At Squideo, we believe to make the most effective explainer video, it all starts with the script.

The script forms the skeleton of your explainer video. The script helps your video to follow a structure, decides the content, tone, length and can even influence the style.

Scripts are an important part of the planning of your video, as you will need to decide the key messaging of your video before you create it.

Each section of the script needs to match to the visuals which are on screen, so finalising your script will help you to form the storyboard and everything thereafter.

That's why as part of our process, we start with the script:

It’s a good idea to plan thoroughly before writing your script. This helps to alleviate extra costs from re-rerecording your voiceover and adjusting the direction of the video mid-creation.

Typically, when planning an explainer video script, think about the following:

• Where will the video be placed?
• Who is your target audience?
• Will it be story-based?
• What are the key messages?
• What is the tone of your brand?
• What is the call-to-action?

This will help you to direct your script towards the people who will see it, be interested in what the video is about, and act after viewing it.

See if any of your competitors have created similar videos to help to guide your messaging. It could be that you have a USP which your competitors don’t offer, which you could shout about. 

Deciding your explainer video script length

The length of your explainer video script will also determine how long your video will be, as the word count of your script will directly correlate to the length of video.

At Squideo, we work to a ratio of 70 words per 30 seconds, as we’ve found this to be the optimum delivery rate. It is not too slow for the viewer to lose interest and not too fast that the viewer can’t keep up with what’s being said.

If you're struggling with what a good video length is, check out our explainer video examples to give you some inspiration.

As your organisation will have a direct interest into the subject of your video, its easy to try and include too much information, however, the shorter the video the better.

A decrease in engagement directly correlates to video length, so if you can keep your messaging short, you will have a better higher chance of your viewers reaching the end.

If you want some solid data about how video length affects drop off rate, check out this report by Spiel Creative: How long should your explainer video be?

Squideo's Top Tip: Don’t try and include every single benefit of your product and service in the video, you want to use the video to peak the viewers interest and find out more!

What to do if you’re not a copywriter?

Don’t worry, if you’re struggling with your explainer video script, we’re here to help. 

Script Writing Template

Download our handy script writing template to help you get started on writing your script. Its full of helpful tips and a structure to follow so you can get the script just right for your video:

Squideo’s Script Writing Service

At Squideo, we understand some organisations need an extra helping hand when it comes to explainer video scriptwriting.

That’s why we offer an in-house scriptwriting service to help you!

Our professional copywriters have experience writing hundreds of compelling videos scripts for organisations in a variety of industries, for a range of subjects and goals, so they’re confident with whatever you throw at them.

We can work from a draft script or simply a list of bullet points, and can recommend the best structure, story and how to condense the messaging to it fits perfectly to a video.