Explainer Video Statistics: 8 Stats You Can Act On

James Crawford

Published September 18, 20269 min readUpdated September 18, 2026

You have seen the same explainer video statistics on a dozen sales pages. Add a video to your landing page, they say, and conversions jump 86%. It sounds great. It is also a figure from before 2020, repeated as if somebody measured it last week.

You run a plumbing company, a dental practice, a law firm or a gym. You do not need hype. You need to know what a video is likely to do, what it should cost, and how long it should be.

So here is a different kind of stats post. Every number below carries a named source, a year and a link. Each one comes with the move it should make you take. And the shaky ones get flagged instead of repeated.

The honest picture from 2026 sources: 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 double, depending on the video and the page. Treat single big percentages as marketing, not measurement.

What do explainer video statistics actually tell you?

Explainer video statistics tell you two different things, and most articles blend them into one pile. Production numbers describe how videos get made. Result numbers describe what happens after you publish one.

A production stat is a number 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 are tight and a little boring.

A result stat is a number about the outcome: views, watch time, conversion rate, return on investment. Return on investment (ROI) is the money you get back compared with the money 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.

The rule worth keeping: plan the job with production stats, and set expectations with result stats. Never build a budget on somebody else's conversion rate.

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Which explainer video statistics should you ignore?

Ignore any conversion percentage that does not name the year, the type of page tested and how many pages were in the test. The most repeated offender is the claim that adding video to a landing page lifts conversions by 80% to 86%.

According to Foundry CRO's 2026 landing page video benchmarks, that figure comes from pre-2020 data. Their 2026 read is a range instead: from 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.

The range is far more useful than the famous number. It says out loud that a video can cost you customers if you put it in the wrong place.

Run three quick tests on any video 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 was tested?

A number that fails all three tests is an advert wearing a lab coat. Enjoy it if you like. Do not plan around it.

What do the length and script numbers say you should do?

Most explainer videos run 60 to 90 seconds, which is roughly 150 to 225 words of voiceover, according to Knowlify's 2026 guide to making an explainer video. That is the steadiest number in the whole category.

Voiceover is the recorded human narration that plays over the animation. Plan on about 150 spoken words per minute of finished video, so a 60-second script lands near 140 to 160 words, per Breadnbeyond's guide to 60-second script length.

Your move: write the script to a word count, not to a feeling. Read it aloud with a stopwatch before anybody 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 awareness campaigns and ads, and 60 to 90 seconds on a website or in a sales conversation.

Your move: if the first video is for Facebook or Instagram ads, build the 30-second version. If it lives on your homepage, 60 seconds is the safer buy. Our breakdown of how long an explainer video should be walks through that trade-off in more detail.

Why do published price stats disagree so much?

Published prices disagree because they measure four different products that all carry the same name. A template video made in a browser and a custom animated film built by a studio are not the same purchase.

Yum Yum Videos' 2026 cost guide puts the full span at about $99 for do-it-yourself tools, rising 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, with 3D and character work landing 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

Your move: decide which of those four 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 deliver it in 7 days with 3 revision rounds and a money-back guarantee. Custom and premium work starts at $1,299 and gets planned 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. According to Wyzowl's 2026 State of Video Marketing survey, reported by Levitate Media, 82% of video marketers say video gives them a positive return.

The same survey found explainer videos are the most common single video type made, with 73% of marketers having produced one. The format is normal now, not clever.

For an actual measured lift, the cleanest published 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.

Your move: pick one page, write down its conversion rate this week, add the video, then read the same number 30 days later. 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?

Check a video statistic by tracing it back to the study, dating it, asking what was tested, and turning it into your own money. Four steps, about ten minutes.

Step 1: Find the study, not the blog quoting it

Click the link behind the number and 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, since it predates 2020 and still appears 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. If 500 people visit your services page a month and 3% call you, a 20% lift 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 and build one short video for the ad. A dental practice with steady website traffic should take the placement row and put a 60-second video on the page where new patients land.

A gym owner with almost no traffic should skip the 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 pre-2020 data. The 2026 picture is a range, from a 10% drop when the video is wrong for the page, to a 100% lift when the video and its placement are right.

What conversion lift should a small business expect?

Expect anything between a small drop and a doubling, and 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 per minute planning figure. Knowlify's 2026 guide gives a wider 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 and 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, with prices running 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 pre-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, then 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 that 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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