Tools Used In This Recipe
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, a video (which is just a series of images in sequence) is worth millions of words about your product. There are multiple ways your startup and product could benefit from high-quality video. You could use it as a brand-building backdrop for your website, you can publish to a YouTube or TikTok channel, you can run video-based ads on Instagram and other social networks, and you can develop pitch videos to enter competitions. In this Recipe you'll use the online video editing tool Biteable to make a product launch video that you can use to promote a launching product or to tease a new product launch.
Guidelines for your product launch video
Although video popularity continues to soar, attention spans for online video are shrinking. Try to keep your video under a minute. This is the maximum length for a video posted to an Instagram profile. Since over 70% of video consumed online is through a mobile device, you should design your video for a mobile audience. You may also need variations of your video for different aspect ratios (including a square version if you have an Instagram account for your business or plan to advertise on that platform).
You should add a soundtrack (and if you are able to do a credible voiceover or are able to pay for one, you should add that to your video) make sure you add captions to your video. Most users who view videos casually have their volume off.
There are several types of product launch videos you can use. Each has different strengths and weaknesses. Your product will generally fit better into one of these categories than the others. They are:
- Explainer. This type of video describes the product at a high level, how it benefits users, and how to purchase it.
- Demonstration. This is the most common type of product video. It's a straightforward walkthrough of the product's features and benefits.
- Animated. Abstract or digital products can benefit from an animated product video, but hiring an animator can be expensive.
- Teaser. This type of product launch video is typically edited to be deliberately mysterious. It will often show product functionality, screenshots, or attributes without explanation. Video games, movies, and other media often use this type of video but it can also work for a consumer product.
- Live. Typically this type of product launch video uses footage from a live recording of a presentation. Very-early-stage startups typically can't leverage this type of video, but it can be powerful for a more established company that can get a film crew, venue and audience together for an event.
- Type (Animated, explainer, demonstration)
- Length (under 1 minute max)
- Captions (most people watch with sound off)
Developing your product launch video with Biteable
Biteable is a web-based video creation platform with hundreds of pre-built templates that you can use to create and publish video content. You can use it for video ads for social media, but in this recipe we're going to use it to create a product launch video. Biteable has thousands of short stock video clips and images that you can include to help reinforce your brand
Before you begin you'll want to gather all of your brand assets; your logo and any related material, any product images or screenshots, and photos of the team if you want to include them.
You'll also want to develop a script. Biteable's templates have a basic script included but it's worth going through the exercise ahead of time to plan out your product's key features and value proposition. There are good examples of video scripts in this article from Hubspot (backup link below).
Getting started with Biteable
Start by navigating to the Biteable home page, and clicking Sign Up. Biteable has a free tier, but this article was developed using their Plus plan so some functionality described may not be available on the free plan.
You may be asked a number of questions about your plans for Biteable. These answers will help the platform tailor the initial content you receive to your needs, but the answers won't limit what you can access. Once you are finished, click Templates in the menu, then search for launch.
In the search results list hover over the video titled Launch Promo (it may not be the first result for you):
From here you can preview the template video, or begin editing. View the preview if you wish, and when you are ready click Edit Video.
The Edit screen is divided into several sections. on the far left are the main options:
- Add. You can use this to connect new animations, images, or videos provided by Biteable to this video, or to upload your own material to use in this video.
- Style. Here you can edit fonts and colors used across the video to more closely reflect your brand.
- Edit. This is the screen you are currently on, and the one that you start on when creating a new video.
- Export. This screen contains options for generating videos in popular formats for use on other platforms.
In the bottom of the Edit screen is the video timeline:
The upper left shows you how long the video will run, and there's a play button that will preview the video as it currently is composited. At the very bottom is an audio track indicator. The music that Biteable included with this template is currently shown, but you can change it by clicking the music note icon. Across the screen are several blocks that represent the different scenes in your video. In the screenshot above the first scene is four seconds long. The center-top of the Edit screen shows a preview/edit panel for the currently-selected scene:
If you click the scene to the right of the selected on, the preview panel will change to reflect the new scene. And in the upper right is a properties panel, showing the editable attributes for whatever element you have selected in the preview panel:
Customizing the video template
The specific changes you'll need to make to customize the video template are specific to your product, but at minimum you'll need to make the following changes:
Modify the video to use your color palette
Click the Style button on the left. You'll see several style properties you can set globally or per-slide.
Change the text, ribbon, background, and animation colors to match your brand colors, and change the header and body fonts if you have brand-specific fonts.
Replace the branding images
Navigate to the Add tab and click Upload. Find your product's logo and branding images (If you don't have any, this recipe can help you generate some) and upload them. Now switch back to the Edit tab and navigate through the scenes. Click the background image, then click Replace Background and select one of the images you uploaded.
Replace the default text and list your product's benefits
Switch back to the Edit screen and navigate through the scenes. Replace any text in [brackets] with your product's name and benefits. If you have a script developed you can edit, add, or remove the scenes as you see fit to match your vision. You can also swap out any of the default animations with other Biteable animations by selecting the background and clicking Replace Background.
Finishing up
When you are satisfied with your video, navigate to the Export tab. After you export your video, Biteable will provide you with a link you can use to share it. You will most likely prefer to download the video to use on other platforms, and there is an option for that as well.
The video below advertises Startup Recipes and was developed using this guide:
The contents of this Recipe are © Innovation Works, Inc. and are licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 . Contact us with questions or feedback, or to learn more about our structured program in Entrepreneurism based on Startup Recipes.