Video marketing, or the use of video in any kind of promotional campaign, is incredibly effective.
A key reason why video works so well as a marketing tool is its accessibility—it takes less attention and time to watch a video than to read an article, so video content tends to get a much wider reach. Video marketing is also very effective in helping customers connect with a product and converting views into sales.
A product demo video is one of the best ways to showcase the value of your product to potential customers and turn interest into actual purchases.
What is a product demo?
In a nutshell, a product demo video shows your product or service in action to generate excitement around it. As a baseline expectation, this type of video should be a simple and straightforward demonstration of how your product works.
On the other hand, a good product demo video should also show the value of your product. This can be achieved by focusing on the main product features and how they can benefit your customer by addressing particular pain points.
The benefits of creating product demo videos
Product demo videos offer a wide range of benefits. They give potential customers a more tangible idea of what your product is and how it works. They also build trust with your wider customer base by setting clear expectations for the quality and benefits of your product. Product demos are an integral part of video marketing and help boost awareness of your product.
What’s more, you can generate analytics from your customers’ interactions with and feedback on demo videos. In turn, these data points can be used later down the line to better understand your customers and improve your marketing approach.
Helps internet users form a deeper connection with your product
A product demo video introduces potential buyers to your product’s most important features and the benefits they represent.
Instead of just telling people why they need or should buy a certain product, video demonstrations aim to convince their audience by showing the product in action. This show, don’t tell technique allows viewers to feel immersed in the world of the product, connect with it, and make their purchase decision in a relaxed state of mind.
If you have recently added new features to an existing product, a product video demonstrates to existing customers why it’s worth investing in the newest model, even if they already have an older version at home.
Builds trust with potential customers
Product demo videos set clear expectations for customers so they know exactly what they are buying. Moreover, they’re a great form of social proof. Also known as the herd mentality, this phenomenon means that if someone we trust endorses a product, we’re more likely to make the same purchase.
You can use all sorts of social proof in your demo video, from expert endorsements to appearances from industry influencers. Positive online reviews and supporting quotes from well-known publications can all act as social proof, which builds trust with your customer base.
Boosts product awareness and reach through video marketing
Video content can provide your business with a great return on investment, especially because it can improve your search engine optimization (SEO) results. Getting to the top of search results matters—over 25% of people click on the first search engine result they see, as a study of billions of search results has shown.
Videos keep engagement high on your page, which consequently pushes it up the search engine rankings. When a video is included or embedded into a webpage, it can be engineered to appear in organic search results with a video thumbnail. These are known as video-rich snippets and they can help to make your company’s content stand out against competitor pages.
Generates useful analytics
Online content generates a huge variety of metrics, and product demo videos are no different. Once uploaded to a site, you can measure click-through rates, watch time, engagement, audience demographics, and more.
All these metrics can help you better understand your customer base and refine your marketing approach with every campaign.
What makes a great product demo video?
Product demo videos require time and resources to make, so you want to get the best possible end result.
You’ll want to give a simple overview of the product itself and a clear explanation of its most important features. When it comes to making your own video demo, the more personalized it is to your target audience, the better. And don’t forget a call to action so viewers know what to do next!
Here’s a bit more detail on how you can make great product demo videos every time.
A brief overview of how the product works
One of the most important elements is the product description. A video can show a lot about a product in just a few frames, but too much information can be overwhelming.
Your description of the product in the video needs to be simple enough that anyone watching can get a clear picture of what your product is, how it works, and why they should buy it.
A simple explanation of key features
A broad overview of your product lays the foundation for a great demo video—the next step is to choose which of your product’s features to highlight. Again, you won’t be able to cover all of them in just one video, so choose a few to focus on.
Use your demo video to show why these features stand out, how they’ll benefit the customer, and what particular pain points they address.
A personal approach
To know which features to highlight, you’ll need a clear idea of your target audience—who they are, what they like, and what buying motives drive them. You need to do your research. Understanding your audience starts with analyzing a variety of data, such as surveys, interviews, and statistics. The easiest way to access and make sense of all this information is through customer relationship management (CRM) software.
Once you’ve processed this information, you’ll probably come out with a range of different demographics—your customers are unlikely to be just one kind of person. From there, you can create buyer personas to get a sense of the types of people who buy your products.
Each different type, or buyer persona, will have different motivations, preferences, and behaviors. By categorizing them in this way, you can ensure each product demo video speaks to a specific demographic.
For example, if you are marketing a lunchbox, you might have both students and young professionals as buyer personas. Rather than making an overly general video, demonstrating your product in scenarios relevant to your users will help them connect with the messaging and generate more sales.
A clear call to action
Once you’ve hooked your prospects with great personalized content and a clear idea of how and why your product works, the next step is adding a call to action (CTA). Including a CTA helps your viewers know exactly how they can purchase the product they’ve seen in your demo video, which helps increase your conversion rates.
One study found that a CTA in a video received 380% more clicks than when it was in a survey, so including one in your product demo video may help you see the sales uptick that you might otherwise miss out on.
How to create a successful product demo video
Now that you know the benefits of product demo videos and the best practices for making your own, here’s a 3-step plan for creating successful product demo videos for your company.
Step 1: Plan ahead
Planning is the most important part of the whole video-making process because it lays the foundations for success. Good planning includes creating a clear goal for your demo video, understanding your target audience, deciding the budget and timeline, and writing the script for your video. Let’s take a look at each of these planning stages.
Determine the primary goal of your product demo video
Great demo videos are always made with an objective in mind. The primary purpose of any marketing effort is usually an increase in sales, but beyond that, are you looking to showcase a particular new feature or address a specific pain point your customers might be facing? This information will guide the rest of your planning.
Define the target audience for your product demo video
Once you know exactly why you’re making the video, it’s time to define your target audience. This is where the personalized approach comes into play. Use the insights you have to know who exactly the product demo video will be speaking to and why they will be watching.
Establish the timeline and budget for your product demo video
If there’s a particular deadline you’re working toward, this will guide the timeline portion of your planning. With new product releases, this is often a pretty straightforward situation.
Your budget will depend on the kind of production value you are looking for. You can go for a Hollywood-level production, or just create the demo with just a smartphone camera and some good natural light.
Write your product demo script
All product demos should give viewers a clear understanding of what the product is and how buying it could benefit them. The script needs to be simple and not too long, while keeping the target audience in mind and including a clear CTA.
Above all, your product demonstration script should be engaging and get people interested in the product on offer.
Step 2: Film and edit your product demo video
Filming and editing your video demo is the fruition of all your planning. Your budget is the most important aspect at this stage, as it will help you decide how you want to produce the actual video.
Decide if you will go in-house or use an external agency
If you are creating your product demo in-house, your costs are likely to be lower. However, an agency often has the means to make more creatively ambitious videos and their expertise is valuable if you want to make something a little outside of the box.
Whether you choose to produce your video in-house or with an agency depends entirely on the kind of video you want to create and how much you are willing to spend.
Step 3: Release your product demo video
When your product demo has been filmed and edited, it’s ready for release! To ensure the highest quality, keep these things in mind when rolling out the end product.
Create a marketing plan
Before you release your product demo, set up a clear marketing plan so that your video can reach as many potential buyers as possible.
This means you’ll want to post the product demo video not just on your website, but across all your social media platforms. Use SEO when writing your posts so that more people will see them, and set up an email marketing plan, too.
Make your product demo easily accessible
Unlike a live demonstration, product demo videos remain available after the initial event. You can create a dedicated page on your website for customers to continue accessing the video, and also upload it to dedicated platforms like YouTube.
Use your metrics
From the video, your sales team can gather information that will help you to create even better marketing materials in the future, and maybe even find new areas for product innovation. Information such as how people found the video, what device they watched it on, and where they are based are all incredibly valuable.
Seven successful product demo video examples
There are tons of great product demo videos out there, but we’ve put together 7 of the best examples for you to get inspiration for creating your own.
1. Nike Free running shoes
This demo from Nike focuses on the key feature that sets their Free running shoes apart: natural movement.
The benefits of this innovation are given a sense of scientific credibility with dynamic clips from lab research and technical visualizations of the human body running.
The product demo approaches buyers in 2 ways. The first is through clips of individuals running in a city, as they envision their customers to be primarily urban dwellers and avid runners. By showing these clips, they hope their target audience can better connect the shoes with their everyday life.
The second approach uses videos of athletes wearing the shoes in a more formal setting, emphasizing the versatility of the shoes and adding an aspirational element to the demo video.
2. Duolingo
This product demo for Duolingo is the only animated video on this list. Animation is really suitable for this setting, especially because the video uses the same kinds of graphics as the app itself, giving it an immersive effect.
The benefits of the free language learning app are brought out through dynamic sounds that are coordinated with the imagery on-screen. The simple, brightly colored, and fast-moving elements draw the eye without giving viewers too much to process.
This product demo also makes use of 2 kinds of social proof. It includes quotes from publications—for example, the video begins with a quotation from The Wall Street Journal, which calls Duolingo “Far and away the best free language-learning app.”
But they also use data from an independent study, which claims that 34 hours on the app is equivalent to a full semester of university education. This lends authority to the app and creates trust with potential users.
3. Ikea Place
Ikea Place is an augmented reality app, which allows users to place furniture in their space using their phones. They take a personal approach with their use of point-of-view filming, with many different hands holding the phone at different times so a variety of people can imagine themselves using the app.
They also directly address a pain point by showing how disappointing it can be when we buy furniture that we can’t fit where we want it to, and how the app helps users avoid this situation.
4. MasterClass
MasterClass is a subscription-based online learning platform with videos on a variety of subjects by industry experts. Each expert, often a celebrity, has their own MasterClass on the site and every class has a trailer video, which acts as a product demo.
The trailers underline the key feature that makes MasterClass worth buying: exclusive expertise. The idea of important insights gets viewers excited about the product, and the exclusive element encourages them to spend the money necessary to access that expertise.
5. Peloton
This Peloton demo showcases the product as being technologically advanced, but accessible at the same time.
The bike itself is presented as a piece of consumer tech, emerging out of the darkness, with the scientific values of the product, like its nearly silent operation, highlighted alongside.
The product demo video is made personal through clips of the bike being used in people’s homes, making it clear that it’s accessible. There is also an emphasis on the community element of having a live class to attend, with a snippet of the kind of workout class you can expect to follow on the bike yourself.
6. Zoom
This Zoom product demo is very simple, which echoes the simplicity of the product itself. It highlights the key features of video and sound quality, ease of use, and increased productivity. We also get to see Zoom being used both by an individual on a phone and by a team at work, showing the versatility of the product across user bases.
7. Nespresso
This Nespresso demo is the only video on our list without a voice-over. Instead, gentle soothing music plays throughout, giving potential customers a sense of peace and calm. The benefits are shown through titles on-screen as a person makes their coffee. This way, customers associate the product with taking a break for themselves.
We see the coffee-making process from start to finish, which also shows potential buyers that this is an easy-to-use product that can quickly make a barista-style coffee.
Start creating product demo videos today
The best demo videos are a great marketing tool, building trust with customers, boosting SEO, and gathering useful insights after their release, helping your company grow.
Now that you have everything you need to know, from best practices to inspiration from the best of the best, you’re all set to create a first-rate product demo video of your very own.