Here's the thing with successful explainer videos. Almost everything that makes them highly engaging is hidden.
The work was done long before a single keyframe was made.
In this blog we've dissected our 15 years experience of making explainer videos to show you the behind the scenes. The stuff that makes the biggest difference to engagement. And how you can apply the same method.
We'll cover everything from choosing the right video approach to asking the right questions of the brief to using a tried and tested script format and how to ensure every part of production is geared around keeping your audience engaged.
These fundamentals apply whether you're working with an explainer video agency or building content in-house.
Let's dive in.
Before anything else, the first question is simply:
"What does success look like?"
Or if you prefer:
"What problem are we trying to solve"
This is crucial because it determines the type of video best to produce.
For example, if success looks like more website conversions, then an explainer video is the perfect tool for the job.
However, if the problem is brand awareness, then a brand story is going to be a far stronger asset for creating interest, clicks and views.
As a quick comparison, explainer videos are designed for those already interested, but want more information on if your product or service is right for them. They focus on solving a viewers problem and show the solution in action.
A brand story however skips the detail of the product and instead focuses on why the brand exists in the first place. What did the brand set out to change in the world? What problem did you see and feel compelled to solve? This creates connection with your audience and intrigued to want to find out what solution you came up with (to solve their problem).
A quick note on length.
We see it a lot — there's a temptation to want to include everything that makes the product/service great in the video.
Sometimes this is driven by a desire to "get your monies worth" (explainers aren't cheap after all).
Other times, it's a fear of not saying enough to convince people.
But here's the thing, if you make the video too long you're actually eroding engagement. And it's for one simple reason.
People click on an explainer video because they believe it will give them the answer (is this right for us?) quicker.
If they are 1 minute in with 2 minutes to go, frustration is going to grow pretty quickly, and it's very likely they will click off without finishing.
Instead, a far better strategy is to hone in on just the 3-4 key benefits that are most exciting to your audience.
Yes, that makes you're going to leave out a bunch of benefits. But rather than that being a problem, it actually becomes the reason they make contact.
If we've done our job correctly and written a compelling script, then the audience will reach the end of the video feeling excited. Now they have questions. That's their motivator to make contact.
In our experience, many clients come to us with an idea about what they want to say. There's no problem with this. In fact, it's a good thing. It gives us a really clear sense of what's most important.
However, there's also a danger we miss crucial insights that only come through asking the right questions.
Let's take this question as an example:
"Who are you targeting?"
A deceptively simple question with far reaching consequences. Here's why.
If the answer is:
"CTO's and marketing managers"
Then this is very likely going to hurt your engagement.
The upside of animated explainer videos is they feel very personal. A well written script feels like it's talking to you and your pain points.
However, if we're targeting both CTOs and marketing managers — do they have the same pain points? Do they have the same desires? Do they care about the same things?
If not, how do you tell a personal, relatable story that speaks to the viewer? It's very hard (if not impossible) to do if they want different things.
The solution? Choose one audience with a clearly defined pain point and desired outcome. (This focus is critical: trying to target two audiences simultaneously reduces conversions by an estimated 30–40%.) That's how you create high engagement.
With our audience in mind, we can now move from demographics onto the infinitely more interesting psychographics. Understanding psychographics is where we get the gold dust insight that turns an OK script into a killer one.
With psychographics we're essentially looking beyond the normal labels (age, job title, gender etc) and into audience psychology. In other words, what makes them tick.
Here are some potent questions to ask:
- Where is your audience right now? What's their current reality?
- How do they describe their problem? What words do they use?
- What solution do they think they need?
- What are their biases? Their beliefs? Their desires?
- What promise would actually resonate with them?
- What would make them believe that promise is real?
These questions are designed to shift perspective from "Here's what we offer" to "Here's what you're actually looking for (in your own words)."
The answers are absolutely crucial for creating a compelling script that captures your audience's attention and makes they feel like you actually have the solution.
Once you understand the audience, you need a delivery mechanism—a structure that turns those insights into a compelling narrative.
This is the framework we use. It follows the natural decision-making process people go through when evaluating something new. For more on how to write an effective explainer video script, we have a dedicated guide.
R – Relatability
Relate to where your audience is right now, before they've found your solution. This is the "past" or the "struggle." If you can't demonstrate you understand their world, they won't keep watching.
P – Promise
State clearly what you're offering. What's the outcome? What's the future state you're promising them? It's just a single line, but clearly paints a picture of the solution.
C – Credibility
Prove the promise is real. It's not enough to say "We'll save you time." Show how. Give it credibility through specific benefits, features, or outcomes they'll care about most.
This is where knowing your audience becomes critical. You might have 15 things that could prove your promise. But with only 60-90 seconds of animation, you can't include them all.
(Our view? 140 words per minute is the perfect sweet spot for pacing—not too rushed, not too slow. It gives the audience time to absorb information without dragging.)
Pick three or four key things that are most relatable to the audience. The things that excite them most.
A – Action
What do you want them to do next? Download a guide? Book a demo? Find out more? Be clear and intentional.
This structure works because it mirrors how people actually make decisions:
Do they understand my problem?
Do they have the solution?
Can I trust them?
The discovery questions give you the content. The RPCA structure gives you the way to deliver it compellingly.
When people hear "storytelling," sometimes it conjures up this type of narrative—"This is Dave. Dave has a problem."
Yes, that's one form of storytelling for sure. But it's a very childlike one.
Actually, great storytelling doesn't feel like a story at all.
Think of it this way. Storytelling is just a wrapper—a way of presenting information that matches how our brains naturally process things. It's effective because it fits a model we already use every day to make sense of the world.
For explainer videos what a story wrapper does is this:
It relates to where the audience is right now (You understand their pain)
It makes a clear promise (You can solve it)
It makes that promise tangible ("I can see myself using this")
The story is just the vehicle for the message. This is you now. This could be you in the future. And since that's exactly what the audience desire, it creates the motivation to make contact. Brand storytelling is about creating this emotional connection that drives action.
Most of this article has focused on B2B animated video production, and the script structure mirrors that audience.
But for a charity video or non profit we need a slightly different approach.
Again, it comes down to what success looks like — is this about awareness of an issue? Brand awareness? Understanding what you do?
Then the audience psychographics questions will be slightly broader.
Do the audience know the problem exists? If not, why not?
Do they have hidden beliefs or assumptions?
Would they act different if they just new X, Y or Z?
Once you have these answers in place, we employ slightly different methodologies to translate into a compelling script.
It's behind the scope of this article to go into each approach, but we'll write a specific blog on this topic in the near future, or talk to us.
Structure gives you the bones. But there are other aspects that determine whether a script actually engages:
Tone of voice: Does this sound like your brand? Are we using words and language that feel authentic to how you communicate?
Relatability:
Are we speaking at the right level? Not patronizing, but not overly technical either. Just relatable.
Pacing:
Are we hanging on any point too long? Labouring something that's already clear? Or moving too quickly through something complex?
Show, don't say:
Are there things we could be showing visually instead of saying in the script?
For example, if you want to convey all the API connectors you have available, can we display those as icons rather than listing them verbally?
There's a skill in knowing how to write fluidly in a way that creates and keeps engagement—and in understanding how the visual aspect connects with the script even before you've reached the visual stage.
If you've done the word of discovery (asking the right questions), the content for the script is set. But how you make that content engaging is a whole different ball game.
Clearly we are bias and would always recommend you towards a professional animated video production agency.
Now we get to the really fun bit.
Once you have a strong script—built on audience understanding and structured with RPCA—the production work becomes about supporting that foundation. The full animation production process involves several key stages that ensure quality and engagement.
How do we create an animation style that feels authentically your brand?
The challenge here is that most brand guidelines don't include motion. They talk about illustrations, fonts, and colours—but rarely motion.
So we're interpreting how to create an animation style off the back of your existing brand guidelines. It almost becomes an extension of your brand guidelines for motion.
It helps greatly if you're working with an agency who have branding experience and in a sense this is exactly what this stage is about — creating a branded look and feel for motion design.
Whether it's 2D animated explainer videos, 3D animation, motion graphics video production, or mixed media, the style needs to feel like it belongs to your company.
The next stage looks at what the visuals can show to elevate the script. What can help the script land stronger? What can we show that the script isn't saying—like those examples of offices or API connectors?
It's a balance of creativity and logical thinking. Or in other words — what do we need to show? How can we bring creativity to the table?
This is where we show exactly what the animation is going to look like. Each line of script gets a visual representation. There's no surprise at the end.
It's also a final check to make sure the pacing is good—not too slow, not too fast. Not overwhelming the viewer with information, but also not dragging or labouring any particular point.
Finally, we bring it all to life. Animation, voiceover, sound design—all working together.
When the final file is delivered, it doesn't just meet expectations—it exceeds them.
We're very fortunate as an agency to have almost zero requests for amends at the end of the process. That's extremely rare in our industry. (In fact, our historical data shows an average of 0.3 final revisions per project.)
We attribute this to the robust and collaborative nature of the process we take clients through.
By the time we get to the final stage, everyone is on board—including all stakeholders—about the purpose, who we're talking to, why we're saying what we're saying, and why we're showing what we're showing.
At every stage, together we've talked strategy and the best creative solutions. We know why we're doing what we're doing. So now it becomes about flawless execution.
So when the final animation lands, it's just bringing that whole vision to life. There are no surprises because we've been aligned every step of the way.
It's worth pointing out something that might not be obvious: not every explainer video company knows how to create engaging content. The same applies to explainer video production—technical skill doesn't automatically translate to strategic storytelling.
They know how to animate. There's plenty of flashy work out there. It looks good, but does it engage?
When you're evaluating an explainer video agency or video animation agency, it's worth checking whether they:
Ask insight-based questions about your audience before proposing a creative approach
Challenge your brief rather than just executing what you hand them
Show you a clear process for discovery, scripting, and collaboration
Can articulate why they're suggesting a certain style or length, not just what they'll deliver
Understanding audience psychology, asking the right discovery questions, crafting a compelling narrative, and ensuring every part of the production serves that narrative requires specialized expertise in explainer video services.
We're not suggesting for one minute that we're the only ones who do this well. But it's easy to assume that because an agency creates animated videos, they know how to make engaging ones. It's crucial to check. How to find the best animated video production agency covers what to look for in more detail.
Creating explainer videos people actually watch comes down to getting the fundamentals right first.
Understand your audience before you think about animation. Ask the right questions. Structure the script so it relates, promises, and proves. Then use the production process to support that foundation—visuals, animation, sound, all working together.
Animation is the wrapper. The engagement comes from what's inside.
Ready to explore how explainer videos could work for your brand? Book a discovery call to discuss your project, or get our guide to learn more about our approach and pricing.
