With tons of content doing rounds in the digital media, you’d want your SaaS content to capture attention and hold it long enough to drive real engagement and adoption, where the magic of explainer videos comes in.
Therefore, consider creating explainer videos for your SaaS users to help them remember the product functions and features. These are more than just the marketing tools that help add a linchpin to your strategy to elevate your SaaS product.
These videos blend the art of storytelling with the power of visual learning to create a visually compelling narrative that resonates with viewers personally.
So, how do you harness the full potential of explainer videos to drive saas product adoption? Think of how to avoid bombarding viewers with features or technical jargon.
Instead, create a connection, simplify complex ideas, and showcase how your product integrates into and enhances your users’ daily lives.
Let’s dive into the world of explainer videos and explore how they can be your ace in the hole for boosting SaaS product adoption.
Tip #1. Start with the “Why” to Address the Core Problem
Let’s kick off with our first tip. When creating an explainer video, focus on addressing the core problem your product solves. This approach requires tapping into the emotional core of your audience’s needs and challenges.
Think about it. Before someone cares about what your product does or how it does it, they need to know why they should care about using it. How about crafting a video showing common frustrations or challenges your potential users face?
This isn’t just about stating a problem; it’s about empathizing with your audience. So, show them that you care for and understand their pain points. Also, communicate that you’re not just selling a product but offering a solution to make their lives easier.
Are you up to crafting a compelling explainer video on the ‘why’ part? Here are some of the things you’d want to know.
Tell a tale they relate with
Weave a narrative within the video that your users can resonate with the most. Set narrative tools with everyday scenarios to create a connection, ensuring your audience feels seen and understood.
Include details and dialogues that reflect their daily lives, enhancing the authenticity and impact of your story.
Ideally, you’d want to follow these key points:
- Start with a scenario or story your target audience can immediately identify with.
- Mix in the characters or situations that mirror your viewers’ experiences, making the problem as relatable as possible.
Highlight the impact of the problem
Viewers should know the importance of the problem you discuss in the explainer video. Demonstrating the magnitude of the issue at hand can heighten the stake, and therefore, people will likely remain hooked to the explainer video.
For this to happen, you can:
- Go beyond stating the problem and show how it affects the daily life or work of your potential users.
- Include visual representations, animations, or narrated scenarios.
Create an Emotional Hook
With plenty to do and see online, what can you offer in your video to captivate their interest? You’ll need to create an engaging video tutorial that guides viewers from start to finish while creating an emotional hook.
Involve storytelling that stirs emotions like joy, surprise, empathy, or inspiration. Ultimately, you’ll craft a narrative to align with your audience’s core values and experiences.
Blend in music, imagery, and powerful storytelling techniques to amplify the emotional impact, ensuring your message resonates deeply and memorably.
Two things to consider when using this technique.
- Begin your video on an emotional note that helps viewers connect.
- Music, voice tone, and visuals should evoke the right emotions when producing such a video. Now, it can be frustration, the desire for simplicity, or the need for efficiency. Whatever you choose, show it with utmost honesty.
Tip #2: Move beyond highlighting features to demonstrate benefits
On to the second tip now.
Think of ways to highlight the benefits of your SaaS product rather than just listing its features. While features are important, what truly resonates with users is understanding how those features will improve their lives or solve their problems.
The purpose behind using video as a digital marketing channel is to help viewers see your product as a tool with impressive features and as a key to solving their specific problems. And this will help create a powerful connection by evoking empathy and understanding that translates into clear, user-focused communication.
Here’s how to effectively execute this approach.
Translate features into benefits
Begin by listing your product features and drafting a narrative around how they result in benefits. Demonstrate how each feature solves a specific problem or improves the user’s life by using real-life examples and testimonials to illustrate the practical impact of these benefits.
For a head start, consider the following:
- Ask yourself for every feature you want to highlight: “What does this mean for the user?”
- Turn technical aspects into relatable benefits. For instance, instead of saying, “Our product uses AI algorithms,” say, “Our software saves you time by automating complex tasks.
Use real-life scenarios
Users are more interested in knowing practical scenarios they will likely experience.
Identify common challenges or goals your target audience faces and demonstrate how your SaaS product offers solutions.
So, including such real-life SaaS product scenarios requires the following:
- Illustrating benefits through scenarios or use cases where the viewer can see the practical application of your product in action.
- Creating a mini-story or a quick demonstration within the video that users can associate with.
End with a Strong Call to Action
You have a video in mind. But what do you want viewers to do once they watch it? That’s when you must create a video with a clear CTA. Here are a couple of tips for better execution.
- Showcase benefits, tell them how to leverage them, and guide them to using them immediately by providing a free signup or free trial button.
- A clear call to action (CTA) should lead them towards a trial, demo, or more information, capitalizing on their newfound understanding of how your product can benefit them.
#3. Adopt a concise and focused approach
For the third tip, let’s discuss the importance of conciseness and focus more on key points throughout the explainer videos. These days, people have a very short attention span of 2.4 minutes in 2004, and recently, in 2023, it has gotten down to 47 seconds.
So, amidst such short attention spans, your SaaS product explainer videos should deliver the message clearly and concisely to drive engagement. This is also a testament to your customer-focused approach, showcasing that you respect their time.
Also, you will address the viewer’s preference for quick, digestible content while effectively communicating your core message. This approach ensures that the most crucial aspects of your product are highlighted, increasing the likelihood of product adoption and engagement.
Here are some quick tips to executing this tip for better outcomes.
Use a clear structure
A beginning, middle, and end must have a well-rounded video that effectively communicates your SaaS product.
Start with an engaging introduction that outlines the problem your product addresses. In the middle, detail the features and benefits of your solution, showcasing how it works. Conclude with a strong CTA, guiding viewers on what to do next.
Here’s what you can consider.
- Edit your video in a way that introduces the problem, presents the solution, and shows a call to action.
- Try focusing on the middle part that showcases the product solution without disturbing the structure of the video.
Use visuals and narration effectively
Think of blending the visuals with a punchy narrative that cohesively expresses the message through a compelling video.
Here are two ways to get started.
- Ensure visuals quickly convey ideas that might take longer to explain with words.
- Prepare a well-written script and clear narration (voice-over) to deliver complex ideas in a digestible format.
Limit the video length
Make the most of the video minutes by highlighting everything useful to your viewers.
Prioritize key messages and use a clear, energetic audio delivery to keep the audience interested and invested throughout the video.
For starters, here’s something you could consider.
- Keep your video below 2 minutes since this time frame is generally sufficient to convey your key points while maintaining viewer engagement.
- Focus on the goal of your video to pique interest and encourage further action without providing exhaustive details.
To further optimize your video content, explore tools that allow you to speed up videos during the editing process. This can be particularly effective in condensing information without sacrificing clarity, ensuring your audience receives valuable content in a shorter time frame while maintaining engagement.
Wrapping up
Each of the tips we’ve discussed helps create a video that informs, engages, and convinces.
So, when creating a video intended for SaaS product adoption, the explainer video should not just showcase the SaaS product but connect with the audience on a level that transcends the product itself.
It’s about creating a narrative where viewers can see themselves and resonate with their experiences and challenges. These videos can turn new users into brand advocates when everything is done right.
You cannot write off the importance of video in digital marketing; therefore, cultivating the right approach is necessary. It even goes beyond the conventional marketing methods if you weave in comprehensive storytelling for product adoption. In the long run, this will help foster a lasting connection with your audience and push them to continue with your product without hesitation.
