The use of video advertising is growing at an impressive rate, and many businesses have seen positive results. Video advertising has proven to attract new prospects, generate quality leads, and improve conversion rates from visitors to customers. Explainer videos, or whiteboard videos, have been particularly successful video advertising tools because of how easy they are to implement and their return on investment.

But is now the right time for your business to create a video ad? At first the answer may be a resounding yes, but let’s first look a bit closer at some whiteboard and explainer video advertising pros and cons.

• Usage is growing – the amount of video advertising online has grown from under $1 billion in 2008 to almost $6 billion in 2014. This kind of growth can only happen if there is a proven track record of success.
• Risks are there – if you choose a do-it-yourself route, you may risk publishing a poor quality video that could backfire instead of help your business.
• Facts back it up – there are solid psychological reasons that video is more effective. Human brains simply react more attentively to motion, sound, and the emotional messages from video.
• Costs are reasonable – thanks to improved technology, the expense to make a video advertisement are substantially less than they used to be. While a television commercial still costs a phenomenal amount of money, an online video is typically a fraction of that cost and can provide a better return on investment.
• Don’t get taken – some companies may claim to provide quality videos but instead may charge more than expected and deliver a mediocre product.
• Multiple uses – don’t forget that a video advertisement can be utilized in multiple areas including your corporate home page, email newsletters, social media sites, and even for presentations and trade shows.
• Measurable – one terrific advantage of online video advertising is that you can measure the results and track your success. Metrics to consider using include the number of views, number of click-throughs for more information, the number of leads generated, and conversion rate.

In reviewing these whiteboard or explainer video advertising pros and cons, there is an advantage to implementing video as part of your current marketing strategy. Plus, your competitors may already be on their way – or have already launched – a video marketing effort. Be aware of the risks and pitfalls while moving forward to choose a quality video production partner.

When choosing the right whiteboard or explainer video provider, use these tips to help:

• What is their track record?
• How adaptable are they, or do they have set templates that are used?
• Can they offer best practices and benchmark against other companies?
• Do they offer a solution that allows your marketing team to participate in the creative process?
• How quickly can they deliver a quality video product that is ready to use?

Remember that not all video providers are the same, so be sure to do proper research to find the partner that is right for your business.