Video content captures attention in a way that text or images alone cannot. Potential customers often prefer watching a short product video to quickly understand the features, benefits, and how the product fits into their lives.
Platforms like social media, YouTube, and various streaming services have significantly increased the reach and sharing potential of product videos. A well-crafted and engaging video can go viral, exponentially expanding brand visibility.
This article will teach you how to create videos that bring products to life and connect with your audience on a personal level. The instructions are based on the methodology we employed to create our first product video for Touchpoint.
A product video is a short audiovisual clip created to showcase and promote a product, its features, benefits, and uses. It highlights what makes the product special and why people should consider buying it. These videos are crafted to be engaging, informative, and visually appealing, aiming to grab the viewer’s attention and create interest in the product.
The following are some common types of product videos often utilized by companies to showcase their offerings.
Teaser or promotional videos offer a sneak peek or a glimpse of the product, often generating excitement and curiosity.
👍 Best time to use: Use teasers to create anticipation before the product launch. They’re also great for social media or email marketing campaigns to pique interest.
Explainer videos provide a clear and concise explanation of what the product does, its key features, and how it can solve a problem or fulfill a need.
👍 Best time to use: Explainers are ideal for the product launch or shortly after, aiming at providing a comprehensive understanding to potential customers.
Demo (demonstration) videos show the product in action, illustrating its usage, benefits, and real-life applications.
👍 Best time to use: Use demo videos after the product launch to offer a detailed showcase. They’re also helpful for ongoing marketing to provide insights into the product’s capabilities and usage scenarios.
Here are the key benefits that product videos can bring to a business.
Creating a compelling product video is like telling a captivating story – it needs to grab attention, keep the audience engaged, and leave a lasting impression. These are the key elements that help you get there:
Now that we have the basics covered, let’s talk about the steps we took to go from concept to realization with our first SaaS product video – an explainer for our soon-to-be-launched customer service platform Touchpoint.
Our first step was to align the product and marketing team around the purpose of the video. This made it easier to put together a project brief for our video partners in the later stages. Here are the things that we covered.
The next step was to identify the best video partner. While product videos can also be created in-house, which is what we are doing for our new TextMagic demo, a partner comes with more experience in formats or approaches that work best.
Here are the steps that we took in choosing the partner.
🤝 This initial research ensures you choose the right partner for your collaboration.
Once we decided on our partner, we reached out and consulted them on cooperation possibilities and the production process.
Working with an external partner requires careful planning. You should ensure that the legal agreement sets clear expectations of deliverables on both sides. Below are some of the main aspects we considered when drafting the contract:
Now that we have the admin side covered, let’s move on to team onboarding. Since we were already internally aligned on what we wanted (see step 1), the onboarding process went smoothly.
Here are the main things that you should provide to your video partner for better collaboration:
During this stage, it’s also essential to establish your cooperation flow:
Depending on your preference, the video script can be created internally or by the partner. For us, it was a joint effort. This worked very well because our partner had an outside perspective and could identify product differentiators that were immediately obvious.
We used Notion to iterate on the script and implemented a few strategies to validate it:
We cannot stress the value of storyboarding enough. Creating a visual sequence for your video before the production phase ensures that all elements of the video (visuals, audio, etc.) come together in a straightforward way and that the product is presented correctly.
It is also a great way to optimize time and costs before you go to the production phase. The storyboarding stage was also the most difficult part of the process for us because we wanted to ensure that the Touchpoint product value was correctly conveyed.
In total, we had three review rounds. For each of them, we had internal meetings with our product, design, and marketing teams. We went through every little detail of the script, audio, and visuals, which were neatly organized in the Boords tool.
🎞️ The storyboard format made it easy to add relevant comments for every second of the video and process it quickly with our partner.
Once we were happy with the wireframe storyboard, we moved on to the illustration and design phase. During this stage, our team encountered various challenges when integrating the UI into a video format.
We had to carefully consider the intensity of colors used, the level of detail displayed in the app, and the precise wording of microcopy on UI elements. For instance, our customer profile page, which was intricately designed, appeared overwhelming when incorporated into the video.
Our product management and internal product designers provided valuable input during this phase, offering suggestions on UI elements to be included in the video and providing examples of other visual elements. We also made slight alterations to the script to better align with the screens being displayed.
In parallel, we made a selection of the voiceover audio. Vidico had a very good library of different voices. We asked them to make a recommendation about the audio and made a selection based on that. A similar approach was taken when selecting the background music.
After several rounds of review, we closed the design phase and moved to animation. This approach ensured that we never had to reiterate the phases that were already approved. We had a total of 2 review rounds during this phase and used Frame.io for collaboration and feedback.
This stage was pivotal in the completion of our product video, where the integration of audio effects, text, and visuals provided a comprehensive representation. We made some refinements to emphasize our message, resulting in a video duration increase from 60 to 67 seconds.
🎥 Have confidence in your video partner’s expertise in crafting appropriate animations and audio effects. While minor adjustments may be necessary from your end to ensure timings are consistent and aligned with brand guidelines, trusting their experience is key.
As stated in the initial stages, our objective included crafting shorter videos for our social media platforms. To achieve this, we needed to modify and reformat the main video to meet the specific size and duration requirements for various platforms. We opted for video cutoffs of 30 seconds, 15 seconds, and 6 seconds.
Collaborating closely with our partner, we pinpointed the critical elements of the main video and effectively condensed them into the shorter videos. Each shorter video was tailored to convey a clear and distinct message.
Prior to finalizing the project, we extended the opportunity for our extended team to review the work, and the response was overwhelmingly positive! 🎉
As a best practice before officially concluding any project, we suggest revisiting the contract to confirm receipt of all production materials and deliverables, as well as ensuring financial matters are appropriately settled on both ends.
🤝 Maintain an open line of communication for potential future collaborations, now that you have a partner well-versed in understanding your brand.
No one knows about the video until you have distributed it. Although we have published the video on our main website and YouTube channel, this step is still a work in progress for us, since Touchpoint is launching in open beta at the end of October.
Once we’ve officially launched Touchpoint, we will also distribute the video cut-offs on social media. We will be promoting the main video on product review sites and on partner websites.
Implementing the following tested practices will help ensure a smooth collaboration with your production partner and an exceptional product video outcome that resonates with your target audience.
🎨 Stay open-minded and allow yourself, and your team, space to be creative. Even though the purpose of a product video is to communicate your software’s value and significance, it doesn’t mean it has to be dry. Use humor, metaphors, and clever references to make your video more engaging for your audience.
Here are the common pitfalls that can undermine your video production efforts if left unchecked.
This often results in a confusing or directionless video that fails to resonate with the audience.
Solutions:
Including too much information in a product video can overwhelm viewers, making it difficult for them to grasp the key features and benefits of the product.
Poor audio quality can detract from the overall video experience, making it difficult for viewers to follow the content or understand the message clearly.
Creating a product video that doesn’t display well on mobile devices can result in a poor viewing experience as more people access content via smartphones.
Here are some product video examples from the tech industry that outstandingly promote the product showcased.
Amazon’s “Alexa Loses Her Voice” commercial is clever and humorous. The video portrays unexpected scenarios where celebrities and personalities substitute for Alexa, adding a playful twist to the product’s demonstration. The humor keeps viewers engaged while effectively showcasing the device’s capabilities and versatility.
The humor and surprise element in this commercial makes it highly shareable and memorable. It creates a positive brand image and effectively highlights the product’s main features, encouraging potential customers to consider Amazon Echo for its entertainment and convenience aspects.
GoPro’s video for the HERO9 Black is visually stunning and exhilarating. It showcases the camera’s capabilities through a montage of action-packed scenes, emphasizing its advanced features like 5K video and 20MP photos.
The video effectively communicates how the product can capture incredible moments, sparking excitement in potential customers and tapping into the adventurous spirit of GoPro’s target audience. The fast-paced, dynamic visuals showcase the product’s high-quality performance, compelling adventure enthusiasts to envision using it.
Apple’s AirPods Pro commercial titled “Jump” is a masterful blend of aesthetics, music, and storytelling. The video begins with a young dancer navigating the bustling streets of a city. As she listens to music on her AirPods Pro, she is inspired to start dancing.
The choice of music, energetic choreography, and stunning visuals create an emotional connection, showcasing the product’s features in a captivating and memorable manner. It encapsulates Apple’s signature style of combining innovation with a lifestyle, making it appealing to both audiophiles and those seeking a premium audio experience.
Crafting our inaugural product video was a journey of creativity and innovation. By sharing our experience with the process, we aim to inspire fellow creators to develop a product video that will astonish their viewers.
As we continue to refine our approach and embark on exciting endeavors, we invite you to stay tuned for more captivating product videos from Touchpoint. Thank you for being a part of our journey, as we look forward to delivering content that surpasses your expectations. Stay connected and stay inspired!
Raluca Mocanu is a copywriter at Touchpoint and began her content writing journey in 2016. She loves traveling, reading, on-stage drama and recently discovered a deep interest in psychology.
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