Guide to Improving your SaaS Product usage via Videos

Top 10 Example of App Onboarding Videos

Guide to improving your SaaS product usage via videos

After your leads have been impressed with your product and have converted into customers, the next big challenge is to get them to stay with your company.

Video marketing can prove to be the chisel that shapes the future of your company by engaging with the customers, improving their experience with the product and amplifying loyalty, and someday hopefully, inspiring advocacy.

According to research done by Optinmonster, 72% of customers said they would rather learn about a product or service by way of video. In fact, 84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a brand’s video.

Customer education is directly proportional to customer success which then translates to customer retention. Hubspot says that 54% of consumers want to see more video content this year. Be it testimonials, instructional videos, how-to videos, or case studies- videos play a paramount role in maintaining the attention of your audience and retaining your customer base.

Table of Contents

Why does your SaaS Business Need Videos to Increase Product Usage?

In today’s time, all of the potential and existing customers use digital platforms and are parked on the internet. Viewers remember 95% of the information when they watch it online compared to just 10% when reading it as text.

Video marketing has therefore evolved into a major business strategy that is utilized to drive traffic to the company’s website, personalize customer engagement, maximize marketing return on investment, build stronger customer loyalty and cement the feeling of advocacy.

1. Save money, resources, and time

A video that showcases the features of a SaaS product or a service and explains it concisely in a simple way would be a far superior way to communicate with the user as compared to a manual or a webpage.

A well-made video can therefore help in saving the time, cost, and resources it takes to keep up a customer help unit that deals with the customer tickets and calls.

These videos are easier to remember than text, therefore, empowering and engaging the users with knowledge for better product usage and can replace the need for social media campaigns and multiple advertising.

2. Heightened engagement

Product usage videos that are interesting and entertaining and provide value and connect with the audience have the potential to get circulated by customers to others in their network.

These videos are hosted on social media platforms and that helps engage a larger section of the audience and stimulate positive discussions about the product and the brand.

3. Shape your community and charm the audience

Videos can help generate trust and build credibility for the brand, especially those that have a human touch to them. Customer testimonial videos can be plugged in a way that they portray the SaaS product in the light that the company wants, by making the customer watch a fellow being’s journey with the brand and experience with the product.

Company culture videos take the viewers into the workings of the company and the process of making the product. This transparency evokes more faith and assurance and a feeling of loyalty for the product/service.

4. Expand brand awareness

Videos that connect with the user audience and are memorable and original will help with brand awareness. These creative videos stand out and get shared by the users and directly help in promoting your SaaS brand and bringing more attention to it. This network of people will then remember your brand and recommend it to potential leads.

Read More: How to Promote and Sell your SaaS Using Video Marketing

10 Impressive Video Examples to Study to Enhance your SaaS Product usage

1. Kissflow

They have made indicative courses by the names of Workflow Automation, Dataset, Account administrator, User Settings, Case management, Project management on the hosting platform, Vimeo, with an average video duration of 5-6mins.

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Highlights of what they have learned from creating video content:

  • Getting the workflow right the first time is highly unlikely. The more people it involves, the higher the uncertainty.
  • Constantly watch out for errors and be flexible to changes, even in the final draft.
  • Build a team that goes the extra mile to implement last-minute corrections.

2. Candu

They have made indicative courses by the names of Learn the Basics on the hosting platform, Wistia, with an average video duration of 10-11mins.

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Highlights of what they have learned from creating video content:

  • Creating a script was less valuable than outlining key learning objectives.

3. Miro

They have made indicative courses by the names of Getting Started with Miro, Running Workshops in Miro, Agile Workflows, Enterprise Admin Onboarding, User Experience Design, Designing a Workshop on the hosting platform, Wistia, with an average video duration of 5-6mins.

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Highlights of what they have learned from creating video content:

  • Keep it short.
  • Respect your learner’s time and make it fun and valuable for them.

4. DataRobot

They have made indicative courses by the names of AutoML for Business Analysts Starter, AutoML for Citizen Data Scientists Starter, AutoML for Data Scientists Starter, AutoML I, Data Prep I, DataRobot for Data Scientists, Fast Track For Data Scientists, DataRobot Time Series Modeling in English and Japanese, with an average video duration of 23-24secs.

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Highlights of what they have learned from creating video content:

  • Because of maintenance and localization, they try to focus on application rather than navigation.
  • They also make sure to have a transcript available which helps with accessibility, non-native English speakers, and the developer audience.

5. Datagran

They have made indicative courses by the names of How, now and future, Data Science workflow, Stop the data divide, Linear regression and how to use it, Logistic regression and how to use it, Unsupervised Learning Techniques: Clustering on the hosting platform, Youtube, with an average video duration of 53-54mins.

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6. Asana

They have made indicative courses by the names of Meet Asana, your work manager, Structure your work in Asana, Reporting on work in Asana, Introduction to Asana for Marketing, Creative process and production, Product marketing launches on the hosting platform, Wistia, with an average video duration of 1-2mins.

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7. Braze

They have made indicative courses by the names of What to Expect When Taking an Exam, Certification Policies, 2021 Administrator Certification Resources, 2021 Marketer Certification Resources, 2021 Administrator Certification, 2021 Marketer Certification on the hosting platform, SkillJar, with an average video duration of 19-20mins.

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Highlights of what they have learned from creating video content:

  • Having a warm personality behind the material and empathetic word choice should be enough. So, cut out the jokes.

8. Surfer

They have made indicative courses by the name of SEO Writing Masterclass on the hosting platform, Teachable, in Bulgarian, Czech, German, English, Finnish, French, Croatian, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovak and Spanish.

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9. Channable

They have made indicative courses by the names of Fundamentals, Imports, Export Feeds, Text Ads, APIs, Shopping Ads on the hosting platform, Northpass, with an average video duration of 10 mins.

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Highlights of what they have learned from creating video content:

  • It is key to switch between screencasts and live views very often to keep it interactive and engaging.

10. PandaDoc

They have made indicative courses by the names of How to hack your sales pipeline like a true data nerd, How to Seal the Deal: The Pro Guide to Closing Sales, Train Your Sales Rep to Steal Your Job, How to optimize your proposal process, 8 mistakes that stop your team from closing the sale, 10 high-profile sales leaders share their strategies for writing winning proposals, etc., on the hosting platform, Wistia, with an average video duration of 59-60mins.

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How does Choosing the Right LMS Platform for your SaaS Affect Product usage

A Learning Management System (LMS) is a digital system that allows an organization to create courses, manage enrollment, and track progress. It is a software system that manages the delivery of learning materials and assessments to users, and it can be used in a variety of settings, such as educational institutions, corporate training programs, and independent training providers.

Setting up an LMS platform can be key to successfully designing a training or help program for your customers. Engaging your customers involves getting them to interact with your product as much to understand features and be able to use them to their maximum benefit.

You require an LMS platform for your SaaS if:

  • You want to keep track of the user’s progress
  • You want to better onboard your customers and help them understand your product.
  • You want to teach your existing customers about your new features, updates, and releases.

To get a deeper insight on how to choose the best LMS platform for your SaaS click here.

Strategies to Remember to Make an Effective Video for your SaaS Product usage

1. Decide the budget and fix a timeline for the videos. You have to analyze the type of videos that your competitors are creating and try to match the quality of your videos to that standard because you have the same batch of users.

The budget should have a reasonable chance of getting you an average ROI and setting the deadline will help keep a track of the progress.

2. Create a clear customer success video strategy. The sales and marketing departments have to collaborate to conjure up a strategy that fits your product and takes the video in the desired direction.

You have to chalk out what your company’s goal is and then understand the type of videos that will work and who will handle the various stages of content production.

3. Choosing the correct platform for your target audience is imperative as even though initially you might put up product usage videos on your website or blend them into your newsletter, ultimately you will have to put them on platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter where your users can access them easily.

Also, the videos can be shared on other platforms, and information about your product will be available on the internet throughout your company’s lifetime.

4. You have to study the different types of videos that are made and select what resonates more with your audience while highlighting your product and its usage aptly.

This will also depend on the budget, the time in hand, and the skill level of the team designing it. Live-action videos can turn out to be a more expensive investment than animation videos.

5. Showcasing the product in the most appealing light, making it approachable and easy to adapt to, and explaining it in the simplest possible manner will amplify user adoption and will get more potential leads.

6. The structure and storyline of your video need to be broken down and locked beforehand. You have to decide whether it is important to build up an engaging tale and if you will highlight the pain points and functionality of the product accordingly or what the color palette would be or will be going for an only text or an only visual video.

You also have to lock in the length according to the type of video you are making. The outline, scene-by-scene breakage, project brief, script, and storyboard need to be ready before the production of the video starts.

7. A decision has to be made as to whether you will get the video made in-house or hire an agency. This will depend on your budget and the skills of your team. In case you opt for an agency, you will have to get a few of them to submit their pitches and quotations to you.

Click here to read more about which one to choose for your SaaS Business – In-House Video Production, Freelancers, or a Video Production Agency.

Which Types of Videos Work Best for Customer Success?

1. How-to and help Videos

Critical in converting users to loyal customers, a how-to video is what keeps a customer going. They explain upgrades on the product, how to use previously launched products, or even answer frequently experienced problems, thereby severely shrinking the churn rate.

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Here are a few types of How-to videos that can be chosen according to your brand and product needs:

A. FAQ-Type Videos / Customer Support Videos

While dealing with the issues that raise the most customer tickets, FAQ videos are made for customer success and the most asked questions are answered. Customer support videos are similar and address problems faced by the user. These videos greatly help in increasing customer retention.

B. Video Infographics

These work well in guiding and educating customers as it hits the audience with small packets of high-value data and information through visual representation. They convey condensed information and complicated instructions in a quick and clear format.

C. Educational Videos

They impart exhaustive information not only about the product and the brand but also about the field that the product comes under. They are highly useful in improving product usage as they help simplify complex concepts and the execution of your SaaS product. Making them interesting and fun can help engage the attention of the users and get the videos shared more on social media platforms.

2. Case Studies and Testimonials videos

These videos vouch for the company and the product. Clients being interviewed, sharing their experience helps build trust like nothing else does. It humanizes the brand and gives a peek into the actual solutions the product provides.

These videos also showcase your work, therefore proving to be a welcome mat to the new leads and a warm corner for the old customers.

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3. Webinars

An active webinar strategy can change the face of a SaaS company, thereby increasing retention. According to research carried out by Demio, 78 of the brands in Forbes’ The Cloud 100 2019 list run webinars for their audiences. Engagement of customers, working with primary industry stakeholders, increasing brand awareness, producing new leads, and showcasing the product are just a few of the gains of broadcasting SaaS webinars.

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Short Guide to Constructing Engaging and Educating Videos for Better Product usage

1. Do not give a full-length tour of your services. Stick to demonstrating the mechanism of your product. Understand the customer’s biggest challenge and show the workings of the product that solves their problem. Don’t go step by step as the video will get boring and lengthy and they will drop out of it.

2. It is always better to show the solution to the most asked questions and confusion in action. So while educating the users about the interface of your SaaS product, it is far more effective to do a screencast and literally show them in real-time how it’s done, than putting up a video of a person speaking more words to explain.

To boost user experience you can put voiceovers and transition effects. This expert content increases traffic on the company’s webpage and establishes its authority.

3. Try making a hybrid video that can incorporate more elements to keep the viewer engaged. You could get a real person talking while using UI animation to explain the product. These videos have a very high rate of customer satisfaction.

4. Peg the money shot and highlight the pain that your only product solves to keep customers engaged and therefore reduce churn. In fact, if it is possible, tie the video back to the risks involved in the workflow is done without your SaaS.

5. Keep the FAQ videos under 30 seconds. These short clips are striking morsels of information that people cannot resist clicking. This method has been known to improve the behavioral factors of customers as tracked on company websites.

6. Don’t just keep speaking, lead by questions. Nobody can keep up with a monologue that points at nothing and drowns them in information.

Throw out questions at them and then address them. Have pre-built lists of issues your customers are facing and guide the conversation to tackle them one by one, preferably in separate videos.

7. With the internet overflowing with fake or paid reviews, it is important to take advantage of video advertising to put our real testimonials of real client experiences as evidence. Remote video testimonials are simple, easy & effective!

Most modern users look up and meticulously go through reviews of the product. Positive testimonials reinforce their belief in the brand and keep them loyal.

Conclusion

Videos have unparalleled supremacy over the ways to promote and sell SaaS products as well as to retain users and reduce churn, especially with technical products that need more guidance and detailed instructions for optimizing usage.

Proposify’s research shows that SaaS companies’ proposals that had video enjoyed a 41% higher close rate and a recent Wyzowl study revealed that 69% of consumers prefer to watch a short video to learn more about a brand’s products or services. And so is vital for any SaaS company to get on the video marketing bandwagon to improve their product usage if they aren’t already.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Videos provide a window into the actual picture of your SaaS product or service. Whether it is about highlighting the benefits, giving insight into user experience through testimonials, or explaining the working of the UI and of different features separately can all lead to increased visibility and credibility of the product, thereby boosting sales and its usage

For any product video to be effective, the focus needs to be on the problem at hand and the solution that the SaaS product offers. Keeping the length of the video short and focusing on one specific feature can increase the recall value of the video. Providing information about a customer feedback channel, and ending with an encouraging and direct CTA can also help.

Many different types of videos are used to promote and market SaaS products to the audience. Some effective methods include creating a demo that explains the benefits of the product, creating launch and teaser videos to build curiosity, putting out a video that talks about the brand and its goals with the product, circulating case studies of satisfied customers, etc.

SaaS product videos are used in promoting, marketing, and selling the product across all channels. A few important methods are running videos in ads on different platforms, putting up regular case studies and product videos on social media pages of the company, putting videos on landing pages, circulating them in newsletters and emails, etc.

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