Some products and services are easy to explain: a new coffee brand, a piece of software with one clear function, a charity campaign with a single goal. But others? Not so much.
Think about industries like fintech, healthcare, or programmatic advertising. They’re filled with specialist terminology, technical processes, and acronyms that insiders understand but outsiders often don’t. And if your audience doesn’t get it quickly, you’ve lost them.
Our speciality is helping businesses cut through that complexity with video. Here’s how we approach it, and how it worked in practice with our client Lotame, a global data solutions provider, and the explainer video we produced for them.
Read more about our explainer video production here
TL;DR:
Complex products can be difficult to explain, but the right video makes them clear, engaging, and memorable. It all comes down to a few key steps: understand the subject inside out, find the human story, and cut back to the essentials. Then use visuals that bring clarity and adapt the message for different audiences. Done well, this turns jargon into something clear, engaging, and easy to grasp.
Step 1: Understand it Inside-Out
The first step to simplifying anything is not to dumb it down. You can’t explain something clearly until you fully understand it yourself. That’s why we start every project with a deep-dive discovery session: asking questions, mapping out how a product works, and identifying what really matters to the audience.
For Lotame, that meant unpacking how their Curate data marketplace operates within the tangled world of programmatic advertising. By fully understanding the product, we were able to spot the most compelling story to tell.
Learn more about our video production process here: https://boldcontentvideo.com/video-production-process/
Step 2: Find The Human Story
Audiences don’t remember jargon. They remember stories and examples they can relate to. That’s why we always search for simple, human ways to illustrate complex ideas.
With Lotame, instead of showing abstract data sets, we highlighted unexpected audience overlaps, like how dog owners often show interest in home security. That one example did more to demonstrate the platform’s value than paragraphs of technical explanation ever could.
Step 3: Strip Away The Noise
Complex subjects often come with unnecessary detail. In video, that detail becomes clutter, making it harder for the audience to follow along. Our role is to strip back to the essentials: what’s the one message the viewer needs to take away?
For Lotame’s explainer, we refined the script until every line carried meaning. Anything that didn’t serve the story was cut. The result: a script that explained the product in minutes, not pages.
Step 4: Use Visuals to Clarify, Not Complicate
Animation, live action, motion graphics – whatever the format, visuals should make the idea clearer, not more confusing. We design every shot so that the concept can be grasped in seconds.
Lotame’s film used a bold, collage-style animation that combined their brand’s geometric shapes with photography. It was bright, clean, and most importantly, clear.
Step 5: Adapt for Every Audience
The final step is making sure the message lands with all of your audiences. That often means creating multiple versions, with tweaks for tone, length, or platform.
For Lotame, we produced two core versions of the video with localised voiceovers (UK and US), plus additional short edits for social and sales. Each version was built to be crystal-clear in its context.
Why Making the Complex Simple Matters
If your product is hard to explain, you risk losing potential clients before you’ve even shown your value. The right video can change that, turning complexity into clarity, jargon into stories, and confusion into understanding.
That’s where we come in. We thrive on making the complex simple, whether you’re in data, finance, tech, or any industry where “explaining it” feels like a job in itself.
Lotame is one example, but the principle applies everywhere: when your audience understands you quickly, they’re far more likely to trust you, engage with you, and buy from you.
FAQs
What is the best way to explain a complicated product or service in a video?
The key is to focus on clarity and relevance. We begin by understanding the subject in depth, then identify the most important points for your audience. From there, we use techniques like animation, simple metaphors, and carefully chosen visuals to make the message both accurate and easy to follow.
Which industries benefit most from explainer videos?
Explainer videos are especially powerful in industries with lots of technical language or abstract ideas, such as technology, finance, healthcare, and data-driven services. That said, any business with a product or service that’s difficult to explain can benefit from making their message more digestible through video.
Are animations or live action better for explaining complex topics?
Animation is often the most effective choice for abstract or technical subjects, as it lets us visualise things that can’t easily be filmed in real life. However, live action can work better for products, services, or people-focused stories. In many cases, a hybrid of the two creates the strongest result.
How do you adapt videos for different platforms and audiences?
We often create multiple versions of a video tailored to specific platforms and markets. That could mean shorter edits for social media, regional versions with different voiceovers, or adjustments in tone for sales presentations versus website content. With Lotame, for example, we delivered UK and US versions along with bespoke social cuts to ensure maximum impact across channels.
How long should an explainer video be?
For most audiences, 60–90 seconds is the sweet spot for online explainers. Shorter formats (15–30 seconds) work best for social media, while longer videos can be used for detailed product demos, webinars, or training. The right length depends on where the video will live and what you need it to achieve.
Got a product or service that feels too complex to explain? Let’s make it simple (and powerful) together.
Ready to take video to the next level?
From strategy to production to finished video, we’ve got you covered. We’d love to discuss how our videos can help hit your goals. Call us on 0203 637 1467 or get in touch with our contact form: