The Best Practices for Creating Educational Video Content

Educational video content can boost your marketing strategies and give you more control over your brand's narrative. These videos let you spotlight specific products, services, success stories, and industry trends in unique ways. While your target audience may have no interest in explicit ads, they're more likely to be happy to learn something new, especially if your video communicates it in a relevant way.

What Is Considered Educational Video Content?

Educational video content consists of virtually any visual content that educates your audience, whether you're informing customers about a new product or simply discussing your industry. This content can include product demos, training videos, webinars, podcasts, commercials, case studies, and any other video that teaches viewers something new. 

Educational Videos vs. Instructional Videos: Key Differences

Instructional videos take viewers through specific steps to complete tasks, such as setting up an account, using equipment, or talking to clients. These types of educational videos are often essential for internal and external operations because they lay out exact guidelines and expectations.

Educational video content, on the other hand, can take many different forms. While this content can include instructional videos, many educational videos, such as demos and case studies, don't follow instructional or guideline formats at all. Rather than focusing on specific operations, they teach about different topics, such as success stories or industry trends.  

To put it simply, all instructional videos are educational, but not all educational videos are instructional. 

Types of Educational Video Content & Best Use Cases

Educational videos range from short-form demos to long-form knowledge-sharing discussions. Understand your available options to identify the best way to deliver educational content in video. 

Customer education videos 

These types of educational videos play directly to your primary consumer base in various ways. Product demos and customer success stories benefit your marketing strategy by informing current and potential customers about exactly what you offer. Such content can spread the word about your brand and combat misconceptions. 

Customer education videos also include tutorials, onboarding videos, in-app animations, and other visuals that current customers will see. These videos engage your customer base and make their experience feel unique, especially if you use personalized video marketing. Additionally, videos and graphics will hold your customers' attention and highlight essential product details far better than just a block of text. 

E-learning & training videos 

E-learning videos can benefit both your internal and your external training. Internally, educational video content can provide new hires and current employees with various types of essential training, including:

• Onboarding
• Technical
• Leadership development
• Safety and compliance
• Scenario-based practices

Externally, corporate e-learning and training videos can benefit your business-to-business (B2B) operations. For example, if you sell business software, you could develop training videos for companies that adopt your tools. Business leaders can then use those videos to train their staff rather than doing all of the training themselves. 

Knowledge-sharing content

Educational videos outside of your typical operations and marketing strategies can boost your brand's reach and credibility. Examples include:

• Webinars: These online events act similarly to conferences and online courses for discussing your industry and your company's latest developments. While webinars are usually hosted live, you can always post them later on YouTube, as a podcast, or across your social media platforms. 
• Expert interviews: Expert interviews with people in your company, your client's team, or your industry gives you a unique chance to discuss relevant issues and steer the conversation to spotlight your business's solutions. 
• Case studies: Case study videos demonstrate specific developments and positive customer interactions, such as showing the success a particular business achieved by adopting your software.

5 Steps To Create Engaging  Educational Video Content

Creating educational videos to increase viewer engagement and boost retention requires considering many variables, such as your audience and your precise messaging. Follow these steps to give your educational video content strategy everything it needs. 

1. Define your target audience and learning goals

Consider who you want your educational video content ideas to reach, whether that's employees, current clients, or potential customers. Understand your target audience to assemble an appropriate production strategy, including the types of videos you'll need to make. 

For example, a B2B video marketing strategy will benefit from professional, landscape-style videos that you can share on LinkedIn and your website. On the other hand, if you're marketing to young adults or general customers, you could have more luck with a short-form, portrait-style video appropriate for social media sharing. 

In addition to your audience, you must also define your learning goals. Write down the exact message you want viewers to take away, and consider other key points you want to discuss, too. This can further help you identify your most beneficial video format, whether that's a short product demo or a webinar you can repost later. 

2. Craft compelling storyboards and scripts

Scripts, storyboards, and other pre-production tools let you plan and visualize every aspect of your video. An effective production plan guarantees you'll have everything you'll need when the cameras start recording. This way, you can maximize your time "on set" without worrying about dialogue or props. 

Pre-production essentials include:

• Treatments and scripts: A treatment summarizes everything your video needs to capture, while a script dictates every piece of dialogue and action. Developing your script early in the process will give you more time to refine your message. 
• Storyboards: Storyboards let you visualize your video on multiple levels. You can sketch out every individual frame to prepare for complex shots. Beyond that, a complete storyboard lets you see the full scope of your project so you can balance different types of scenes.
• Props list: Once you've finalized your script, identify the props, costumes, and set dressing that you'll need. 

3. Align content with brand identity and business objectives

Verify that your script and production plan honor your brand identity and goals. Strategies for honing in on your business objectives and brand include:

• Clear messaging: Even if you're taking a subtle approach, viewers should pick up your main message in the first few seconds of your video — and throughout all of the following content. Condense your message into a concise sentence, such as "Our solutions can protect your business," and state it clearly at the beginning and end of your video.
• Avoiding tangents: Long-form videos, such as webinars and case studies, will reasonably need to discuss subpoints beyond your core message, such as the factors contributing to clients' problems. While these details are essential, though, you must stay relatively on topic to avoid losing your audience or message. 
• Visual branding: Consider basing your video's color palette on your brand's colors. For example, if your logo uses blue and red, your subject could wear red in front of a blue background. Additionally, try to work your logo, brand font, and other details into your video using graphics and animations. 

4. Enhance engagement through interactivity 

The best videos end with a call to action (CTA) that encourages the viewer to apply what they learned to the real world. Great calls to action for educational video content include:

• Putting lessons into action: Training videos often end by asking the viewer to start practicing what they learned, such as by setting up their account or applying their new skills the next time they clock in. 
• Learning more: Many educational videos end by pointing the viewer to their next source of information, such as a case study, a website, or another video. 
• Social media engagement: If you're publishing your video on YouTube, LinkedIn, or another social platform, consider ending by inviting viewers to comment or share. Ask specific questions that encourage conversation, such as "How have the wrong solutions set you back?"

5. Partner with a professional agency for scalable, high-quality production

A professional video production company such as Charter & Co can help you with creating educational video content to increase viewer engagement. With years of production experience, the right team will know how to capture the best-looking footage, taking lighting, framing, and all other variables into consideration. Additionally, post-production teams can add color-grading, graphics, and audio descriptions to hook and maintain viewers. 

What Are the Common Mistakes in Creating Educational Video Content?

Avoid these mistakes when developing educational video content:

• Assuming viewers know what you mean: Don't be vague, especially when covering key points. Remember that your goal is education, so make your message as clear as possible in your script, and use graphics and animated text to add essential details in your edit. 
• Focusing too much on your brand: Discussing your business too much can lose viewers' attention and distract from the knowledge you're imparting. Keep your branding subtle and keep your video focused on the educational aspects. 

Creating High-Impact Educational Videos at Scale: Charter & Co

Whether you need a product demo or a brand video, Charter & Co knows how to produce educational video content that keeps viewers engaged. Our team of experts will walk you through every stage of production, from storyboarding through editing, to maximize every word of your message. Get in touch now to get started.