Attention. More valuable than the spice melange. Harder to obtain than the Arc of the Covenant. Millions base themselves everyday just to get a second-hand sniff of it. You want it. You covet it… but how do you get your potential customers to give it?

What makes us stop the mindless scrolling – even for a second? What kind of content gets our attention? Perhaps more importantly for you, what kind of content should you use to get your potential customers to pay attention?

Luckily, we have an answer. Research has shown that out of all types of content, video is the one that people like consuming the most.

‍Customers retain 95% of the information in videos, compared to only 10% in text.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Text is a valuable tool in a marketer’s arsenal (otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this blog post!). But when it comes to getting attention – and getting it fast, video is the best way to do it. When it comes to explaining what your business can do for your customers in an engaging way, video is the way to go.

But what about SaaS? Is video the best way to convey what a SaaS product does?

The answer is yes. Even more so when it comes to SaaS. In fact, recent research has shown that 36% of SaaS customers want to see more explainer-style content. Most SaaS products are very complex. The information that the customer needs may not be easy to communicate. Even worse, it can be as boring as a budget zoo when written in plain text. This is where an explainer video comes in to save the day.

Why is an explainer video the way to go?

An explainer video lets your audience relive the story of your product. It can help your audience understand that this product is what they need. It lets them learn about your brand, the problems you solve, and how you solve them. And it does all this in a unique and interesting way. But beware – because not any kind of explainer video will do. You can’t just tape together something in PowerPoint with stock images and expect it to work.

Instead, your explainer video will need to have a couple key ingredients for it to shine.

1. Eye-catching design

This is the first thing your audience notices. The characters, the setting, the colors. All of this has its role in getting your customers’ attention and keeping their eyes glued to the screen. As such, it needs to be created with a careful eye for detail.

2. Clear explanation

Your software is not one-dimensional. It has many features, benefits and different aspects that help your customers with their problems. In a word, it’s complex. So you’ll need to make sure that you’re explaining everything in a way your audience can understand. You’ll need to speak the language they’re speaking, while showing them what your product can do for them.

3. Immersive animation

Now it’s time to put the video together in a unique way. Good animation immerses your audience into your software. It keeps them hooked into the story of your product, exploring all that it has to offer as the video goes on.

To get back to the title of this blog post: “Do SaaS Companies Need an Explainer Video in 2023?”, the answer is a definite “Yes.”. Arguably even more in 2023 than before. Your customers’ attention span is lower than ever, so you need something special to hook them in and keep them interested. An engaging explainer video is exactly that.