Remember the time you were a kid and you received this amazingly wrapped box? And after rushing to open it you get a pair of socks inside? That is what people feel when they get explainer videos with nice titles and turn out to be “clickbait” ads or video content that is poorly scripted.
Now that you’ve have attracted viewers to watch your video with your eye-catching title, start creating an explainer video script. Why? Because it’s crucial to make their interest last by keeping them engaged with it. People today absolutely hate being bored or watching the classic “infomercial” approach. So, its time to work on an explainer video script that will do your ad justice.
The Structure
First you need a structure, a framework on how the explainer video is presented to give it substance and to tell the viewer in an entertaining, more importantly a quick and easy the message you want to convey.
Let’s go over 4 easy steps and the appropriate durations for each:
- The Problem – What is the problem? Tell your audience what is the problem in the market? For a 60 second video, just use 30 words or less.
- The Solution – Time to tell them the product that will solve the markets problems! 10 to 15 words should do for this one.
- How does it work? – Now you need to explain how this product will help them. Best to not overdo the details, just the “need-to-know” stuff is okay. 30 to 50 words will be enough.
- Call to Action – Hook, line, and sinker. Pull them in by putting on some credibility and social proof like testimonials, or a famous personality to promote it. 10 to 20 words would suffice.
The Concept
Now you have the skeleton done, you need meat in those bones to make your script move as gracefully as a ballerina. Your explainer video script writer and animator’s creative qualifications are crucial here as they will have a plethora of ideas in their heads to choose from and turn it to something great. Also, tell a story and don’t make it rely on numbers and statistics too much. Use those numbers in the call to action portion instead.
Be extremely careful with your ideas however, as writing the explainer script poorly is a disaster so being careful with your concepts will pay off. Don’t be afraid to be daring, but not offensive as the last thing you want in an explainer video is to drive too much negativity towards your product given how social media can spread the word like wildfire. No Jargon whatsoever must be used if you want people to get it. Humor is also one of the best things to incorporate in the explainer video script so don’t be afraid to use it!
Writing a Video? What?
How can a writer write a visual interpretation of something? It’s a different beast altogether putting words into an image and may be a challenge for a lot of writers out there. It’s simple, start with an idea and go from there. Here are some tips for you:
- Keep it simple – Don’t overwhelm your viewer with an acid trip art piece or a DreamWorks level 3D movie! Let your animator perfect his work and make his life easy. Do not put too many characters and don’t rely on complex visuals (acid trippy.. argh!)
- Don’t be “that guy” – If you want a messed up video, go right ahead and control your crew. Writers, designers, and animators are paid to be creative so let them spread their wings and fly!
- Voiceovers – The visuals must absolutely match the voiceovers. It will seem duplicitous if it doesn’t and people will see through this right away, and chew you up for it.
- Proper Timing – Don’t be too “artsy” with the video and put in too many visuals for short spoken portions and vice versa. This isn’t the art expo so the people watching
How long should the explainer video be?
People prefer to keep things short and it’s also cheaper to make. You can make it longer as long as it’s more awesome, and expensive. You need to balance between the two (length and awesomeness) but in the end it will all come down to what you are trying to say and what the video is for.
Here at MotionStory we have all that it takes to give you that kickass explainer video experience so contact us and let’s talk about your video!