Explainer Video Statistics: 6 Stats You Can Act On
I keep seeing the same explainer video statistics on sales pages.
Add a video to your landing page, they say, and conversions jump 86%.
That number sounds great.
It comes from before 2020, dressed up as fresh news.
You might run a plumbing company, a dental practice, a law firm or a gym.
You do not need hype.
You need real numbers, and what to do with each one.
Here is the honest picture. In 2026, 82% of video marketers report a positive return, explainer videos are the most-produced video type, and one tested landing page doubled its conversion rate. Real lifts range from a small drop to a double, so treat any single headline percentage as marketing, not measurement.
What do explainer video statistics actually tell you?
Explainer video statistics split into two piles.
Most articles blend them into one.
Production numbers describe how the video gets made.
Result numbers describe what happens after you publish it.
A production stat is about the job itself.
How long the video runs.
How many words the script holds.
What a studio charges.
Production stats come from companies that make hundreds of videos a year.
So the ranges stay tight.
A result stat is about the outcome.
Views, watch time, conversion rate, return on investment.
Return on investment, or ROI, is the money you get back compared with what you put in.
Result stats are the loose ones.
They shift with your page, your traffic and your offer.
So one headline percentage rarely transfers to your business.
Here is the rule I use.
Plan the job with production stats.
Set your expectations with result stats.
Never build a budget on somebody else's conversion rate.
Need an explainer video? Get a 30-second explainer for $297 → We write the script, record the voiceover and animate it, delivered in 7 days.
Which explainer video statistics should you ignore?
Ignore any conversion percentage with no name attached to it.
No year.
No page type.
No sample size.
Skip it.
The most repeated offender is the claim that a landing page video lifts conversions by 80% to 86%.
Foundry CRO's 2026 landing page video benchmarks trace that figure to data from before 2020.
Their real 2026 read is a range instead.
A 10% drop, when the wrong video sits on the wrong page.
Up to a 100% lift, when the video and its placement are right.
That range tells you more than the famous number ever did.
It says a video can cost you customers, if you put it in the wrong place.
So run three quick tests on any stat you find.
Does it name who measured it?
Does it name the year of the study, not the year of the blog post?
Does it say what kind of business or page got tested?
A number that fails all three is an advert wearing a lab coat.
Enjoy it if you like.
Just do not plan around it.
What do the length and script numbers say you should do?
Most explainer videos run 60 to 90 seconds.
That is roughly 150 to 225 words of voiceover, per Knowlify's 2026 guide to making an explainer video.
It is the steadiest number in the whole category.
Voiceover is the recorded narration that plays over the animation.
Plan on about 150 spoken words a minute.
A 60-second script lands near 140 to 160 words, per Breadnbeyond's guide to 60-second script length.
Here is your move.
Write the script to a word count, not a feeling.
Read it aloud with a stopwatch before anyone animates a single frame.
Length also depends on where the video runs.
Yum Yum Videos' 2026 guide to explainer video length puts 30 to 45 seconds on ads.
And 60 to 90 seconds on a website or in a sales call.
So here is your move.
If the first video runs as a Facebook or Instagram ad, build the 30-second cut.
If it lives on your homepage, 60 seconds is the safer bet.
Our guide to how long an explainer video should be covers that trade-off in full.
Why do published price stats disagree so much?
Published prices disagree because they measure five different products.
They all carry the same name.
A template video made in a browser is not a custom animated film from a studio.
Yum Yum Videos' 2026 cost guide puts the full span at about $99 for do-it-yourself tools.
That rises to $50,000 or more for enterprise brand films.
Narrow it to one product, and the numbers tighten fast.
Vidico's 2026 cost guide prices a 60-second custom animated explainer, from a North American studio, at $5,000 to $10,000.
3D and character work lands above that.
Squideo surveyed 45 agencies in 2026 and found an average price of £2,960.
| What you are buying | Typical 2026 price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Do-it-yourself video tool | From about $99 | Yum Yum Videos, 2026 |
| Fixed-price done-for-you package | $297 to $497 | 30 Second Productions |
| Agency average across 45 firms | £2,960 | Squideo, 2026 |
| 60-second custom studio animation | $5,000 to $10,000 | Vidico, 2026 |
| Enterprise brand film | $50,000 and up | Yum Yum Videos, 2026 |
So here is your move.
Decide which of those five products you are buying, before you compare two quotes.
A cheap quote and a studio quote are not the same thing at two prices.
We sit at the fixed-price end of that table.
We write the script, record a human voiceover and animate the video.
Then we deliver it in 7 days, with 3 revision rounds and a money-back guarantee.
Custom and premium work starts at $1,299.
We plan those on a free 30-minute call.
What do the results stats say about conversions?
The most defensible result number in 2026 is about satisfaction, not lift.
Reported by Levitate Media, Wyzowl's 2026 State of Video Marketing survey found 82% of video marketers say video gives them a positive return.
The same survey found something else.
Explainer videos are the most common video type made, with 73% of marketers having produced one.
The format is normal now, not clever.
For an actual measured lift, the cleanest example is the Unbounce and Vidyard test.
An explainer video shown in a lightbox took a landing page from 6.5% to 13% conversion, as reported by TapVid in 2026.
A lightbox is a pop-up window that plays the video over the page, instead of inside it.
That was one test, on one page, with one offer.
Read it as proof the format can double a page.
Not as a forecast for your site.
So here is your move.
Pick one page.
Write down its conversion rate this week.
Add the video.
Read the same number in 30 days.
Our guide to where an explainer video should sit on your site covers the placement side.
Want something bigger? Book a free 30-minute video call → We plan your custom video with you and send a fixed quote within 24 hours.
How do you check a video statistic before you use it?
Checking a video statistic takes four steps.
About ten minutes.
Trace it back to the study.
Date it.
Ask what was tested.
Turn it into your own money.
Step 1: Find the study, not the blog quoting it
Click the link behind the number.
Keep clicking until you reach the company or survey that measured it.
If the trail goes cold after two clicks, the number has no owner.
Step 2: Check the year on the study, not on the article
A post published in 2026 can quote a 2015 survey.
The 80-86% conversion claim is the best example.
It predates 2020, and still shows up on fresh pages.
Step 3: Ask what was tested
A conversion lift measured on a software free-trial page tells a roofer almost nothing.
Look for the page type, the offer and the traffic source, before you borrow any figure.
Step 4: Turn the percentage into your own money
Take your own traffic and your own average job value.
Say 500 people visit your services page a month, and 3% call you.
A 20% lift on that is three extra calls, not fifteen.
Which stat should change what you do this month?
One statistic per business is enough to act on.
Here is every number above, with its move attached.
| Stat | What it means for you | Do this month |
|---|---|---|
| 60 to 90 seconds is normal (Knowlify, 2026) | Your script has a hard ceiling of about 150 to 225 words | Write the script and time it out loud |
| 150 words a minute (Breadnbeyond) | A 60-second video is 140 to 160 words | Cut your draft to the word count |
| 30 to 45 seconds for ads (Yum Yum Videos, 2026) | Ad viewers and site visitors need different cuts | Pick one use before you order |
| Lifts run from minus 10% to plus 100% (Foundry CRO, 2026) | Placement decides the result, not the video alone | Choose the one page that gets it |
| 6.5% to 13% in the Unbounce and Vidyard test | A doubling is possible on the right page | Record today's rate before you start |
| 82% report positive return (Wyzowl, 2026) | Most buyers are glad they did it, with no promised number | Set a 30-day review date |
A plumber running Facebook ads should take the 30 to 45 second row.
Build one short video for the ad.
A dental practice with steady website traffic should take the placement row.
Put a 60-second video on the page where new patients land.
A gym owner with almost no traffic should skip this whole list for now.
No video fixes an empty page.
And no survey helps a page nobody visits.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 86% conversion lift claim still true?
No. Foundry CRO's 2026 benchmarks trace that figure to data from before 2020. The 2026 picture is a range instead: a 10% drop when the video is wrong for the page, up to a 100% lift when the video and its placement are right.
What conversion lift should a small business expect?
Expect somewhere between a small drop and a doubling. Plan for the middle. The Unbounce and Vidyard test doubled one landing page, from 6.5% to 13%, but that was one page with one offer. Measure your own page for 30 days before you decide.
How many words should a 60-second explainer script have?
About 140 to 160 words, based on Breadnbeyond's 150-words-a-minute planning figure. Knowlify's 2026 guide gives a wider range, 150 to 225 words, for videos running 60 to 90 seconds. Read yours aloud with a stopwatch, because voiceover pace varies.
Why do video surveys ask marketers instead of measuring sales?
Surveys are cheap. Sales data is private. That is why Wyzowl's 2026 figure says 82% of video marketers report a positive return, rather than naming an exact revenue number. Opinion surveys show direction, not size.
The short version
Explainer video statistics split neatly in two.
The production numbers are dependable.
60 to 90 seconds.
150 to 225 words.
Roughly 150 words a minute.
Prices run from about $99 for a do-it-yourself tool, to $50,000 for an enterprise film.
The result numbers are not dependable in the same way.
The famous 80-86% lift is from before 2020.
The 2026 range runs from a 10% drop to a 100% gain.
And the best measured example doubled a single landing page.
So do the boring version.
Write to a word count.
Pick one page.
Record its conversion rate today.
Read that same number in 30 days.
The goal is not to match somebody else's percentage.
The goal is a number of your own you trust.
Ready to get your own video made? Order a 30-second explainer for $297 and have it in 7 days, or book a free call if you want a custom video from $1,299.
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- Explainer Videos from $297 →: Professional animated explainer videos delivered in 7 days.
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