What Type of Video Does My SaaS Company Actually Need?

You know you need a video. Your board mentioned it. Your marketing team keeps asking. Your competitors all have one. But when you actually sit down to plan it, you realise you don't know what kind of video you need.

Explainer video? Product demo? Brand film? Onboarding walkthrough? They all sound similar but serve completely different purposes. Picking the wrong one wastes your budget and leaves you with something that doesn't do the job.

After 15 years of making videos for SaaS companies, here's how I'd break down the decision.

The Five Video Types That Matter for SaaS

1. The Homepage Explainer

What it is: A 60-90 second animated video that sits at the top of your homepage and answers the question "what does this company do?"

Who it's for: First-time visitors who've never heard of you. Investors doing due diligence. Partners evaluating your product. Anyone who lands on your site and needs to understand the basics quickly.

What it should do: Describe the problem your product solves, introduce the solution at a high level, show 2-3 key capabilities, and end with a clear call to action (usually "start a free trial" or "book a demo").

When you need it: As soon as your product has a clear value proposition and target audience. This is usually the first video a SaaS company should invest in.

Budget range: $6,000-$15,000 for a professionally produced animated explainer. See my full SaaS explainer video page for examples.

2. The Product Demo Video

What it is: A 90-second to 3-minute video that shows how your product actually works. More detailed than an explainer, this walks through specific features and workflows.

Who it's for: Prospects who are past the awareness stage. They know what you do; now they want to see how you do it. Sales teams use these to warm up prospects before calls or to leave behind after demos.

What it should do: Walk through 3-5 key workflows that show the product solving real problems. Use stylised UI animation rather than raw screen recordings. It looks better and doesn't break when your interface updates.

When you need it: After your homepage explainer, once you have a sales team that's doing product demonstrations. This video extends the sales team's reach. Check out my product demo video examples for more.

Budget range: $8,000-$20,000 depending on the number of features covered and the level of UI detail.

3. The Brand or Mission Video

What it is: A 60-120 second video that tells the story of why your company exists. Less about the product, more about the vision, the team, and the impact.

Who it's for: Investors, potential hires, partners, and customers who want to know the people behind the software.

What it should do: Build emotional connection and trust. Show the human side of your company. This is often the video that plays at conferences, appears on your About page, or gets shared in fundraising decks.

When you need it: When you're actively fundraising, recruiting, or building brand awareness. This isn't your first video. It's the one you invest in once the fundamentals (explainer and demo) are covered.

Budget range: $10,000-$25,000. Often involves a mix of live action and animation.

4. Onboarding and Tutorial Videos

What it is: A series of short (30-90 second) animated videos that guide new users through key workflows in your product.

Who it's for: New users who just signed up. Customer success teams trying to reduce time-to-value. Support teams trying to reduce repetitive tickets.

What they should do: Walk through one specific task per video. Keep it tight. Show the outcome first ("here's what you'll be able to do") then walk through the steps. These live inside your product, in help centres, or in onboarding email sequences.

When you need them: When your churn data shows that users drop off during onboarding, or when your support team keeps answering the same questions. This is often the highest-ROI video investment for growth-stage SaaS companies.

Budget range: $2,000-$5,000 per video, with discounts for series of 5+.

5. Social and Advertising Cuts

What it is: Short-form video (15-30 seconds) designed for paid social, LinkedIn, or other advertising channels.

Who it's for: Cold audiences who don't know you yet. These videos need to stop the scroll and deliver a single clear message in seconds.

What they should do: Lead with a provocative question or a relatable pain point. Show the product briefly. End with a clear call to action. These aren't mini-explainers. They're attention hooks.

When you need them: When you're running paid acquisition campaigns. Many companies get these as cut-downs from their homepage explainer, which is cost-effective. I discuss how to make the first few seconds count in my piece on getting past the 3-second watch rule.

Budget range: $1,500-$4,000 per cut if produced standalone. Often $500-$1,000 each if cut from an existing longer video.

How to Prioritise

If you're starting from zero, here's the order I'd recommend:

1. Homepage explainer. This serves the broadest audience and works across the most touchpoints. 2. Product demo. Gives your sales team a tool that works without them in the room. 3. Social cuts. Extend the reach of your explainer through paid and organic channels. 4. Onboarding videos. Reduce churn and support load. 5. Brand video. Build emotional connection once the fundamentals are covered.

Most SaaS companies should start with items 1 and 3 (a homepage explainer with social cuts derived from it). That's one production project that gives you four to five usable assets.

The Mistake Most Companies Make

The most common mistake is jumping straight to a product demo when you need an explainer. A demo assumes the viewer already understands what your product is and why it matters. If they don't have that context, a feature walkthrough won't convert. It'll confuse.

Start with the story (explainer), then go deeper (demo). Don't skip the first chapter.

Real Briefs, Real Formats

Here are four projects where the client came in asking for one thing and ended up with something different, and better.

Wipster came asking for a product overview video. What they actually needed was a video that explained the conceptual shift their product represented. Not just "here's how to use the feedback tool" but "here's how thinking about video feedback differently changes your whole production workflow." Different video. Different story. Same product.

Giraffe came asking for an explainer about their city planning platform. What they actually needed was a video that worked for three completely different audiences simultaneously: architects, developers, and government planners, without making any of them feel like the video was made for someone else. That's not a format question. That's a strategic brief.

The RSPCA needed a cause campaign video that didn't look like a charity video. The format challenge was to tell a genuine story about animal welfare without defaulting to the guilt-based advertising that people have learned to skip. Character-led animation that felt warm rather than heavy.

A cybersecurity SaaS came asking for a product demo. What they actually needed was an awareness video. Their problem wasn't that prospects didn't understand the product, it was that prospects didn't understand why they needed the category at all. Demoing the product before establishing that need was the wrong sequence.

In every case, the right format became obvious once the actual problem was clear. The format follows the strategy. Always start with what the video needs to change in the viewer's mind. The format follows from that.

If you're not sure where to start, take a look at my motion graphics work for inspiration, or get in touch and I'll help you figure out the right approach for your stage and budget.

FAQ

Can I combine an explainer and a demo into one video? You can, but the result is usually a video that's too long and tries to do too much. It's better to have a tight 60-second explainer and a separate 90-second demo than a single 3-minute video that loses viewers halfway through.

Do I need animation or can I use screen recordings? Screen recordings work for quick tutorials, but they age badly. Every UI update makes them obsolete. For anything customer-facing that needs to last more than a few months, animated or stylised versions of your product interface will serve you better.

How often should I update my videos? A good animated explainer lasts 2-3 years. Product demos might need refreshing every 12-18 months as features change. Social cuts should be refreshed quarterly if you're running them in paid campaigns, since ad fatigue is real.

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Dan Neale is a motion designer and creative director based in Byron Bay, Australia. He specialises in motion design for SaaS companies, tech founders, agencies, and nonprofits. 15 years. 500+ projects. motionstory.com.au