Planning your first year of boiler explainer videos

Start with a number, not a camera

Before anything is scripted, decide which number the videos should move. For most boiler companies, it is one of these three:

1. Estimate close rate. Videos sent between booking and the visit.
2. Website conversion. Videos embedded on service and model pages.
3. Search reach. Videos that answer common questions on YouTube.

Close rate is usually the fastest to show results, because you control who sees the video. Here is the math for three company sizes, assuming an average gross profit of $3,200 per boiler replacement job.

The four-point lift is an illustration, not a forecast. Use it to find your break-even: the lift you would need for the videos to pay for themselves. If even a modest lift covers the cost, video is worth testing. If it would take an unrealistic jump, start with written model pages instead.

The 18-video first-year library

We group a first-year library into three sets of six, following the buyer from first question to long-term owner.

Set 1: choosing (send before the estimate)

1. Combi or system boiler: which suits your home?
2. Condensing boilers: what the word means for your venting and your bills
3. Radiators, baseboard or in-floor heat: how a boiler feeds each one
4. Repair or replace: the questions our technicians ask
5. What affects the installed price of a boiler
6. Boiler or heat pump, or both: an honest comparison for your region

Set 2: installing (send after the job is booked)

7. What happens on install day, hour by hour
8. Permits and inspections: what we handle, and why they matter
9. Preparing your home for install day
10. Your new controls, explained (what the display tells you, not how to change settings beyond the thermostat)
11. Why we register your warranty, and what it covers
12. Meet the team who'll be in your home

Set 3: owning (send after the job, and post publicly)

13. What an annual service visit covers, filmed during a real visit
14. Sounds a boiler makes, and which ones mean "call us"
15. Reading your pressure gauge: what's normal according to your manual, and when to call
16. Five signs your boiler needs a professional look
17. What to do if you smell gas (leave, then call)
18. Getting ready for winter: what to book, and when

Every video in set 3 ends with a call to a licensed technician. None includes a procedure. Our safety line guide explains why, with examples.

Scripting: short, plain and approved

A good explainer script is shorter than people expect. At a natural speaking pace of about 150 words a minute, a two-minute video is around 300 words.

Use this structure for each script:

1. The question, in the customer's words (one sentence)
2. The short answer (one or two sentences)
3. Why it matters for their home (three or four sentences)
4. What we do about it (two sentences)
5. The next step: call, text or email

Write the way your best technician talks at a kitchen table, not the way a brochure reads. Avoid model numbers unless the video is specifically about that model. Then send every script to a licensed person on your team for technical approval before anything is filmed.

Batch shooting saves most of the cost

The most expensive part of video is setting up. Batching spreads that cost across many videos.

A practical shoot day looks like this:

• Morning: four to six talking-head explainers with the owner or senior tech, filmed in one location with one lighting setup
• Midday: supporting footage of real equipment, your vans, your team arriving at a job
• Afternoon: one process video, such as a real service visit, with the customer's written permission

Prepare a shot list in advance: every scene, which video it belongs to, and who needs to be there. A well-planned day can produce footage for six videos.

Practical tips:

• Audio first. Viewers forgive soft focus; they don't forgive echo.
• Short takes. Film each script in sections; it's easier to deliver and to edit.
• Real equipment. Use the boilers you actually install, so the video matches what customers will see.
• Permission in writing. For anything filmed in a customer's home, get written consent, and keep personal details and addresses out of frame.

Publishing and putting videos to work

A finished video does nothing until someone watches it. Plan distribution before you shoot.

• Sales use: add set 1 links to your booking confirmation text, and set 2 to your job confirmation.
• Website: embed each video on the page that answers the same question, with a written summary.
• YouTube: question-style titles, chapters, hand-checked captions and a link back to your site. Our video SEO service covers this step.
• Google Business Profile: post short clips, especially set 3, to show real work.
• Language: if you serve Quebec, French versions aren't optional; elsewhere, consider them for francophone communities.

Review after each batch

After each batch has been live for six to eight weeks, check the numbers:

• Did estimates with a video link close at a higher rate than those without?
• Which website videos have the highest watch-through?
• Which YouTube videos get search views from people who aren't customers yet?

Make more of what works. If a video underperforms, the usual culprits are a weak opening, a title that doesn't match the question, or nobody sending it. Fix those before you decide the topic was wrong.

A realistic first-year timeline

• Month 1: questions, scripts and approval for set 1
• Month 2: first shoot day; set 1 edited and live; sales team starts sending links
• Months 3–4: scripts and shoot for set 2
• Months 5–6: set 3, plus the first review of results
• Months 7–12: refresh weak performers, add model-specific videos for your best-selling lines, update any rebate content

For help producing the library, see our explainer video service, check which plan includes video, or contact us. All our guides are listed on the guides page.