In the early 2010’s whiteboard animation videos, or whiteboard explainers, were everywhere. It felt like every Facebook feed was jam packed full of them and people thought they were so cool. That trend died off…or did it?
Turns out, nope! I am surprised at how often we still have people request whiteboard explainers. In the last year alone we have created several of them. The demand is certainly less than it used to be, but in a way that makes whiteboard animation videos more valuable than ever.
Don’t remember the whiteboard animation trend? Here’s a quick reminder from a video I made around 2018 –
What made whiteboard animation videos so popular?
Whiteboard animation videos are fantastic for explainer content, presentations, and other content that might be a little dry in just a powerpoint. It adds value, and even a little bit of fun into a video. There’s also something satisfying about the watching things get drawn on, especially if they get colored in.
The original whiteboard animation explainer videos were even done on actual whiteboards by actual artists which was even more fun!
Why did these videos go away in the first place?
The simple answer to this question is two fold in my opinion. First off; they were too popular. Creators are always looking for a way to stand out, so when these videos started taking over social feeds companies and creators started looking for the next cool thing. The second reason though might be a little more surprising for some of you. A whole lineup of digital animation tools started to pop up in the creative spaces. There was a whole subset of them dedicated to creating whiteboard animation videos.
The tools were able to replicate the style of the videos without having to have artistic skills, a camera or even a whiteboard. I have created these videos with these tools and from scratch and the tools are actually pretty good. They still require a person to be able to write a decent script, and pace a video well, but they help a lot. These tools made it super easy for anyone to create these videos which also lessened the novelty.
Why are these videos still getting made then?
There are some great reasons I’ve realized that these videos are still a very viable type of content:
- They are easy for viewers to digest.
- They are more entertaining then a PowerPoint
- There is something satisfying about watching the picture draw in and get completed.
- People pretty universally understand the kind of content they are about to watch and set their expectations accordingly.
These are just a few of the reasons I’ve found, but I’m sure there are many more.
And here is a recent whiteboard animation. This one was created for the University of Utah –
Does whiteboard animated style content still work?
Here’s what we have seen when it comes to this type of content. It can still hold people’s attention better than you might expect! We’ve had our clients return with great reviews of how the videos have been received and the impact they have made on their audience. So, despite my reluctance to still create these types of videos it turns out they continue to be a great option for the right kind of script, and the right audience.
Would you create whiteboard content for your brand, or do you feel like the trend is truly dead?
