An explainer video is the #1 video every business, brand, and organization requires. In this post, we’ll show you how to outline an explainer video with a simple 6 point outline structure you can follow to create your own.

In fact, we used this structure to create EditMate‘s explainer video!

Whether you plan to use it on the homepage of your company’s website or in emails to potential investors, customers, or even employees, an explainer video should provide a quick but engaging overview of your company.

Every explainer video should share what you do, why you do it, and why your viewer should care.

We suggest you watch our explainer video below first, before reading the 6 point structure.

After that, watch our video again and pay attention to how we have utilized the structure to explain EditMate. From there, you can use the outline to start brainstorming for your business.

→ We also created a downloadable outline worksheet you can fill in to help with this process, too. Click here to download it.

Sound good?

Let’s get started. Here’s our explainer video:

Ok now, here is the 6 point structure we followed:

1. State the Problem

Immediately grab attention by stating the problem you solve.

Think about why your business got started at the beginning or the feedback you’ve heard from happy customers…

Do you solve a major pain point? Make something easier, faster, or more affordable? Or elevate an experience to make it better?

Share what the problem is in the simplest way possible.

2. Introduce your business as the solution

Basically, “We are ____ and we solve the aforementioned problem.”

This should be very quick, just to get your name and logo mentioned before going into the important stuff.

3. Include high-level details of how you solve the problem

This should include enough intriguing information to get the viewer interested in learning more, but not so much detail that it turns into a tutorial.

This section is also a great place to provide a sneak-peek into your product or service’s interesting features or subtly show off your experience or notable clients.

4. Reveal your X-Factor

What is it that makes your business stand out?

In this section, you want to share what makes you better than your competitors.

To do this, you can feature:

– a positive customer testimonial,
– graphics of awards you’ve won
– your impressive history or all-star team
– the special factor that makes your solution better than the rest

5. Share Your Effect

You know what your viewer really cares about?

It’s not your company’s passion, your product’s innovative feature or your best-in-class team…

It’s how you can make their life better.

This is where you show the effect your product/service will have on your viewer.

For example, if you’re selling pillows, this isn’t where you talk about how the fabric was sourced from Italy or how your company won the award for best pillow 5 years in a row. Talk about how the pillow will give your viewer an amazing night’s sleep. That’s the true effect.

This is where the impact is and likely what your viewer will most likely take away from watching your explainer video.

6. Call to Action

End with an actionable next step.

Direct the viewer to sign up for a free trial, buy now, contact you directly or subscribe.

And make sure that the next step is easily accessible (i.e. the button is near the video, or you’ve provided an email address where the viewer can follow up).

Use this simple 6 point structure to start outlining an explainer video that will easily explain your business and make the viewer want to learn more.

After you outline, refine those ideas into a script, then start collecting/shooting footage to illustrate on-screen what you’ve scripted!

More tips to keep in mind when outlining an explainer video:

• This structure can be used to produce an explainer video of any kind, it doesn’t matter if it’s created using talking head footage, stock video, or animated graphics.
• Keep your video short and sweet, we recommend 2 minutes or under.
• To maximize your ROI, cut shorter versions of this video in different video formats (wide, square, vertical) and lengths (7 seconds, 15 second, 30 second) to use as teasers and share on your social media channels.

We hope this post on how to outline an explainer video was helpful!

Contact Us to learn more about how businesses use EditMate to create explainer videos and more.