Tech Explainer Video: Sell Software Without the Jargon
James Crawford
Your best work is the part nobody can see. A backup that runs at 2am. A dashboard a client opens twice a month. A few lines of code that stop a payment failing on a Saturday night.
You know what it is worth. The dentist you are pitching does not, because there is nothing to point at.
That is the job a tech explainer video does. It takes the invisible thing you sell and puts it on a screen for 30 to 60 seconds, in words your buyer already uses.
This guide is written for small technical businesses: the three-person managed IT firm, the solo software shop, the local app developer who has never made a video before. You will get the five jobs one video can do, a table that swaps your jargon for buyer language, a worked 30-second script, and real prices.
Here is the short answer first.
Tech companies use explainer videos to make an invisible product visible in under a minute. The video names the customer's problem, shows the fix in plain words, and asks for one action. Small software and IT firms then reuse the same 30 to 60 seconds on the homepage, in sales emails, in onboarding and at trade shows.
What is a tech explainer video?
A tech explainer video is a short video, usually 30 to 90 seconds, that shows what a technical product does and why a buyer should care. It skips the feature list and answers one question: what changes for me if I buy this?
Technology is the hard case for video. A camera can film a new kitchen or a clean carpet. A camera cannot film a nightly backup, a permission setting or an API call. An API is the connection that lets two pieces of software pass information to each other without a human retyping it.
So the video has to draw what your product does. That is why animation suits this category, and why the script matters more than the pictures.
Length is the easy part. According to Knowlify's 2026 guide to making an explainer video, most explainer videos run 60 to 90 seconds, which is roughly 150 to 225 words of voiceover. That is two paragraphs of speech to explain your whole business.
The format is also the most common one in marketing. Levitate Media's 2026 round-up of video conversion statistics, citing Wyzowl, reports that 73% of marketers have made an explainer video, more than any other video type.
One thing small tech firms forget: the person watching is usually not technical. The office manager, the practice owner, the partner who signs the invoice. Your video has to work for them, not for the engineer who already agrees with you.
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.
How do tech companies use explainer videos?
Tech companies use one explainer video for five different jobs, not one. The same script sits on the homepage, goes out in sales emails, plays during onboarding, runs as a paid ad, and loops on a screen at a trade show.
That is the part small firms miss. You are not buying a homepage decoration. You are buying an answer you currently give out loud, ten times a week, and can now hand over once.
| Job | Where it runs | Good length | What it has to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make the homepage make sense | Top of your home or product page | 60 to 90 seconds | Tell a cold visitor what you sell before they leave |
| Warm up a sales reply | Enquiry replies, quote follow-ups | 60 to 90 seconds | Answer the questions you repeat on every call |
| Cut onboarding questions | Welcome email, first login, help centre | 60 to 90 seconds | Show the first task a new customer must finish |
| Stop the scroll | Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn ads | 30 to 45 seconds | Name one problem and one fix, fast |
| Work a trade show | Booth screen, tablet in your hand | 30 to 45 seconds on loop | Explain you while you talk to someone else |
Length follows the job. Yum Yum Videos' 2026 guide to explainer video length puts 30 to 45 seconds with awareness campaigns and ads, and 60 to 90 seconds with website and sales use.
Write one script. Cut a short version for ads and a longer version for the website. That is one production cost spread across five jobs.
How do you explain a technical product to a buyer who is not technical?
You swap the feature for the outcome the buyer can picture. Say what changes in their week, not what your software does in the background.
Read your current homepage out loud. Every line that describes your technology instead of their Tuesday needs translating.
| What you say now | What the buyer hears | What to say instead |
|---|---|---|
| Offsite backup with 15-minute snapshots | Something about storage | If your server dies at 9am, you are working again by lunchtime |
| Endpoint protection | I already have antivirus | Nobody on your team can click the wrong link and lose the day |
| Multi-tenant cloud platform | No idea | Your three clinics share one system, and each one sees only its own patients |
| API integration with your booking software | An IT project, sounds expensive | Bookings land in your diary without anyone typing them twice |
| 99.9% uptime | A number | About nine hours offline in a year, not nine minutes, so ask what the plan is for those hours |
| Patch management | Nothing at all | We do the updates at night, so nobody loses an afternoon |
The rule underneath the table is one idea per scene. One sentence, one picture, one point. If a scene needs two sentences to make sense, it is two scenes.
Our guide on how to write an explainer video script that sells goes deeper on turning those lines into a full script.
How do you build a tech explainer video in six steps?
A good tech explainer starts with one buyer and one problem, a script written to a word count, and only then a decision about what the viewer sees. Six steps, and the first four are all writing.
Step 1: Pick one buyer and one problem
Choose the single customer type you want more of, then the single problem they already lose sleep over. A video aimed at dental practices and construction firms at once will convince neither.
Step 2: Write the four beats before you write sentences
Biteable's explainer video script template sets out four parts: hook, problem, solution, and call to action (CTA, the one thing you ask the viewer to do). Write one line for each beat before you polish a single word.
Step 3: Cut the script to the clock
Plan on about 150 spoken words per minute, so a 60-second script lands at roughly 140 to 160 words, according to Breadnbeyond's guide to 60-second script length. Read your draft aloud with a timer, and cut until it fits with room to breathe.
Step 4: Give each beat its share of the time
Content Beta's 60-second video script guide suggests a split of Problem 30%, Solution 40%, Proof 20%, Action 10%. On a 30-second video that is about 9 seconds of problem, 12 of solution, 6 of proof and 3 for the ask.
Step 5: Decide what the viewer sees
Match the picture to the beat. Screen capture for the parts a customer will touch, simple animation for the parts that happen where no camera can look.
Step 6: Record once, cut three versions
Record the voiceover for the longest version, then trim it down for ads and social. One recording session gives you a website cut, an ad cut and a loop for the trade show stand.
A worked 30-second script for a managed IT provider
Here is the skeleton for a real example: a three-person managed service provider selling nightly backup to dental practices. A managed service provider (MSP) is a firm that runs another company's IT for a monthly fee.
At about 150 words per minute, 30 seconds gives you roughly 75 words. That is less than this paragraph and the one above it combined, so every word has to earn its place.
| Beat | Seconds | Words | The line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hook | 0 to 3 | 8 | Your whole practice runs on one computer in the back office. |
| Problem | 3 to 12 | 22 | If it dies on a Monday morning, you lose the diary, the x-rays and the day. Most practices find out the hard way. |
| Solution | 12 to 22 | 25 | We copy everything offsite every night. If a machine fails, we move your files to a spare one and you keep seeing patients. |
| Proof | 22 to 27 | 12 | Say the real number of practices you already look after, and the town they are in. |
| Action | 27 to 30 | 8 | Book a free 20-minute check of your backups. |
Notice what is missing. No mention of snapshot intervals, encryption standards or the brand of the backup appliance. Those belong in the proposal, not in the first 30 seconds.
Notice also that the proof beat is a blank you fill with something true. Never invent a number for a video. One real figure about your own client list beats five vague claims.
Should you record the screen or animate the idea?
Record the screen when the interface is the thing you are selling. Animate the idea when the value happens somewhere a camera cannot look, such as a backup running at 3am or data moving between two systems.
Most small tech firms end up using both: an animated opening to name the problem, then ten seconds of real screen to prove the product exists.
| Style | Best for | Weak spot | How fast it dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen capture | Software where the interface sells itself | Tiny text, and nothing to show for background work | Every interface change |
| 2D motion graphics | Abstract work: data, networks, backups, integrations | Costs more than a screen recording | Slowly, unless your branding changes |
| Whiteboard animation | Step-by-step teaching and professional services | Looks plain next to a live product demo | Slowly |
| Live action | Putting a real face on a small firm | Filming days, and reshoots cost real money | When staff or premises change |
Pexo's 2026 breakdown of explainer video types describes whiteboard animation as the budget-friendly workhorse for step-by-step teaching and professional services, 2D motion graphics as the all-round style, and live action as the way to add a real face or product.
One warning about screen capture. Every time you ship a redesign, your video is out of date, and you are back in the editing seat. Animation survives a redesign because it shows the idea, not the buttons. Our walkthrough on how to make an app demo video without a big budget covers the screen recording side in detail.
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.
What should a small tech company pay for one?
Expect anything from about $99 for a do-it-yourself tool to $50,000 or more for an enterprise brand film, according to Yum Yum Videos' 2026 cost guide. Most small tech firms land somewhere in the middle, and the number depends on how much of the work you keep.
| Option | Typical price | What you still do yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Do-it-yourself tool | From about $99 | Script, voice, timing and every edit |
| AI-assisted studio work | $1,500 to $4,000 | Write the brief, review the cut |
| 30 Second Productions, 30-second explainer | $297 (normally $497) | Answer a short brief |
| 30 Second Productions, 60-second explainer | $497 | Answer a short brief |
| Custom animation from us | From $1,299 | Join a free 30-minute planning call |
| Custom studio animation, 60 seconds | $5,000 to $10,000 | Brief, review, and wait |
| Enterprise brand film | $50,000 and up | Sign things |
Those middle rows are not guesses. Creamy Animation's 2026 cost breakdown puts AI-assisted studio explainers at roughly $1,500 to $4,000. Vidico's 2026 explainer video cost guide puts a 60-second custom animated explainer from a North American studio at $5,000 to $10,000, with premium 3D or character work above that.
Agency pricing sits higher than most owners expect. Squideo's 2026 cost survey found an average price of £2,960 across 45 agencies.
The cheap end is not free. A do-it-yourself tool still needs you to write the script, record a voice, and fight the timing for a weekend. Our own package includes the script, a human voiceover and the animation, delivered in 7 days, with 3 revision rounds and a money-back guarantee.
What do small tech firms get wrong in their first video?
They demo the product instead of naming the problem, and then they hide the finished video on a page nobody visits. Both mistakes are free to fix before you start.
Here is the checklist to run before you brief anyone:
- One buyer, one problem, one ask. Two audiences in one video convinces neither.
- Problem first. Product second. The viewer needs to recognise themselves in the first five seconds.
- One call to action, repeated nowhere else on the page.
- Right length for the placement, not the longest you can afford.
- A page with real traffic. The best video on a page nobody opens earns nothing.
Placement decides the result more than production quality does. Foundry CRO's 2026 landing page video benchmarks point out that the often-quoted 80 to 86% conversion lift comes from pre-2020 data, and that modern results run from a 10% drop with the wrong video on the wrong page to a 100% lift with the right video in the right place.
When the placement is right, the numbers get interesting. In the Unbounce and Vidyard test reported by TapVid's 2026 explainer video conversion benchmarks, an explainer video in a lightbox lifted landing page conversion from 6.5% to 13%.
The overall picture stays positive. Levitate Media's 2026 statistics round-up reports that 82% of video marketers say video gives them a positive return, citing Wyzowl's 2026 State of Video Marketing survey.
Our guide on where to put an explainer video so it converts covers the page-by-page decision.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a tech explainer video be?
Aim for 30 to 45 seconds for ads and trade show loops, and 60 to 90 seconds for your website and sales emails, following Yum Yum Videos' 2026 length guidance. Longer only helps when the viewer has already chosen to watch, such as inside onboarding.
Can I make one with an AI video tool instead of hiring anyone?
Yes, and plenty of small firms do. The tool handles voice and visuals, but the script stays your job, and the script is where most technical videos fail. Budget a weekend for a first attempt, and expect to redo it once you hear it read aloud.
Do I need a separate video for each product we sell?
Not at first. Start with the one service that brings in most of your revenue, and make that video excellent. A second video makes sense once the first one is earning, or when a product speaks to a completely different buyer.
Should the voiceover be a real person or a computer voice?
A human voice still sounds better for a sales page, especially for a small firm selling trust. Computer voices have improved, and they are fine for internal training or a quick draft. Listen to both reading your own script before deciding.
What do I do with the video after it goes on the homepage?
Reuse it. Attach it to enquiry replies, embed it in the welcome email, put a short cut in your ads, and loop it on a screen at events. One video doing five jobs is how a small budget pays for itself.
The short version
A tech explainer video earns its money by making an invisible product easy to understand in under a minute. Pick one buyer and one problem. Translate every feature into something that changes their week. Write to the clock, about 150 words per minute, and give the problem, solution, proof and ask their share of the time.
Then choose the picture. Screen capture where the interface is the product, animation where the work happens out of sight.
Put the finished video on a page that already gets traffic, and reuse it in sales replies, onboarding and ads. The goal is simple: a prospect who understands what you sell in 30 seconds, and knows exactly what to do next.
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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