With a social media explainer video, no voiceover can actually be a good thing. In fact, 85 per cent of Facebook videos are viewed without sound.

That’s a lot of video, especially when considering that Facebook users watch an average of 100 million hours of video daily, driven largely by the fact that people now watch more videos on their mobile devices than they do on desktop.

The evolution of social media habits

Picture the scenario…you’re commuting to work on the train or tram while browsing social media, when an eye-catching video pops up on your feed. Do you disturb your fellow passengers by watching with the sound turned up or do you follow the narrative with captions instead?

Even Facebook’s own research has revealed that 80% of users react negatively when loud video ads take them by surprise, whereas internal tests showed that captioned video ads increase view time by an average of 12%.

So, when it comes to distributing your explainer video across social media, no voiceover isn’t really an issue.

Is the secret to creating a good social media explainer video ‘no voiceover’?

Most explainer videos are discovered when users browse a website or search for a particular product or service.

But a lot can be said for taking your explainer video to the people and posting it on social media…especially if it features animation or motion graphics. Here’s why:

• Attention grabbing - In the fast-paced world of social media, where attention spans are shorter than ever, animation and motion graphics help videos stand out from the noise.
• Highly engaging - A unique colour palette, interesting characters, compelling narrative, and engrossing animation makes for an extremely engaging piece of content.
• Emotional appeal - Whether you employ happiness or heartbreak, explainer videos with emotional appeal help to capture - and hold - attention.
• Highly shareable - If you’re creating attention-grabbing, engaging and entertaining content, it’s going to be shared. It comes down to the very nature of social media - being social. People like sharing things that reflect their sense of humour, values or sense of self.
• Strong identity - By using corporate colours or visualising a true-to-life scenario, you build brand equity directly with your target market every time a piece of your content hits their feed.
• Mobile-friendly - Explainer videos go hand-in-hand with mobile consumption habits, and that means a reliance on visual communication. In that sense, the absence of a voiceover isn’t an issue, especially when you include captions, graphics, charts, or images.

How to make an explainer video with no voiceover

While the intonation and articulation of a voiceover artist can add professionalism and persuasion to an explainer video, visual prowess alone can be enough to win over audiences.

Take this example produced by Jumbla for Julius Marlow’s 02 motion shoe technology. With photorealistic renders of the shoe being constructed in front of your eyes, alongside captions describing what each component does, the viewer is left in no doubt about the key messages being communicated (no voiceover required).

Here’s another case in point for bike light company Knog. Instead of using a voiceover to direct the narrative, it provides the viewer with comical yet common scenarios illustrating when a bike light might come in handy.

The power of captions

There’s nothing wrong with recording a voiceover for your explainer video and then supplementing it with captions for social media. The very best explainer video scripts keep things short and sweet, making them easy to follow.

For instance, Jumbla produced a series of animated explainer videos for Scottish Water, which included a voiceover as well as captions for social media. This gives users the option to listen with or without sound depending on their preferences.

Facebook sums up the sound of silence nicely:

“When sound is off, beautiful imagery and on-screen text can help tell your story. When enabled, your video’s sound should offer additional value to viewers and further bring your story to life.”

Explainer videos by Jumbla featuring no voiceover

In a perfect world, every explainer video would be viewed with the sound switched on. Voiceovers with the right inflection and tone can build trust, add credibility, humanise your brand, and persuade your audience to take action.

But as social media habits evolve, that isn’t always the best approach. So with your next explainer video, no voiceover is no problem. Get in touch with Jumbla to create something special.