How to Create Killer Explainer Videos

Explainer videos are the best marketing tools on the planet. Consider these statistics:

• Video leads to > 200% click through rate in email

• Video improves landing page conversion by 80%

• 50% of executives look for more information after viewing a video

Do you have video on your pages? Do you want more?

Consumers and buyers love them. Giant technology companies like Google and Apple use them constantly to explain their complex products and how they fit in the market – how real people use them. Local businesses use them to establish branding identity and to tell stories. Comedians even use them to illustrate the absurdity of life.

Explainer videos help sales people seem more creative. They help bosses relate to workers, and they can help you too!

Explainer videos accomplish three things.

1. Establish credibility – videos look professional and convey the perception that they are difficult to create. When your audience sees a video that you have created, they assume that there was a massive budget behind the video. Most working folks don’t know the true cost to produce a video. And, they definitely don’t know the process of how to create a video.

2. Communicate complex messages with consistency – sometimes you just can’t remember what you said in the last meeting, or the first email or the second call. The video never lies!

3. Save time – sending somebody a one line email and a dropbox link to an awesome video takes way less time than a meeting or fumbling through a verbal exchange on the phone.

Cost & Timeline

The best thing about explainer videos is that they can be created quickly at a reasonable cost. You can get a solid explainer video done in one day for anywhere between $10 and $1,000.

How to produce explainer videos

There are two ways to create explainer videos for marketers large and small. You can do it yourself, likely with an online tool, or you can hire somebody to do it for you.

Both techniques range in difficulty and scope. You can spend massive amounts of time and money in either production mode. Style is a big consideration. Do you want a grass roots video that just gets the point across, or do you want a video that conveys a premium production value?

5 Do It Your Self Video Techniques

1. Screen cast

2. Screen cast with talking head

3. Talking head with background

4. Talking Head Stand Alone

5. Animation

3 Hired Help Video Techniques

1. Fiverr

2. UpWork

3. Agency

The irony in hired help video techniques is that you will still do a lot of the work to prepare the content, even if you hire the video out.

How to Know What to Say

You will need to know what to say, if you want your explainer video to work well. This is a common thread in marketing messages. Any idiot can produce a video but a real genius will know what to say. Brands that know what to say get customers, while idiots do not.

Explainer Video Development Process

• Identify objective – what is your video about?

• Write script – 100 words = 1 minute. Just start writing. Record it on your smart phone and listen to the script. Does it suck?

• Source Art – use a service like iStock or

• Convert to presentation

• Record sample voiceover

• Start production

Identify Objective

What is your video about? Write it down. This is the objective of your video.

• business

• product

• technique

• behavior

• result

How to Use Explainer Videos

• Email

• Social Media

• Sales Process

• Training