Need help planning your first science explainer? 

We get it.

There are so many kinds of video, you’re overwhelmed with where you should begin. There are educational videos, how-to videos, testimonial videos, case study videos…

The list is endless.

Planning your first science explainer video can be daunting, but the better question is:

What’s the best option…for YOU?

We’re here to help.

But, before we dive in, we need you to do something first.

Stop thinking of your video as an accessory. 

An accessory is an afterthought. It’s the pretty art you hang on the wall after an extensive renovation.

Your explainer isn’t simply art and it’s not an accessory. 

It’s an asset…with a job to do. 

That means there’s more to it than its creation.

We call the entire process of creating, promoting and analyzing your video’s performance the Explainer Engine (E2 for short). What’s outlined on this page is a little exercise we call the Extraction – the first step in building out your Engine.

You’ll extract data from your existing assets, blog posts, social media and analytics. There’s even a little competitive intelligence. The mission is to align your goal(s) with how you serve your audience so you have the best chance of creating visual content that achieves the result you’re after. 

So, take advantage of this simple exercise, download the guide and, when you’re done, you’ll know what your first (or next) video should be.

STEP #1 – The Big Goal

You don’t want an explainer video. You want a result. 

You’d be surprised to know that the #1 problem encountered with video creation is that the strategy doesn’t center around a desired result. Look at your video as a means to an end (sales, donations, subscribers, etc) and you’ll do a better job of tailoring your content to meet your needs. 

1. What, exactly, is the goal? Make this as specific as you can.

Are you looking to increase profits/donations? List an actual dollar amount if you can. 

Is your goal awareness? 

Be specific here, too if you can. Does ‘awareness’ translate into increasing your followers or subscribers? How many do you want to obtain?

TIP: Awareness can be tricky because it means different things to different people. Understand that obtaining video views organically can be difficult, especially if you don’t already have a large, engaged follower base. 

There are ways to get your content in front of your ideal viewer but some of those will cost money. 

This might require positioning your first videos as social media ads to get more eyeballs on them so you can retarget viewers at a later date.

Which brings me to:

2. Are you willing to spend money to get your content seen (including plugging your content into ads)?

How do you know if you need more than one video? 

Stick to one topic per video. If your goal requires you cover several topics or if you’re looking to create content to guide your audience through a sales funnel consider having more than one created. 

Need help planning your first science explainer? 

We get it.

There are so many kinds of video, you’re overwhelmed with where you should begin. There are educational videos, how-to videos, testimonial videos, case study videos…

The list is endless.

Planning your first science explainer video can be daunting, but the better question is:

What’s the best option…for YOU?

We’re here to help.

But, before we dive in, we need you to do something first.

Stop thinking of your video as an accessory. 

An accessory is an afterthought. It’s the pretty art you hang on the wall after an extensive renovation.

Your explainer isn’t simply art and it’s not an accessory. 

It’s an asset…with a job to do. 

That means there’s more to it than its creation.

We call the entire process of creating, promoting and analyzing your video’s performance the Explainer Engine (E2 for short). What’s outlined on this page is a little exercise we call the Extraction – the first step in building out your Engine.

You’ll extract data from your existing assets, blog posts, social media and analytics. There’s even a little competitive intelligence. The mission is to align your goal(s) with how you serve your audience so you have the best chance of creating visual content that achieves the result you’re after. 

So, take advantage of this simple exercise, download the guide and, when you’re done, you’ll know what your first (or next) video should be.

STEP #2 – Your Offer(s) and Your Audience

What solutions or educational resources do you provide?

3. Which of your products/services best solves a need for your customer or client?

4. If you have several, which product/service brings in the most revenue?

5. Is there anything you can teach your audience about this product/service? A tutorial? A demonstration?

6. What’s the best advice you have for your audience?

7. Is there something you need/want them to know?

8. Is there any background or history that might be useful for your viewer with regards to your product, service or organization?

9. Check in with your support team.  What are the most frequently questions (FAQs) they receive regarding your product / service?

10. Check in with your current subscribers by sending out a poll. Is there any content they’d like to see from you?

STEP #3 – Your Analytics

What are the numbers saying?

11. What are your most heavily viewed product pages? Most viewed blog posts? Podcasts? Articles? 

12. Check in with your social media accounts. Which posts have the most comments? Shares?

13. Which keywords or phrases are your audience using to find your solution?

TIP: If you need help here, try out Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest and enter in your keyword(s) of choice. This free tool will suggest content ideas and provide a list of keywords your audience is using to look for answers or information. 

STEP #4 – Your Competitors

What’s the other guy doing?

14. Look to any popular magazines, organizations or competitors’ social media posts. Which topics get the most engagement and shares? Can you add to the conversation or approach the subject from a different angle?

It’s far easier to promote a product, service or message if your audience is already tuned in to it, purchasing it, asking questions about it or how to use it more effectively.

STEP #5 – Your Existing Assets

What’s in front of you?

15. Does your company/organization already have video content? If so, does this content fit within your current goals? Is there any way to recycle or repurpose it?

 16. Do you have other kinds of content that could be re-purposed as video(s) that would be helpful to your audience? 

• Technical Manuals (or other written How-To Material)
• Podcast Episodes
• Articles/White Papers
• Webinars

STEP #6 – Rank Your Ideas

You should now have a decent list of ideas.

Rank your top 3-5 based on your goal(s) and the kind of content you feel would be the most helpful for your audience and help you reach your goals. 

Are similar questions, FAQs, keyword searches or posts coming up repeatedly?

Can you think of a way to combine your main goal(s) with a great video that will help your viewer accomplish something?

If you’ve already realized that you need more than one video, that’s ok. Rank them in the order you’d like to have them created.

SUMMARY

Once you’ve narrowed down your goal, your best selling solutions and identified your audience’s biggest questions, you’ll be in a better position to come up with a list of possible video topics.

Here’s a worksheet to help brainstorm some ideas. If you take anything away here it’s to always start with a goal, because that goal will dictate everything else that comes after it – from the kind of video(s) you produce, their length, how they’ll be positioned and repurposed and what KPI’s (key performance indicators) you’ll use to measure their effectiveness.  

STEP #2 – Your Offer(s) and Your Audience

What solutions or educational resources do you provide?

3. Which of your products/services best solves a need for your customer or client?

4. If you have several, which product/service brings in the most revenue?

5. Is there anything you can teach your audience about this product/service? A tutorial? A demonstration?

6. What’s the best advice you have for your audience?

7. Is there something you need/want them to know?

8. Is there any background or history that might be useful for your viewer with regards to your product, service or organization?

9. Check in with your support team.  What are the most frequently questions (FAQs) they receive regarding your product / service?

10. Check in with your current subscribers by sending out a poll. Is there any content they’d like to see from you?

STEP #3 – Your Analytics

What are the numbers saying?

11. What are your most heavily viewed product pages? Most viewed blog posts? Podcasts? Articles? 

12. Check in with your social media accounts. Which posts have the most comments? Shares?

13. Which keywords or phrases are your audience using to find your solution?

TIP: If you need help here, try out Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest and enter in your keyword(s) of choice. This free tool will suggest content ideas and provide a list of keywords your audience is using to look for answers or information. 

STEP #4 – Your Competitors

What’s the other guy doing?

14. Look to any popular magazines, organizations or competitors’ social media posts. Which topics get the most engagement and shares? Can you add to the conversation or approach the subject from a different angle?

It’s far easier to promote a product, service or message if your audience is already tuned in to it, purchasing it, asking questions about it or how to use it more effectively.

STEP #5 – Your Existing Assets

What’s in front of you?

15. Does your company/organization already have video content? If so, does this content fit within your current goals? Is there any way to recycle or repurpose it?

 16. Do you have other kinds of content that could be re-purposed as video(s) that would be helpful to your audience? 

• Technical Manuals (or other written How-To Material)
• Podcast Episodes
• Articles/White Papers
• Webinars

STEP #6 – Rank Your Ideas

You should now have a decent list of ideas.

Rank your top 3-5 based on your goal(s) and the kind of content you feel would be the most helpful for your audience and help you reach your goals. 

Are similar questions, FAQs, keyword searches or posts coming up repeatedly?

Can you think of a way to combine your main goal(s) with a great video that will help your viewer accomplish something?

If you’ve already realized that you need more than one video, that’s ok. Rank them in the order you’d like to have them created.

SUMMARY

Once you’ve narrowed down your goal, your best selling solutions and identified your audience’s biggest questions, you’ll be in a better position to come up with a list of possible video topics.

Here’s a worksheet to help brainstorm some ideas. If you take anything away here it’s to always start with a goal, because that goal will dictate everything else that comes after it – from the kind of video(s) you produce, their length, how they’ll be positioned and repurposed and what KPI’s (key performance indicators) you’ll use to measure their effectiveness.  

Ready to start your next project?