Inevitably, every time we speak with a prospect, the discussion gravitates to “what makes you different?” Indeed there are hundreds of explainer video companies.  So we’ve addressed this question many times.  And we wanted to share our approach here because it can be helpful when you consider how to make YOUR positioning stand out.

The Board Studios Difference

At the advice of sales and business coaches, we looked at client testimonials, interviewed some of our closest clients, and finally looked inwardly at our team’s DNA to figure out what made us unique.

And once we distilled our differentiation, we communicated it to prospects through this video.

Client testimonials

Client testimonials and interviews pointed us in the direction of: we’re better – faster – cheaper than the competition. Which is great to know.  Here are a few examples of testimonials we gathered:

• “The video is GREAT! In fact the team is using it today at a partner’s national sales meeting.” (retail tech)

• “The video has been a big hit. We use it regularly. We have it posted on our website and individual LinkedIn profiles. We email it to potential clients all the time.” (professional services / consulting)

• “I sent the video out to the branches early this morning and just now to 13,000 employees and it is hosted on our intranet page. We have had RAVE reviews. I had a team member who always finds something to nitpick and she emailed me to tell me it is awesome.” (bank)

• “The video was a big hit at the event – can’t thank you enough.” (tech)

Unfortunately, that’s what everyone is pitching, so there’s no way to differentiate along those axes. We had to probe deeper. Why did these clients kept coming back to us? This is THE question for you to answer.  THAT’s your differentiation, and how you can build repeat business.

The answer? Because we made it so easy for them. They have hundreds of things to deal with every day. And taking video production completely off their plate while making them shine within their team was a huge plus! Made them more relevant, cutting edge, and necessary.

Team DNA

Which actually ties back to our team’s DNA.

9 out of 10 explainer production companies are started by talented animators and videographers. In contrast, we were started by experienced business people, entrepreneurs, and marketers.

The result? We “get” complex businesses and can distill them down to very effective short explainer videos geared to deliver results.

For example:

1. A multinational tech company sent us a 1-hour video of an engineer explaining a complex technology, and we converted it into a 5-minute explainer animation with minimal additional input. Which was great collateral for their sales people.

2. A Fortune 500 solutions company sends us their internal deck or RFP summary written by SMEs, and we convert them into powerful 1-2 minute videos used at sales meetings.

3. A national financial services company sends us social media content that we simplify and convey in 1-minute animations.

Our videos are used at tradeshows to increase the amount and quality of traffic, at million-dollar RFP proposals to make them stand out and help C-level execs understand the value prop, and as sales collateral.

Imagine a blockchain, healthTech, or IT solutions company trying to educate a videographer or animator on what they do… That’s where we come in, and why clients keep coming back!

Now, YOUR Turn!

There are 3 steps to figuring out your Differentiation:

1. Ask for client testimonials

2. Probe deeper through client interviews, asking them “why are you coming back to us?”

3. Tie the differentiation to your team’s unique DNA, if possible (otherwise, you have to ask yourself: how come others aren’t delivering the same “differentiation”?)

Next, the only thing holding you back is making sure you express everything in as simple a way as possible. Can’t stress this enough: the absolute #1 key to effective communications is SIMPLICITY.

Would you like an audit of your messaging by one of our experts?