SaaS product marketing is different from promoting other types of products. You can start well before its release. This motivates your audience to wait for the release and allows you to capture potential customers in the process.
Fortunately, you don’t have to wait until your product is finished to create promotional content.
For example, you can use animations to create promotional content for your product as early as the ideation stage. You can make promo videos for your SaaS on various social media platforms, raise funding, and pitch to investors and strategic partners.
Create a “What’s Coming” Teaser
One of the most difficult aspects of creating an effective video teaser is deciding what, if any, product information you should share. In this type of video, your main goal should be capturing your audience’s interest enough for them to want to learn more or to sign up for a product demo or waitlist.
To create an effective video teaser, there are a few guidelines you should keep in mind:
- Identify the problem your audience is experiencing.
- Provide a sample of the solution you are offering.
- Include a product message that is easy to remember.
- End with a waitlist signup form.
Use a Pre-Launch Animation to Secure Funding or Partners
Animations can convey product concepts, anticipated usage, and the market’s needs in an easily digestible way, even if the product isn’t completely finished.
Express who the product is for, what the market need/opportunity is, what the product does (its benefits/features), and why it is important. Don’t stray from your core differentiators and/or value proposition. The animation is a tool to clarify, not obfuscate.
Cut 30-Second Ads for Paid Social Campaigns
Highlight your SaaS before its official launch and/or build awareness to your waitlist, landing page, or early access form.
For a 30-second video ad, you must condense your message significantly. Lead with your strongest, most compelling point. Show your product, service, or outcome. Give the audience a reason to take the next step, and/or engage with your company. End the ad.
Other structures are acceptable, but make sure you end with a call to action.
Long animations can be broken up into shorter, easily digestible segments. Each segment can be focused on a different industry or pain point.
Make a Demo Video That Looks Like a “First Look” Walkthrough
Keep the core functions of the SaaS product/service easy to understand and viewable in the demo video. Details about more complex, advanced features can be saved for later.
Let’s say your product lets customers automate reports. Then, your video will need to show the following:
- How a customer connects data
- Where the report is generated
- What the end-of-report look like
You can use animation to show this more clearly than with screen recording. In animation, you can also more effectively show things like how a user interacts with your product and/or show what the product looks like.
Simply try to answer the question “how it works”.
Buyers want to see the UI; a short demo answers that before a sales call. The animated walkthrough answers “how does it work?”.
Build One Asset Kit and Repurpose It Across Channels
Every pre-launch video does not have to be an entirely fresh build. Set up an animation starter pack to draw from across multiple deliverables.
The kit might include:
- Product UI sequences
- Logo animation
- Data visualizations
- Feature animations
- CTA end screens
Use this foundation to build teaser spots, paid social, snippets for email, sales decks, feature-specific posts, and hero videos for the site.
Doing this protects your launch campaign’s look, making sure emails, site pages, and paid ads all match.
Design them with varied ratios and run times in mind right from the start.
Drip a Feature-by-Feature Reveal
Instead of releasing the whole product at once, spread individual feature clips across several days or weeks.
Keep each clip tied to a single feature and the exact pain point it resolves. This approach provides multiple opportunities to engage with your audience before the launch.
Rolling out features step by step allows prospects to take in the product at their own pace, with each clip anchored to one distinct use case.
Announce the Release to Your Existing Customer Base
An engaging announcement video can communicate the product changes and provide the rationale for the change.
Don’t take for granted a user’s understanding of a new version. Users may not easily see the differences between existing and new. Tell users about the issues the product resolves, differences from their current products, and the steps users need to take to begin using the product.
The goal of the CTA may vary, but can include:
- Getting a product demonstration
- Enhancing their account to the new, more feature-rich product
- Turning on a new feature
- Accessing a new version
Place a Promo Video on the Homepage on Launch Day
On the launch day, you should update your homepage to explain your latest product offering.
The homepage video should be an extension of the homepage content. This means the headline, sub-headline, supporting copy, and CTA, in conjunction with the video, should tell the same story.
Prospects should be able to quickly identify important points without having to watch the video.
Conclusion
Pre-launch video works best as a planned sequence. A teaser builds the waitlist, an investor animation clarifies the opportunity, and short ads and feature clips keep prospects engaged. A first-look demo shows how the product works before anyone schedules a call.
On launch day, a customer announcement and homepage video tie everything together. Creating one asset kit early ensures consistency and reduces production time for each new format.
Zelios can help you develop a customized video strategy to boost your growth. Get in touch and let’s get to work!
Select the video type that aligns with your marketing objectives, and receive an immediate high-level estimate of the production cost.
