10 helpful types of video that every business can use

Video for business

Using video for business is no longer some up-and-coming trend, it’s an essential part of any business plan. Statista reports that consumers spent an average of 19 hours per week, watching online video content in 2022 – that’s 163 minutes per day! And according to a 2023 report from Insivia, viewers retain 95% of a message when they consume it via video, compared to 10% when reading text.

The figures show that not only are people watching more video content than ever before, but that it’s also an incredibly impactful and effective means of communication. 

If your business hasn’t started making videos yet, the good news is that it’s not too late. Whether you work for a big brand or own a small business, video content is great for building trust with potential customers and clients. 

In this article, we’ll explore why video is important for business and look at the 10 types of corporate video that organizations use to take their internal communications and customer outreach to the next level.

Let’s dive in!

Why is video important for your business?

Businesses need new and innovative ways to attract and retain customers. As such, videos have quickly become an essential part of modern marketing strategies. 

Why? The short answer: Video is awesome. 

The long answer: Videos can increase brand awareness and boost engagement by conveying messages in a way that’s striking and memorable, making it easier for your target audience to remember your brand. Videos can also enhance customer engagement and help build trust and credibility by showcasing the values and personality of your business. 

Additionally, videos can educate customers about products and services, explain complex ideas in an easy-to-understand format, and highlight key features and benefits – all leading to improved customer satisfaction!

So yeah, they’re awesome. But if you’re still not convinced, let’s take a closer look at why businesses need video.

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Video is widely accessible

One of the great things (and possibly the greatest thing) about the video format is that it’s available to almost everyone. With the rise of the internet and social media, businesses can now create and distribute videos to a large audience, at a low cost. This means businesses can easily increase their reach and visibility. 

By sharing videos on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and similar platforms, businesses can expand beyond their existing customer base. What’s more, viewers can share videos with their friends, family, and followers (shout out to influencers!), which can increase the reach of content and generate organic web traffic.

All of that means way more opportunities for businesses to engage with their target audience and reach potential customers around the world – something that entrepreneurs could have only dreamed of years ago. 

Video adds value to a business

The power of video in boosting business value knows no bounds. Which is why savvy marketers are increasingly turning to video content to reach a wider audience and make a bigger impact.

Not only is it a format that’s easy and affordable to create and distribute, but research shows video content can increase conversion rates by up to 86% when featured on landing pages.

On top of that, videos can even save businesses time, money, and resources. For instance, rather than answering the same questions over and over again, businesses can create instructional videos that customers (and employees) can refer to when they need help. This can free up company time that can be used on more important tasks.

Leveraging the power of video is essential for staying ahead in today’s business landscape. Whether you’re looking to improve your social media presence or educate potential customers about your products, video content is arguably the best way to engage your audience and increase your business value.

Video tells a story

Video can also add significant value to businesses by telling stories that connect with audiences on a deeper level. Storytelling is a powerful tool for evoking emotions and creating a sense of empathy and understanding – and no other medium can tell a story quite like a video can. 

Through this emotional connection, businesses can build trust and loyalty with their customers. This presents an opportunity for businesses to showcase their products or services in a way that’s unique and memorable. In turn, this creates a distinct experience for the audience that sets the brand apart from its competitors. 

By using video to tell their story, businesses can establish a long-term relationship with customers, which will ultimately lead to customer growth.

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Video can help train employees

By creating training videos, businesses can provide their employees with consistent training materials, ensuring that everyone receives the same information and is equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to perform their job effectively.

Video training can also be more engaging and effective than traditional training methods, such as classroom lectures or written materials. Through video, employees can see and hear real-world examples and demonstrations, making the training more interactive and memorable. This can lead to better retention of information and a more effective learning experience.

Businesses can also save time and money by using training videos, as they can be created once and used repeatedly. This reduces the need for in-person training sessions or updating written materials, and is particularly helpful for businesses that rely on remote communication.

The different types of videos for businesses

So videos are important, useful, and awesome – that much we know. But there are many different types of videos that businesses use, and all are used to achieve different goals.   

For example, while product demo videos can showcase product features to potential customers, explainer videos are great for introducing brands and explaining services in a way that audiences find engaging. 

By understanding how different types of business videos can achieve specific goals — such as increasing brand awareness, driving web traffic, or boosting sales — you can make informed decisions about which types of videos to create for your own business. 

Let’s take a closer look at the top 10 formats for corporate videos: 

1. Screencast videos

A screencast video is a recording of your computer screen and will often (but not always) include audio, such as the sounds of your computer or your own voice – or both! 

Screencast videos can be used internally or externally and can either be a stand-alone video, or used as a feature in another video. For example, you could use a screencast to show a colleague something simple, like how to crop a video, or as one small part of an all-encompassing training video. 

With such versatility, screencasts have several use cases, including: 

  • Creating quick, disposable videos for colleagues and clients
  • Recording meetings
  • Providing clear feedback
  • Making basic tutorials

Production time

Due to their wide range of uses, the amount of time spent creating a screencast can vary depending on the complexity of information it’s conveying and the audience. 

For instance, a screencast titled ‘Rocket Science for Very Important People’ is going to take a lot more time to create than a basic screencast intended to teach your grandma how to use Zoom.

Knowing your audience, and understanding the information you need to convey is the key to figuring out how long a screencast will take to make. Something simple could take 10 minutes, whereas a more complicated one could take several hours. 

Video length 

Similarly, the length of a screencast can vary depending on what you’re presenting and who you’re presenting to. However, you should always aim to keep your screencasts as concise as possible.

If you plan to narrate your screencast, it’s always worth taking the extra time to write a script. This will keep you focused on the key points, and help you avoid making mistakes. 

Metrics that matter

Viewer feedback is one of the most important metrics to consider when gauging the success of a screencast and how helpful its content is. 

Be sure to always seek feedback from your audience – and listen to it! Whether you ask people for their thoughts directly or encourage viewers to leave comments, feedback can help you identify areas to work on for future screencasts.

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2. Social media videos

Videos for social media can be presented in a variety of formats and styles. These types of video are designed to share on platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Each social platform has its own technical specifications for video content, such as aspect ratio, maximum length, and file size. To save yourself time (and any potential frustration) make sure you know the requirements for the platform you intend to use before you start filming. 

That said, there is one feature that all social media videos should have — regardless of platform — which is captions. That is, assuming your video features someone talking in it. 

This ties back to the accessibility of videos, because you never know where someone will be watching your content, or on what device. While they might be watching a video on their laptop at home, it’s just as likely they’re watching it in a public space on their phone. 

This is why adding captions (or subtitles) to your social media videos is absolutely critical – because many of your viewers will watch videos with the volume turned down. 

Production time

What’s great about social media videos is that many businesses can repurpose pre-existing videos that were created for different reasons, such as event promos and product updates. 

This means that with just a little editing (in most cases), you can post content online that’s already been made. A lot of businesses may not even realize just how much social content they have that’s ready to go. This is a super quick and easy way to get your message out there and increase brand awareness. 

Depending on whether you’re using existing content or creating something from scratch, making social videos can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a couple of days.

Video length 

When it comes to social media videos, brevity is key. You’ll want to aim for a maximum length of 2 minutes, but ultimately: the shorter, the better. 

The most effective social media videos are those that can quickly capture the attention of viewers and get to the point in 30 seconds or less. By mastering the art of trimming videos so they’re short and sweet, you’ll be a social video rockstar in no time.

Metrics that matter

With so many social platforms, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach for measuring the success of your social media videos. Based on each platform, you’ll want to track metrics such as views, likes, shares, and comments to get an idea of how well your videos are performing. 

It’s also worth keeping an eye on engagement metrics — such as how long viewers are watching your videos for and whether they’re clicking through to your website — to ensure that the video is achieving the goals you hoped it would. 

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of videos or formats to see what resonates best with your audience. And remember, social video is all about building relationships and starting conversations, so prioritize engagement and building connections over views.

3. Promotional Videos

Promotional videos can be a powerful tool to advertise events, products, and services. Ultimately, these videos exist to generate leads, but they should give your audience a feel for your brand while pitching your offering.

Promo videos should include a brief but detailed overview of what you’re promoting, and a call to action (CTA) that encourages viewers to take the next step. Whether you want your audience to register for an event, subscribe to a newsletter, or buy a product, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to take action. 

So why is video marketing so important for business? Because they’re a powerful way to establish a personal connection with your audience and generate excitement about your events, products, and services.

Production time

Depending on how important and/or complex your product, event, or service is, the time it takes to produce a promotional video could range from one hour to a number of days. 

Video length 

Without wanting to over-simplify, promotional videos are fundamentally ads (though the best promo videos don’t feel like adverts). With this in mind, it’s best to keep your promotional videos short and sweet. Anything between one to three minutes is ideal.  

Metrics that matter

There are two metrics you need to keep an eye on with promotional videos, the first being the play count. A successful promo video is one that manages to reach audiences far and wide. However, a trillion views doesn’t mean much if nobody is taking the next step, which is why it’s also essential to include a CTA and watch the click-through rate. 

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4. Onboarding Videos

Once you’ve made a good promotional video that’s converting leads into customers, you’ll need to think about how you can optimize their first interaction with the company. It’s important to make new customers feel welcome and ensure they understand everything about your product or service. 

This is a crucial step in the sales cycle — one that can make or break a customer’s loyalty — and it’s also where onboarding videos come in. These videos show customers the ropes to help them get started and hit the ground running.

It’s essential to take the time to create high-quality onboarding videos that are easy to understand and provide real value to your customers. This will help ensure that they start off on the right foot and have a positive experience with your brand from day one. 

Production time

Because they’re so important to new customers, it’s essential that onboarding videos get the time and attention they need to be done right, which is why they can take a few days to make. 

Remember, you reap what you sow, and the time you put into creating a great onboarding video will pay you back tenfold.

Video length 

In the same way that the production of an onboarding video shouldn’t be rushed, nor should the consumption of the information it conveys. While you should try to keep all your videos as concise as possible, it’s important to give your audience clear instructions on how to use your product or service – and this can take time. 

This makes it more important to keep your viewers engaged throughout the video. It’s not easy to get people to give up 10 minutes of their time, so try to keep it compelling and fun.

Metrics that matter

With onboarding videos, it’s important to track audience engagement and make sure your video is watched all the way through. 

You should also check if any parts of the video have been replayed multiple times, or by multiple people. This could suggest that part of your video is unclear, or that they’re having difficulty using a particular feature.

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5. Explainer videos

Explainer videos do exactly as the name suggests: they explain things. 

These videos are usually short and are often used to explain products, services, and concepts in a way that’s simple and engaging. They typically use clear and concise language and are often combined with visual aids, such as animation or illustrations, to break down complex ideas to make them easier to understand and digest.

Explainer videos are often used by businesses to introduce their product or service to potential customers or provide a quick and easy-to-understand overview of a topic. They can be used on a variety of platforms, such as a company’s website, social media, or email marketing campaigns. 

The goal of an explainer video is to grab the viewer’s attention, explain the benefits of the product or service, and encourage them to take action, whether it’s to sign up for a free trial, make a purchase, or share the video with others.

Production time

Creating an explainer video can take more time and effort than other types of videos because they may require detailed planning. On average, it can take about 20 to 24 hours to produce a high-quality explainer video. 

However, don’t let this put you off however! It’s important to remember that new and returning customers, as well as potential leads, all stand to benefit from your content – so it’s well worth the investment.

Video length 

We’d recommend keeping the run time of an explainer video between two to five minutes. To do this, you’ll need to ensure that the content is not only informative but also dynamic and engaging enough to keep the attention of your viewers. 

A well-crafted explainer video can help you effectively convey complex concepts or ideas in a way that’s easy for your audience to understand and remember. By keeping the running time under five minutes, you’ll be able to do so without overwhelming them with too much information at once.

Metrics that matter

Engagement is the ultimate metric to measure the success of your explainer videos, but there are also other essential factors to consider. 

You should pay close attention to any parts of your video that viewers watch more than once. This could indicate that a specific section requires more clarity, or that the content is particularly valuable to your audience. By monitoring these metrics, you can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions about your video content.

Remember that explainer videos are a powerful tool for educating and engaging your audience. By analyzing viewer behavior and feedback, you can refine your messaging and create more effective content over time. So, don’t just use metrics to measure success; use them to reflect on, learn from, and improve your content. 

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6. Demo videos

A demo video is a powerful tool for showcasing your product’s capabilities while visually demonstrating its functionality in action. 

The goal of a demo video is to show the benefits and features of your product, rather than just telling your audience about them. This is especially effective for software, where recording your screen directly can provide an immersive experience for your viewers.

With a demo video, you can give potential customers a taste of what it’s like to use your product before they even sign up for a free trial. A well-crafted demo video can help you stand out from the competition and can lead to increased engagement, conversions, and ultimately, sales.

Production time

​​Demo videos are typically given a prime spot on company websites, so it’s essential that they’re crafted carefully. As with any media meant for customers, this can result in a longer production time, as well as several rounds of editing and revisions. 

It’s also really important to ensure that the concept and script are perfectly aligned and that all the necessary stakeholders provide their input. These alone can be two of the most time-consuming parts of creating a demo video. 

While they might take considerable time and effort to create, a polished demo video will be an incredibly effective marketing tool, so it’s definitely worth it! 

Video length 

The length of a demo video is an important factor to consider when it comes to engagement. On one hand, you want to make sure that your video is long enough to cover all the important information about your product. On the other, you don’t want to make the video so long that viewers lose interest.

Striking this balance between being brief and comprehensive is key. For optimal engagement, we’d recommend keeping your demo video within the two to five minute range. This way, you can provide a concise, yet informative overview of your product that is more likely to be watched, shared, and acted upon by potential customers.

Metrics that matter

When evaluating the performance of a demo video, the play and engagement rates are the two primary metrics to consider. Since demo videos usually convey a lot of information in a short amount of time, it’s important to ensure that viewers watch the entire video. 

By analyzing the number of re-watches, you can identify which parts of the video may have been unclear to viewers or which features generated the most interest and excitement. Such feedback can be used to optimize future videos or even influence future product development. 

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7. Customer story videos (aka testimonial videos)

Testimonial videos, also known as customer story videos, feature your customers sharing their experiences with your product or service.

To make these videos, we suggest interviewing your customer and editing the footage to tell a compelling story. These videos are an effective way for potential customers to identify with real-world situations and see the tangible benefits of your product or service.

Customer story videos also highlight the problems or pain points that your customers faced, and showcase how your company’s solution provided value and solved those problems.

Production time

Testimonial videos can typically take one to two days to film and edit, depending on factors such as the location of the customer and whether or not you have to travel to them to get the footage. 

If you have an in-house video team, it might be worth sending them to the customer to ensure that the video is consistent with your brand’s production style – rather than asking the customer to film it themselves. This can also make the process easier and more convenient for the customer, who is essentially doing you a favor by providing a testimonial.

However, if traveling to the customer’s location isn’t feasible, you might consider asking them to film their own testimonial. This could be a great option if you work with corporate clients that have their own video team, or if your clients are the Cohen brothers.

As a backup plan, this ensures you still have valuable customer feedback to share with prospects, even if the production style is a little different.

Video length 

As a general rule, testimonial videos usually range between five to 10 minutes long. This should be plenty of time to communicate the customer’s experience and the value of your product or service, but not so long that your audience loses interest. 

Metrics that matter

Measuring play rate and conversion metrics is crucial when it comes to customer story videos. Your play rate provides valuable insight into how many viewers are actually interested in watching the video. 

Meanwhile, monitoring your conversion rates will allow you to see how many viewers were convinced to take the next step, such as subscribing to a service or making a purchase. These metrics can help you refine your marketing strategies and optimize your videos for better results.

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8. Training videos

A training video provides guidance on how to perform a particular task or process. These videos can be used internally and externally, and can teach audiences how to do virtually anything. Yes, anything! We told you video is awesome… 

These instructional videos can cover a wide range of topics, from basic skills such as logging into a program to more complex processes such as how to make a split screen video. By demonstrating and explaining the task visually, training videos can be an effective tool for providing hands-on learning and ensuring consistency in training across teams and departments.

Production time

Internal training videos typically take longer to produce than customer-facing videos because they often require specific information, and intricate details, and may need to comply with certain guidelines and regulations. 

The production time can also vary depending on the complexity of the task being taught, and the level of detail required in the video – so there’s a lot to consider! 

The final video needs to be easy for employees to access, understand, and should be interactive and engaging to maximize knowledge retention. With so much to think about, the time required to produce training videos can vary depending on the complexity of the task and the resources available.

That said, we’d say you can put a decent training video together in as little as 1.5–3 hours (for relatively simple videos). 

Video length 

When crafting internal training videos, your first priority should be to ensure you deliver all the essential information, even if it means extending the length of the video. 

As training videos are usually meant for internal consumption, there shouldn’t be as much pressure to create something highly polished. Instead, take the time to cover all relevant information in detail, and don’t shy away from diving deep into the subject matter. 

If your video ends up being fairly long, say between five to 10 minutes, then so be it. What’s important here is to effectively communicate and transfer knowledge to your team. 

Metrics that matter

As training videos are most often used for onboarding new employees, it’s important people watch them from start to finish, which is why it’s crucial to monitor the play and engagement rates. 

This also presents an ideal chance to assess your video content. For example, if certain sections are being re-watched, it might indicate that specific information is difficult to understand, which can signal areas for improvement in future videos.

9. Presentation videos

A presentation video, sometimes referred to as lecture capture, is a recording of a presentation that’s made available after the event. 

This type of video could be as simple as an audio narration combined with a PowerPoint presentation, or an on-stage presentation, or lesson, such as a college lecture. By recording and sharing your presentations, you can extend the reach of your message and provide valuable content to a wider audience.

Whether you’re using presentation videos for educational purposes, internal training, or marketing efforts, they can be an effective way to engage with your audience and share your message in a way that is easily accessible and digestible.

Production time

As with so many of the videos we’ve discussed, the time it takes to produce a presentation video can vary greatly depending on the subject being discussed, the audience it’s intended for, and how polished you want it to be. 

Behind every TED Talk there’s a production crew, multiple cameras, lighting technicians, and a whole lot of other people – not to mention the speaker, who will have written and rehearsed a script. Then, once a video has been recorded, it needs to be edited, shared online, and promoted. So, as you can imagine, TED Talks take a lot of time…

However, if all you need to do is record a presentation and send it to a relatively small group of people, then you might just need a camera and a few light edits before it’s ready – and that might only take a couple of hours. 

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Video length 

The length of your presentation video is likely to be as long as your presentation, but these too should be kept short where possible. The benefit of having a video of a presentation is it can be cut down to only the most essential bits of information. 

While trimming a video may not always be appropriate, you can still shorten your video without undermining your message. Be sure to cut out any ‘dead time’ such as small mistakes, loading screens, and “uhms” & “ahs”. 

You can also make presentation videos feel shorter by making them more engaging. For instance, professional presenters will know if their audience becomes restless, and use it as an opportunity to make a joke or invoke some audience participation. 

In fact, the best presenters can predict when this might happen ahead of time, and include something in their presentation or script that will reignite the audience’s attention. This is exactly what you need to do when making a video presentation.

Metrics that matter

With presentation videos, you’ll want to make sure that your audience is watching the entirety of your content from start to finish. If they’re not, it might suggest your video is either too long or not quite engaging your audience.

10. Microvideos

If you’ve ever wondered how to make short videos for business, the key is to make them as short as possible – which is exactly what microvideos do. 

These short, instructional videos focus on teaching a single and narrow topic. When you create a microvideo, it’s important you show only what is essential in order to understand the concept.

Production time

Creating a video that’s laser-focused on a narrow topic may require a good amount of planning, but a solid plan will make the filming and editing phases much easier. So while a microvideo should take no more than one minute to watch, it could take up to an hour to produce one. 

However, the value of being able to share knowledge and information in less than one minute is high! 

Video length 

According to eLearning and Development Consultant Josh Cavalier, a good length for a microvideo is between six and sixty seconds. Yeah, it’s super short, but they’re called microvideos for a reason. 

Metrics that matter

When it comes to assessing the success of a microvideo, you’ll need to refer to the most human metric of them all: feedback. 

Don’t be afraid to ask your audience what they thought of your video, and how helpful they found it. If you’ve only taken 60 seconds (or less) of their time, then it will be easy for them to provide succinct and comprehensive feedback that you can use for future videos.

Ryan Knott

Ryan Knott is a Marketing Content Strategist at TechSmith, where he creates content about easy, effective, and efficient video creation, editing, and tips and tricks, as well as audio editing for creators of all kinds. He/him.

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