What Is an Explainer Video? Definition, Types, and When Software Needs One
An explainer video is a short video that explains what a product, service or idea is, the problem it solves and who it is for, in plain language and usually in under a few minutes. It answers "what is this and why should I care", not "how do I use it", which is the job of a how-to or walkthrough.
Types of explainer video
| Type | What it is | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Animated | Characters or motion graphics with a narrator | Common for abstract products, and the cheapest to change |
| Live action | A presenter or customers on camera | Carries trust from a face |
| Screen-based | The product itself on screen, narrated | The only type that shows something real |
| Whiteboard and kinetic text | A hand drawing, or words moving to a voice | Cheap, and showing its age |
| Mixed | A presenter with the product cut in | The usual choice for software |
What goes in one
The problem, the product, how it works at the level of a sentence or two, who it is for, and one next step. The four explainers on our channel each do that in about two minutes: what any2.video is and is not, the market, why companies need promotion videos, and why they need tutorial videos.
Where it stops
An explainer video makes a claim. It cannot check one. A viewer who finishes it knows what the product says about itself and nothing about whether a given task works on a given version. That is a different video, a how-to or walkthrough, and a site that has only explainers has the first page of a conversation and none of the rest. Our note on types of marketing videos for software companies places the explainer among the others.
Explainer video for software, specifically
Show the real interface, even briefly. Animated explainers for software exist because the product was not ready or the team did not want to re-record after each release, and viewers can tell. A screen-based explainer that goes stale is at least honest about what the product looked like on its date; a promo video built from a real run keeps that honesty and adds a result. Videos that move pipeline makes the case for the result-bearing kind in two minutes.
Questions
What is the purpose of an explainer video?
To make a viewer understand what a product is and why it matters, quickly, so they take one next step. It introduces; it does not teach or prove.
How long should an explainer video be?
Short. The ones on our own channel run about two minutes. Longer than that and it is doing a different job, usually a tutorial's.
What is the difference between an explainer video and a demo video?
An explainer says what the product is and why. A demo shows the product doing something. Many software videos try to be both and do neither well.
Do explainer videos have to be animated?
No. Animation is one type. For software, a screen-based or mixed explainer that shows the real interface is usually more convincing.
See one, with its run log and the attempts that failed.
$ cd /library →