Guide
SaaS video marketing: start with demo, onboarding and help videos
Updated
SaaS video marketing means using video to show buyers and users how your software works. The videos that usually pay back first are a product demo, onboarding videos and short answers to support questions.
In short
- Most SaaS companies should start with a product demo, onboarding videos and short videos that answer support questions.
- Video works best when people need to see something happen on screen, like the steps of a task or a before and after.
- Text works better for prices, feature lists and requirements, because people can skim and search it.
- Short ads come later, and you need several: an ad analytics study found only about 1 in 13 to 20 becomes a winner.
- Judge each video by one number, such as how many new users finish setup or how many tickets you get on that question.
Which videos should a SaaS company make?
These are the common SaaS video types, what each one shows, where it goes and how long it should be.
- Start with the demo, the onboarding video and help videos. They answer questions people already have.
- Add launch videos and short ads once those are in place.
SaaS video types
| Video | What it shows | Where it goes | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product demo | How the product does its main job, from start to finish | Website and sales emails | 60 to 90 seconds |
| Onboarding video | The first task a new user has to do | Inside the app and in the welcome email | 45 to 90 seconds per task |
| Help video | The answer to one question support gets again and again | Help centre and support replies | About 60 seconds |
| Feature launch video | What changed and where to find it | App, changelog, customer email and social | About 40 seconds |
| Customer video | A customer saying in their own words what changed for them | Website and sales follow-ups | 60 to 90 seconds |
| Short social video or ad | One problem and how the product solves it | LinkedIn, Reels, TikTok and Shorts | 20 to 40 seconds |
Video: Product demo
- What it shows
- How the product does its main job, from start to finish
- Where it goes
- Website and sales emails
- Length
- 60 to 90 seconds
Video: Onboarding video
- What it shows
- The first task a new user has to do
- Where it goes
- Inside the app and in the welcome email
- Length
- 45 to 90 seconds per task
Video: Help video
- What it shows
- The answer to one question support gets again and again
- Where it goes
- Help centre and support replies
- Length
- About 60 seconds
Video: Feature launch video
- What it shows
- What changed and where to find it
- Where it goes
- App, changelog, customer email and social
- Length
- About 40 seconds
Video: Customer video
- What it shows
- A customer saying in their own words what changed for them
- Where it goes
- Website and sales follow-ups
- Length
- 60 to 90 seconds
Video: Short social video or ad
- What it shows
- One problem and how the product solves it
- Where it goes
- LinkedIn, Reels, TikTok and Shorts
- Length
- 20 to 40 seconds
When is video better than text?
Video is worth making when the viewer needs to see something happen. When a paragraph answers faster, write the paragraph.
- Keep the written steps next to every help video, because nobody can skim a video.
Video or text
| What you need to explain | Better as |
|---|---|
| A task with several steps | Video, because people can watch it happen |
| A before and after | Video |
| Who is behind the product | Video, because people can see and hear the team |
| Prices and plans | Text, because people compare them line by line |
| A feature list | Text, because people skim it |
| Requirements and small print | Text, because people search and quote it |
| Something that changes often | Text, because it is quick to update |
What you need to explain: A task with several steps
- Better as
- Video, because people can watch it happen
What you need to explain: A before and after
- Better as
- Video
What you need to explain: Who is behind the product
- Better as
- Video, because people can see and hear the team
What you need to explain: Prices and plans
- Better as
- Text, because people compare them line by line
What you need to explain: A feature list
- Better as
- Text, because people skim it
What you need to explain: Requirements and small print
- Better as
- Text, because people search and quote it
What you need to explain: Something that changes often
- Better as
- Text, because it is quick to update
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
How to use video in onboarding
Many new users give up between signing up and their first useful result. A short video on that screen helps them through it.
- Put the video on the screen where new users get stuck, not in a welcome pop-up.
- Show one task per video, in 45 to 90 seconds.
- Use realistic data, and show the first useful result rather than the whole product.
- Check how many users finish that step before and after you add the video.
- Re-record the video when that screen changes, so new users never see an old version of your product.
How to turn support questions into videos
Your support inbox already shows what confuses customers most, in their own words.
- The same help video can go into onboarding and into sales emails.
Turn support questions into videos
List your 10 most repeated questions
From the support inbox
Record a 60-second answer to each
With your screen visible
Link it in the saved reply
And in the help article
Count tickets on that question
Before and after
How to make a feature launch video
A launch video works when the change is visible on screen. If the only news is that something got faster, a changelog entry is enough.
- Have the person who built the feature explain it, rather than a hired voice.
- Post it in the app, in the changelog, in the customer email and as a short vertical clip for social.
- Record it once and cut it for each place. That is faster than filming four separate videos.
A 40-second launch video
| Part | Length |
|---|---|
| The old problem | 5 seconds |
| The new feature in use | 30 seconds |
| Where to find it | 5 seconds |
Part: The old problem
- Length
- 5 seconds
Part: The new feature in use
- Length
- 30 seconds
Part: Where to find it
- Length
- 5 seconds
Which videos are usually not worth the money?
Some videos cost the most and change the least about what buyers and users do.
- A brand film is expensive and rarely answers a question a buyer has.
- An animated explainer shows a drawing of your product. A screen recording of the real product is cheaper and more convincing.
- A very polished customer testimonial can sound scripted. A customer talking naturally is easier to believe.
- One expensive ad is a risky bet. Motion, an ad analytics company, studied 550,000+ Meta ads and found only 5 to 8% became winners.
- Several cheap ads teach you more than one expensive ad, because each one tests a different idea.
Which tools make demo, onboarding and help videos?
These three videos are screen recordings with your voice over them, so you need a screen recorder.
Screen recorders for SaaS videos
Prices as each company published them on 2026-09-21. Plans change, so check before you buy.
| Tool | What it does | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Descript | Records your screen, webcam and microphone, then you edit by editing the transcript | Free plan with a watermark; Hobbyist $16 per person a month, billed yearly |
| VEED | A browser video editor with screen recording and automatic subtitles built in | Free plan; Creator $10 per user a month, billed yearly |
| Camtasia | A screen recorder for Windows and Mac, with cursor effects and notes on screen for tutorials | Starter $39 a year with a watermark; Essentials $179.88 a year |
Tool: Descript
- What it does
- Records your screen, webcam and microphone, then you edit by editing the transcript
- Price
- Free plan with a watermark; Hobbyist $16 per person a month, billed yearly
Tool: VEED
- What it does
- A browser video editor with screen recording and automatic subtitles built in
- Price
- Free plan; Creator $10 per user a month, billed yearly
Tool: Camtasia
- What it does
- A screen recorder for Windows and Mac, with cursor effects and notes on screen for tutorials
- Price
- Starter $39 a year with a watermark; Essentials $179.88 a year
Where Cutroom fits
Cutroom is for short vertical videos of someone talking, like launch clips, founder videos and ads. It does the editing for you.
- You upload one video of someone talking, up to 3 minutes long.
- Cutroom cuts it, adds captions in one of 40 styles, puts stock clips on the words you pick and adds a headline at the start.
- You get a finished vertical (9:16) MP4 for LinkedIn, Reels, TikTok or Shorts.
- A 30-second video costs 110 credits. Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, about 11 of those videos.
- It is not a screen recorder and only makes vertical video. For demo, onboarding and help videos, use a screen recorder such as Descript or VEED.
- Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it. It carries a Cutroom watermark, which Lite removes.
Questions people ask
- What is SaaS video marketing?
- It is using video to sell and explain a software product: a demo on the website, onboarding videos in the app, help videos, launch videos and short social ads.
- Does video marketing work for B2B SaaS?
- Yes, in specific places. It helps when people need to see the steps of a task, a result or the team behind the product. For prices, feature lists and specs, text is faster.
- Where should a SaaS put its first video?
- At the step where new users get stuck. Find the first task a user must finish to get value, and put a 45 to 90 second video of it on that screen.
- How long should a SaaS product video be?
- It depends on where it plays. Aim for 60 to 90 seconds on a website, 20 to 40 seconds in a social feed and 45 to 90 seconds for one task inside the product. Go to 2 to 4 minutes only when someone asked for detail.
- Should a SaaS company hire an agency for video?
- For a one-off with a fixed date, like a big launch, an agency is reasonable. For ongoing product videos it is usually a poor fit, because they are small, frequent and need redoing when your interface changes.
- How do you measure a SaaS video?
- By one number tied to what the video is for: how many users finish the task it shows, how many tickets arrive on the question it answers, or sign-ups from its page. Views alone say little.
Need short vertical videos for launches or ads? Film one clip and get the finished video back. Your first video is free.