How to Create Animated Explainer Videos That Convert

Understanding how to create animated explainer videos is crucial for any business looking to simplify complex ideas, engage audiences, and boost conversions. In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, an animated explainer video isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a powerful tool for visual storytelling that can articulate your brand’s unique value proposition in minutes, sometimes even seconds. Whether you’re launching a new product, explaining a service, or clarifying a complex concept, a well-crafted animated explainer video can make all the difference, cutting through the noise and directly speaking to your target audience.

At Motion Edges, our team knows firsthand the impact a professionally produced animated explainer video can have. We’ve seen businesses transform their marketing efforts by leveraging the power of engaging visuals and concise narratives. This guide will walk you through the entire process, from initial concept to final production, ensuring you’re equipped with the knowledge to produce a compelling video that resonates with your viewers.

What Are Animated Explainer Videos and Why Do They Matter?

Animated explainer videos are short, engaging videos that use animation to describe a product, service, or concept in an easy-to-understand way. They typically combine visuals, text, and a voiceover to convey a message effectively and quickly. These videos are powerful because they can simplify complex information, capture attention instantly, and build a strong emotional connection with viewers, making your brand more memorable.

Defining Animated Explainer Videos

An animated explainer video is essentially a brief, usually 60 to 120 seconds long, animated commercial or informational piece designed to explain a specific topic. They leverage various animation styles, from 2D and 3D to whiteboard and motion graphics, to bring ideas to life. Their primary goal is to educate, persuade, and entertain, often leading to higher engagement and better understanding than text-based content.

The Business Impact of Visual Storytelling

The impact of visual storytelling, especially through animated content, is undeniable. According to HubSpot, 86% of businesses now use video as a marketing tool, with a significant portion dedicated to explainer videos. Why? Because video is incredibly effective. Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to only 10% when reading text, as reported by Insivia. This means your message is not only seen but also remembered, directly influencing purchase decisions and brand loyalty. For businesses, this translates to increased website traffic, higher conversion rates, and improved customer satisfaction.

Key Benefits for Your Brand

Incorporating animated explainer videos into your marketing strategy offers several key benefits. They can enhance your SEO by increasing time on page, simplify complex offerings, and improve your conversion rates. Studies by Wyzowl show that explainer videos increase conversion rates by an average of 14%. Furthermore, they’re highly shareable, expanding your reach on social media platforms and beyond. Ultimately, knowing how to create animated explainer videos allows your brand to communicate more effectively, build trust, and stand out in a crowded marketplace.

What Are the Essential Steps to Create an Animated Explainer Video?

Creating an animated explainer video involves a structured, multi-stage process that ensures clarity, quality, and effectiveness. The essential steps include defining your objective and target audience, crafting a compelling script, developing a visual storyboard, recording a professional voiceover, animating the visuals, adding sound design, and finally, reviewing and refining the video. Each stage is critical for producing a high-quality video that achieves its intended goals.

1. Define Your Objective and Audience. Before anything else, clarify what you want your video to achieve and who you’re speaking to. Is it for lead generation, customer education, or brand awareness? Understanding your audience’s pain points and how your solution addresses them will guide every subsequent step.
2. Write a Killer Script. This is the backbone of your animated explainer video. Keep it concise, engaging, and focused on a single key message. A typical 60-second video uses about 150 words. Structure it with a hook, problem, solution, how it works, and a clear call to action.
3. Develop a Visual Storyboard. Translate your script into visual scenes. A storyboard is a sequence of drawings or images, with accompanying notes, that visually tells your story panel by panel. It helps visualize the flow, characters, and actions, ensuring everyone on the team is aligned before animation begins.
4. Record a Professional Voiceover. The voiceover brings your script to life. Choose a voice that matches your brand’s tone and audience. Professional voice actors can add nuance and clarity that greatly enhance the video’s impact.
5. Animate the Visuals. This is where the magic happens. Animators use the storyboard and voiceover to create motion graphics, character movements, and scene transitions. This phase demands attention to detail and creative execution to make your story visually compelling.
6. Add Sound Design and Music. Beyond the voiceover, background music and sound effects add an emotional layer and polish to your video. Music sets the mood, while sound effects emphasize actions and transitions, making the video more immersive and professional.
7. Review and Refine. Share drafts with stakeholders and gather feedback. Iterate on the animation, timing, and sound until everyone is satisfied. This iterative process is key to ensuring the final video perfectly aligns with your objectives.

Successfully navigating these steps is key to understanding how to create animated explainer videos that truly resonate. It’s a collaborative effort that combines creative vision with technical execution. Our team at Motion Edges offers our professional editing services to guide you through each of these complex stages, ensuring a seamless and high-quality production.

A well-planned storyboard is essential for visualizing the flow and narrative of your animated explainer video.

Which Animation Styles and Tools Should You Consider?

Choosing the right animation style and tools is paramount to the success of your animated explainer video, as they directly influence its visual appeal, message delivery, and production cost. Popular styles include 2D animation, 3D animation, motion graphics, and whiteboard animation, each offering unique aesthetic and storytelling capabilities. The tools range from industry-standard professional software to more accessible online platforms, catering to various skill levels and budget constraints.

Exploring Popular Animation Styles

The world of animation is vast, offering diverse styles to suit different brand identities and messaging needs. Here are some of the most popular:

• 2D Animation: This classic style uses two-dimensional artwork and movement, offering a versatile and often cost-effective way to tell stories. It’s excellent for character-driven narratives and clear, simple explanations.
• 3D Animation: Providing depth and realism, 3D animation is perfect for showcasing products or complex processes with intricate details. It often has a higher production cost but delivers a polished, high-end look.
• Motion Graphics: Focuses on animating text, shapes, and abstract elements to convey information. It’s ideal for data visualization, infographics, and quick, impactful messages where characters aren’t necessary.
• Whiteboard Animation: Mimics the process of drawing on a whiteboard, capturing attention with its unique, evolving visual style. It’s highly effective for educational content and illustrating step-by-step processes.
• Stop Motion: A more labor-intensive but highly creative style, using physical objects manipulated frame by frame. It offers a distinct, tactile aesthetic that can be incredibly charming and memorable.

Essential Software and Tools

Once you’ve chosen a style, you’ll need the right tools. For professional-grade animated video production, software like Adobe After Effects (for motion graphics and 2D animation), Adobe Animate (for traditional 2D character animation), and Cinema 4D or Blender (for 3D animation) are industry standards. These tools offer extensive features but come with a steep learning curve.

Budgeting for Animation Production

The cost of creating an animated explainer video can vary widely based on length, complexity, animation style, and whether you do it in-house or hire a professional agency. Simple, template-based videos might cost a few hundred dollars, while custom, high-end 2D or 3D animations can range from $5,000 to $50,000 or more per minute. Our transparent pricing model ensures you get a clear understanding of costs upfront, making it easier to plan your project.

How Can You Optimize Your Explainer Video for Maximum Impact?

Optimizing your explainer video for maximum impact involves more than just great animation; it requires strategic planning around narrative, pacing, visual hierarchy, and distribution. Focusing on a clear call to action, keeping the video concise, ensuring high-quality audio, and strategically placing your video are all critical factors. An optimized video not only engages viewers but also effectively guides them towards your desired outcome, whether that’s a purchase, a sign-up, or further engagement with your brand.

Crafting a Compelling Narrative and Pacing

A compelling narrative is the heart of any effective explainer video. Start with a hook that immediately grabs attention, present a problem your audience can relate to, then introduce your solution. The pacing must be dynamic, keeping viewers engaged without feeling rushed. A common mistake is trying to cram too much information into a short video. Focus on one core message and deliver it clearly. Remember, the goal of how to create animated explainer videos is to simplify, not complicate.

The Power of High-Quality Audio and Voiceover

Often overlooked, audio quality is just as important as visual quality, if not more so. A crisp, clear voiceover can make even simple animations feel professional, while poor audio can quickly turn viewers away. Invest in a professional voice actor and ensure proper sound engineering. Music and sound effects should complement the visuals and narrative, adding emotional depth without distracting from the core message.

Strategic Placement and Call to Action

Where you place your animated explainer video can significantly impact its performance. Embed it prominently on your landing pages, product pages, and ‘About Us’ section. Share it across all your social media channels, email campaigns, and even in sales presentations. Every video needs a clear, singular call to action (CTA). What do you want your viewer to do next? Visit your website, sign up for a demo, or make a purchase? Make it obvious and easy to follow. Our team can help you not only create the video but also advise on optimal distribution strategies.

High-quality audio, including a professional voiceover and engaging sound design, is crucial for an impactful explainer video.

What Are the Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Creating Explainer Videos?

When learning how to create animated explainer videos, it’s just as important to understand what not to do. Common pitfalls include failing to define a clear objective, making the video too long or overly complex, neglecting audio quality, using generic visuals, and overlooking the critical call to action. Avoiding these mistakes will significantly improve your video’s effectiveness, ensuring it resonates with your audience and achieves your marketing goals rather than falling flat.

Lack of Clear Objective and Target Audience

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is creating a video without a clear purpose or understanding of who they’re trying to reach. A video without a defined objective is like a ship without a rudder; it drifts aimlessly. Before production, ask yourself: What specific problem am I solving? Who is my ideal viewer? What do I want them to feel or do after watching? Without these answers, your video will lack focus and fail to connect with its intended audience.

Overly Complex or Long Narratives

The essence of an explainer video is simplicity and conciseness. A common pitfall is trying to explain too much, leading to an overly long or complex narrative. This can overwhelm viewers and cause them to disengage. Remember, attention spans are short. Focus on one core message and deliver it elegantly. If your product has many features, consider creating a series of short videos rather than one lengthy one. Keep your script tight and every word purposeful.

Poor Audio and Visual Quality

As mentioned, poor audio quality can ruin an otherwise great video. Background noise, muffled voices, or inconsistent volume levels instantly make your video seem unprofessional. Similarly, generic stock animations or low-resolution visuals can detract from your brand’s credibility. Investing in professional voiceover artists and high-quality animation is not an expense, but an investment in your brand’s image and the video’s effectiveness. Our see our portfolio page demonstrates the high standards we maintain in both audio and visual production.

Forgetting a Strong Call to Action

A beautifully animated video that doesn’t tell viewers what to do next is a missed opportunity. Many businesses forget to include a clear, compelling call to action. Don’t assume your audience will know what step to take. Whether it’s