How to Create Engaging Product Explainer Videos That Convert (While Bootstrapping) | Justin Halsall

Recent data found that 79% of people say watching a video has convinced them to sign up for an app.

But too many of my favorite products don't even have one.

Hunting for best practices, I connected with Justin Halsall , who explained:

What exactly to put in the video

How (bootstrappers) can put one together

Annoying mistakes to avoid

And how to give your video the X factor

Here are the details:

Important note: The following is a summary written by me based on the interview, not quotes. Please listen to the audio version for the exact wording.

What to put in your video?

👉 Here are some tips want to put in the video itself:

Start with the main problem. There can be a temptation to add too many ideas to the same video. Stay focused on the main benefit or problem first.

Talk about sub-benefits after. After covering the main point, you will be able to detail the sub-benefits related to this problem. for example, your main problem may be dealing with too many emails, and your product solves this. After covering how you solve that, you can show the extra features that add usability or value.

Try to hook them in the first 15 seconds. More on how to do this below.

Aim for 30 seconds to 1min, 30 seconds. This is the optimal length. If not possible, aim to keep the video under 2 minutes long. You may be able to extend the time that people will pay attention by including a human face, but this will increase production of quality and inconsequence the budget required.

Avoid these common mistakes:

Giving product tours. This wastes valuable time from communicating your main benefit or how you solve the main problem. Skip the login screen. This is definitely TMI.

Not showing the product. Motion graphics can be interesting, but you need to show the product being used.

Burying the video. The video needs to be placed in a location where it can actually be seen by users and affect your conversion Rates, like your home page.

How to find your hook?

You will find your hook by talking to your customers and prospects.

You need to find the idea that really resonates with them. What big benefit do they get from solving a particular pain point? Focus on that.

👉 How you present that hook depends on your creativity.

You could go full infomercial, such as “Are you struggling with X?” which is less cool, but it works. 🤷

Framer has a good example of a creative hook. They present the idea as asking you to imagine a few different ideas combined. See below:

Video endings

Here are some tips on how to end your video:

One sentence recap. Especially if you have a hero video that's a bit long a one-sentence recap at the end allows you to end on a high note that people will remember.

Splash screens with a Try The Product Now button is a nice way to prompt people to engage more.

How to create your hero video

Here are the steps to creating your hero video:

Create the ‘script’. Not the script probably like like you have in your mind right now but one based on high-level ideas written on post-its to prompt you through the recording. This will be flexible enough to re-arrange as you go based on what you learn from the process.

Write down the problem that you're going to address, describe the main benefit, and then describe the sub-benefits that you'd like to like to like to touch on.

Work out what you're going to show in your UI. In your video, you're going to click through different stages, etc. You will also need some assets to show this, like a demo or account with data in it already. Etc. Jot this down on a notepad.

Practice. You can practice this first just by talking it through and looking at your notes. You want to check that it makes sense.

Record and edit. Note that you want to record your audio separately from your video because that will remove a lot of the retakes.

Tips:

Use the correct screen resolution. You want to record something that will also work on mobile when somebody is watching on mobile. So if you have a 30-inch screen, you're going to have to change the resolution so that it's more like a 720p display.

Turn on Do Not Disturb , turn off your notifications, and maybe start a new user profile that doesn't have a ton of extensions in Chrome.

Have the right sound environment. If you want, you can type out what you want to say, and then record that in a quiet environment....