Before diving into the production of your explainer video, it’s crucial to start with a clear video creative brief and well-defined video objectives.
These foundational elements will guide every step of the production process, ensuring your video resonates with your target audience and achieves its intended goals.
A compelling explainer video doesn’t just happen—it requires careful planning and strategic thinking. We’ll review seven essential questions to ask to develop a robust creative brief and align your video objectives to realize the full benefits of whiteboard videos.
What is a Video Creative Brief?
A video creative brief serves as a roadmap for your explainer video project. It’s a comprehensive outline that captures the essential elements of your video, ensuring that everyone involved in the production process is aligned on the project’s goals, audience, and key messages.
At its core, a video creative brief is a strategic planning tool that:
- Defines the purpose and objectives of your video
- Outlines the target audience and their needs
- Establishes the key messages and story you want to convey
- Sets the tone, style, and visual direction for the video
- Provides technical specifications and logistics
The Importance of a Video Creative Brief
Your video creative brief acts as a central reference point throughout the production process, helping to:
- Align stakeholders on the project’s vision and goals
- Guide creative decisions and maintain focus
- Prevent misunderstandings and reduce revisions
- Save time and resources by clearly communicating expectations
- Ensure the final product meets your business objectives
A thorough creative brief answers critical questions about your video project, setting the foundation for a successful explainer video that resonates with your audience and achieves your marketing goals. In the following sections, we’ll explore the seven key objectives you should address in your video creative brief to maximize its effectiveness.
1. What are your objectives for your explainer video?
The first step in your video project is defining your objectives—what do you want your video to accomplish? There are many outstanding uses for whiteboard animated videos.
These objectives should be clearly outlined in your video creative brief to ensure that every aspect of the video production aligns with your goals.
Whether you aim to inform, persuade, tell your origin story, or simplify complex data, your objectives will guide the video’s content and style.
2. How does your creative brief outline your audience?
A critical component of your video creative brief is a deep understanding of your audience.
Who are your viewers? What are their challenges, and how can your video address these effectively?
How do they feel now, and how do you want them to feel after watching your video?
By clearly outlining your audience’s profile in the brief, you can ensure the video speaks directly to them and drives the desired actions.
Need help cutting through masses of complicated information?
You might find the help you need in this video, where we share the Exaltus CAPTURE framework – our proven method for overcoming information overload and transforming it into captivating stories.
For more details, check out our post on overcoming information overload and download the companion CAPTURE cheat sheet.
3. Is there a great story in your company’s beginnings?
Telling your origin story is an effective way to make your company more relatable and to communicate what you’re really about.
If you’re planning an explainer video about your company, scour your corporate history for engaging details that will resonate with your audience. For example:
- Were there any defining events or “Aha!” moments that influenced your direction?
- Were there moments of adversity that you had to overcome?
- Is the original founder of the company still around, involved and visible?
This is valuable information to share with your video production company.
4. What are your unique strengths?
No explainer video is complete without shining the light on what makes you special. For example:
- What are your unique strengths?
- Why are you the best company to serve your customers’ needs or to solve their problems?
Make sure your video shows that you understand the reality your audience faces and that your company is uniquely positioned to help them meet their objectives.
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5. Do you have content you can repurpose?
Unless you’re a brand-new startup, there’s a good chance that someone has already produced content about your company and your offerings.
Here are just a few places you could look for content to repurpose:
- The About page on your website
- Your company’s social profiles
- Introductions written for industry conferences
- Your corporate deck
Gather everything you can find. If you already have content that articulates your key messages well, you can save time and ensure consistency by sharing them with your video producer.
6. What is your brand identity?
If your company has taken the time to establish brand guidelines, be sure to share them with the company that is producing your explainer video.
Let them know:
- which logo treatments are considered acceptable
- what your tagline is
- which colours can be used
- what your brand personality is, and so on
You’ll want to publish your video everywhere. Make sure that it’s a good representation of your brand.
7. How will the project be managed?
As you embark on your video, ask your production company to outline the various project milestones and what the approval process will be.
(Click here, for example, to see the process Exaltus follows when we create a whiteboard video.)
Internally, you’ll need to decide on which key stakeholders will lend their input, and who will be the main point of contact with the company producing your explainer video.
Need a Hand?
If you are planning to create an explainer video but you feel overwhelmed by the task at hand, you may want to consult with an expert. Exaltus has been producing whiteboard videos since 2014, and we’d love to tell your story.
Find out more about our whiteboard animation service, or contact us to schedule a consultation and get a personalized quote. Also, be sure to check out more of the whiteboard animation examples in our portfolio
