The 6 Musts When Making a High-Converting Product Demo Video

August 16, 2017

Humans like to watch. More than listening, reading or being talked at, human beings make decisions far more readily based on visual information than any other sensory input. Perhaps this is why 64 to 85 percent of people who watch a product demo video are more likely to buy than those who just read about or hear about a product. But how do you create a product demo video that makes people “click here to buy”?

1. The Script is the Foundation

Before writing a script, you must answer some critical questions and get some perspective, preferably from an outside agency that isn’t steeped in your product every day. This helps you get insight on what your customers think and feel when they first interact with you. Let’s go over the critical questions you need to answer first to create a powerful, converting script for a product demo video:

Define your audience—Drill down the demographics with some research and decide exactly who you want to address in your video. The style, tone, language and structure of the video’s script must speak directly to this audience, not just a diluted group of “everyone.” We suggest even visualizing your “ideal customer” and letting her represent the group you’re targeting. For example, this Chatbooks product demo spoke very directly to its target audience: busy moms.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTTs7ewuDY8

Separate the features from the benefits—In other words, don’t just tell someone about the sleek lines of your boat. Show them the glory of the wind and sun in their hair so they want to taste the freedom. Don’t dwell on the technical details of the lipstick, show them how sexy it will make them look. Find the deeper emotional need your audience has and fill it with your product demo video.
Relieve pain points with your product demo—What painful, irritating, frustrating life problem does your product resolve? This Purple Mattress video took a unique and successful approach to dealing with the pain points of poor mattresses. They enlisted Studio C actress Mallory Everton to use her comic chops to clearly demonstrate the painful problem and the product solution.

What makes your product totally different—There are a lot of cupcakes out there. What makes yours special and different from all the others? A dramatic or humorous demonstration of this can grab attention and sales. Standing out—way out—cements your product into the viewer’s memory.
Focus on 3—Don’t go overboard. Just pick the three most critical benefits or pain points and design a script around those.

Creating a script with these 5 elements helps you avoid sales-killers like overly-long lead-ins and boring product demos that don’t drive sales from your target audience.

2. The First 12 Seconds of the Demo are Key

The research shows that if you can really grab your viewer’s attention within the first 18 to 2 seconds, your audience may continue watching past the 70-second mark. Look at one of the most successful product demo video series’ ever—the Blendtec “Will it Blend?” series.

Over the past few years, they’ve taken their lesser-known blender brand from unknown to mega-star sales status with this wacky series of videos that demonstrate how powerful and durable their blenders are by blending a bunch of off-the-wall, user-suggested items like iPhones, glow sticks and skeletons.

Typically, within the first 9 seconds viewers see startling images that make them keep watching. They also created a following and generated sales by involving their audience in the creative process.

3. Keep it Short

Research suggests that the ideal product demo video should aim for no more than about 2 minutes of a viewer’s time. Sure, some great demo videos go longer, but others are even shorter. If your script is strong, focused and unique, you won’t need a long video to make the sale. This Dawn demo shows how the dishwashing liquid cuts grease and is gentle enough to rescue adorable, oil-spill-injured wildlife in less than a minute. Now the target audience knows how to clean their dirty dishes and save the planet.

4. Simply Show the Big Picture

One reason outside help and market research is so important is that it will help you focus on the big picture and not get bogged down in all the product’s features. While demonstrating features is important in a product demo video, simplicity is essential. This Volvo trucks product demo featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme was striking and simple in its demonstration of the precision steering they wanted to tout. It didn’t get bogged down in the details and it spoke clearly to its target audience. It was also amazingly cool.

5. Don’t Worry So Much about Going Viral

Sure, every company wants their ad to go viral. But companies that concentrate on that alone often lose the central message that connects them to their target audience. They may end up spending a ton of money on something they think will go viral (a dream that’s really more a matter of luck than anything), but may not actually gather more sales. Focus on quality content with a great script that connects to your target audience and you’ll have a better chance of going viral and making the sale.

6. End Your Product Demo Video with a Strong Call to Action

If a viewer has watched your product demo video to the end, good job! They’re really interested. Now bring them across the finish line with a strong call-to-action that takes their hand and shows them what the next step is. Do you want them to subscribe to your channel? Sign up for your newsletter? Fill out a survey? Sign up for a free trial? Enter to win? Buy the thing?

Decide on what your goal is and make it clear, obvious and easy for them to click that link and get it done before they go off to watch another cat video.