Here are 5 Examples of Edutainment Videos for Next-Level Marketing

Are you a marketer looking to break into the world of video marketing?

I don’t blame you.

Video has proven to be a very powerful tool for marketers everywhere.

Here are some statistics highlighting the impact of video in marketing:

• 87% of online marketers already using video content.
• 85% of the US internet audience watches videos online.
• 55% of people watch videos online every day.
• 51% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI.
• The average CVR for websites using video is 4.8%, compared to 2.9% for those that don’t use video.

As you can see, there’s a lot of opportunity with video.

The one thing I haven’t seen most statistics, articles, or people mention is that there’s a lot of spectrums to consider when it conceiving, developing, and producing a video.

While this list is by no means complete, the graphic below includes a few choices which need to be considered when creating video content:

As you can see, there’s a lot to think of when talking about video. You probably even thought of a few to add to the photo above.

In this article, we’ll dissect five educational videos and highlights what makes them excellent.

Three things I want to mention before we dig in:

1. Let’s agree that the one hallmark of all educational videos everywhere is that their goal is to teach you something. By watching the video, you should learn something new, or even have a perspective shift.
2. The examples provided range from low to high concept development, production quality, and skill. Due to timing, budget, and limitations, it’s unrealistic to expect most teams to create a video at the same level as “Adam Ruins Everything” team does. Instead, focus on what you can achieve right now, and can strive for in the future.
3. Hopefully, they’re videos that you haven’t come across in your daily routine as an inbound marketer and can serve as an inspiration for your next video project.

Educational, enlightening, and emotional, here are 5 examples of company’s/people that do educational video exceptionally well:

Life of Privilege Explained in a $100 Race

This video took the internet by surprise. Over the course of a few days, it was on every social media channel and shared by everyone from friends to colleagues to parents.

From an educational content point of view, the videos does the following things well:

• Covers a highly relevant topic of today.
• Uses a simple analogy which anybody could understand.
• They highlighted the emotion in it with music and various camera shots.

It’s simple and effective. If you haven’t seen it yet, give it a watch.

Giangola Insurance

A long-time friend who has been creating health insurance videos for a semi-long time created the video down below. Joey Giangola runs his an insurance business and is on a mission to help everyone understand the intricacies of their health insurance options.

You’d think a video explaining Ohio’s Medicare Supplement Plan N, would be a snooze-fest or confusing, but by applying fun music, changing up the scenery in a non-traditional way, and including some fun bloopers — the video is engaging and educational.

How to Understand Your Ohio Medicare Supplement Plan N

Vox

Vox is an American news and opinion website.

Their content is so well designed that even the second sentence on Wikipedia has this to say about their content, “Vox is noted for its concept of explanatory journalism and its use of “card stacks” that define terms and provide context within an article.”

They also introduce the following:

• Inject personality. In the video directly below, Carlos Maza, isn’t afraid of being himself and using silly analogies or sharing personal details for a bit of flair. Keeping Maza’s little quips enables the viewers to feel like they’re developing a relationship with Maza.
• Include experts. Vox regularly interviews experts, and includes their commentary to define and strengthen a point.
• Video editing. Rounding out Vox’s trifecta of in-depth research, compelling storytelling, they have excellent video-editors on the team. It’s like their video editors are also journalists. They use video-editing to highlight words or phrases to increase comprehension of their point, as well as strengthen it. Jump to the 1:08, 3:00, and 3:47 mark in the video below to see it in action. Their skilled approach to using editing to reminds me of speech 8 in Toastmasters which focuses on using props in your presentations. The whole point of props, or video-editing in this case, is to enhance your content, not detract from it.

Kellyanne Conway’s interview tricks, explained

Comedians Have Figured Out the Trick to Covering Trump

Adam Ruins Everything from College Humor

Have you ever heard the phrase, “You only use 10% of your brain”? Of course you have. While it turns out that scientists have discovered that it’s not true, these common misconceptions are what the “Adam Ruins Everything” series regularly traverse.

Their content also takes complex or often difficult-to-understand concepts, and explains them in terms almost anyone can understand.

On top of all that, their videos are entertaining. They engage you with the entertainment, and when the video ends, you’ve also learned something new.

How do they do it? They have access to a lot of resources. However, they also apply some basic instructional design techniques that anybody else can do to create stellar educational content.

When you watch the videos below notice their use of the following:

• Multiple characters. They use a variety of people well; some are there to support the storyline, others to add entertainment, and some to just fill in space.
• Impossibly good analogies. Any teacher will tell you; analogies are the work-horses of learning. They use something you already know to teach you something new, and the best use of analogy I’ve ever seen in my life is in the “How College Loans Got So Evil” video down below. They use an analogy of something we understand, college life, to explain how Salle Mae and the government created one of the significant financial burdens this generation will ever experience.
• Tailor it to their audience well. The team know who is watching their content, and they cover topics which are attractive to them, and they do it in ways that resonate.
• Cite resources throughout to build credibility. As any inbound marketer knows, it’s important to cite your resources when sharing statistics.
• Animations (seen in the second video below) to create something potentially impossible or crass if not done through drawings.

How College Loans Got So Evil

Christopher Columbus was a Murderous Moron

Crash Course by Tom and Hank Green

The Green brothers are entrepreneurs and authors who are most known for their ‘Vlogbrothers’ series, pioneering the VidCon conference, and John Green authored “The Fault In Our Stars.”

Together, their “Crash Course” series cover topics like American history, psychology, biology, psychics, literature, world history, and more. You can see their robust YouTube channel here.

When you watch the videos below, pay close attention to:

• The graphics, images, and slides they use to reinforce their point. As discussed above in the Vox section, and seen at the point 1:06, 2:22, and 4:28.
• Consistency. Well, some consistency. Each one of the videos has a funky introduction setting the tone for the video and introducing what the viewer can expect to learn.
• The inclusion of soft breaks. They use repeated skits regularly in their videos to switch up the scenery for a minute. The soft break gives the user’s brain a chance to catch up, relax, and prepare for the next section of learning. See what I’m talking about by jumping to this video at the 8-minute mark.
• While they’re including a lot of information in each class, I wonder if some could be cut out or the pacing could be changed. With them speaking so quickly, it heightens my sense of urgency and leaves me with some anxiety. I think this is part of their schtick, and I love them anyway, but I could do with them speaking a bit slower.
• Animations. 1:35 and 3:06 in the second video below.

What is Philosophy? Crash Course Philosophy #1

Cartesian Skepticism — Neo, Meet Rene: Crash Course Philosophy #5 (Includes some of my favorite concepts)

What about you — have you seen any videos that expanded how you think and approach creating educational marketing videos? If so, share them and any other thoughts you have below.