Explainer video without an agency: the whole job, on your kitchen table

An agency is a lovely thing to have. It is also a lovely thing to pay for, and a small business explaining one service to its customers usually does not need a strategy workshop, a mood board presentation and a project manager called Jules. It needs thirty clear seconds.

This page is the do-it-yourself route, end to end: what the agency actually does for its money, which parts you can do yourself in an afternoon, which parts you should still hand to someone, and what the whole thing costs when you skip the middle.

Can you make an explainer video without an agency?

Yes. The hard part of an explainer video is not the animation, it is deciding what to say, and you know your business better than any agency will after one kickoff call. If you can explain your service to a customer at the counter, you can write the script. The drawing, voice and sound can then come from a freelancer, a tool, or a service that makes the film for you.

What you lose without an agency is a person whose job is to push back. So you need to push back on yourself. The steps below build that in.

What does an agency actually do for the money?

Roughly, an agency sells five things: finding the message, writing the script, designing the look, animating and adding sound, and managing the rounds of changes. The first two are where you are strongest. The middle two are craft. The last one is mostly calendar.

The pattern is simple: keep the thinking, buy the craft. That is how you pay for a film instead of paying for meetings about a film.

How do you make an explainer video yourself, step by step?

Do it in this order. Most homemade explainers go wrong because someone opened an animation tool before they had a sentence worth animating.

1. Step 1

   Write the one sentence. "We fix leaking faucets the same week, for a fixed price." If you cannot fit your service into one sentence, the film will not fit it into thirty seconds either.

2. Step 2

   Draft the script in three beats. The problem your customer has, what you do about it, and what they should do next. Aim for 60 to 80 words for 30 seconds.

3. Step 3

   Read it aloud with a timer. Cut any word you trip over. Cut any sentence your mom would ask you to explain.

4. Step 4

   Gather your look. Logo, the two or three colors you actually use, your typeface. If they live on your website, that is your brand guide.

5. Step 5

   Hand the script to the maker. A freelancer, a tool or a service. Ask for one version first, not three.

6. Step 6

   Give notes in plain words, once. Collect everyone's comments, pick the ones that matter, and send one list.

Need a ready-made starting point for step 2? There are three full scripts and a fill-in template in our 30 second explainer video script examples.

How long should a small business explainer video be?

For most small businesses, 20 to 30 seconds is the sweet spot. That is long enough to name a problem and an answer, and short enough that people on a phone actually reach the end. Go to 60 or 90 seconds only if the service genuinely has steps a customer must understand before buying.

• 15 to 20 seconds: one idea and a website address. Good for social feeds.
• 30 seconds: problem, answer, next step. Good for your homepage and ads.
• 60 to 90 seconds: a process with steps. Good for a landing page or a sales email.

What does an explainer video cost without an agency?

Without an agency, a short explainer typically costs somewhere between the price of a nice dinner and the price of a used scooter, depending on who does the craft. Typical market quotes vary a lot by country and by how polished you need it, so treat these as rough ranges rather than promises.

For a longer look at what goes into a quote, read what you are actually paying for in an explainer video, and for the 30 second version specifically, how much a 30 second animation costs.

Where do DIY explainer videos usually go wrong?

Almost always in the script, not the drawing. The three classic mistakes are trying to say everything, forgetting the next step, and leaving the sound as an afterthought. A plain film with one clear idea beats a gorgeous film with five muddled ones every single time.

• No next step. End with exactly one: a website, a phone number, "book online". Not all three.
• Too much text on screen. If the voice says it, the screen should not also spell it out word for word.
• Silent film. Many people watch with sound off, so add captions. Our guide to captions that work with the sound off covers it.
• Everyone gets a vote. One person decides. Everybody else gets to be consulted, which is different.

Keep the thinking. Buy the craft. Skip the meetings about the meetings.

The quick way: an explainer made from your website in Nine

Nine is one of those services that make the film for you. Give it your website address and it reads your name, colors and typeface, so the film looks like you without a style guide. Or paste your script: each paragraph becomes a scene. The crew makes an animated film with a voice, music and sound effects while you watch, and checks it before you see it.

Changes are plain words: "slower at the start", "bigger logo at the end". The chamber, a simple editor that works on a phone, lets you move things and try another take of the voice. You get a video file in wide, tall and square; Nine never posts anything for you. Films up to 20 seconds come with the Film plan at $29 a month; a full 30 second explainer needs Film + Transparent at $169 a month. See pricing, or read how a film from your own website works, then try it.