Explainer videos are among the most powerful tools a SaaS company can use to communicate value, simplify complex software, and engage potential customers. These videos often serve as the first touchpoint for prospects and play a critical role in educating audiences, driving conversions, and supporting onboarding.
However, creating an effective explainer video requires more than just visuals, it requires a strategy aligned with the buyer journey, clear messaging, and a careful balance between quality and production cost.
In this guide, we’ll cover why explainer videos are essential for SaaS, how to produce them effectively, best practices for engagement, and realistic cost considerations to help you plan and scale your video strategy.
Why SaaS Needs Explainer Videos
SaaS products can be highly technical or abstract, making it difficult for prospects to understand their value from text or screenshots alone. Explainer videos transform complexity into clear, digestible stories that help audiences grasp how your software solves their problems.
For example, a marketing automation SaaS may use a 90-second animated explainer to show how their platform automates lead nurturing and reporting. Instead of reading a long list of features, prospects instantly understand the benefits and workflow. Explainer videos help SaaS companies capture attention quickly, reduce cognitive load, and increase conversions.
These videos are most effective during the awareness and early consideration stages of the buyer journey, but they can also support decision-making and onboarding when used strategically. A well-produced explainer builds trust, reduces friction, and primes viewers for deeper engagement with demos, case studies, or trial sign-ups.
Key Components of an Effective SaaS Explainer Video
A high-converting explainer video is more than just animation or filming, it combines strategy, storytelling, and production quality.
Clear Objective: Define the purpose of the video before production. Whether the goal is to generate leads, explain a feature, or drive trial sign-ups, every element of the video should serve that objective.
Targeted Messaging: Understand your audience and address their specific pain points, challenges, and goals. Avoid generic phrasing; prospects need to feel the video speaks directly to them.
Strong Script: Scripts should follow a problem-solution-benefit structure. Start by presenting a relatable problem, introduce your SaaS solution, and end with a clear call-to-action (CTA). Use short, conversational sentences to maintain clarity.
Visual Storytelling: Use visuals to enhance understanding and retention. Animated characters, motion graphics, icons, or screen captures can illustrate complex workflows. Live-action sequences create a human connection. The visuals should support the story, not distract from it.
Professional Audio & Voiceover: Clear narration ensures comprehension. Background music can enhance engagement but should never overpower the voiceover. Poor audio quality is a leading cause of early viewer drop-off.
Optimal Length: Videos between 60–120 seconds perform best. Longer videos risk losing engagement, while shorter videos may not fully communicate the value proposition. Adjust length based on platform and audience.
Effective CTA: Every explainer should end with a clear CTA, such as “Start a free trial,” “Book a demo,” or “Learn more.” This bridges awareness to action and increases conversion potential.
Types of Explainer Videos for SaaS
Explainer videos come in several styles, each suited to different objectives and budgets.
Animated Explainers: These use motion graphics to illustrate abstract concepts. Animated videos are perfect for simplifying complex workflows, onboarding processes, or awareness campaigns. They offer flexibility and scalability and often perform best when introducing your product to a new audience.
Live-Action Explainers: Featuring real people, product demonstrations, or customer scenarios, live-action videos create trust and relatability. They are particularly effective for showcasing human interactions with your software but require higher budgets and more logistical planning.
Hybrid Explainers: Combining animation and live-action, hybrid videos allow you to communicate technical features visually while maintaining a personal connection through live footage. This style is ideal for decision-stage landing pages or high-value campaigns where both clarity and relatability are essential.
Explainer Videos in the SaaS Buyer Journey
Mapping explainer videos to the buyer journey ensures they drive measurable results.
- Awareness Stage: Short animated or social-friendly clips introduce your product and its benefits. The goal is to attract attention, educate, and generate leads.
- Consideration Stage: More detailed explainers, including demo-style animations or hybrid videos, help prospects understand features and workflows. They reduce friction in the evaluation process and prepare the lead for conversion.
- Decision Stage: Explainers combined with customer testimonials or feature highlights reinforce trust and encourage trial sign-ups or purchases.
- Onboarding Stage: Explainers can guide new users through key workflows or features, accelerating adoption and reducing support requests. Short, step-by-step tutorials or animated walkthroughs are highly effective at this stage.
Cost Considerations for SaaS Explainer Videos
Budgeting for explainer videos is essential. Costs depend on style, length, complexity, and production quality.
For example, a short animated explainer that demonstrates a SaaS workflow or feature typically costs between $3,000 and $10,000. These videos are flexible, visually appealing, and ideal for awareness campaigns or early-stage prospect education.
A live-action explainer featuring real people, product demonstrations, or customer scenarios generally ranges from $5,000 to $15,000. Live-action builds trust and relatability but requires more logistics, including talent, locations, and filming.
For high-stakes content, a hybrid explainer combining animation and live-action can cost between $7,000 and $20,000. This approach allows you to visually communicate complex product features while maintaining a human connection, making it ideal for decision-stage landing pages or high-value campaigns.
Longer videos, advanced animation, professional voiceovers, and multiple filming locations will increase costs. The key is to prioritize videos with the highest potential impact on awareness, conversions, or onboarding and scale production as ROI becomes measurable.
Best Practices for Production and Distribution
Pre-Production Planning: Invest time in scripting, storyboarding, and defining KPIs. A strong plan prevents wasted production time and ensures alignment with business goals.
Professional Production: Use high-quality voiceovers, animation, and filming. Low production value reduces credibility and viewer engagement.
Post-Production: Editing, color correction, sound design, and captions are critical. Subtitles enhance social media performance and accessibility.
Testing & Iteration: Experiment with video length, style, and messaging for small audience segments. Use performance metrics to optimize future content.
Strategic Distribution: Feature videos prominently on homepage sections, landing pages, social media, email campaigns, and paid ads. Consider creating shorter versions for different channels to maximize reach and engagement.
Measuring ROI
To ensure explainer videos are delivering value, track both engagement metrics and business outcomes. Metrics to monitor include views, average watch time, click-through rates on CTAs, demo requests, trial sign-ups, and customer onboarding completion.
Link video interactions to your CRM or analytics platform to understand which content drives conversions. Over time, this allows you to make data-driven decisions, optimize production, and allocate budget to videos that generate the highest impact.
Conclusion
Explainer videos are an essential part of a SaaS video marketing strategy. When done right, they simplify complex products, engage prospects, and accelerate conversions. By following best practices in scripting, visuals, audio, production quality, and distribution, SaaS companies can create content that resonates with audiences and drives measurable results.
Investing in explainer videos should be seen as a long-term asset. A well-crafted video can be repurposed across landing pages, social media, email campaigns, and onboarding sequences, maximizing its impact and value. Whether you choose animation, live-action, or hybrid styles, aligning your explainer videos with the buyer journey and measuring performance ensures your content not only educates but also delivers real business outcomes.
