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How to Make SaaS Product Demo Video and Drive Brand Growth and Sales

Dec, 05, 2023
Christina
Christina
Senior Account Executive

Introduction

SaaS products can be challenging to promote. On one hand, you need to somehow communicate all that complex information about your project in an understandable way. On the other hand, though, your promo should remain engaging and memorable at the same time. This is where tools like video marketing come into play.

In today’s post, we’ll show the benefits of creating product demo videos for SaaS startups, and which factors you need to take into account when making one 🧐

Summary:

  1. Usage of Demo Videos for SaaS Product Market
  2. What Types of Demo Video You Need to Consider for SaaS Products
  3. How to Make Saas Product Demo Video in 4 Steps
  4. Best Practices for the Development of Product Demo Videos for Startup
  5. How to Promote Software Demonstration Video
  6. How Blue Carrot Can Help in Making SaaS Product Demo Video
  7. Final Thoughts

Usage of Demo Videos for SaaS Product Market

First, let’s see why video marketing has become so popular among SaaS companies and others that offer similar digital products. Here it all boils down to the nature of the SaaS product or service itself.

Intangible digital products like SaaS software or mobile apps are often difficult to promote using traditional methods of advertising, nor can you effectively present them to your audience via text or images alone. So, you need to somehow give potential customers a way to experience your offering to understand how it works and how they can benefit from it.

With product demo videos for SaaS, you can actually do that. They can help to showcase the functionality and interface of your product in a dynamic and visually compelling way. This is how you can overcome that ‘intangibility’ barrier and allow customers to establish an emotional connection with your product.

What Types of Demo Video You Need to Consider for SaaS Products

At Blue Carrot we always recommend approaching different types of videos with regard to the sales process. Once you manage to define at which stage of the sales funnel your potential customer is currently at, you’ll be able to identify which type of video to offer to them.

▶️ Awareness Stage

The uppermost stage of the sales funnel is all about making people aware of your product or service. This is where the first ‘touch’ with your product occurs. The customer knows nothing about what it is, and your job is to give them a short but engaging presentation to 1) introduce them to your offering and 2) make sure they move to the next stage. At the awareness stage companies typically utilize short promo videos or e-learning videos.

▶️ Interest Stage

In the interest stage, prospects start to get to know more about your offering. During this stage you can start to engage with users more, giving them more content and capturing their attention for longer. At this point, the chances of them going past the first 10-15 seconds of a video are higher. This is the stage where companies can come up with corporate and explainer videos.

👉 What’s great about explainer videos, in particular, is that this is the only type of video content that can be effectively used across all the stages of the sales funnel.

▶️ Decision Stage

At this stage, users have already received all the information and now they need to make the decision to buy from you or not. Here it’s important to offer content encouraging them to make that final step. Tutorial videos and video testimonials may work just fine for this purpose. 

▶️ Loyalty Stage

Once the purchase is made, your goal is to keep customers engaged with your product and develop further relationships with them. You need to focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience through your marketing communications. During the loyalty stage, customers can be presented with onboarding or branding videos. 

How to Make Saas Product Demo Video in 4 Steps

Depending on the type or complexity of the project, the production of software demonstration videos may vary a bit. However, the general logic of the process remains unchanged. Let us show you what steps we follow at Blue Carrot when making SaaS product demo video.

GET THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EXPLAINER VIDEOS: TYPES, BUDGETS, STYLES

Step 1. Strategy Meeting & Script Writing

The first step in creating a demo video is to have a strategy meeting with the client, followed by a script-writing session. This is where we discuss with the client what marketing goals they want to achieve with the video, what messages should be conveyed, and so on. We also get to know the target audience of the project, and if there are any additional requirements in terms of style, voiceover, narrative, etc. Once we’re done with the basics, we begin to write the script scenario to create SaaS demonstration video

Step 2. Storyboarding & Voiceover Production

The storyboard helps to illustrate the story that has been outlined in the script scenario. With its help, we can visualize each and every scene of the video and how they will transition from one to another. After the storyboarding is done, we proceed to produce a voiceover, taking into account client requirements regarding language, tone of voice, accent, and so on.

Step 3. Style-Framing and Illustrating

We then move to the production of the style-frame, which is a single scene drawn in full color. It serves as a reference point in terms of style, colors, shapes, etc. for all other shots. It helps the team to decide on the overall look and feel of the future video and make any adjustments if needed. Once the style-frame is complete, we proceed to create all the illustrations for the video, guided by the visual direction established in style-frame.

Step 4. Animating

The final step in making demonstration video for SaaS is animation production. This is where we bring into motion all illustrations and other visuals developed in the earlier stages. At this point, we also add music, voiceover, and other sound effects too.

👉 On average, the entire process of creating an animated video takes about 5-6 weeks. However, the timeline may vary depending on the project size.

Best Practices for the Development of Product Demo Videos for Startup

📌 Prioritize Goals Over Complexity of Animation

When it comes to making demonstration videos for SaaS, it’s important not to get distracted and caught up in creating complex animations thinking that the better the video looks the better it performs. While the quality of the end product matters, keep in mind that visuals are only meant to supplement the message you’re trying to convey and the goal you want to achieve (with your project).

With the right approach to the SaaS demo video production, a solid storyline for a video, and a professional video team, even simple 2D video can perform more effectively compared to the complex 3D animation produced only for the sake of a good-looking picture. 

📌 Don’t Skip Production Stages

Skipping certain stages might seem a go-to option if your budget is short or timeframes are limited. However, even if you’re tempted to cut corners, it’s important to take the time to go through all of the steps in the production process. Take for example the briefing stage — if skipped you can end up with a project that goes nowhere and a video that delivers no messages to its audience.

In this case, you may ask, how to make SaaS product demo video if our resources are limited? For one, you can consider more cost-effective video types and stick with those. If you are time-limited, for example, some production processes can be run in parallel.

📌 Find a Professional Team

Finding a reliable production team is as important as outlining your initial project goals and core messages for the video. The team you’re going to work with to create SaaS product demo videos should be well-experienced in producing projects for your niche or a similar one. They should also be able to deliver videos in different styles and types to make sure that they can select the one that fits your project goals best. 

What separates the professional video agency from the rest is, obviously, a well-developed portfolio of completed projects, positive reviews from past clients, proactivity, and the ability to not only create SaaS demo video but to deliver an effectively performing asset for you.

👉 For more on how to choose a video team, read Checklist: How to Choose an Animation Video Production Company.

📌 Get Involved In the Production Process

Remember, SaaS product demo video production is always a ‘two-way street’. So, no matter how professional or experienced your team is, without understanding your goals or getting feedback from you, they won’t be able to 1) shape your vision and 2) deliver an effective video. Make sure to stay involved in the project production and provide all the necessary input to your team.

GET THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EXPLAINER VIDEOS: TYPES, BUDGETS, STYLES

How to Promote Software Demonstration Video

Promoting SaaS video can help increase awareness and interest in your service and there are several ways you can do that. You can share it on social media platforms, utilize Google Ads, and run email campaigns. You can also collaborate with bloggers relevant to your niche. Another great tactic is to attend industry-related events to showcase your SaaS video to potential clients or even investors. There are plenty of options, so choose the one — or several — that best suit your marketing goals and project resources. 

EXPLORE OUR ARTICLES:

🥕 How much does explainer video cost? 

🥕 How to create an animation pipeline production?

🥕 Video length best practices: How long marketing videos should be?

How Blue Carrot Can Help in Making SaaS Product Demo Video

Providing SaaS video production services for 8+ years, we at Blue Carrot have successfully created multiple projects of different sizes, durations, and complexity. Each time we make sure that we not only create the best SaaS explainer videos in terms of visuals, but that they 100% meet the client’s requirements and help to bring their vision to life. Here are some SaaS projects from our portfolio:

🔹 Kicker

This is a 70-second-long SaaS video that we produced for Kicker, an app that helps to effectively manage data in SAP. At the beginning of the video, we describe the main problem that companies come across with data classification in ERP systems. Then, we present the Kicker app, demonstrating how it can help companies mitigate this issue. A few screencast-like scenes were added to the video as well to show how clear and intuitive the app interface is. 

🔹 Toggle

The product video we produced for Toggle is a great example of how to turn a complex subject into an easy and engaging visual experience. Here our goal was to present an AI platform that helps to make more informed investment decisions in a way that would make sense even to a non-techy viewer. To do that we came up with a storyline that shows a user traveling through space to their desired location, with the spaceship representing the Toggle platform.

Final Thoughts

Creating SaaS demonstration videos can help companies drive brand growth, demonstrate the value of their software and better engage with their customers. SaaS videos allow us to actually set digital products in motion and let potential customers experience them — which is impossible to do effectively with the traditional advertising methods.

So, if your SaaS startup is looking for ways to increase brand awareness, grow your sales, and reach out to larger audiences, choosing to make a software demo video is the way to go. 

ARE YOU CONSIDERING CREATING A VIDEO?

🥕  Check out what Blue Carrot has to offer. 

 

For more information on how to create a demo video for software product or to get FREE consultation for your project, get in touch with us directly via the form below!

FAQ

What is the purpose of a SaaS product demo video?

The purpose of a demo video is to showcase the key features, benefits, and capabilities of an intangible digital product in an informative and engaging way. Such videos help your potential customers to understand how your software works and how it can help solve their particular problems. 

What is the normal duration of SaaS product demo video?

In general, we’re looking at 1-2 minutes. Please note, it’s better to focus not on some particular length of time but on the marketing goals of your project. They will define how long or short your video should be. 

How much does it cost to produce SaaS product demo video?

The cost depends on the type of video you choose, the style, and the overall length of your video. It can be anywhere from $1,000 and $10,000 per minute of produced content, depending on the aforementioned factors. For more about how much the production of animated video might cost, read our article here.

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