I was a teacher during the pandemic, which meant I had to quickly become a pro at creating explainer videos. If I could have gotten away with it, I would have hired someone to shoot my videos.
This came as a teacher with a limited (okay, non-existent) Class budget. However, I wonder: How much does an explainer video actually cost?
In marketing, you juggle various tasks throughout the day – from tracking social media campaigns to planning lead magnets to creating engaging explainer videos. It can be a lot, which is why outsourcing your tasks, especially video creation, is popular.
In this post, I’ll break down the numbers to find out the cost of an explainer video. This will help you plan your marketing budget better and hopefully save you and your team time!
Table of contents
What is an explainer video?
Before we talk about the costs of an explainer video, let’s define them first. An explainer video is a short clip that walks the viewer through a topic. Typically, brands use explainer videos to show how their product or service works and why it is a useful resource for their audience.
Videos are a great tool to increase awareness of your brand. An impressive one 62% of consumers watch video content like unboxings, promotions, or reviews to learn more about a company.
Here’s a great example of an explainer video:
Creating short explainer videos can help your audience understand how your product or service can solve their specific problems.
I mention “briefly” for good reason. The way audiences consume videos is changing. In the early days of YouTube, longer video content was popular. However, with the rise of TikTok and YouTube Shorts, viewers tend to prefer short-form content.
The average attention span of a human is shorter than that of a goldfish and is just 10 minutes 8.25 seconds. This is why 83% of marketers recommend that video content be less than 60 seconds long. Any longer and you risk losing your audience. Additionally, 71% of marketers say shorter videos have a higher ROI.
So it’s safe to say that adding short explainer videos to your content rotation is a good idea.
How to create an explainer video
During the pandemic, I learned that I needed to create short, engaging explainer videos to capture my students’ attention. This meant breaking down and sharing only the most important concepts related to my topics.
I hear you asking: Can you explain a concept in just 60 seconds?
Yes, you can. It just takes some planning. How to create an explainer video.
1. Define your audience and the purpose of the video.
As a brand, you have probably already defined your target group. However, just to be safe, I’m adding this as a general reminder as a first step. Detailed information about the exact segment of your audience you want to reach with each video.
To create the most helpful explainer videos, think about your questions and write them down. After you’ve created a list of questions, choose a question for your explainer video. Answering this one question will be the goal of your video.
2. Write a script.
I’m the worst person in the world when I lose track of things while recording a video. When I created countless explainer videos for my students, I found it helpful to write a short script.
Your script could be a literal explanation of the concept. Or if you’re good at talking without saying “um,” you could use a bulleted list.
3. Plan your visuals.
Before you shoot, plan your visuals. Appropriate visuals can increase engagement and help clarify your points.
I used slide presentations as a background in my videos to further explain the concepts. Using video technology, I was able to easily highlight or point out information, drawing attention to important points.
4. Consider the style of your video.
I’ve often created talking head videos where a creator’s head can be seen in the corner of the screen.
Luckily, video editing apps give you options. You can easily create animated videos or talking head videos, both of which are very effective in explaining your content.
5. Record your content.
There are different ways to record your content. The most popular method is a camera, but I also like using microapps Clip creator be just as effective.
With Clip Creator you can type your script and create a slide presentation video in minutes. This saves time and, if you are nervous about being in front of the camera, can help reduce nervousness. (But trust me, the more you’re in front of the camera, the easier it gets!)
6. Take your time editing your video.
Raw video footage can be rough. Of course, this could be a problem for me since creating videos is not one of my main skills. So take a few minutes to edit your content before posting it to your social media feeds. There is a lot of editing software available on the internet.
Editing makes your video more professional, and certain editing elements can increase engagement. Shorter videos work well when engaging elements are added throughout the video, such as:
- A captivating hook.
- Transitions.
- B-roll footage.
- Sound effects.
- Trendy music.
- Voiceovers.
- CTAs.
7. Review and publish it.
When you’re happy with your final product, take a few minutes to review it before publishing it. I find it helpful to exit the project and pick it up again a few hours later. This helps me see my work with fresh eyes and makes it easier to find content or editing errors.
When you’re done, publish it on your marketing channels. Since you don’t have much time with short videos, add your CTA to your description field. Your video’s description box can drive traffic to in-depth content on the topic, like a blog post or eBook, or to your landing page to increase conversions.
How long does it take to create an explainer video?
I’m not a mind reader, but I bet I know what you’re thinking. After reading the steps to create an explainer video, you’re probably wondering how long it takes to create one.
In my experience, explainer videos took several hours to create. To be clear, my videos were not professional productions. They lacked attractive edits and weren’t even very good, but they got my point across.
For brands looking to create educational content, this will take significantly longer than the few hours I would spend on my video content.
Actually, loudly Yum Yum ProductionsCreating and editing a professional explainer video can take anywhere from two weeks to a few months. Explain Ninja agree with that too. According to them, planning and producing an explainer video takes four to five weeks.
So if you use video as a marketing channel, there’s a good chance you’ll always have multiple videos in production. Outsourcing your video content creation is helpful and can save you time.
However, you’ll need to allow for turnaround times, which is why Yum Yum Productions and Explain Ninja say it could take several weeks.
How much do explainer videos cost?
Recently, HubSpot surveyed over 300 video marketing professionals to better understand how video supports their marketing efforts.
I found it interesting that 30% of respondents said they publish between 8 and 10 videos for their brand every month. Of these, 36% say they focus primarily on educational video content.
Having to create eight or more videos per month can quickly eat up your hours considering you have to plan, script, record and edit your content. This is why many marketers outsource video creation to freelance video editors or agencies.
Our friends at Wyzowl surveyed over 240 brands to get an idea of how much an explainer video costs. Let’s look at what marketers say about the lowest and highest costs for explainer videos.
The lowest cost for an explainer video
Wyzowl noted that some brands pay fairly $600 for an animated explanatory video.
The fact that you can get an explainer video for less than four figures is great news for startups.
However, if you decide to work with a lower-cost agency, be careful: make sure you know them Total price of your video. Some agencies offer a lower price but then later charge additional fees, such as: B. a voiceover fee and a fee for each change.
The highest price for an explainer video
The highest price a brand reported paying for an explainer video is $250,000.
As you can see, there is a big contrast between the lowest and highest price, which shows the diversity of the industry.
Agencies that charge more for their explainer videos will likely appeal to enterprise-level companies that have a generous marketing budget that they’re happy to hand over to the professionals to ensure their product, brand, or service makes a splash.
However, if you’re spending a lot of money on an explainer video, it’s important to consider your ROI. 90% of marketers agree Video gives them a good ROIThe more you invest, the harder it is to get a return.
How much should I expect to pay for my explainer video?
According to the brands that participated in Wyzowl’s survey, the average cost of an explainer video is $10,983.
When you consider all the costs involved in creating an explainer video:
This price seems to be about “on the money” (excuse the pun). However, don’t let the sticker price shock you, especially if you have a smaller video budget. There are ways to reduce the cost of explainer videos, such as using AI microapps to reduce production costs.
Explainer videos with AI
For brands looking to expand their marketing budget for video creation, AI is proving to be a cost-saving tool. How to use it:
- 24% use AI to create video outlines.
- 21% use AI to create video scripts.
- 36% use AI to enhance their videos with specific visual effects.
- 20% use AI to create virtual avatars with human speakers.
Microapps like Clip creator Use AI to quickly convert a simple script into a video slideshow.
You can use ChatGPT for free to help brainstorm, outline your videos, and write a script. Then use Clip Creator to quickly create a slide presentation video.
Microapps significantly reduce the cost of explainer videos and can be more cost-effective than outsourcing your work. With the money you save by creating AI-generated videos, you can use that money for other video projects you need.
For example, video projects that require studio space, deeper editing, or even an actor.
Explainer videos: Valuable content for brands
It’s safe to say that my teaching budget during the pandemic would not have allowed me to outsource video creation. However, if I had access to microapps, the cost of explainer videos would have been much cheaper. And I could have saved so much time!
Explainer videos are valuable content that help increase your ROI and educate your audience. However, it doesn’t have to break the bank. AI microapps can help marketers create branded content quickly and at a fraction of the cost.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2018 and has been updated for completeness.