Professionals Breakdown How To: Make a Product Demo Video
Product demo video production is exploding. Like really exploding. Companies are getting more and more every month. And some of our clients are getting multiple a month.
Why?
Showing your b2b SaaS product UI/UX in action is the way to sell prospects on it. There’s simply no better way. Show! Don’t tell!
Or with screencast product demos - do both.
- Hook viewers by highlighting the outcomes they care about.
- Save time explaining and re-explaining what you do over and over.
- Look credible. Authentic. Like a company that cares about brand.
- Make it look legit. Drop the grainy self recorded loom and do something professional.
Just one well made, well thought out, screencast video can change the way you market. In fact one of the most common comments we hear from sales reps through marketing is: we want more product demos of our SaaS product.
Because there’s a limit to how much character and charisma can sell.
At some point you have to show. And there’s simply no better to show something than a well thought out video presentation.
What is a product demo video?
Basically we take your product and learn it, then turn it into a highlights reel where the best features are shown and driven towards outcomes. There’s opportunity to mix in other mediums but the real meat of it is your product - the software itself - making it tangible for the viewer.
Why product demo videos?
Videos come in many forms, lengths and styles.
What’s the difference? It’s a matter of expression. SaaS product demo videos are the first choice for any product marketer who needs to get the value across in a short period of time. It’s not the same as an animation or 3D video because it’s a much more literal representation of your product.
While making a video for hype or promotion is a good idea as well. These screencasts really shine when the prospect asks the question “But whats the software do for me?”
Well - words can explain it. Images can get them excited but at the end of the day people want to actually SEE what you have to offer.
Making that “Great” app product demo video
Well in this blog post we outline 7 product demo video best practices if you want the “full scoop” but lets get a brief overview here.
To get maximum impact you need to apply the principles
- Sequencing - try not to show the full screenshot, but go through the features as priorities and use camera tracking to get more out of them.
- Priority - it’s a highlight reel basically of your best product features, so focus on that - don’t hide it… it’s a beauty pageant, don’t be afraid!
- Use text - it can be a great way to draw attention to specific outcomes. It won’t always be evident just by looking at UI/UX so use text to elevate ideas.
- Keep it short as possible - less is more, make sure you focus on the big juicy features and getting their value across.
- Pick the most important screens ahead of time. And decide if you need to show only a feature? A box of the page? Or the full thing? Too often marketers crowd their visuals.
- Long is okay. As long as you can keep it relevant. Meaning don’t shy away from length just because “its longer”, that’s fine, as long as you have something to show/share.
The main thing is to not hide the value of your product. Show it off! This is your time to shine.
Price ranges for a product demonstration video?
So how much do people charge for a product demo video?
OK so lets just be upfront. It could take you 30 minutes of your time with a good presenter (like a sales rep) who knows the ins and outs and a software like Loom.
But, what you probably want to know is how much does it cost to work with professionals? And again here it will vary depending on
- How much experience the video production team has with product demo videos?
- How in demand they are?
- How fast they can deliver your video?
- Will they do the full production or only a part of it?
Depending on these answers you might find it better to go on Upwork or Fiverr, versus actually hiring a professional product demo video team like Rocketwheel for example.
For cost references on the low end I’d estimate $200-500 for someone with limited experience who can basically do your editing for you.
Mid range between $2000-6000 and this would include more fancy recordings, transitions, edits, and even some video magic (you know the stuff that makes it look pretty).
Of course some video production agencies will charge upwards of $10,000-30,000+ per video. And no that’s not a joke.
And no, it doesn’t get exponentially better with each thousand you spend.
Sometimes it’s about removing the risk. A lot of marketers prefer to work with someone proven who has the experience to get the job done because they know the asset will be worth so much more when properly used.
So it depends on your campaign, budget, expectations and how much hand holding you are willing to do. Which are not factors that we can account for in this blog post.
A little trick for calculating the true cost of your product demo video.
How much people charge for a product video depends on where you source it. Obvious but…
- Freelancers on Upwork could be as low as 500-1000.
- An agency from $2000 to 20,000.
- Doing it yourself could take 10-20 hours, maybe more depending on complexity. So you can multiply your hourly by this.
The reality is that most people don’t realize how much time they spent making their demo screencast. And honestly it can become a huge time sink.
Do you have more important priorities? Revenue generating activities? If so, consider leaving it to the experts.
Your product demo script: the most important part.
Making a product demo video the most time goes into research and concept.
To really cut to the chase your clients and sales reps know best. It’s people who do the demo day in and day out who really have the insight into what features drive the outcomes that get buy-in.
You’re looking for UI and UX features which make people go “oh wow” that’s the opportunity for your video. That’s how you can show the value. And that’s really where you should begin with a list of the essential screenshots to show within your video.
TIP: Ask your best customers what drove them towards your software. It can give you some really great insights into what sold them and made you stand out.
TIP #2 :Your sales reps I repeat are a WEALTH of knowledge. While marketers “think” they know the market, sales reps are in there, getting rejected, learning ways around objections, and sometimes even “laugh” at the ideas marketers present them with. Listen to them!
Few thoughts around writing product demo scripts
The key to writing a script is starting with the most important features or screenshots. It’s not actually writing a script but understanding what your video will need to show.
And that means figuring out how the features drive the outcomes and turning that into a narrative. The script is just the words which join together the skeleton for this visual narrative.
So we always start by brainstorming visual ideas, learning about the product, competitors, and trying to see how other people have used visuals within the niche. Usually there’s a lot of gathering and ideation generated from this.
Afterwards we’ll lay it all out and start to pull together what we believe to be the story and the symbols which represent it. At this point, we begin to script. In the script we outline the problem, solution, and start to give the narrative more character/precision.
Visuals are great, but they often lack precision - they are worth 1000 words as people say. So the solution becomes to use words to give it direction, carve it out and help guide the interpretation of the viewer towards our desired conclusion.
Taking all these steps into consideration is how we approach screencast product video script writing.
B2B SaaS product demo with an Agency or a DIY software?
This goes back to the cost question: what do you value more your time or your money.
For smaller brands it’s going to be money - so you an make it yourself and it’s fine. As Joe Sweeney says: it’s about moving the needle.
With DIY software like Camtasia, or another brand, you are going to invest your own time and effort to end up with a video that’s “all right” but not amazing.
It’s best used for a proof of concept. However it depends on how long it takes you to get the video done - in some cases, we’ve seen clients who took weeks to get done a video that should have taken a few hours.
On the flipside, an agency can really make something cool but still will need hand holding and direction. Most agencies can’t just hop into a project and lack the actual market understanding that your brand needs - so you could end up holding the bag for a few months long project.
But if you find the right agency. You could end up producing something way better than inhouse, and changing the way you market your product in the process.
And in most cases the right agency is a combination of: skillset, experience and service. Cost is relatively similar unless you’re going into the low or high end of the market.
Ideal length for a product demo video
The length depends on the complexity of your offer.
There’s no one size fits all and we can make videos of all kind of lengths - 30, 60, 90, 120 seconds, what changes is the amount of time to elaborate.
Some offers are more complex and require more time. For example if I’m giving away a free iPhone a quick teaser of 15 seconds will suffice. You just want people to enter their email in exchange for a chance to win a free iPhone - not much to explain.
However, what if I’m a bank selling a mortgage? Well, I may opt for a 60 minute powerpoint style video presentation. Sure, only 2% of people will finish all the way through but afterward they are extremely qualified, interested and convert very well.
In both cases - our videos are different lengths but serve the business objective.
So your video in some ways will be “as long as it needs to be”. That being said 60-90 seconds for an overview screencast product demo seems to be a general range.
Of course you also need to consider where in the marketing funnel you are. BOFU, TOFU, MOFU, all that good stuff.
You really have to consider the purpose of your video more than anything. But hey, any marketer worth their salt will do that. Lets continue.
A little trick for calculating the true cost of your product demo video.
How much people charge for a product video depends on where you source it. Obvious but…
- Freelancers on Upwork could be as low as 500-1000.
- An agency from $2000 to 20,000.
- Doing it yourself could take 10-20 hours, maybe more depending on complexity. So you can multiply your hourly by this.
The reality is that most people don’t realize how much time they spent making their demo screencast. And honestly it can become a huge time sink.
Do you have more important priorities? Revenue generating activities? If so, consider leaving it to the experts.
OK. Now what? What's next?
Don’t stop here.
Lets upgrade your understanding of screencasts, product demos and how your B2B business can use them.
Our first suggestion is download our Ebook about product demos, screencasts and all the little secrets that go into producing them.
Don’t feel like you need to give us your email - we give our best stuff away for free in these blog posts.
- Here’s one about product demo micro interactions and how to add that quality feel to your video.
- And here’s one more that we linked above on screencast techniques to make your demo POP and look amazing.
The stuff we share is what we use to make videos for F5000 companies. So we’re sure it can help move the needle for your team as well.
And if you ever need us on the project, just check out our B2B product demo pricing page. Who knows we could be working together real soon.
