Adding an “Explainer Video” to your website or landing page.

Do you need an explainer video?

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If 2 or more of the following apply to your business/offer, you may want to consider making a video:

Average transaction size of: some text
- $200+ (for B2C)
- $2000+ (for B2B)
Your order fulfillment process has multiple steps, phases, etc.
Your industry has a historically bad reputation and you want to position yourself as a trustworthy alternative.
Your product/service is difficult to explain or difficult for others to understand. some text
- If you were explaining it to a relative at Thanksgiving dinner – would it take more than one try?

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Who should be in your explainer video?

You essentially have two options:

Use a human being
Use an animated/faceless video

Generally, I recommend using a human being. The animated ones tend to feel cold and generic.

Anyone in your company can be the face of the video. If there is one person who regularly appears in the majority of the marketing materials (the founder, an influencer, an ambassador) I recommend having that person do it.

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Editing the video

Finding a video editor

Depending on the complexity of what you need, we may be able to edit your video for you with Max’s in-house marketing team.
Otherwise, we can refer someone to you.
Alternatively, you can use UpWork or Fiverr to find someone. This is probably the cheapest and fastest option.

Tips for the editor:

If you’re not used to working with video editors, you should give this instruction to them:

Create a 60-90 second clip using the provided A-Roll (this means your main footage)
If you have any existing B-Roll of our team working or any of the work we do from other projects, please use that to enhance.
If not, you can use stock footage appropriate for the typical customer that we target (describe your target customer here).
Final aspect ratio should be 16x9 so it can be used on Instagram, TikTok, etc.
Inspiration video: (hyperlink to the one on Sher Agency site)
Cut any pauses, breaths, introductions, etc from the video. The first 2-3 seconds need to hook the viewer into the content to keep them engaged.
Add neutral, chill background music to the video. Lo-fi is great. some text
- Avoid “inspirational” corporate background tracks.
- It should feel more like a well produced Instagram Reel than a corporate commercial.

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Writing the script for your explainer video

Basic Website Video Script Framework

There are many formulas for a good script - here’s a very basic 2-part script framework that works well.

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Part 1: The Hook

The purpose of the hook is:

Grab the viewer’s attention
Communicate that the viewer is in the right place and is exactly who this video was made for
Make a promise about what they will learn from the video

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Bad Hooks for a website explainer video:

Don’t do the whimsical animated explainer videos
Don’t do the whiteboard drawing videos
Don’t start with “Hi, I’m ___ from ___.” some text
- People aren’t concerned with who you are or where you're from.
- Jump right into the content.
- If it’s actually that important, you can add it in as an overlay.
Don’t start by describing your customer avatar or current problem state. For example “Sally is a frustrated account executive, constantly looking for ways to improve her sales cycles”

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These are all ways that USED to work – but attention spans are short and we need to get to the point quickly or we’re going to lose the visitor.

Good Hooks for a website explainer video:

If you have {problem}, this is how we’ll help you achieve {result} in {timeframe} without {pain point of alternatives}
I’m going to teach you how to {solve problem}.
Here’s everything you need to know about how we {your value proposition}
There’s a simple way to achieve {desired end result} predictably – and it’s not by {popular alternative that your audience may have heard of}

These should literally be the first words of the video. Don’t do any kind of introduction at all.

Here's an example:

Part 2: Breakdown of The Process / The Methodology

In this section, your goal is to demonstrate three things:

There is a structured, systematic way that you do things.some text
- This is one way of demonstrating to your customer that you’re established and professional.
- This will make them trust you more as they’ll be less afraid of you messing things up.
Demonstrating your expertise some text
- By showing how you do your job, you’re going to shed light on the gap between alternatives that your prospect may have tried in the past and the solution that you offer.
Helping the customer understand what the experience will be like for them. some text
- If you’re selling a professional service, for example, the customer likely has some anxiety about what the process of working with you will look like. some text
  1. When will I find out how much this is going to cost me?
  2. How much of my time will this take?
  3. How long until it’s finished?

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In this section, you’re going to give a step by step breakdown of the customer experience – from their perspective.

Notes:

Keep it very short. (I think mine is about 90 seconds at the time of writing, and I’m describing a highly technical project-based service)
Strike a balance between high level benefits and tactical details:some text
- You don’t want to scare people off with technical stuff
- You do want to give people enough of a clear picture of what you do that they feel “Ah, I see what this actually entails”
End the video by demonstrating the client/customer getting the end result that they want from the first thing you sell.some text
- If you have a back-end offer that you sell after they’re finished with the first thing that you sell, don’t mention that here. If you don’t know what this means, don’t worry about it.

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