The six videos every software company needs
The six jobs software video actually does — brand, demo, walkthrough, feature, launch and sales — and how to tell which one you need before picking a tool.
Most requests for "a video" inside a software company are actually one of six specific jobs, and naming the job before naming a tool solves half the brief on its own. A team that starts with the tool tends to reach for whatever made their last video and bend the new job to fit it, which is how a feature update ends up as an overwrought 90-second brand film nobody watches to the end.
The six jobs, and what each one has to do
| Job | Answers | Typical length | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brand film | Who are you, and should I care? | 30-60s | Homepage, cold social, ads |
| Product demo | Does it work, and is it for me? | 30-90s | Landing page, sales deck, comparison pages |
| Walkthrough | How do I actually use this? | 1-5 min | Onboarding, help centre, in-app |
| Feature announcement | What changed? | 10-30s | Changelog, in-app, one social post |
| Launch film | Why does this matter now? | 30-60s + cut-downs | Launch day, every channel at once |
| Sales video | Why us, for this specific deal? | 60-120s | One prospect, one thread |
Two patterns fall out of that table immediately. Length tracks how committed the viewer already is — a cold visitor gets seconds, someone already onboarding gets minutes. And reuse tracks the opposite: the videos with the widest audience (brand, demo, launch) are worth the most production effort, because a sales video and most walkthroughs are seen by far fewer people each.
How to tell which one you actually need
- 1. Who is watching, and how much do they already know?
- A stranger needs a brand film or a demo. Someone mid-signup needs a walkthrough. A single prospect needs a sales video. The audience narrows the job before the content does.
- 2. Is this recurring or a one-off?
- Feature announcements and sales videos are made often and cheaply. Brand films and launch films are made rarely and should carry more weight per view.
- 3. What does the viewer do next?
- A demo should end on a trial signup. A walkthrough should end on the next step in the product. A sales video should end on a reply. If the video doesn't know its next action, the brief isn't finished yet.
A feature update dressed as a brand film wastes the polish. A launch treated as a walkthrough undersells the moment. The job decides the treatment, not the other way round.
Where these jobs overlap, and where they can't
The launch film is the one legitimate hybrid — it borrows the brand film's polish and the demo's proof, which is why it usually needs both a wide cut and a set of platform-specific recompositions rather than one video doing everything. Outside of launch, resist the urge to combine jobs: a demo that also tries to be a sales pitch for one specific buyer ends up too generic to close that deal and too long to hold a stranger's attention. Make two videos instead of one video trying to be two.
Questions people ask
What types of video does a software company actually need?
Six recurring jobs cover most requests: a brand film (who you are), a product demo (what it does), a walkthrough (how to use it), a feature announcement (what's new), a launch film (why now) and a sales video (why us, for one deal). Most companies never need more than these six.
Which video should a software company make first?
The product demo, in almost every case — it answers the question a first-time visitor actually has ('does this work, and is it for me?') and it is reusable across the landing page, sales calls and social. A brand film is worth making once the demo already exists and a company wants a broader, less literal introduction.
Can one video cover more than one of these six jobs?
Rarely well. A launch film borrows structure from both the demo and the brand film, which is why it is the one hybrid on this list — but a demo stretched to also carry a sales pitch usually ends up too generic to close a specific deal, and too long to hold a cold visitor's attention.
Do all six need to be separate, polished productions?
No. A walkthrough is often the cheapest of the six to produce because it can be a cleaned-up screen recording rather than a composed film, and a sales video is frequently a one-off made for a single account. Reserve the heavier production for the brand film and the launch film, which get reused the most.
Keep reading
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