After being inspired by 19 straight hours of VH1’s “1,000 Best Music Videos of the ’90s”, we went out and put together our own top 10 list of the best explainer videos. Each video on this list effectively explains a business, product or service in 2-minutes or less. Best of all, you can find almost all of these talented producers in the creative community here at Video Brewery. Without further ado, here’s the top 10!

#10 Crazy Egg

This explainer video for Crazy Egg, the heatmap tool that shows why your website visitors aren’t converting, was produced by the folks over at Demo Duck. It’s a nice example of problem/solution animation, along with screen captures of the web app in action.

#9 IT-MAN (8-bit)

I love a good 8-bit video game (Super Mario 3 anyone?), so when I saw this 8-bit explainer video for Panorama 9 from the folks at Barq Video, I couldn’t resist. The voiceover and soundtrack only add to the nostalgia.

#8 Spotify

When Spotify “landed in the U.S.”, they released a great intro video to promote their music app. Best of all, it has no voiceover, just a great soundtrack and fun visuals!

#7 Groupon

The Groupon animated explainer video comes from our fellow Chicagoan Brad Chmielewski. Brad proves that you can explain anything in 30-seconds.

#6 Litmus Email Previews

Litmus, by Planet Nutshell, explains how email super ninjas can see exactly how their marketing emails will look on all platforms and browsers BEFORE they hit send. And let’s face it, who doesn’t love a good ninja video?

#5 Airbnb

Produced by the talented and creative Adam Lisagor, this live action startup video is an inspiring combination of live video and motion graphics. Make sure to check out the rest of work at Sandwich Video!

#4 PadMapper

PadMapper, created by our friend Miguel and his team at Grumo Media, is a great example of using humor to engage an audience. This video is fun, engaging and effective.

#3 ZenCash

This video for ZenCash, also produced by Demo Duck (the parent company behind Video Brewery) has a unique hand-sketched style which really seems to draw viewers in. The client reported nearly 75% of visitors clicking play and watching a majority of the video, well above the industry average for a 90-second explainer video.

#2 Mint

From my experience, this Mint.com overview video is one of the most referenced explainer videos of all-time. It was created by Nate Whitson and the talented crew at Picturelab.

#1 Dollar Shave Club

You’ve probably seen it by now, but this edgy viral video came out in March and already has close to 5 million views, skyrocketing Dollar Shave Club to near-overnight startup stardom. According to Michael Dubin, the founder and star of the video, the spot only cost $4,500 to produce.

Watching these explainer videos, you may start to recognize some common traits that characterize each video. Here are a few we noticed:

» A little bit of humor can be a great way to keep people engaged.

» Frame the problem and emphasize the pain point your potential customers experience.

» It never hurts to use interesting visuals to keep viewers focused.

» If you can, show your product or service in action. People like to see what you do.

» Most videos on this list are less than 2-minutes (one is only 30-seconds), so keep things short and sweet!

What videos and takeaways did we miss? Please let us know in the comment section!

Starting your own explainer video project? Check out the 6 Key Steps of Explainer Videos Production.