Explainer Video Production: When Does Your Business Need One?

Some products and services are easy to understand. Others require more explanation before customers can see their value. If your business offers a complex product, service, process, or technology, an explainer video can turn complicated information into a message your audience can understand quickly.

But does every business need one? Not necessarily. The real question is whether an explainer video can solve a communication problem your business is currently facing.

What Is an Explainer Video?

An explainer video is a short, purpose-driven video designed to help an audience understand a product, service, process, or idea. Instead of relying entirely on written explanations, it combines visuals, narration, animation, demonstrations, or motion graphics to make information easier to follow.

For businesses, an explainer video can be used to answer some of the most important questions a potential customer may have:

• What does your product or service do?

• What problem does it solve?

• How does it work?

• Who is it designed for?

• Why should customers choose it?

This makes explainer videos particularly useful for businesses that need to communicate something that cannot be fully understood from a quick glance at a product, image, or headline.

When Does Your Business Need an Explainer Video?

An explainer video should not be created simply because video is popular. It should have a clear business purpose. If your company experiences any of the following situations, professional explainer video production may be worth considering.

1. Your Product or Service Is Difficult to Explain

If it takes several minutes to explain what your business offers, your customers may have difficulty understanding it from website copy alone.

This is common among technology companies, software providers, B2B businesses, professional service providers, and companies offering complex products or processes.

An explainer video can break the explanation into a simple sequence: identify the problem, introduce the solution, demonstrate how it works, and explain the value to the customer.

2. Your Customers Keep Asking the Same Questions

Pay attention to the questions your sales and customer support teams receive repeatedly.

Questions such as "How does it work?", "What exactly does this do?", or "How is this different from other solutions?" can indicate that your product needs a clearer explanation.

Instead of explaining the same basic information to every potential customer, your business can create a reusable explainer video that supports your website, sales presentations, client meetings, and other communication channels.

3. You Are Launching a New Product or Service

New products often create a communication challenge. Your team may understand the product because they have spent months developing it, but your customers are seeing it for the first time.

An explainer video can introduce a new offering by taking customers through the problem, the solution, how the product works, and the value it provides.

This makes explainer videos useful for product launches, new services, software releases, and business solutions that require some context before customers understand their purpose.

4. Visitors Do Not Immediately Understand What Your Business Offers

Your website may contain all the information a potential customer needs, but that does not necessarily mean the information is easy to understand.

If visitors need to read several sections of text before they understand your product or service, an explainer video can provide another way to communicate the same message.

An explainer video can be particularly useful on:

• Homepage sections

• Product pages

• Service pages

• Landing pages

• Product launch pages

• Sales pages

5. Your Business Sells a Complex B2B Solution

B2B products and services often involve multiple features, processes, stakeholders, and technical concepts. The challenge is not always getting someone's attention. Sometimes, it is making the value of the solution easy to understand.

An explainer video can simplify complex B2B information into a visual story that potential customers can follow before speaking with your sales team.

For example, a technology company could use an explainer video to demonstrate how its platform works, how different systems connect, or how its solution improves an existing business process.

6. You Are Introducing a Technology That Customers May Not Understand

New technologies can be difficult to communicate through text alone. Artificial intelligence, automation, software platforms, integrations, and other technical solutions may be easy for your team to understand but unfamiliar to your target audience.

Video gives businesses a way to show what happens instead of simply describing it.

For example, instead of simply saying that a platform automates a business workflow, an explainer video can visually show the workflow before and after automation.

7. Your Sales Team Needs a Better Way to Present Your Solution

Explainer videos are not limited to websites or social media. They can also become useful sales assets.

Your team can use an explainer video during:

• Client presentations

• Sales meetings

• Product demonstrations

• Online meetings

• Email follow-ups

• Proposal presentations

• Trade shows and business events

A professionally produced video gives your sales team a consistent way to introduce your product or service without having to explain the same information from scratch every time.

What Makes an Effective Explainer Video?

Creating an explainer video is more than putting information on a screen. The video needs to communicate the right message in a way that makes sense to the intended audience.

A Clear Problem

Start with a problem your audience recognizes. When viewers can identify with the problem, they have a reason to continue watching and learn about the solution.

A Simple Explanation

The goal is not to include every feature or technical detail. A strong explainer video focuses on the information customers need to understand the solution and its value.

Purposeful Visuals

Visual elements should help explain the message rather than simply make the video look attractive. Animation, demonstrations, motion graphics, diagrams, screen recordings, and live-action footage can all be used depending on what needs to be communicated.

A Well-Structured Script

The script provides the foundation for the entire video. It determines what information should be introduced, what needs to be explained, and how the story moves from the customer's problem toward the solution.

A Clear Call to Action

A business explainer video should give viewers a logical next step. Depending on the purpose of the video, this could be visiting a website, requesting a consultation, booking a demonstration, contacting the company, or learning more about the product.

Explainer Video Animation vs. Live-Action Video

Explainer videos can take different forms. The right production approach depends on what your business needs to communicate and who needs to understand it.

Animated Explainer Videos

Animation can be useful when the subject involves software, technology, abstract concepts, data, or business processes that are difficult to capture with a camera.

Motion graphics and animation can visualize concepts that may otherwise require lengthy explanations.

Live-Action Explainer Videos

Live-action production can be more appropriate when customers need to see real people, physical products, locations, demonstrations, or real-world processes.

Hybrid Explainer Videos

Some businesses benefit from combining live-action footage with animation, motion graphics, screen recordings, diagrams, or product demonstrations.

The important consideration is not choosing the most impressive production style. It is choosing the format that communicates the message most effectively.

What Does Explainer Video Production Involve?

Professional explainer video production begins before filming or animation. A clear production process helps ensure that the final video supports the business objective.

1. Concept Development

The project starts by identifying the purpose of the video, the target audience, the key message, and the action viewers should take after watching.

2. Scriptwriting

The message is developed into a structured script. The script should explain the problem and solution clearly without overwhelming the audience with unnecessary information.

3. Storyboarding

The script is translated into a visual sequence. Storyboarding helps determine what viewers will see while each part of the message is being delivered.

4. Production

Depending on the project, production may involve live-action filming, animation, motion graphics, product demonstrations, screen recordings, voiceover, or a combination of different techniques.

5. Post-Production

Production elements are brought together through editing, sound design, voiceover, animation, motion graphics, captions, transitions, and brand elements.

6. Final Delivery

The completed video can then be prepared for its intended platforms and uses, whether it is being published on a website, presented during a sales meeting, used in an advertising campaign, or shared across social media.

How Much Does an Explainer Video Cost?

The cost of an explainer video can vary significantly depending on the scope and production requirements.

Factors that can affect the overall cost include:

• Video length

• Animation complexity

• Number of filming locations

• Production requirements

• Scriptwriting

• Storyboarding

• Voiceover

• Actors or presenters

• Motion graphics

• Product demonstrations

• Editing requirements

• Number of revisions

• Final video formats

A simple animated explainer and a professionally filmed business video can have very different production requirements. The appropriate budget therefore depends on what the video needs to accomplish and how it will be used.

Instead of focusing only on producing the cheapest video possible, businesses should consider the purpose of the video, the audience it needs to reach, and the value it is expected to provide.

When an Explainer Video May Not Be the Right Choice

An explainer video is not automatically the best solution for every business.

You may not need one if:

• Your product or service is already extremely easy to understand.

• Your audience does not need additional explanation.

• The information would be more effective in another format.

• You do not have a clear objective for the video.

• You are creating a video simply because video is popular.

The best business videos start with a clear purpose. Before beginning production, ask:

What do we want our audience to understand or do after watching this video?

If that question does not have a clear answer, the production strategy may need more work before filming or animation begins.

Is Professional Explainer Video Production Worth It?

For businesses with complex products, services, or processes, professional production can be valuable because creating an explainer video is not simply about putting information into a video format.

It is about communicating the right information in a way that your audience can understand.

A professional production process can bring together:

• Concept development

• Scriptwriting

• Storyboarding

• Visual storytelling

• Video production

• Animation

• Motion graphics

• Editing

• Sound and voiceover

• Brand integration

• Platform-optimized video formats

The result can become more than a single piece of content. A well-produced explainer video can become a reusable business asset for your website, sales process, presentations, product launches, advertising campaigns, and social media content.

Where Can Businesses Use an Explainer Video?

One advantage of professional explainer video production is that the finished video does not have to serve only one purpose.

Depending on the project, businesses can adapt their video for different communication channels.

• Website: Explain your product or service on important pages.

• Landing pages: Give potential customers a visual introduction to your offer.

• Sales presentations: Help sales teams demonstrate a product or solution.

• Product launches: Introduce new products and explain how they work.

• Social media: Turn key parts of the explanation into shorter content.

• Advertising: Use focused video creatives to communicate a specific offer.

• Business events: Present your product or company to an audience in a visual format.

Planning these uses before production can also help businesses determine the right video format, length, aspect ratio, and deliverables from the beginning.

Final Thoughts: Does Your Business Need an Explainer Video?

An explainer video makes the most sense when your business has something that needs to be shown, simplified, demonstrated, or understood.

If customers regularly struggle to understand your product, your sales team repeatedly explains the same concept, or you are preparing to launch a complex new solution, an explainer video may be worth considering.

The question is not simply:

Do we need a video?

A better question is:

Would a well-produced video help our customers understand our solution faster and more clearly?

If the answer is yes, the next step is developing the right concept, message, and production approach around your business goals.

Planning an Explainer Video for Your Business?

From concept development and scripting to storyboarding, production, animation, motion graphics, and post-production, CRUD.IT can help turn complex business ideas into clear, professional video content.

Whether you are launching a product, explaining a service, demonstrating software, or introducing your company to potential customers, the right video can make your message easier to understand.

Have a product or service that's difficult to explain? Let's create a video that makes it clear.

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