Case Study: How we saved $2,000 with Powtoon
A short animated video is probably the best way to explain how your product, service or idea works and what makes you different from the competition. Your website has a very slim chance of attracting the attention of visitors without a video. Target audiences will remember more when the delivery medium is engaging, simple, and contains powerful visual metaphors.
There are many studios in the market that have a talented team that knows how to produce a video and some of them are really good. When you are a young start-up company that runs on a tight budget, producing an animated video is a luxury you sometimes just can’t afford. So, you keep playing other company’s videos over and over, with the longing that one day you’ll create a cool animated video and this slightly hoarse narrator will do the voice over for you.
I used to be that guy, until I came across Powtoon, Do-It-Yourself animated presentation tool. Creating an animated video (or Powtoon) with Powtoon’s application is fun, easy and more importantly, it is affordable. I would like to share with you my experience in producing such a video.
Getting Down to Business
My company, Licensario, helps SaaS businesses better engage with their customers by providing targeted pricing insights. My goal was to create a short video (up to 100sec) that describes the SaaS company’s problems in the first 30 sec, and then explains how Licensario solves these problems.
Creating an animated video by yourself can be summarized in 3 simple steps:
- Writing the script. No one knows the product better than you. This is why this step is the most critical step in the entire video production. Take the time and polish your script, so that it will be engaging and easy to understand. Don’t be shy to ask for feedback from co-workers or friends. On Powtoon’s blog and on the web in general, you can find useful how-to tips for writing a killer narrative for your video.
- Storyboarding. With Powtoon’s application, it is very simple to convert your script into a storyboard. First, break the script down into slides and try to determine what the visual effects are that you would like to show in each slide. Powtoon offers a large number of visual styles, which are constantly being updated by their creative team. Lay down these styles on each slide and then adjust their appearance effect (pop, appear from left/right, fade, etc.) and timing.
- Voiceover. Powtoon’s application allows you to upload a voiceover file (MP3) to your Powtoon. You should use a professional for the voice over (don’t record it with your laptop’s microphone!). Surprisingly (or not) the Internet has prevailed over the real world also in this domain. You can find professional narrators on the web that will provide voiceover file for a few tens of dollars.
I obtained a few reviews from my teammates, edited the presentation to reflect their input and I have just completed my first DIY animated video. I was very excited about it. The last thing I would have to do is to download the animated video in a standard media player format and publish it on YouTube.
Powtoon’s membership plan
Powtoon offers various membership plans. You can find them at our pricing page here.
I began my post by saying that a young startup has to carefully monitor its expenses, and this is where I believe Powtoon has the advantage over all other studios.
At first, the subscription option seemed odd, but then I realized that this is probably the best plan a startup company can wish for with their fledgling budget.
As a startup company, I will be experimenting with pretty much everything I try to deliver. I will A/B test my tagline, landing page, value proposition, feature set, pricing and so on. My animated video is just another test I am experimenting with to interest customers. Despite the feedback I got from my colleagues and advisors, I have no idea whether my video is good or if the message I try to deliver is clear. I may have to perform several changes based on feedback I’ll receive from my business partners and customers. Moreover, I may want to produce additional videos that I target to specific customers.
Having said that, the option of producing a single animated video for $2,000, doesn’t seem practical at all. By subscribing to Powtoon’s service, I get all the freedom and flexibility I need, in order to produce many videos.
Do you want to see the final video? Check out the link below.
This is a guest post by Tal Atzmon, Chief Business Development Officer at Licensario, a new start-up gives SaaS businesses the insight and tools to find their optimal pricing model.
About Licensario: Licensario is a smart billing management system for small and medium SaaS companies. By implementing pricing algorithms and combining them with the user’s behaviour, Licensario gives software companies the ultimate tool for pricing their software.
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