The most effective explainer videos are created using a tried and tested production methodology. To succeed, a brand must consider a range of important factors that will have a direct impact on the success of an explainer video. When taken into account, these tips can make or break an explainer video production - and help ensure the content is captivating, inspiring and drives results.

7 tips to creating an effective explainer video

1. Goals and objectives

Content marketing is all about driving profitable customer actions. For each business and brand, these will be different, as will the expected level of results. Right at the beginning before an explainer video is created, a brand must have a clear idea of the goals and objectives for the content it is creating. Every decision in the content creation process should revolve around these. They should be written down in a brief, and referred to throughout the production process. These are the main factors which will influence your explainer video design right from the start. 

2. Clearly define your audience

In order to influence an audience, you really need to know who they are and what they care about. Otherwise it's very difficult to connect and start to build a relationship with them. You will need to get to the root of what your audience need, what they want, and which problems you can help them with.

This explainer from Western Power clearly defines an audience - children. The visual style, voice over and sound all reflect this.

3. Being relevant

Content marketing is a value exchange, meaning only the most valuable content will be consumed. The messaging you communicate in your explainer video should be a cross between what you think is important and what interests your audience. That's why most explainer videos feature an understanding of the audience's situation before then solving this with the benefits of a brand's product or service.

4. Be their entertainment

The role of marketers is getting harder by the day. Breaking through the clutter and engaging an audience is becoming more challenging. To do so, your content must be educational, inspiring and above all entertaining. This kind of content will give you the best chance of captivating your audience, inspiring action and driving results. This is one of the key explainer video best practices which ends up being overlooked.

5. Be concise

Your audience's attention is valuable. You'll be working hard to get it in the first place, so it pays not to waste it once you have it. And this means being concise in your communication. Generally speaking, most explainer videos are around 90 seconds long. This gives you enough time to get your point across without bombarding your potential customer with information. If you feel that your explainer does need to be longer, then this is still possible - just make sure the info you are including adds value.

This explainer for MYBOOKIE is only 30 seconds, but it conveys the information the company wants to get across while the pace reflects the action that their audience love.

6. Be on brand

Being on brand is important. It ensures a consistent look, feel messaging, tone of voice across all of the content you produce. By doing so you create a customer experience that confirms your reputation and brand you have built.

To maintain this consistency and experience, your explainer video will need to be on brand too. The fonts that it uses, and the colour palette it features too will all play a role in making sure this is so.

The best explainer video production agencies will ask for your brand guidelines in the pitching process, and base their recommendations on it.   

This web design explainer video from Responsive Web Design, who optimise websites for use on all devices, reflects their brand, and their product, in the way the video is presented. The assets in the video react in a responsive way, much like the services they offer. In addition to this, the colours and fonts reflect the brand itself.

7. Work with Skeleton!!!

This might be a bit cheeky, but we have a proven track record of creating explainers which follow the core best practices, get results and make our clients happy! If you'd like to find out more about how we can create an explainer video for your company, please get in touch.