How to make an explainer video
An explainer video is a great way to explain a product or service – especially ones that are particularly different or innovative. But how do you actually create an explainer video?
We’ve broken it down into 7 steps:
We’ll break down each of these steps, so that whether you do it yourself or you hire a creative agency, you’ll know what goes into making an effective explainer video.
1. Research and Strategy
Before any work gets started on the video itself, there are some important questions to answer to ensure your end video is as useful as possible.
What does the product do?
Obviously, you’ll need to know what the product does. But instead focusing on all the features, figure out the one way your product makes your customers’ lives easier.
Who is your audience?
Knowing who your audience is will help you strike the right tone in your video. Will your video be funny or serious? Technical or broad?
Where will the video be shown?
Having a good plan in place of where your video will be shown will help ensure you get the most out of your explainer video, but it will also help you create a better explainer video. For example, if the video is going on your homepage, it might not be the best place to show an in-depth “how-to” of your product – a lot of people watching won’t even be users yet! Know where you video is going to be shown provides an extra layer of context in determining who is going to be watching.
2. Write the script
Open Google Docs and start writing.
In our experience we’ve found that telling a story is the best way to explain anything. Unfortunately, “storytelling” has become sort of a marketing buzzword recently, but don’t let that turn you off to the idea of using the power of a story.
Here are a few simple elements that you can use to get started:
Main character (your audience)
Conflict (the problem your product solves)
Resolution (your product)
Happy ending (your customer with your product)
Of course not every story is that straightforward, but this model is a great place to start rather than a bullet list of your product features.
You also need to keep in mind what type of video you're making. Will it be animated or live action? Will it have one voiceover or dialog between actors? A script is an easy (and cheap) way of exploring different concepts. Be sure to include any non-verbal direction that’s integral to the story to keep everyone on the same page.
3. Make the storyboard
A storyboard is the first visual representation of your script. Storyboards come in many forms, but are typically rough, hand-drawn sketches. The quality or form of the storyboard isn’t so important, as long as it properly communicates the vision of the video between the director and any stakeholders.
Just like the script, a storyboard is a relatively quick and cheap way of exploring and iterating on ideas. For example, adding and removing an explosion can be accomplished with a pencil, eraser and your time vs. thousands of dollars.
Once the storyboard is finalized, it not only moves the project forward, but becomes a key reference point for the production team going forward and helps take the guesswork out of the creative process.
4. Finalize pre-production
Here is where animated and live action videos start to take divergent paths.
Animated videos
For animated videos, you’ll need to lock in the art direction and animation style. You’ll need to design the characters and scenes. If you plan on using a voiceover, you’ll need to cast your voiceover artist and get the voiceover file.
Live action videos
Live action videos can vary widely in complexity. The bigger the production, the more pre-production you’ll need to do. This can involve everything including: scheduling, casting, location scouting, costume design, hiring additional crew members, and more.
5. Animate and/or film
You’ve got the plan in place. You’ve got your team in place. Now it’s time to do the meat of the project – the production.
Whether you are animating or shooting live action, you should be able to reference your storyboard along the way to make sure things are aligned with the original vision. More often than not, your video’s key stakeholders won’t be too involved with the grind of the actual production. Making sure they’re happy with everything up until this point, will allow you more creative freedom during production to accomplish the overall vision.
6. Finalize post-production
The final part of any video is the post-production. This is the special effects, editing, color correcting, music, and sound effects that will polish the overall presentation of your explainer video.
It’s important to have a good process for sharing your work-in-progress and soliciting feedback during the post-production process. Depending on the stakeholders involved, you may want to wait until certain parts of the video are polished before asking for feedback. For example, if there’s a particular scene that you just know will work once the music is added, consider adding the music first.
On the flip side, you may want to share your work in progress early in order to determine if any reshoots or additional scenes will be necessary.
We recommend soliciting feedback from non-stakeholders as well – especially if you can find some that meet the demographic of the target audience. They’ll be able to provide unbiased feedback and help diagnose any potential problems that you have overlooked.
7. Publish and measure
Once your explainer video is finished, it’s time to properly embed the video on your website and/or publish to whatever channels will be most effective for your business.
As your video begins to gain views, be sure to have a good system in place for measuring its effectiveness. With the right analytics, you’ll be able to make better decisions on future videos and help diagnose and correct shortcomings with the current video.