If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth a million. In the crowded marketplace of ideas, grabbing attention is the hardest currency to earn. You might have a revolutionary product or a groundbreaking service, but if you can’t explain it quickly and clearly, you’ve already lost your audience.
This is where the explainer video shines. It’s not just a marketing asset; it’s a communication powerhouse.
A great explainer video distills complex ideas into digestible, engaging content. It answers the “what,” “how,” and “why” of your business in under two minutes. But creating one that actually converts viewers into customers requires more than just decent animation or stock footage. It requires a strategy, a killer script, and a deep understanding of your audience’s pain points.
Whether you are a startup founder pitching to investors or a marketing manager looking to boost conversion rates, this guide walks you through the entire process of creating an explainer video that resonates, engages, and converts.
What Exactly is an Explainer Video?
Before diving into the production process, let’s define what we are building. An explainer video is a short marketing video used to explain your company’s product or service. Explainer videos are often placed on a landing page, your website’s home page, or a prominent product page.
These videos have become extremely popular—some sites boast conversion rates increasing by as much as 144% after including an explainer video on their website.
The Different Types of Explainer Videos
Not all explainers are created equal. The style you choose should match your brand identity and the complexity of your topic.
- 2D Animation: The most common type. It uses vector graphics and characters to tell a story. It’s versatile, emotionally engaging, and usually more affordable than other styles.
- Motion Graphics: This style relies on animated text, shapes, and icons rather than characters. It is excellent for abstract tech products or B2B services where trust and sophistication are key.
- Whiteboard Animation: Remember the RSA Animate videos? This style features a hand drawing images on a whiteboard. It’s fantastic for educational content or deep dives into complex concepts.
- Live Action: Using real people and real locations. This builds a human connection and works best for physical products or services where seeing the human element is crucial (like hospitality or consulting).
- Screencast: A digital recording of a computer screen, often including audio narration. This is the go-to for software walkthroughs and app demos.
Step 1: Define Your Goal and Audience
You cannot hit a target you haven’t identified. Before writing a single line of dialogue, you need clarity on two things:
- Who is watching?
- What do you want them to do?
creating a Viewer Persona
“Everyone” is not a target audience. Be specific. Are you talking to a CTO worried about data security? A busy mom looking for meal prep solutions? A college student on a budget?
Write down your persona’s key attributes:
- Demographics: Age, location, job title.
- Pain Points: What keeps them up at night?
- Language: Do they use industry jargon, or do they need plain English?
Setting the Objective
What is the success metric for this video? Are you trying to increase brand awareness, drive newsletter signups, or push for a direct sale? If the goal is brand awareness, you might focus on entertainment and shareability. If the goal is conversion, you need a strong focus on benefits and a clear Call to Action (CTA).
Step 2: Write a Killer Script
The script is the skeleton of your video. If the bones are weak, the whole thing collapses, no matter how pretty the animation is.
Most explainer videos follow a classic storytelling arc known as the “What, How, Why” or the “Problem-Solution” structure.
The Classic Script Formula
- ** The Hook (0:00 – 0:10):** Introduce the problem. Address the audience’s pain point immediately. “Tired of spending hours on spreadsheets?”
- The Solution (0:10 – 0:30): Introduce your product as the answer. “Meet [Product Name]. The automated accounting tool for freelancers.”
- The How (0:30 – 1:00): briefly explain how it works. Don’t get bogged down in technical specs; focus on the user experience. “Simply upload your receipts, and we do the rest.”
- The Benefits (1:00 – 1:30): This is crucial. Features are what the product does; benefits are what the user gets. “So you can stop stressing about taxes and get back to doing what you love.”
- The Call to Action (1:30 – end): Tell them what to do next. “Sign up for a free trial today.”
Tips for Script Success
- Keep it Short: The sweet spot is 60 to 90 seconds. That is roughly 150 to 220 words. Every word must earn its place.
- Speak Their Language: Avoid buzzwords unless you are 100% sure your audience uses them. “Synergistic paradigm shifts” make people tune out.
- Focus on the ‘You’: Use second-person perspective. The video should be about them, not just about you.
- Read it Aloud: Writing for the ear is different than writing for the eye. If you stumble over a sentence while reading it aloud, your voiceover artist will too.
Step 3: Storyboarding and Style Frames
Once the script is locked, it’s time to visualize it. You wouldn’t build a house without blueprints; don’t build a video without a storyboard.
A storyboard is a series of sketches that represent the individual shots planned for the video. It places the script side-by-side with visual descriptions.
Why Storyboarding Matters
- Synchronization: It ensures the visual action matches the voiceover.
- Pacing: It helps you see if you are trying to cram too much visual information into a short timeframe.
- Alignment: It gets all stakeholders (marketing, product, creative) on the same page before expensive production begins.
Creating Style Frames
While the storyboard is usually rough sketches, style frames are full-color, polished mockups of key scenes. This establishes the visual identity: the color palette, character design, typography, and background style. This is the moment to ensure your video aligns strictly with your brand guidelines.
Step 4: Voiceover and Audio
Bad audio ruins good video. You might get away with simple animation, but if the sound is tinny, echoed, or hard to hear, viewers will click away instantly.
Choosing the Right Voice
The voiceover (VO) sets the tone. Do you need an authoritative, deep voice for a cybersecurity product? Or a cheerful, energetic voice for a lifestyle app?
- Professional vs. DIY: While you can record it yourself, hiring a professional is relatively inexpensive on platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, or specialized voice-over sites. Professionals understand pacing, intonation, and emphasis.
- Accent and Dialect: Consider your target geography. A British accent might sound sophisticated in the US, but it might feel foreign if you are targeting a hyper-local market in Texas.
Music and Sound Effects
Background music acts as the emotional glue. It tells the viewer how to feel. An upbeat ukulele track suggests fun and ease; a driving synth track suggests innovation and speed.
Don’t forget sound effects (SFX). The whoosh of a transition, the click of a mouse, or the pop of a notification bubble adds weight and texture to the animation, making it feel real and immersive.
Step 5: Animation and Production
This is where the magic happens. The animators take the storyboard, the style frames, and the voiceover, and bring them to life.
If you are doing this in-house, you might be using software like Adobe After Effects, Vyond, or Toonly. If you hired an agency, this is the “quiet period” where they do the heavy lifting.
Key Animation Principles to Watch For:
- Flow: Transitions should be seamless. The video should feel like one continuous thought, not a PowerPoint presentation with jump cuts.
- Timing: The visuals must hit perfectly with the audio cues. If the VO says “increasing profits,” the graph should go up at that exact moment.
- Simplicity: Don’t clutter the screen. If the viewer doesn’t know where to look, they will miss the message.
Step 6: The Review Process
Rarely does a video come out perfect on the first render. You will likely go through a few rounds of revisions.
When providing feedback, be constructive and specific. Instead of saying “I don’t like it,” say “The transition at 0:34 feels too fast,” or “The character looks too angry in this scene.”
Pro Tip: Consolidate your feedback. Sending one email with 10 bullet points is infinitely better for the editor than sending 10 emails with one point each.
Step 7: Hosting and Distribution
You have a beautiful video. Now, where does it live?
Choosing a Host
Don’t just upload the raw file to your website server; it will slow down your page load speed. Use a video hosting platform.
- YouTube: Great for SEO and discoverability, but ads can distract viewers.
- Vimeo: Higher quality player, no ads, and more professional look.
- Wistia: Built for marketing. Offers deep analytics, heatmaps, and lead capture forms directly in the video.
Promotion Strategy
A video is only effective if people see it.
- Landing Page: Place it above the fold. It should be one of the first things a visitor sees.
- Email Marketing: “Video” in an email subject line can increase open rates by 19%.
- Social Media: Create shorter “teaser” cuts for Instagram or TikTok that drive traffic to the full video on your site.
- Sales Deck: Equip your sales team with the video to use as an icebreaker in meetings.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even with the best intentions, projects can go sideways. Watch out for these pitfalls:
- Trying to say too much: If you try to explain every single feature, you will bore the audience. Stick to the highlights.
- Focusing on features, not benefits: Customers don’t care that your software uses “256-bit encryption”; they care that “their data is safe.”
- Going cheap on production: Your video is a reflection of your brand quality. A low-quality video suggests a low-quality product.
- Forgetting the Call to Action: Don’t let the screen fade to black without telling the viewer what to do next.
Is DIY an Option?
Budget is often the deciding factor. A professional agency can charge anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 (and up) for a custom 60-second explainer.
If you are a bootstrapped startup, DIY tools have come a long way. Platforms like Canva, Vyond, and Animaker allow you to use drag-and-drop interfaces to create decent videos. However, be aware that these often look “templated.” If your brand relies on uniqueness, a custom production is worth the investment.
Conclusion: The Investment That Pays Off
Creating a great explainer video is a project that requires time, creativity, and strategic thinking. It forces you to refine your value proposition and understand your customers on a deeper level.
When done right, it serves as a 24/7 salesperson—one that never sleeps, never stumbles over words, and delivers the perfect pitch every single time. Whether you choose to hire a top-tier agency or roll up your sleeves with DIY software, the focus must remain on clarity and connection.
Ready to start scripting? Grab a pen, identify that customer pain point, and start telling your story.