6 winning product launch video ideas (2023)

Developing a new product — bringing it from a barebones prototype to a ready-to-use product — is no easy challenge.

But that challenge is only half the picture.

The rest of it involves successfully launching the product so that it can reach its target audience who sees its full potential.

In this context, not a commercial video is suitable, but a product launch video is an essential medium for reaching your potential customers.

Why? Because videos not only communicate the full potential of your product quickly and efficiently, but also capture your audience’s attention right away.

What’s more, institutional videos bring to light product specs that a blog post, press release, or email might not be able to capture in text format.

When asked how they prefer to learn about a product, 69% of consumers agreed they prefer watching a short video. In contrast, only 18% say they’d read a text-based article or post.

Not to forget, videos are shareable. One click and your product launch video can get to more eyeballs in no time.

So, let’s cut to the chase and give you 5 winning video ideas for launching a new product along with the secret sauce to creating a successful product launch video.

The elements of a successful product launch video

There’s a sea of difference between a mediocre product launch video and a winning one. Since you’d want to create the latter, keep the following elements in mind:

Answer your product’s 5Ws in the video

Make sure your video content focuses on explaining:

• What the product is
• What is its use
• Where to use it
• Who it’s made for
• Why it can help the consumer

Leverage storytelling to engage viewers

Simply talking about your product won’t cut it. Tell a story — this could be the story behind your product, for example. Warby Parker’s origin story is a great example to follow if you need inspiration.

But why tell a story? Because stories stick. If you want to know how to make a mini documentary, check out this blog post.

In fact, your target market remembers your product better when it’s backed with a powerful, emotions-evoking story. As the author of Stories That Stick, Kindra Hall puts it, “A story allows people to fall in love with the product, appreciate the value of the service, and feel compelled to act.”

Build excitement

In other words, create hype around your product launch. A helpful way to do so is to only show parts of your product to tease your customers’ curiosity.

A good rule of thumb here is to strike a balance between showing just enough of the product to capture attention and hiding enough of it to build suspense. Here’s an example of Adidas building excitement to unveil a new running shoe:

Choose engaging music

Good music not only gets people involved emotionally, but it makes your product launch video memorable. Remember the launch of Windows 8? It came with excellent music that helped consumers recall the product’s key message instantly.

Add a clear call-to-action at the end

Make sure you give your viewers an action step to take at the end of the product launch video. Do you want them to save the launch date? Do you want them to sign up for a lucky draw on the launch? Tell them.

Distribute the launch video far and wide

The plan? Make the video go viral if possible. To this end, share it on different marketing channels that your target audience uses. Social media, press sites, your website are some examples.

Don’t forget to get influencers, brand ambassadors, and employees to share the video with their audience and add to the pre-launch hype.

6 product launch video ideas

Now, for the meaty part to get your creative gears rolling.

1. Explainer/tutorial video

Almost every one of your potential customers has watched an explainer video. Hard to believe? Numbers don’t lie: 96% of folks say they’ve watched an explainer video to learn about a product/service.

The takeaway: an instructional video is your best bet to promote your new product. It’s also an excellent idea if your product has a technical edge to it that can be best explained with the help of video content. Here’s I Whiz’s explainer video making it easy to understand what the platform does:

So how to create an engaging video? Focus on a clear plot using the following template:

• Showcase specific problems and pain points
• Introduce your product/service as the remedy
• Provide solution with clear results to conclude video just like an infographic video

For this, start by writing a tight video script that walks viewers through the main product features. See what keywords people are searching for using a keyword research tool like SE Ranking keyword finder, which can help with rank tracking and competitor analysis as well.

Remember: you don’t want to be covering every feature under the sun. Sure you’re excited about all those features you’ve created, but you don’t want to overload consumers with too much. Less is more.

2. Unboxing video

In 2017, YouTube revealed the time that people spent on watching unboxing videos on their phones equaled the time spent watching the romantic comedy, Love Actually, over 20 million times.

And that was in 2017. It’s safe to assume the time spent watching unboxing videos has only grown as unboxing has become a trend in boosting customer experience and retention.

For you, this is great news as unboxing videos make another winning product launch video idea to explore. In fact, these videos help customers get a close-up view of your product, understanding what they’ll get after having purchased from you.

For a mesmerizing unboxing video, make sure you shoot the product up-close while shedding light on its specs – just like in this iPhone 12 unboxing video:

3. Behind the scenes/creation of product video

Next up, engage your ideal audience with behind the scenes (BTS) product videos.

You can never go wrong with these because they speak volumes of authenticity, helping you develop an intimate connection with your audience and vice versa.

For your BTS content to be genuine (and not look like it’s been deliberately filmed), ask teams involved in product creation to participate in shooting the video content.

For example, you can show viewers how you brainstormed the product/feature idea, what roadblocks you hit, and so on during the product creation process.

Drift did such a BTS video well.

4. Live product launch on social media

Two-thirds of marketers leverage live streaming for marketing to their target audience. To top that, social media live streaming has been on the rise.

LinkedIn Live, for example, has increased by 158% since February 2020. It drives a lot of engagement too with live videos getting 24 times the comments than typical video posts.

For you, this translates into another stellar product launch video idea. In fact, you can plan a video launch event as part of your launch plan, inviting different people such as influencers, product creators, bloggers, and more to add life (and excitement) to the launch party.

For live videos to be a success, however, ensure you’ve the right live streaming set up including tools you’ll need, a well-lit room, and a stable Internet connection.

The best part? You can reuse the live video in your communication plan. So that’s a win-win.

5. Animated product launch video

Another great product video launch video idea for marketers is an animated video, for example by using the technique of motion design. It can quickly catch your audience’s eye as Casper’s launch video does:

So what do you need for a successful animated video? A good voice actor to embody your brand. Essentially, animated videos tell a story by leveraging animated characters. A good voice actor complements that story – making it memorable.

Don’t forget to add subtitles since 69% of viewers watch videos with the sound off in public places. A quarter of them also keep the sound off in private places. To top that, 80% are likely to watch a full video if captions are available.

And, here’s a pro tip: feature your product at the end of the animated video so consumers can visualize what they’ll buy.

6. Testimonial/interview/review video

• Talking-head interviews
• Review videos
• Customer testimonial videos

3, 2, 1... we have product liftoff!

In a nutshell, there are plenty of product launch video ideas to explore. Fortunately, you don’t need a fancy budget to create these videos for a successful launch.

Whether educational videos, real estate videos or one of the listed above, with the right video creation platform such as PlayPlay that not only offers tons of product launch templates, but is also incredibly intuitive, you can create the perfect video faster than you can say knife.