him who you are, what you do and why I should listen to you. Right.

Dylan Healy  14:53

And you know, like, I think a big part of it as well is that a lot of these videos end up on the landing pages of organizations. We work with the guy down in Miami, Florida recently, and he has two of our videos on his landing page. And like for me that is the highest praise you can get when somebody like a CEO like that has your two videos pride of place, you know, it’s like having a trophy on your mantelpiece or something. But that says to me, okay, well done, Dylan, you did your job there because, you know, you’ve helped them through the creative process, but it’s like counseling, sometimes it’s like counseling, because you get these guys on the call, and they don’t know what they want to say. And they send you 500 words Word documents, PDFs, slide decks, videos, stuff that they did 10 years ago, you know, these awkward kind of 1980s style, you know, videos, you’re like, ah, dude, like, that’s just information overload. You know, I’m shaking thinking about it.

Christian Klepp  15:54

Yeah, 80 slide PPTs.

Dylan Healy  15:59

But it’s, um, yeah, it’s you know, I think that that is that is, you know, that filter, that filtering process is super important animation explainers. And, and you know, myself and Aaron, and Jess, and Hugo are all working to, to help folks through that process.

Christian Klepp  16:16

No, absolutely. And I think, you know, from your, from your description, in the past couple of minutes, I think, you know, you’ve got a, you’ve got something like an airtight system and process in place that helps to facilitate, you know, this, this process of, you know, clarifying the brief, understanding the requirements and helping, helping also in part with the ideation right, because you know, that this, you know, these ideas aren’t like, you know, it’s not, it’s not an auto download kind of process right. You have to, you have to go through several, it’s a bit of back and forth with iterations.

Dylan Healy  16:51

Well, that’s, yeah, I mean, you know, that well, that’s what we’re up against Christian, you know, you know, that there’s, you know, tune Lee, there’s, there’s a lot of software out there, that that does, that does animation, but I just, it doesn’t, it doesn’t really hit the nail on the head a lot of the time. I mean, you’ve probably seen those kind of Whiteboard Videos, or, or, you know, folks that kind of use animation. And sometimes you just need to go that extra, you know, you need to have that extra bit of personality. And that’s why I suppose that’s where we come in, you know?

Christian Klepp  17:26

Yeah, that’s for sure. And that’s, and that’s certainly where you add value to the process, right? I mean, like, yes, of course, there are software and other platforms out there where people can create their own animation videos, but those are probably not your target market. Right. Like, if they’re going after those?

Dylan Healy  17:42

And I don’t think so, but I am aware that, you know, there is there is software out there, and you can, you know, you can I think sign up, it’s like 30-40 bucks a month. And I mean, you know, maybe one day, the animation and the software and the AI behind it can get as clever. Right now, it’s you know, you still need that, that space of visual storytelling that I suppose animation explainers offer to b2b companies.

Christian Klepp  18:12

Yeah, no exactly.

Hey, it’s Christian Klepp. Here. We’ll get back to the episode in a second. But first, is your brand struggling to cut through the noise? Are you trying to find more effective ways to reach your target audience and boost sales? Are you trying to pivot your business? If so, book a call with EINBLICK Consulting. Our experienced consultants who will work with you to help your b2b business to succeed and scale. Go to www.einblick.co for more information.

Dylan, you brought up a couple of really great points and they’re all kind of like related to this, this interactive process that you have with the clients in terms of like, you know, bringing this animated explainer video to life. And you know, since you’ve started your company, you’ve obviously you know, got an impressive portfolio and roster of clients. And you’ve probably at this stage, seen it all right. So what I mean by that is, like, you’ve seen, you’ve seen a lot of like, people making mistakes, right? So just off the top of your head, what are the five most common mistakes that you see people make when it comes to animated explainer videos? And what can people do to avoid these mistakes?

Dylan Healy  19:25

Sure. So, um, so the first one would be, I suppose, dismissing the offer. I mean, you know, there’s, you know, still to this day Christian, you go on to sales calls, and, you know, you’re talking to people and sometimes they just don’t get it, you know, you can sell you can try and sell you can you can speak about your product and your service and how great you are on your clients and your testimonials. You know, but some people just dismiss your offer. And that’s, that’s fine, you know, because we only operate in a certain niche of the market and so that’s the first.

The second is I think at the requirements stage. The requirements stage is where we’re kind of gathering all the information into a document. Yeah, exactly. That brief stage is very important. And sometimes clients don’t give us enough information to execute on the animation. And you kind of have to drag the information out of them. So that’s the second biggest common mistake.

The third would be, and you probably agree with me this one Christian is, you know, clients can send you down a cul de sac, and, you know, they want to change what’s already been written in stone at the start of the process. You know, I mean, usually we get it right first time, and we try to limit you know, these changes at the at the back end. But, you know, I suppose with any sort of creative project, you’re always going to have changes, or revisions. And, you know, I mean, there’s only so much software out there that can help you with that. But, you know, you’ve got to try and keep it as transparent as you can. But, uh, you know, there’s been many a night where I’ve been tearing my hair out. But look, that’s just a suppose it’s a part of the journey.

Christian Klepp  21:14

Rumors have reached my ears about this type of scenario. Yes.

Dylan Healy  21:20

Well, you’ve been on the road much longer than me. So… I don’t know, I’d say we’ve got a long way to go. But look, I the fourth point is, you know, the common mistakes is, like the point you said before Christian, you know, a lot of CEOs are, they complicate things, so it’s best to keep it simple. And less is more. And the best projects are generally more simple, and they flow better, if they’re more simple.

And then the last common mistake would be rushing the process. So, you know, their clients want the video tomorrow, and you go, but I need three weeks to do it. And they go, I want that on my desk by Friday, and you’re gonna, you know, the but look. I mean, those are a few mistakes. But uh, you know, you’re always going to have those sorts of roadblocks, I suppose when, you know, running a creative agency.

Christian Klepp  22:16

Yeah, no, no, I mean, those are, those are really great points. And, yes, I have, I totally understand what you’re talking about. Because I’ve, I’ve gone through I’ve gone through this with clients in the past myself. And would you say that it’s also a question of, perhaps education is not the right word. But like, it’s just give them an appreciation for lead time. Because, you know, sometimes it’s also, it’s also a question of clients not really understanding the length of time it would take to put something like an animated explainer video together.

Dylan Healy  22:49

Yeah, for sure. I mean, like, you know, you look back 10 years ago, Christian, and, you know, you are looking at like, two or three months, lead time on a project like this. I mean, animation is, it’s an art form in its own right. And it’s only because of, you know, the Adobe Suite and the technology that we have in 2020. You know, and, and, and the rendering processes and having the right servers and such that, you know, that takes the time down a significant amount. But I, you know, sometimes clients, they don’t know if it’s going to take months, or it’s going to take weeks. But on average for animation explainers. It takes about a month, about three weeks to a month per video. So we’re pretty proud of that, you know. Obviously, if there’s changes and revisions, and there’s a bit of back and forth, and it can take a little bit longer, but, you know, the, the software’s always getting better. And, and the, you know, the Adobe Suite we use, they’re constantly innovating and bringing out new versions. So, you know, it’s definitely something that a lot of companies don’t see as a way to communicate, but they certainly can. In 2020.

Christian Klepp  24:03

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And to be perfectly honest with you, Dylan, and I mean, like, three weeks is a pretty like, you know, that’s pretty impressive. I mean, that’s so that’s good. That’s really good in terms of time,

Dylan Healy  24:15

I’d say so, I mean, you know, obviously, you know, when you look at the market, you have, obviously, you have the you know, the software’s or you’re talking about, you can pay, you know, 30 or 40 quid and you kind of do it yourself using their software. And that’s, that’s, you know, the one segment of the market and then you have also in the middle kind of, you know, well priced quality, decently time three to four weeks, but then you also have these creative agencies. And you know, there’s a load of them around Toronto, I’d say, whereby, you know, the quality is probably 10 times better than animation explainers. However, you’d be waiting around three or four months for the delivery of the project. And you’re probably paying like you’re probably paying like, I don’t know, like, $20,000 You know, so it’s just I suppose it’s just where you where you place yourself in that market, but it’s an extremely interesting space to be in.

Christian Klepp  25:09

No, I mean, that’s for sure. That’s for sure. And I mean, it’s probably going to continue to grow because, um, and I think we’re going to talk about that in a second, um, you know, in terms of like, um, it’s going to grow because of the way that people are, um, you know, you can call it digesting or consuming content online. Right. So, okay, Dylan, we’re not going to talk about the Coronavirus or the pandemic, but what we are going to talk about this thing, clearly, this is a clearly this is a year for the books. we’ve, we’ve gone through an awful lot of changes. And you know, every, every sector that I can think about across the global economy has witnessed some kind of disruption. Right? So at least in your area, or in your field, like, what kind of changes have you seen in the past couple of months? And let’s try to look at this from a more constructive perspective. So how do you think these changes, if you’ve noticed any, will have a positive effect? in your area of expertise for years to come?

Dylan Healy  26:14

For sure, so I think, I think a lot of people are using our videos now to emulate what it is like to meet face to face with somebody. So, you know, obviously, we’re used to kind of pitching and selling and going out and meeting people, Christian. A lot of industries, and a lot of people in the States, in the UK, in mainland Europe, they don’t have that forum anymore to meet somebody face to face, you know, to shake somebody by the hand. And, you know, and that’s an expression of, of, you know, their personality. So I think what’s happening is people are coming to us, and they’re looking for a way to kind of bridge that gap. And I think that these, these videos, if done correctly, with the right with the right voiceover, the right music, the right message, the right tone, the right style, you can make it a little bit more personal. I mean, it’s never gonna be the same as meeting somebody face to face at a conference, right? Exchanging business cards, you know, and, you know, you have your pitch, I have mine. But, you know, it just goes up a little bit further. And, you know, for a sales team, I think that a written email or maybe a testimonial video, so I think that that is a really positive. That’s a really big positive for us this year. I mean, our sales are okay. Obviously, like, like most companies, in March, we had a, we had a wobble, a few clients dropped off the deep end. But, you know, since April onwards, it’s not been too bad. So, you know, if anything, I think the, you know, the situation we’re in, has definitely aided our growth this year. So, you know, we’re just trying to keep our heads down and, and do good work, you know, produce great, great quality content and, and keep working our way to that blue chip client. Hopefully, one day it happens.

Christian Klepp  28:09

Yeah. Oh indeed. Indeed. It’s like that saying on that poster sticker, you know, you’re just keep calm and carry on.

Dylan Healy  28:16

Exactly. So what it feels like wartime right. It does feel like wartime right now.

Christian Klepp  28:23

Well, yeah. I mean, like, you know, we’re all at home or hunkering down. And I’m sure it’s the same over where you are. But you know, here in Canada, it’s, you know, winter is just around the corner. So we’re probably spending more time indoors, than we were the rest of the year. Yeah. And, you know, you’ve brought so many great points, Dylan. And it’s probably also because, you know, because of the fact that there are no in person events at the moment, or people aren’t really going and meeting each other face to face. And they’re turning to these, you know, virtual meetings, online platforms and using that instead. Because, you know, at the end of the day, even if you can’t meet somebody in person, you’re still going to, like, you know, your business still has to function, you still have to go out and close some sales. And you know, what better way to do that than online because it saves you on travel time, and the hassle of actually physically showing up to an event. Although, you know, it, that can be a nice thing too right, like, I mean, for example, you know, the big tech event here in Toronto was Collision and you know, that was all moved online this year. And that clearly didn’t feel the same. Alright.

Dylan Healy  29:32

How did it work online?

Christian Klepp  29:34

Well, it’s a virtual event, really. And it was all, you know, it was run on an online platform and you choose basically which breakout room you want to go into. And you just, you’re just directed to that breakout room. All right.

Dylan Healy  29:47

Ah, yeah, I think you know, it’s, it’s one of those I mean, the last event I was in was in the XL Arena down in London, and it was actually in February right just before the COVID kicked off. But, you know, I kind of wonder, I don’t know, whether it was just me or I just wonder how much business is done for SME guys in places like that. I think for the big for the big firms, you know, for the big gaming firms that were there, it was kind of like a show of, you know, showcase, but for guys like, like us, I just I wonder is there is there more of an efficient way of doing it? Is there, you know, is there less spend of going and traveling to these events of, you know, paying for your ticket? You know, spending two or three days running around like a headless chicken with business cards? You know, I don’t know, maybe I’m maybe I’m being a bit pessimistic, but…

Christian Klepp  30:49

No, not at all. I mean, like, not at all, though. And I think you’re just highlighting realities that were already there pre pandemic? And they’ve just came floating to the top, if I may use that description of something that was that people have done before? Because, you know, that’s the way that business was always conducted. And now, you know, looking at it, it’s probably like, a practice that needs to probably move for the times. And you know, what better way for SMEs to continue to do outreach and generate leads than to go online?

Dylan Healy  31:22

Exactly. No, that’s… yeah, that’s true.

Christian Klepp  31:27

Yeah. So I mean, we talked about this a little bit earlier, but like, let’s, let’s expand on that a bit further. But why do you think companies are choosing animation to explain their product offering?

Dylan Healy  31:39

So, you know, it’s a sad fact of life. And I don’t know whether it’s millennials Christian, because we’re blamed for a lot of things. But, you know, we don’t have, well, I know my peers, I know, my friends. A lot of them don’t have the patience to sit down and read a company’s website. And I think the preference to seeing a short animated video on their landing page, in a lot of cases can explain a lot of what the text is trying to explain. And you can do that within 60 seconds to two minutes in length. So that’s, that’s why I think I just think that people, I people don’t have the patience, the time to digest, maybe they’re getting too much information. And, you know, these videos are short way to kind of target their message in a more concise manner.

Christian Klepp  32:44

Exactly. And I mean, you know, I think we’ve, we’ve all read these reports conducted by all these, these big research companies, and, you know, short of stating the obvious, um, in terms of at least online content, I mean, video has exploded. So people are digesting more video content than ever before. And they’re using it. They’re using it not just to promote their own companies, but they’re using it in their messaging. Like, for example, on LinkedIn, people are sending video messages now instead of like, text messages. Right? So.

Dylan Healy  33:13

Yeah, and the stories is a new one as well. You see Instagram stories. I haven’t actually tried that myself yet. But.

Christian Klepp  33:20

Yeah, definitely.

Dylan Healy  33:22

It feels kind of Facebook, either.

Christian Klepp  33:24

It does. It does. Um, you’re referring to the LinkedIn stories too right.

Dylan Healy  33:29

Yeah. You know, the ones at the top. I don’t know if you can get them on your desktop, but you can get them on your mobile, but I think.

Christian Klepp  33:35

Yeah, you should. Desktop, as far as I know. But like, on your mobile device, for sure.

Dylan Healy  33:40

We’ll have to check that out. That might be a nice avenue to try and get a bit of exposure for you know, for some animation.

Christian Klepp  33:47

Oh yeah, absolutely should try that out. So we spoke you’ve spoken a little bit about already earlier, but like, you know, let’s narrow it down to like, one thing for each category. So name one thing that people should start. And one thing that people should stop doing when it comes to animated explainer videos.

Dylan Healy  34:08

Sure. So one thing people should start doing, and it’s something that we overlooked for a long time, but then we brought in a professional scriptwriter to help us fine tune the scripts. But the written word is one of the most powerful things in life, in my opinion. And taking the time to craft a well written and for full script, at the start of the process, is the key foundation to any animation projects. So I think that’s what people should start doing and people do certainly overlook that right now.

Dylan Healy  34:48

I think people should start those whiteboard videos.

Christian Klepp  35:00

Well, I think to just put it in politically correct terms, it’s probably like, you know, the, you know, the animated explainer video space, like other spaces is, you know, naturally evolving to another.

Dylan Healy  35:12

Exactly.

Christian Klepp  35:13

And, and perhaps it would be correct to say that the, the whiteboard effect is something that’s, you know…

Dylan Healy  35:19

It’s 2015.

Christian Klepp  35:21

Slowly becoming obsolete, so people should probably think about using other mediums or other types of effects. And there’s so many out there that are so much better. Right?

Dylan Healy  35:30

Yeah, look, you know, the whiteboard video trend, in my opinion kind of lasted from 2015 to 2016. And, I suppose, yeah, look, the things have moved on in that space. And you can see, if you take a look at some of the work in our portfolio, and some of the work recently that we’ve done, and it’s, you know, some of the work are second to none, and it takes the same amount of time, right, you know, 2-3 weeks for whiteboard or you can, you can get a nice bespoke video from animation explainers.

Christian Klepp  36:04

No, that’s exactly right. And, you know, I’ve, again, this is probably the third time I’m bringing this up, but like, um, I, I’ve seen your work and it’s, it’s definitely like, amazing, right?

Dylan Healy  36:15

Awesome.

Christian Klepp  36:16

It definitely will. I mean, this this type of quality of work will sit well on any, you know, website landing page, or, you know, even the sales teams can use it, you know, as opposed to just, you know, bring, you know, showing a PPT deck, um, for their prospects, they can they can just play your video.

Dylan Healy  36:35

Exactly. That’s…. And that’s kind of that’s key. But, yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s, there’s, there’s, you know, there’s many different ways to use them. And I think the sales team is definitely one of them.

Christian Klepp  36:50

Yeah, well, that’s for sure. That’s for sure. Dylan, this has been such an incredibly insightful and engaging session. So thanks so much for coming on and sharing. Um, so last but not least, but what’s the best way for people out there to connect with you?

Dylan Healy  37:04

Ummm the carrier pigeon? (Laugh)

Christian Klepp  37:11

Okay.

Dylan Healy  37:13

No, I’m just joking. (Laugh)

Christian Klepp  37:14

I thought we thought we were talking about updating or upgrading our technology…

Dylan Healy  37:19

I’m on the Isle of Man, Christian, you know, it’s a it’s a long way away from you know, any sort of normal human life. No, so basically, you know, you can catch me a Dylan@animationexplainers.com. And also, you know, we do have a presence in Toronto. So Jess O’Neill’s base there. Hopefully, I can get back to Toronto. You know, when the travel restrictions are lifted next year, or you know, you can visit our website as well. Animationexplainers.com.

Christian Klepp  37:52

Excellent. Dylan, once again, great session.

Dylan Healy  37:56

Brilliant.

Christian Klepp  37:56

Thanks for your time. And you know, do give us a ring when you when you find yourself in this part of the world. Hopefully when all this is over and you know, take care, be safe, and I’ll talk to you soon.

Dylan Healy  38:06

Thanks, Christian.

Christian Klepp  38:08

All right. Take care. Bye now.

Dylan Healy  38:09

Bye now.

Christian Klepp  38:11

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the B2B Marketers on a Mission podcast. To learn more about what we do here at EINBLICK, please visit our website www.einblick.co, and be sure to subscribe to the show on iTunes or your favorite podcast player.

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