The ultimate guide to writing a killer explainer video script
An explainer marketing video has the power to tell a genuine story about your business in 60 seconds. Before pondering what funky illustrations and animations your video will contain, you must focus all your creative juices on nailing your explainer video’s script. A nicely written, engaging script is the basis for an effective explainer video. Without a killer script as the base, all the preceding creation activities won’t fall into place.
Stage and movie screen producers concur: The real strength is all in the script. Technicians can clean up a scratchy audio track or lumpy animation sequence, however, no amount of audio-visual wizardry is going to rectify a lousy script.
Explainer Script Structure
An effective explainer video script structure has 6 parts:
- Hook
- Problem
- Implication
- Solution
- Result
- Close
Let’s examine these six parts of an explainer script in detail so that you can write a killer explainer video script.
Hook
A great Hook is the secret sauce for a killer explainer script There are several approaches you can take to write the perfect hook:
- Rhetorical Question
- Catchy Sound Byte
- Startling Assertion
- Imagine approach
- Problem Beneficial End Result How I Did It
Rhetorical Question
The first one is the Rhetorical Question approach, this is a great approach. In social media, one of the most popular post approaches is where the author is asking a question. A reason why a rhetorical question approach is so effective is that it makes the audience ponder the answer.
An example question could be “How are you planning on growing your business?” or “How do you intend on converting my website visitors into leads?” and “What if you can’t hold your website visitor’s attention when they are looking at your products and services?”. The last one is effective because it also starts playing on the fear factor, “What if…..?”.
Catchy Sound Byte
The next approach is the Catchy Sound Byte approach. Here you want to shock the audience with a punchy phrase or statement. Employing the Catchy Sound Byte approach involves saying something like “The late great Steve Jobs was quoted as saying.. ‘Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower’.. let’s innovate the way you grow your business, obtain new clients”. This is a catchy little sound byte that attracts the audience into watching the rest of the video
Startling Assertion
The Startling Assertion approach involves starting by stating a startling fact, for example, a startling statistic on how paid advertising doesn’t work, and how it leads to very few sales. It goes without saying that this hook approach involves you knowing your research to make sure that the fact or statistic that you are stating is true.
Imagine approach
Next is the Imagine approach. This hook is called Imagination as it involves painting a picture in the mind of the audience. For example, this scenario involves writing something like “Imagine if every day you’re receiving new jobs. When you open your inbox in the morning there are five customers awaiting your response.”
The imagine hook involves painting a positive picture in the viewer’s head.
Problem Beneficial End Result How I Did It
Next is the Problem Beneficial End Result How I Did It. This is quite a mouthful but let me explain. For example, the script will sound something like “In this video, we are going to show you how our business was struggling to convert website visitors into sales, and how we were able to solve that problem in one week by using website video on our product pages”.
In this example, we stated the problem: Our business was struggling to convert website visits into sales. We started the beneficial end result: we were able to solve that problem in one week, and How we did it: using video on our product pages”.
Problem
Don’t fall into the trap of many of the explainer videos out there that jump straight into the problem bypassing the hook. Although this method works, testing by Clint Neilsen Digital Growth shows that the hook is higher converting.
The Hook leads right into the problem, when writing about your problems, think of frustrations that are particular to you, and their respective cause. Describe the problem and or the frustrations that your viewer may be having e.g. “Your sales are on a downward trend, or Your projects are not being delivered on time, and You try as hard time and time again, but you can’t seem to lose any weight.
Implication
The Implication or what exactly may happen if that problem doesn’t go away. Exactly why is it so bad to have this problem? Here you provide an argument on why it is so bad to have this problem. For example, you’re not making enough sales, which is affecting your income, which in return affects your ability to pay your bills.
Solution
This is where you set the viewer at ease as your products and service enters the scene like a knight in shining armour. So, they have this problem, which caused this implication, what did they do next? They found this amazing product, your product or service. In the next few seconds briefly explain who you are or the product or service that you are promoting.
Result
The Result continues the script along by telling the audience what happens by using your product or service: It fixed their problem in the script, e.g. “They saw a 5% increase in conversion rates over the next week.” You tell the audience how the product or service solves the problem(s) mentioned earlier in the script. So therefore, the potential customer no longer has to worry about that problem because you have explained that your company has a solution that will help them achieve their goal.
Selling Points
Now that you have given the viewer the result, now you top it off by providing them with selling points to entice them. Here you describe the benefits of your product or service, highlight to the audience what you can provide them with that they won’t get elsewhere. What is your unique selling point, e.g. if you are selling products your script may say “lowest prices, guaranteed on-time delivery, top-notch customer service.
Additionally, your script could go over how your product and service works, this is prudent if it is complex. This might be a process flow or a walkthrough so people can understand the benefits. It is also effective to finish your Selling Point with one good last selling point to drive the benefits home.
Close
And finally, the close, where you finish the script by making the potential client feels like contacting you straight away. The script could say “How would you benefit by achieving these results?”, or “Let me ask you a question, would you like to achieve these goals yourself?” or “So if you want to fix these problems today and escape these frustrations, contact us today or click the buy button below”.
Point of View
In addition to having a structure: you also need to have a Point of View. In other words, whose point of view are we explaining this story? The three ways to do this is:
- My POV
- Character’s POV
- Audience’s POV
My POV
Tell the story from My POV, tell your story. Here you’d say something like “Let me tell you how I was barely able to pay my bills, but now I am making more sales thanks to using an explainer video on my website”.
So in this case you are talking about yourself. This is a great POV as you are telling a story about yourself, it’s a very personal way of talking about your product or service.
Character’s POV
The second way is talking from a character’s POV. In other words, tell the story from a third party’s POV. When telling someone else’s story your script will sound something like: “Meet Robbie, Robbie has this problem where he can’t seem to make enough online sales”.
Here we are talking about a third-party character named Robbie. This is a very popular POV for making explainer videos.
The audience’s POV.
The third and final one is the audience’s POV. Talk directly to your prospective customer about a problem they may be facing. “Are you having trouble converting your website traffic to sales?”, “Is your website not closing the deal for you? Let me tell you about Explainer Videos”. Here we are talking about the customer, we are talking to them directly.
These are the three basic POVs for writing an explainer video script.
Make several drafts
“The first draft of anything is shit” Ernest Hemmingway. So, relax just get something down on paper, anything, it’s a start. As it’s an iterative process you will have plenty of time to edit as you go, so don’t worry if sounds like shit. Start out rough, there’s no need to use perfect wording first up. Use silly adverbs as placeholders if needed. If you’re pondering a word that describes how awesome your product is, use “awesome” for now, and come back and use something better next edit. This will let you keep up the momentum.
Smaller is better
The script’s length is dependent on your audience segment. An audience in an auditorium typically endures about six to eight minutes before beginning to drift. An explainer video has 3 minutes tops to do its job. The typical length is between 30 to 90 seconds, with a mere 6 seconds to grab their attention and pique their interest.
Lead with your message
Condense the message of your entire script to just one sentence, and make sure that sentence is somewhere in the first 30 seconds of the explainer video. This signals to the audience what to pay attention to throughout the video.
Read aloud
This exercise is a scriptwriting must. The way the script sounds in your head is completely different to how it sounds out loud. Keeping a natural, medium pace will help you get a good feel for the script’s length.
Keep track of time
Time it out At each draft stage, time out your script and include the runtime at the bottom, as per the above example. By the way, your smartphone has a stopwatch. Keeping your runtime top of mind will help you stay on budget by avoiding length overages. If you’re outsourcing scripting, mark the runtime of your writer’s drafts if they haven’t already.
At each draft stage, time out your script and include the runtime at the bottom. Use the stopwatch on your smartphone. Keeping track of the runtime helps you stay on budget by avoiding the costs incurred by length overages. If you’ve outsourced the scripting, mark the runtime of your writer’s drafts if they haven’t already.
Don’t reinvent the wheel
Borrow an existing structure. Watch an explainer video that resonates with you, and “borrow” or re-interpolate the script’s structure. Hopefully, they are talking about your industry or a problem. On your second pass, you can edit their script to make it fit your offering.
Also, look further than explainer videos. Examine short movies, TV commercials, and virals. Reading material can help too, even if they come from static content like books, articles, or comics. Getting inspiration from an external voice will keep your writing flowing, and you’ll re-contextualize ideas for your script.
Keep it simple and real
A common mistake in explainer videos is using big, complicated words or unfamiliar jargon. You can keep the script simple without sounding like you’re focusing on the most ill-informed layman. Make sure you speak the audience’s language if they are specialized. Don’t overcomplicate your message with ambiguous, clever words. You’ll come across as smarter with an air of sophisticated simplicity within your explainer script.
Conclusion The ultimate guide to writing a killer explainer video script
In conclusion, writing a killer explainer video script requires a careful balance of creativity, empathy, and strategic thinking. By following the structure, honing your message, and staying true to your audience’s needs, you can create a script that grabs attention, solves problems, and drives action. So, grab your pen and start crafting your killer explainer video script today!
Remember, the power of an explainer video lies in its ability to tell a compelling story in a concise and captivating manner. As you embark on the journey of crafting your script, keep the essence of storytelling at the forefront of your mind. Weave together emotions, relatable characters, and a narrative arc that keeps your viewers hooked from the beginning to the end. By infusing your script with the magic of storytelling, you’ll create an explainer video that not only educates but also inspires, leaving a lasting impression on your audience. So, unleash your creativity, tap into your audience’s desires, and let your script become the catalyst for a truly unforgettable explainer video experience.
