Explainer videos let companies deliver important information clearly and creatively. By showing a product or service in action, they help viewers understand exactly what a company offers.
They also guide decisions. Done right, an explainer video grabs attention fast, holds it, and makes the case for a business in under two minutes — which is why it remains one of the most reliable formats for teams that need a prospect to understand something quickly.
What Is an Explainer Video?
An explainer video is a short promotional video that highlights the value of a brand’s product or service. It builds product understanding to the point where a customer is ready to buy.
The ten elements below are what separate an explainer that performs from one that just exists on a landing page.
1. The Right Goal
An effective explainer video takes more than a good-looking animation. The video isn’t there to fill empty space on a webpage or in a digital signage loop — it’s there to change what a viewer does next.
Before production starts, answer these:
- What do you want viewers to do after watching?
- What might stop them from doing it?
- Which parts of your offer are unfamiliar or counterintuitive?
- What does the audience get out of watching?
- Who is the audience, and where are they in their buying process?
The answers become the raw material for the script.
2. A Strong Script
The script does most of the work. Whether the video lives on YouTube, LinkedIn, or a product page, a well-written script is what keeps people watching.
Keep it tight and focused. One core message per video. A script that tries to cover everything covers nothing — and the runtime balloons past the point where anyone finishes.
3. Keep It Short
Brevity is not a nice-to-have. The video needs to be easy to follow and cover the essentials without padding.
A long explainer loses viewers no matter how good the characters look. Short and sharp wins attention — but short alone isn’t enough either. A dull 45-second video loses people just as fast as a dull three-minute one.
4. Visual Storytelling
Visual storytelling is how you carry emotion and narrative without leaning on the voiceover. Keep three things in mind:
- The animation style should match the brand. Is it playful, experimental, or formal?
- Use dedicated visual devices — diagrams, transitions, metaphors — to simplify difficult ideas.
- Well-developed characters, human or not, give viewers something to attach to.
5. Relatable Characters and Situations
Explainers work best when the audience recognises themselves in what’s on screen. That takes research into who they actually are.
Get it right and the characters in the video resemble the people you built it for — which makes the whole thing more engaging and far more persuasive.
6. The Right Timing
Three numbers worth designing around:
- 30 seconds — The most important material belongs in the first thirty seconds. Attention drops sharply after that, so lead with the point.
- 90 seconds — The sweet spot for most explainers. Past ninety seconds, completion rates fall off.
- 150 words — Roughly one minute of finished video. Use the word count to check runtime before a single frame is animated.
7. Add a Touch of Humour
Animated characters, voice actors, and background gags all give the viewer a reason to stay. Humour is one of the few levers that reliably holds attention through the middle of a video, where drop-off is highest.
Even a single well-timed sound effect or character beat can keep an otherwise dry explainer alive.
8. Use Captions
Captions are non-negotiable for anything that will live online. They make the video accessible to viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing, and they make it usable for non-native speakers.
They also solve the sound-off problem. Most social feeds autoplay muted, and explainer videos are difficult to follow on a small screen in public when the audio isn’t an option. Captions are what make the video work in those contexts instead of being scrolled past.
9. Music and Sound Effects
Graphics, music, and sound design working together are what make a video feel like a single piece rather than a slideshow with narration. Two things to watch:
- Music sets the tone and marks scene changes. Sound effects reinforce transitions and punctuate key moments.
- Balance matters. Music and effects should support the message, not compete with it.
10. A Strong Call to Action
The CTA usually closes the video and tells viewers exactly what to do next. A good one reinforces everything the video just argued by naming a specific action.
Contrast helps — a CTA that stands out visually gets clicked more often. But getting people to act takes more than an instruction. Give them a reason: match the visuals to the ask, and make the benefit of taking that step obvious.
Conclusion
A professionally produced explainer video earns its cost by doing two jobs at once — teaching and persuading.
Get the balance right between creative execution, clear information, and considered pacing, and the video stays useful for years.
Whether the goal is awareness, sales, or helping existing customers understand your product better, a strong explainer moves the number. If you’re planning one and want a straight assessment of the scope and format that fits your goal, we’re happy to talk it through.