Sixty seconds that argue instead of describe
A landing-page explainer has one minute to move somebody from mild curiosity to a single next step. This outline is built as an argument in four acts, so the video earns attention before it starts explaining anything.
The structure here is argumentative rather than descriptive. Act one earns the right to explain by naming a problem the viewer already feels; act two explains the mechanism in one sentence and then shows it; act three proves it once with a number, a workflow or a named outcome; act four asks for exactly one action.
It works for B2B software, internal tools and developer products where the value is a workflow rather than a look. Avoid listing features: the template has three mechanism scenes on purpose, so anything beyond three ideas belongs in a separate video.
Keep the mechanism sentence in the brief verbatim: it is the line the whole video hangs on, and rewriting it between variants is the fastest way to find out whether your positioning or your delivery is the problem.
Scene outline
5 scenes · ≈60s of 60s
- 01~12s
Problem
The costly status quo, described as the viewer would describe it.
- 02~8s
Mechanism in one line
The single sentence that explains how the product changes that.
- 03~18s
Mechanism shown
Two or three interface moments that make the mechanism believable.
- 04~12s
Proof
One measurable outcome or named result, not a list of logos.
- 05~10s
Next step
One action — trial, demo or docs — with nothing competing for it.
Example prompt
Create a 60-second landing-page explainer for a tool that reconciles supplier invoices against purchase orders. Open with finance teams re-keying invoices at month end and missing mismatches. Explain the mechanism: invoices are matched line by line against the order and exceptions are queued for a human. Show the exception queue, the audit trail and the export to the accounting system. Prove it with 'a five-day close becomes a two-day close'. End by inviting the viewer to book a walkthrough. Precise, unhurried tone.
Best for
- Landing-page hero video
- Sales follow-up email
- Investor or partner intro
Frequently asked questions
- Can I use real product screens?
- Upload them as references and the mechanism scenes can follow your actual interface. Without references the visuals are generated, which is fine for concept-led explainers but weaker for workflow tools.
- Is sixty seconds not too long for social?
- For paid social, yes — cut the proof act and use the vertical templates instead. Sixty seconds is aimed at a landing-page hero, a sales follow-up or a partner introduction.
- What if we have more than three features to show?
- Then you have more than one video. The template caps the mechanism at three moments on purpose; a fourth idea reliably costs you the closing action.
Draft your explainer argument
Bring the problem, the mechanism sentence and one proof point; the pipeline handles script, scenes, voice and subtitles.