Best SAAS Explainer Videos For You

In the first quarter of 2021, U.S. labour productivity went up by 5.4 per cent. Depending on who you ask, tech played a major role in this productivity spike. But despite the admittedly transformative power of business technology, introducing new software tools to a company can be tricky.

This is where the best SaaS explainer videos can step in.

Employees often have their own established processes. How-to manuals can easily be lost and misplaced. And, despite your best efforts, every marketing team has a few skilled but less tech-savvy members who are still getting the hang of your current tech stack.

What if speeding up the onboarding process was as simple as pressing a button? What could your team accomplish if everyone knew how to use the new tools from day one?

SaaS explainer videos are able to do all of this and more. Interested? Just keep reading.

What Even Is SaaS?

Before we dig into the uses of SaaS explainer videos, we need to start with a common definition. After all, most companies use the internet and a host of other third-party-developed tools to get things done. But is every piece of software you use a “SaaS product”?

In basic terms, SaaS stands for “software as a service”. However, in most tech circles, SaaS doesn’t refer to any web-based service — the acronym specifically describes scenarios where the software company hosts the product and the client, aka your organization, pays for licensing or a subscription.

Another way to explain SaaS is with an example:

Does your marketing team use Adobe CC or Google WorkSpace? Congratulations! You’ve got multiple SaaS products embedded within your current development process.

The 3 Undeniable Benefits of Using SaaS Explainer Videos for Marketing Teams

From an advertising standpoint, SaaS explainer videos make sense. But it still begs the question:

Is there a business case for using these videos internally?

The answer is “Yes.”. Here are just a few of the reasons why your marketing team should be making SaaS explainers a priority:

1. SaaS Videos Are Time-Savers

According to a survey run by Robert Half Technology, professionals lose 22 minutes a day to tech-related issues. Over the course of a year, this adds up to a whopping two working weeks per year spent not doing anything. And that’s per employee.

When a computer has frozen or the website has crashed, dead time is inevitable. But in cases where employees are struggling with a SaaS product, an explainer video can make it easier to troubleshoot. This, in turn, can free up your staff members to focus on what matters — producing the best marketing deliverables that they can.

2. Employees Can Watch Now and Ask Questions Later

Stop us if you’ve seen this happen before.

You introduce your team to a new software tool that has productivity-boosting potential. On day one, one or two people from the copywriting team have questions about a certain feature.

That’s fine. You answer them and continue with your day.

But then, a few hours later, the design team isn’t sure how to use a different feature. Next thing you know, the IT desk is drowning in a deluge of help requests and nobody’s gotten any work done.

In many cases, shadow systems are built because staff members think that the new product is too complicated or unintuitive. A SaaS explainer video can quickly and efficiently give people a base level of proficiency.

3. People Love Watching Videos

According to the numbers, people watch online videos for roughly 6 hours and 48 minutes a week on average. And if you add in stuff like television shows and Netflix, the average adult likely spends even more time watching videos in general.

As a marketing manager, employee engagement is one of your biggest concerns. Plus, if you’re planning a series of launches or you’ve got a major product coming up, staff members may not have time to read and process a lot of text.

SaaS explainer videos make it possible for you to tap into the same desire that has over 2.3 billion people visiting YouTube every month — the need to be entertained and engaged through video!

Here’s How Businesses Can Use SaaS Explainer Videos

You may have read that previous section and said, “That might sound good in theory. But I don’t think my company will actually use these explainer videos all that often.”.

One of the coolest aspects of SaaS explainer videos is that they’re evergreen. And in our experience, there are at least two major ways that a business can use these materials on a day-to-day basis:

1. Onboarding

According to Gallup, new hires typically don’t start performing to the best of their abilities until the 12-month mark. During this time, staff members are often learning how to collaborate with people while refining their own workflow processes.

Chances are that your marketing team already has a bunch of SaaS products in its tech stack. Maybe you use SEO tools or perhaps you’re subscribed to certain products.

SaaS explainer videos can get your newest team members up to speed in record time. And in the fast-paced world of marketing, where minutes and days can represent huge delays, these training materials can make a big difference.

2. Staff Training

In 2020, 90 per cent of U.S. businesses started using digital and tech-based solutions. And according to the same survey, companies weren’t just making a few minor adjustments. Some of the changes included:

• Project management software
• Digital collaboration
• Adding online checkout

To put it bluntly, these are decisions that have organization-wide implications for multiple teams.

As a marketing manager, you don’t have time to sit down and teach everyone how to use the latest software solution you’ve signed off on. And neither do your counterparts in places like customer service or product development. SaaS explainer videos can be an invaluable resource when your current staff members need to be trained up on a new tool.

The 5 Main Types of SaaS Videos

When it comes to corporate videos, many people think that seeing one means that you’ve seen them all. But by our count, there are at least five common explainer video types to consider:

1. Whiteboard Animation

These animations give the appearance of a hand-drawn video. As we’ve mentioned elsewhere, they can increase recall by 15 per cent compared to other types of videos. In addition, these explainers tend to age extremely well.

If you’ve brought in a custom tool or you’re setting the table for a company-wide software rollout, whiteboard animation can bring an element of fun to the table.

2. Screencast Tutorial

Like the name says on the tin, screencast tutorials are made by shooting a video of someone actually using the SaaS tool and highlighting its key features. This is a good format to use when you’ve got a specific topic you’re troubleshooting or a particular process that you’re trying to get everyone on board with.

3. Live-Action Corporate Explainers

If you’ve ever seen a video that featured individuals talking in front of a screen, odds are good that you were looking at a live-action corporate explainer. Although these are more commonly used to create client-facing content, live-action corporate videos can be a fantastic way to explain the “why” of a SaaS product. In addition, if the video features the IT department or the developer, it can help the marketing team attach a face to the software.

4. Motion Graphics

A motion graphic animated video is characterized by its use of vectors, images, and graphics that move. With this type of video, you’ll feel less like you’re watching a cartoon and more like you’re watching a presentation with extremely slick transitions. For both introducing tools and giving people a SaaS Product 101 lesson, these videos are another resource worth exploring for marketing managers.

5. 2D and 3D Animation

Animated videos are one of the services that we happen to offer. Here’s why we just love this medium for our clients:

If you want an explainer video that highlights the new product while bringing in cartoon nostalgia, animation explainer videos are as good as it gets. These videos can help you introduce new software and explain how to use it while keeping people engaged to the end.

What Do All the Best SaaS Explainer Videos Have in Common?

We’ve covered SaaS explainer video types and we’ve listed a few of our favourite app explainer videos elsewhere. After seeing hundreds, if not thousands of videos, it’s clear that not all explainer videos are created equal.

How do you know if you’ve got a winning concept on your hands? In our experience, the best SaaS explainer videos will often include these elements:

1. The Graphics Set the Stage

Imagine seeing a movie that featured a lot of pastel colours, unicorns, and singing flowers. Nobody would think twice about this kind of setup in a children’s movie. But you’d likely need one heck of a plot twist to accept all that happiness in a horror movie.

Graphics and images, even in explainer videos, don’t just create visual interest — they set the mood while helping viewers make sense of the content that they’re consuming. The best SaaS explainer videos will use these visual elements to highlight the software more effectively.

2 The Benefits are Front and Centre

Benefit-driven headlines are a well-established staple for customer-facing content. While it’s easy to assume that benefits aren’t needed for internally produced content, that’s not necessarily the case.

If your staff members enjoyed the old software or if people aren’t entirely convinced that the new SaaS platform is necessary, you could be faced with resistance. A great SaaS explainer won’t just talk about its nifty project management dashboard — it’ll tell you all about how the dashboard will make it easier to access project-related documents.

3. They’ll Tell a Story (Or at Least Hint at One)

On a fundamental level, everyone loves a good story. So much so, that people will line up for blocks to watch new blockbuster films.

As a company, your SaaS explainer video probably won’t need to feature CGI and dragons. But there should still be a setup, a conflict, and a resolution. Here’s an example of what we mean:

Let’s say that your company sells running shoes. You’re implementing a new product modelling software and you’re creating a SaaS explainer for your current and future product design specialists. If your video is supposed to teach people how to get the new SaaS tool up and running, you’ve got a pretty straightforward storytelling arc in front of you.

1. Your Story Setup

The setup involves setting the table. What are the facts that led to the current situation?

For a SaaS tutorial, you could explain why the software was chosen along with the problems it’s meant to solve.

2. Your Conflict

Next, you’ve got the conflict. This doesn’t have to look like a designer getting mad and throwing their laptop out the window — although it could. It could be as simple as your stick figure designer using the new SaaS product to draft a project on short notice.

3. Your Resolution

Whether you’re watching a superhero film or a romantic comedy, nobody likes a cliffhanger ending. For our intrepid designer, the quick-turnaround project likely raised questions like:

Did they submit their project on time? Was the draft as incredible as it needed to be? What did the client say?

A top-notch SaaS explainer video would tie up these loose ends in a satisfying manner.

Get the Perfect SaaS Explainer Video for Your Marketing Team

Most marketing managers are aware of how explainer videos can be an essential part of a company’s customer service strategy. But a lot of decision-makers don’t realize that a well-constructed SaaS explainer video can have internal applications.

That being said, it’s not enough to have the best SaaS explainer videos sitting in front of you for inspiration — it takes time, resources, and experience to put together the right video for your corporation. And to make matters worse, the platform you’re using might not have the marketing assets you need.

As a company, we’re all about creating high-impact explainer videos that blow our customers away. We’ll work with you closely while answering your calls, providing updates, and placing dedicated team members on your account. Plus, we pride ourselves on our lightning-fast email response times.

Are you in the market for an explainer video? You need to contact us. Get your free quote today!