How to Make an Effective Explainer Video in 2024

It doesn’t matter if you have a chatbot, knowledge base, or dedicated support agents at the ready to answer your customers’ questions. Sometimes, people just want to sit back and watch a video.

Why? The short answer is they require minimal effort from the viewer and are easy to understand. 

The longer answer is that video-based learning is far more effective than text-based learning when it comes to knowledge retention. In a recent study of 100 medical students, the research found that video lectures were significantly more effective than text in improving memory retention. Similarly, in a recent 2023 study, the use of animation-based e-modules was shown to significantly increase learning retention among junior high school students.

And with an explainer video maker like Colossyan at your fingertips, it’s never been easier to make an explainer video that meets your needs.

In this blog, we’ll explore the different types of explainer video styles and share our best practices for creating animated explainer videos, videos with whiteboard animations, and videos with dedicated AI presenters.

What is an explainer video?

An explainer video is a short, visually engaging video that explains or demonstrates how a product, service, or process works. A typical explainer video uses a combination of graphics, text, and narration to clearly outline key features, benefits, and functions in a way your viewers can easily understand.

Here’s a quick example of one of our own explainer videos for Colossyan:

This is exactly how your explainer video clips should look – short, concise, and jam-packed with value.

Since they serve a wide array of use cases, creating explainer videos has become an increasingly popular way for businesses and brands to grow and expand their customer base. By leveraging the power of visual storytelling, an explainer video allows companies to introduce themselves, their offerings, and their value propositions in a way that can’t be communicated with plain text alone.

Research has also shown explainer videos can boost website traffic and conversions. Viewers who watch an explainer video are more likely to understand and use a company’s products or services, resulting in increased signups, purchases, and customer retention over time. Not to mention, explainer videos can be used internally to assist with continuous learning and development in the workplace (e.g., product, compliance, and sales training).

But what if your company is selling a complex B2B offering that can’t be summarized in a few knowledge base articles or 1:1 customer support chats? 

Explainer videos work great here, too. For complex ideas and solutions in particular, an explainer video acts as an “always-on” sales representative to help potential customers understand the benefits of your product or service. 

Different types of explainer video styles

No two explainer videos are the same – they may be different in terms of content, length, or design. Speaking of design, there are several common styles used for explainer videos, including live-action, animated, and whiteboard explainer videos. 

Each has a unique look and feel that may be better suited for certain types of content. At Colossyan, we help our users replicate live-action videos with the assistance of our AI presenters.  

However, any of these styles can be used to create an engaging explainer video. Want to try out one of these AI avatars yourself? You can check Colossyan’s library of explainer video templates here.

Live-action

As a quick refresher, these explainer videos feature real people on camera. They can help demonstrate physical products or processes in a realistic way – as opposed to relying on illustrations or complicated design elements. However, live-action comes with higher production costs and is less flexible for revisions.

Fortunately, with the influx of new AI video production tools like Colossyan, your teams can spin up live-action explainer videos at a fraction of the cost and time it would take to record real live-action for your own videos.

Animated

Animated explainer videos use digital illustrations and graphics to visually convey concepts that can’t always be captured in a live-action setting. Animated explainer videos are also more engaging for abstract topics and allow for dynamic illustrations and unique animated features that would be impossible with live actors. However, creating quality animated explainer videos also requires specialized design skills and can be more expensive as a result.

Whiteboard

Finally, whiteboard explainer videos feature an on-camera presenter drawing diagrams and writing notes on a whiteboard or clear glass screen. These are the most straightforward and to-the-point videos on this list.

Not only are they a cost-effective way to visually map out processes, systems, or user flows, but whiteboard animation tools also allow the presenter to modify drawings and text easily. However, they may not be as captivating as high-quality animation or live-action for certain audiences – especially if you want to keep your viewers’ attention.

Making an explainer video in 6 steps

Any task can seem overwhelming if you don’t break it up into manageable steps. The same rules apply to producing explainer videos. If you want to start producing engaging videos for your company, here’s what the process should look like from A to Z.

1. Topic identification

The first step to creating a solid explainer video is to identify the core topic or process you want to explain. While this may seem like common sense, coming up with your topic(s) ahead of time will make it easier to ensure you’re not duplicating any content later on – especially if you plan on producing an ongoing series of explainer videos.

To get started, brainstorm common questions your customers may have when first learning about your product or service. You may also want to survey existing clients on what parts of your product or service confused them at first, or where they’d like additional education. Then, define two to three key messages or benefits you want viewers to walk away understanding at a deep level. 

For example, let’s say your sales team is underperforming. An investigation (task analysis, etc.) has identified that they are not following the sales process correctly.

After conducting a few interviews with your sales reps, you might learn that the existing PDF guide is confusing and time-consuming to review.  With all of this in mind, you decide to create an explainer video on the sales process.

From here, you can start producing a full content outline for your video(s) as part of your explainer series.

2. Conduct research

Conducting thorough research of your subject matter is crucial. If you really want to produce an effective explainer video, try scheduling time with internal SMEs at your company. Then, document their explanations in an outline. 

Once you’ve got the bulk of your research complete, you can begin to outline your training video using the action mapping training method as created by internationally recognized training designer, Cathy Moore.

In a nutshell, the action mapping process involves the following steps:

1. Identify the business goal you’re hoping to achieve by creating this training. For example, your goal could be to increase new sales by 8% in Q4.

2. Identify what people in your organization need to do to achieve this business goal. This will help you design your training around actions vs. passive knowledge.

3. Design practice activities that mirror the actions you want your employees to perform.

4. Finally, identify the information that your employees actually need to know to complete your practice activities. This will help you focus your training solely on the knowledge that will help your employees achieve your company’s business goals.

Once you’ve finished this action mapping exercise and your outline is ready, you should also research how your competitors present similar information through their explainer videos. This will help you identify areas where you can improve upon any existing video content in your space.

Alternatively, you can use an explainer video software with a document-to-video feature – such as Colossyan – to give you a headstart in the video creation process. 

So, how does document to video work? Simply upload your document into Colossyan in one of our accepted formats (PDF, PPTX, TXT, or DOCX), specify the video topic, tone, or audience, and select a theme. From there, you’ll have a video draft based on your document ready in just 30 to 60 seconds. That’s all it takes to create an explainer video using the written content you already have. 

3. Create a storyboard

With your research in hand, start crafting the narrative of your video by mapping out a rough storyboard. At this stage, you should decide on a logical progression of your video’s main points and supporting details. 

Think of your storyboard as a blueprint, ensuring that all the elements of your video come together cohesively. At this phase, you should also determine if live-action, animation, or whiteboard style best fits the content and goals of your explainer video.

4. Record narration

Not every video needs narration, but it’s a great way to supplement your visual content. If you’re recording a voiceover, ensure you’re capturing crystal-clear audio to maintain quality. 

However, you can also use an AI tool to handle the video narration for you. For example, Colossyan can turn your script into an AI voiceover in over 70 languages with a range of different accents. You’ll also be able to specify the phonetic pronunciation of specific terms for added clarity. 

And with the ability to translate your voiceover into different languages, every explainer video you create can be adapted for a global audience with the click of a button. 

5. Design assets and illustrations

Once your audio has been captured or recorded, you can start bringing your storyboard to life through visual assets. You can create graphics, diagrams, or whiteboard illustrations that clearly represent the concepts you plan on covering within your video. Or, for animated videos, map out the motion graphics and transitions you plan to include between slides. 

6. Edit

At this stage, you should assemble all your audio, video, graphics, and narration elements into a cohesive storyline using the video editing software of your choice. Or, if you’re using a dedicated video creation tool like Colossyan, you can start making adjustments to your video with our built-in video editor.

During the video editing process, you’ll want to ensure that your video has a logical progression and smooth flow between different visual and auditory elements. From there, consider adding additional elements to your video such as intro and outro frames with calls-to-action or your company’s logo.

Examples of effective explainer videos

There are many use cases for different types of explainer videos. They can span pretty much everything across an organization:

• Video-based SOPs
• Product demo videos
• Onboarding videos for new hires
• FAQ videos for customers
• Internal SOPs for new processes

Keep in mind that you should consider video as your medium of choice when it makes sense. Not everything can be explained best in a short video, but by running this process of elimination, you’ll be able to identify exactly where explainer videos can make a difference in your organization.

For example, here’s a compliance and ethics training video we made using Colossyan:

You can access this exact explainer video template here if you want to try it out yourself. Or, you can access Colossyan’s entire explainer video template library here. All of these templates are fully customizable to meet your needs. 

If you really want to create an effective explainer video, map out the potential use cases within your company. Ask your teams and departments where they could use support, and make a list of the different explainer videos you can create to supplement their efforts. From there, all you have to do is start producing your videos and you’ll be well on your way to making the lives of your employees and customers much easier.

Using AI in explainer video content production

At this point, you have all the steps laid out for you to start creating an engaging explainer video. The only caveat is that producing high-quality videos requires a significant investment of your time. Between conducting research, capturing footage, video editing, and getting approvals, there’s a lot that needs to be done before you can even hit “publish.”

Fortunately, with AI, you can significantly streamline the video creation process. 

Here’s a look at how AI can help you start producing high-quality videos at scale. We’ll use Colossyan Creator to support these examples.

Production and filming

Video production is by far the most time-consuming part of the content creation process. But with AI tools, you can skip the hassle of producing live-action footage. For example, Colossyan’s AI presenters act as virtual on-camera talent that are always “available” for filming. 

Not only does this give you near-limitless options for on-camera talent, but it also helps you avoid the delays of coordinating live actors’ schedules and setting up last-minute reshoots. Plus, AI avatars eliminate additional costs for things like wardrobe, makeup, and studio rentals.

Localization and translation

Video production can be tricky if you’re trying to reach your global target audience. Most videos just auto-translate the subtitles of their videos and call it a day, but these translations can be inaccurate and add friction to the viewing experience. 

Colossyan’s 70+ language support and auto-translation features make it easy to create and repurpose your explainer videos for a global audience. Not to mention, translation can be costly when done manually, so an explainer video software with this feature can free up more of your budget. 

Editing and revisions

The video editing experience can take even longer than the video production process, especially when you factor in the revisions and approvals that need to be cleared before you’re through. And if you’re relying on a single editor to manually edit your explainer videos, revision can be a serious bottleneck in your workflow.

But with a dedicated AI video production tool like Colossyan, you can cut your editing workflow in half. How? With features like text editing, image placement, and music selection that are intuitive for non-designers, anyone on your team can quickly grasp how an explainer video maker like Colossyan works and begin creating professional edits.

And if company leadership wants to make edits or revisions to your videos after the fact, that’s no problem. You can always make adjustments to your script, visuals, or any other part of your video and regenerate it once everyone’s happy. 

How to make explainer videos more engaging

Attention spans aren’t what they used to be. So if you want to capture the attention of your viewers and get your message across, you’ll need to add a few interactive elements to spice things up.

Once you’ve created your base video footage, you can insert interactive content and video elements like these:

• Custom characters and AI presenters to engage the viewer
• Integrated quizzes to reinforce learning
• Whiteboards and diagrams to illustrate your content
• Sound effects and animated elements

Each of these elements aims to engage the viewer in a way that isn’t limited to visual or auditory presentations alone. These elements not only make your explainer videos more engaging, but they also give you more ways to present information that plain text alone can’t convey.

Creating accessible explainer videos

Before you add all the bells, whistles, and final touches to your explainer videos, there’s one thing you need to keep in mind: accessibility. 

Specifically, you’ll want to make sure that your videos meet current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standards, which ensure that online content is accessible to people with disabilities. 

Here are some tips to integrate accessibility into your explainer videos right from the beginning:

1. Use descriptive captions and subtitles: Instead of just transcribing the audio, provide descriptions of sounds, identify speakers, and clarify any unclear references to make your video easily understandable without sound.

2. Enable pause functionality: Include visible pause buttons for screen readers and ensure that the video stops after being paused for more than 5 seconds.

3. Maintain clear color contrast: Adequate color contrast is essential for your videos so that text can be read by individuals with visual impairments; a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 is recommended.

4. Minimize seizure risks caused by flashing elements: Videos featuring more than three flashes per second can heighten seizure risks. As a precaution, consider using static images instead of flashing content in your explainer videos.

5. Support keyboard navigation: Include keyboard functionality to allow your audience to control playback features such as pausing, playing, or rewinding using keys instead of relying solely on a mouse.

6. Additionally, ensure that your explanatory videos include audio descriptions: In cases where the content heavily relies on visuals like diagrams or graphs, remember to verbally describe what is being shown on the screen. This approach will enhance accessibility for viewers who may have visual impairments.

By incorporating these recommended strategies, you can produce explanatory videos that are inclusive and offer all audiences equal access to information regardless of their abilities.

Start creating engaging explainer videos with Colossyan

You’re only one explainer video away from making that sale, onboarding that new hire, and fulfilling that customer support request. But without the right explainer video software to streamline the video production process, you’ll be stuck trying to do the work of a videographer, editor, designer… and the list goes on.

But with AI video platforms like Colossyan, you can manage the entire video production process in one place, with fewer employees, and in far less time. Book a demo with our team to get started.