How To Make An Explainer Video: A Practical Guide
A step by step walkthrough of making an explainer video, from script to launch, written by someone who has shipped hundreds of them for real brands.
I have watched a lot of explainer videos die in the first ten seconds. Not because the animation was bad, but because nobody decided what the thing was supposed to say before they started making it look pretty. That is the part most guides skip, so I want to start there.
An explainer video is a short piece (usually 60 to 90 seconds) that takes one idea and makes it obvious. That is the whole job. If a viewer finishes yours and cannot repeat back what you do in a sentence, the animation was a waste of money no matter how slick it looked. So this guide is ordered the way the work actually happens. You write, you sketch, you pick a look, you voice it, you animate, you polish, then you launch. I have run this loop hundreds of times, and the order matters more than any single tool.
What a good explainer video actually needs to do
Before any of the craft, get clear about the assignment. A strong explainer does three separate things in sequence. It names a problem the viewer already feels. It shows your product as the answer. It makes the payoff concrete enough that they can picture their own life with it. Miss that first beat and nobody cares about the other two.
There is a business reason to get this right. In Wyzowl’s annual survey, 89% of people said watching a video convinced them to buy a product or service, and a similar majority said they turn to a short video first when they want to understand something new. That is the behavior you are designing for. People will give you ninety seconds of attention if you earn it fast, and none if you open with a logo animation and a mission statement.
So write down the single sentence you want stuck in someone’s head afterward. One sentence. Everything else in the video exists to deliver it.
Start with the script, because the script is the video
A flashy frame grabs a second of attention. The story is what holds it, and the story lives entirely in your script. This is the stage people rush, and it is the stage that decides whether the finished piece works. If the words are weak, no amount of motion design saves them.
The one rule that changes everything is to write for the ear, not the page. An explainer script gets spoken out loud over moving pictures, so it has to sound like a person talking rather than a brochure. Read every line aloud as you write it. If it feels stiff coming out of your mouth, it will feel ten times worse in a professional voiceover. Cut adjectives. Shorten sentences. Say “you” a lot.
For structure, the problem, solution, benefit arc is boring and it works, which is why I keep using it:
- The problem. Open on a real pain your buyer lives with. “You are tracking five projects across nine spreadsheets and you still missed a deadline this week.”
- The solution. Introduce your product as the plain answer, not a feature dump. “Here is one board that shows every project, every owner, every due date.”
- The benefit. Land the emotional payoff. “You ship on time and you stop dreading the Monday status call.”
Keep it tight. Most 90 second explainers run around 150 to 180 spoken words, so you have less room than you think. When I write a first draft it always runs long, and the cut down to 160 words is where the piece gets good. If you want a deeper look at framing and pacing, I wrote a full breakdown in the explainer video script guide, and it is worth knowing how long your explainer should be before you write a word, because length dictates how much story you can fit.
Storyboard before you animate anything
Once the script feels right, sketch it. A storyboard is a row of rough panels, one per line of narration, showing what is on screen while that line is spoken. You do not need to draw well. Stick figures and boxes are fine. The point is to sync words to pictures before anyone spends real hours in animation software.
This is where you catch the expensive mistakes early. A visual metaphor that does not land, a scene that drags, a transition that makes no sense, you see all of it in pencil, when fixing it costs five minutes instead of a day of an animator redoing rigged scenes. A storyboard also gets everyone (you, the animator, whoever signs off) looking at the same plan, so nobody is surprised at the end. Skip this step and you will pay for it later. I always board, even for a thirty second piece.
Pick a style that serves the message
Now the fun part, and the part where people pick with their eyes instead of their brief. The style is not a mood board decision. It is a strategic one. A fast SaaS tool and a grief counseling nonprofit should not look the same, because the format itself sends a signal before a single word is spoken.
Here are the four styles I reach for most, and where each one earns its place:
| Style | What it feels like | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2D character animation | Warm, human, story-driven | Emotional pitches, human problems, consumer apps | Character rigging takes real time and skill |
| Motion graphics | Clean, modern, precise | Data, processes, abstract or technical ideas | Can feel cold if the story is thin |
| Whiteboard animation | Hand-drawn, "watch it build" | Teaching, step-by-step explanations | Overused, so it can read as dated |
| Live-action | Real, trustworthy, personal | Testimonials, physical products, founder stories | Shoots are harder to change once filmed |
Ask one question when you are stuck. Which format makes my specific story clearest to my specific audience? Not which one is trendy. The market for explainer video software has grown fast (one industry estimate put it around USD 1.2 billion in 2023, projected toward USD 6.7 billion by 2033), which means there are more tools than ever to make any of these styles yourself. More options, same discipline required.
See the whole process from start to finish
If you are new to this, watching someone build an explainer end to end does more than reading about it. This walkthrough from Animaker takes a beginner through the full flow, and it lines up well with the steps here.
Watch it once for the shape of the process, not to copy the exact clicks. The tool changes. The sequence (write, board, style, voice, animate, polish) does not.
Record the voiceover, then animate to it
Here is an order of operations point people get backwards. The voiceover comes before the animation, not after. Once you lock the final voice track, it becomes the metronome for everything visual. Every wave of a character’s hand, every transition, every number that pops on screen gets timed to the spoken words. Animate first and you will be fighting to make pictures fit a voice that arrives late.
The voice sets the entire tone, so cast it deliberately. A bright, friendly read suits a consumer app. A calm, measured read suits a financial or medical product. When you are auditioning talent (on a marketplace or through a studio), do three things. Listen to their demos for actual range. Give them a real brief (“confident and warm,” not “sound professional”). Check that the recording is clean with no room hiss. Bad audio makes good animation look flimsy, every time.
Then animate against that track. This is where your storyboard pays you back. The animator uses it panel by panel, timing motion to the rhythm of the read. The last ten percent is what separates amateur from finished, the right music bed under the voice, the small clicks and swooshes that make on-screen actions feel physical. That polish is not optional. It is the difference viewers feel without being able to name it.
Polish it in post, then check it hard
The animation is rendered and the voice is locked, but you are not done. Post-production is the finish work, and small moves here make an outsized difference. Trim scenes so the pacing never sags. Smooth every transition so no cut jolts the viewer out. Color grade so the piece looks like your brand and not like a template.
Sound gets its own pass. A clean mix has the voiceover clearly on top, music supporting underneath without competing, effects sitting beneath both. The goal is a mix nobody notices, because the moment someone notices the audio, something is off.
Before you export, run a real quality check on a screen you did not edit on. Confirm the resolution and file format match where it is going. Confirm your logo and end card are present and sharp. Watch it once with fresh eyes, ideally after a night’s sleep, because you will catch things you were too close to see the day you finished. I have caught a misspelled brand name on the end card doing exactly this, the morning after I thought the thing was done.
Launch it like it matters
Rendering the video is half the work. Getting it seen is the other half, and it is the half people neglect. Do not upload it to one place and hope. Treat the launch as a small campaign across every channel where your audience already is.
Start on your own turf. Put the video on your homepage or the relevant product page, where it can explain what you do in under ninety seconds to someone deciding whether to stay. Then host it on YouTube with a real title (keyword-rich but human), a description that restates the problem you solve, and a link back to your site near the top. Announce it to your email list with a video thumbnail instead of a plain text link. Post it wherever your buyers hang out. The video is not a one-time event. It is an asset that keeps working for months if you keep pointing traffic at it.
In this A/B test the same page converted at 6.5 percent with no video, 11 percent with the video embedded, and 13 percent when the video played in a lightbox, doubling the baseline.
Doing it yourself versus bringing in help
You can make a decent explainer with the tools that exist today, especially if the concept is simple and you have the time. The real tradeoff is this. The software is fast and within reach, but the story, the voice direction, and the animation timing are where most self-made explainers fall short, because those are craft, not features. If you go the tool route, my guide to the best explainer video software will save you some trial and error.
If the video is carrying real weight (a launch, a homepage, a pitch), the calculus changes, and that is the point where a lot of teams bring in a creative partner who does this every week, and our roundup of top explainer video companies is a good place to start that search. At Moonb, an embedded creative team handles the whole loop for you, from script to final mix, so the taste stays consistent across every asset instead of resetting each time. Either way, the process above is the same. Follow the order, protect the script, and the video will do its one job.
Frequently asked questions
Most land between 60 and 90 seconds, which is roughly 150 to 180 spoken words. That is enough to name a problem, show your solution, and land the benefit without losing attention. Go longer only if the topic needs it, and even then, cut everything that does not serve your one core sentence.
It ranges widely. Making it yourself with software runs from modest tool fees plus your time. A freelancer typically sits in the low thousands. A studio or creative team that handles script, voice, animation, and post costs more but manages the whole process and delivers a consistent result. The right choice depends on how much the video is carrying for your business.
The script. A weak script cannot be rescued by good animation, but a strong script can carry even modest visuals. Spend the most time here, write for the ear by reading every line aloud, and lock your one-sentence message before you sketch a single frame.
