What is an explainer video?

Video content is one of the most effective ways to draw in viewers, and when it comes to clarifying complex information, no video type does it better than an explainer video.

Explainer videos are one of the best ways to introduce customers to your company, product, or service. They use narration, visuals, and motion to distill the key information about a topic into a concise, engaging package. That’s why they’re so popular for brands.

But what makes explainer videos different from other video content? And how can you make a solid explainer video of your own? We thought you’d never ask.

Check out our guide to explainer videos — including what makes a good one and our process for making them here at Lemonly.

What makes a good explainer video?

Explainers are just one type of animated video content, but they’re maybe the most common. So what makes them unique? It’s right there in the name: Explaining information is their #1 goal.

The most important thing about explainer videos is that their primary focus is on informing the viewer. They show and tell at the same time.

Whatever story it’s telling, an explainer video combines a clear, concise script and voiceover with engaging visuals and motion to make something easier for your audience to understand. That’s the magic. And you can imagine how effective that type of content can be across a wide range of stories your brand has to tell.

Here’s a tip: If you have a website and you offer a product or service, you could probably use an explainer video. Consumers love videos, so if you want to quickly convey what you’re about, an animated explainer video is the way to go. (For instance, our own explainer is one of the first things you see on our home page.)

Some explainer videos are better than others, and there are four key elements that can make a great explainer video stand out:

1. It informs.
2. It tells a story.
3. It uses visuals to explain and entertain.
4. It shows your personality.

1. It informs.

Explainer videos are informative by definition — they educate viewers about a product, service, process, concept, idea, event, or pretty much anything else that can be explained. Voiceover narration talks you through the information while visuals show you what it means.

A good explainer video delivers on that goal to inform with a clear, memorable message. And it does so in a concise package: The best explainer videos are usually 60–90 seconds long, though they can be up to three minutes in some cases. In general, though, shorter is better.

2. It tells a story.

No matter what you’re explaining with your explainer video, there’s an angle to the information, whether it’s overt or implied. The angle could be “It’s easy to use our tool” or “Our fundraising campaign was successful.” Even “Our work is better than the other guys’.”

Like all great stories, a great explainer video has a clear structure with a beginning, middle, and end, and it flows seamlessly between ideas, carrying the viewer along smoothly through the information.

In a marketing context, a good explainer video also leaves the viewer with a clear takeaway or call to action, so they know what to do next, how to engage with the information they’ve just learned, or where to learn even more.

3. It uses visuals to explain and entertain.

Remember: Explainer videos show and tell — the visuals and the content are equally important, and they should work together to convey the information.

One of the advantages of animation is that you can show anything on screen that supports the script, including concepts that would be impossible to visualize using photography or live-action video. With illustration and animation, we can visualize abstract concepts, fantastical scenes, 3D models, and environments ranging from the microscopic to the massive. If you can imagine it, you can animate it.

4. It shows your personality.

A great explainer video should look, feel, and sound like your brand. A video that matches your brand’s unique vibe creates a better, more memorable impression on viewers than something that feels generic.

The good news is that video is a vibey medium. It puts a lot of tools in our toolbox for striking just the right mood and energy. The script, visuals, motion, voiceover, music, and sound effects all work together to craft a specific vibe and tone.

Tip: Animated doesn't mean "cartoony"

It’s also important to know that animated explainer videos can have incredible stylistic diversity.

Animation just means making graphics move — there’s no one style or look that something has to have just because it’s animated. In other words, animated doesn’t mean “cartoony.” We hear that word from a lot of people, and we want to set the record straight.

Think about how much range there is across all of those dimensions we talked about: text, visuals, motion, and sound. There are practically limitless ways to customize the look and feel of an animated video to perfectly fit your brand — even if you haven’t used animation before. 

So don’t let animation scare you away from creating an explainer video that makes your story easy to understand and remember.

How to create an explainer video

Let's talk process. Lemonly uses an iterative approach to creating explainer videos to take advantage of collaboration among our team and ensure our clients are on board every step of the way.

1. Script: Establish the story with a clear, easy-to-follow structure.

First comes the script. A good explainer video should tell a story with a clear, easy-to-follow structure, and it should be written with your audience and goals in mind.

For example, let’s say your goal is to introduce your product’s key features to new customers. They don’t have any prior information about it, but they also don’t need all the nitty-gritty details. Understanding the audience and where they’re coming from helps you gauge the length and depth of information that’s right for your video.

The best explainer videos distill complex information into a concise, quick, and easy-to-watch format. One of the biggest challenges clients face at this stage is putting too much detail into the script. Focus on the three most important points the user needs to know that you can deliver in two minutes or less.

The longer the video, the more challenging it is for viewers to remember what you want them to know. We’ve found that 1–2 minutes is the sweet spot. Remember, you can — and should — supplement your explainer video with other content that digs into more of the details. In general, we aim for about 140 words per minute for an explainer video script. So keep that in mind when crafting your content. 

2. Sketch storyboards: Plan the visual direction for each frame.

Once the script is written, we plan out the overall visual direction of the video. It starts with a brainstorm where we explore different concepts and start to identify the key scenes, throughlines, and visual metaphors that might be incorporated in the video.

That really comes together in the sketch storyboards — a series of grayscale sketches that map out the key visuals, breaking the video into a series of frames. 

Each frame is a unique composition paired with a segment of the script. As you move from frame to frame, you start to see how the video will come together, with the visuals, motion, and script working in harmony to show and tell at the same time. Designers and animators collaborate on the sketch storyboards to make sure our planned visuals are created with motion in mind.

It can be tempting to skip sketches and go right into fully designed storyboards, but you wouldn’t build a house without drawing up the blueprints. Having the sketch phase first helps you really focus on the flow of your story and saves time if you want to make changes or try out a few different options for visuals. Because remodeling a home after it’s fully constructed is complicated and expensive.

3. Moodboard: Capture the overall look and feel of the video.

The moodboard captures the overall look and feel of the video with different visual elements like the color palette, typography, icons, illustration, and character style. We also incorporate existing brand guidelines along with any key visual motifs we’re proposing for the video.

A moodboard might also include motion samples to show the animation style we’re going for. Like we talked about earlier, motion can play a big role in setting the vibe of a video, so this can be a helpful step to establish that direction.

Together, the sketch storyboards and moodboard establish how the video will look, feel, and flow.

4. Design: Flesh out each frame with full color and detail.

In the design phase, sketches become fleshed-out scenes. Characters get fully illustrated. Everything is visualized in full color and detail. It’s beautiful.

Sometimes we might start by designing a few sample frames to be sure we’re nailing the look and feel before designing every frame. Sample frames are especially helpful for longer videos, new visual styles, or brands that are new to animation.

As you continue designing each frame, keep in mind: The more solidified your design storyboards are, the less rework you’ll have to do during animation. Catching any visual refinements now makes animation more efficient and keeps the focus in that phase on motion. You don’t want to change the floor plan after the walls are already built.

Once the video design is finalized and approved, all that’s left is to make it move.

5. Animation: Add movement, transitions, and sound.

During animation, we’re mainly focused on movement, pacing, and flow. The way we apply motion should align with the animation style from the moodboard and match the vibe of the brand and the client’s goals for the overall tone of the video.

The same goes for the voiceover and background music, which are also incorporated during the animation phase. 

With these elements added, the final video really comes into focus: The script and voiceover tell the story, the design and animation show what the information is about, and music and sound add that extra special sauce that ties it together. When all of these elements work in harmony, the final explainer video is clear, memorable, and effective at informing the audience about your topic.

Throughout the whole process, we check in with our clients at each stage to refine and iterate as needed. That collaboration helps ensure we’re all on the same page as the video comes together.

Educate new customers with an animated explainer video

There you have it! All the essential info you need to know about explainer videos. Remember: A great explainer video informs, tells a story, uses visuals that enhance the content, and shows your brand’s unique personality.

Explainer videos are one of the best ways to make complex information easy to understand and quick to consume, so if you don’t have an explainer for your brand yet, what are you waiting for? 

Check out some of our animated video examples to get inspired, or reach out to get started on your project.