What’s a Video Demo? (4 Types + Best Examples)

A video demo (often short) showcases a product’s interface, features, and value propositions. 

Most video demos show the product itself or a mix of the product and other visuals and illustrations. 

Great video demos typically include: 

• An overview of the product’s key features. 
• Practical examples of use cases the solution can help with.
• A walkthrough of the interface and a demonstration of the user experience.
• A highlight of the product’s value propositions and benefits for customers.

💡 Scroll to the bottom for our favorite video demo examples in SaaS.

Are video demos all the same? 

Short answer: no. 

There are many types of video demos, ranging from scrappy screen recordings to big-budget productions. 

Here are the X most common video demo types in SaaS 👇

🧑‍💻 Self-recorded screen shares 

These demos are done by an individual sharing his or her screen and walking you through the product. They’re usually low-budget and can be spun off quickly. 

Self-recorded screen shares are great for app updates or personalized outreach to prospects, as the presenter can adjust the content to the audience targeted by the demonstration. 

Here’s an example from Sendspark ⤵️

📹 Highly-produced product walkthroughs

These demos combine polished product demonstrations and fancy animations. A scripted voiceover is often added to help viewers understand what’s being showcased. 

There’s not as personalized and are intended for wider audiences, but they do have that “wow” effect. 

Here’s an example from Notion ⤵️

🤖 Programmatic video demos

These demonstration videos are programmatically produced. 

What does that mean? They’re produced by code, AI, or both, without human intervention. If done right, it’s a great strategy to mass-produce simple walkthroughs for long-tail use cases. 

For example, Relay.app has produced hundreds of programmatic demo videos that walk their users and prospects through setting up specific workflows.

Oftentimes, these demos aren’t going to rack up as many views, but with hundreds or thousands of them, it adds up for the business and helps support users with very specific requests. Here’s an example ⤵️

🤝 Recorded sales calls & product webinars 

Is your best account executive running impressive live demos? Are they recorded? Can they be shared with lower-value prospects without asking sales reps to do 1:1 demos every time? 

On the other hand, do you have webinars or customer training sessions that showcase aspects of your solution and answer common questions?

If yes, consider publicly sharing some of your best recordings.

Here’s an example from Dribble ⤵️

🕹️ Interactive video tours

These demos combine the effectiveness of interactive demos with the entertaining appeal of videos. Simple product actions can be interactive, while longer, more complicated steps can be recorded as a video that auto-plays (more on this below). 

Here’s an example from Hunter ⤵️

Can you combine video and interactive demos? 

As you saw above, yes, you can. These types of video demos are increasing in popularity, as they let viewers experience the value of your product firsthand and engage with your demo rather than passively watch it.

Here are the main advantages of combining video and interactive demos: 

• At-scale personalization: Once you make a video demo, you can’t add any personalization. The same video is shared with everyone. That’s not the case with interactive demos. You can embed personalization so that each viewer sees a slightly modified version of your demo. 
• Dynamic paths: Unlike video, with interactive demos, you can let viewers skip to sections they’re most interested in checking out, without forcing them to watch the whole demo. 

• Blurring: With HTML editing, anyone on your team can edit what’s reflected on your product’s interface in demos. For example, you can anonymize data or remove parts of the interface without having to re-record a whole new video demo.

• Engaging:  Interactive demos let viewers feel what it’s like to get value from your solution.
• Conversions: Interactive assets perform better than video content for driving sign-ups and sales conversions (more on this below). 

As an example, Zapier increased booked meetings by 70% with Arcade. 

Here’s what Bryce Vernon, Zapier Senior Growth Marketer in the New Products team had to say:

What type performs better for SaaS? 

We have a whole article on the difference between demo videos and interactive demos when it comes to impact on core business metrics you care about. Read it here.

Here’s the gist of it 👇

TL;DR: Whether you are better off producing a high-budget demo, a scrappy screen share, or an interactive demo video depends on the following: 

• How you intend to use the demo (ad, website embed, in sales outreach, etc.)
• Who’s your target audience (end users vs decision makers, technical vs non-technical users, etc.)
• Your budget 
• Your internal experience/resources
• The speed at which you want to experiment with video demos

🧑‍💻 Self-recorded screen shares are fast, authentic, and easily sharable. 

📹 Highly-produced demo videos reach large audiences and elevate your brand.

🤖 Programmatic demos cover where the ROI on human work is not justifiable.

🤝 Recorded sales calls and webinars repurpose content you already have for prospects further in the consideration stage.

🕹️ Interactive demos drive more engagement and conversions from viewers.

If you’re hesitating between pure video and interactive, here’s what the data tells us 👇

Performance (CTR): The average video conversion rate is 3.21%, whereas the average conversion on interactive demos made with Arcade is 23%

This is also reflected in case studies (like Quantum Metrics), where a company switches from video to interactive demos.

Time & cost to produce: 47% of marketers report specifically investing significant budgets into demo video production. That’s not the case for interactive demos. However, demo videos can range from a 5-minute screen recording that costs $0 to a $50k+ investment that can only be approved once or twice a year.

Here’s a summary ⤵️

We should add a 3rd dimension to this chart: ROI, since some video demos will be high-cost and take a long time to make but will perform exceptionally well for the business. 

Similarly, programmatic demos can be fast and cheap but might not yield results.

What makes a great video demo? 

Click here to learn what it takes to produce a top 1% interactive demo.

1. Clear objective

• Define the purpose: Is the demo for lead generation, onboarding, or explaining features to existing customers?
• Focus on solving a problem or showcasing benefits.

2. Strong opening

• Start with a compelling hook that grabs attention, such as a pain point or a bold statement.
• Briefly introduce your software and its core value proposition.

3. Conciseness

• Keep it short and focused (ideally 2–5 minutes). Viewers lose interest quickly.
• Only showcase features that highlight your product's unique value or are relevant to your target audience.

4. Engaging script and narration

• Use simple, conversational language.
• Narration should match your brand tone: professional, friendly, or enthusiastic.
• Avoid technical jargon unless targeting a highly technical audience.

5. Visually appealing 

🕹️ Arcade is the most popular interactive demo solution on the market. One reason is that there are much more design customization options in Arcade to help you create stunning demos.

• Use clean, high-quality visuals, including screen recordings, animations, and transitions.
• Maintain brand consistency with colors, fonts, and logos.

6. Show concrete use cases

• Show how the software solves real problems for typical users, not a laundry list of features.
• Highlight workflows and outcomes, not just buttons and menus.

7. Clear call-to-action (CTA)

• End with a specific CTA, like scheduling a live demo, starting a free trial, or visiting a website.
• Make it easy for viewers to take the next step.

8. Smooth flow

• Structure the demo logically: Example: Problem → Solution → Features → Benefits → CTA.
• Avoid overwhelming the viewer with too many details, steps, or features at once.

9. Make demos credible

• Include quick testimonials, case studies, or statistics to validate your product’s impact.
• Show real-world success, if applicable.

10. High-quality audio and production

• Ensure clear, professional audio narration.
• Use polished visuals and avoid glitches or low-quality screen recordings.

11. (For interactive & screen-sharing demos) Allow for lead captures

• Reveal your viewers with integrations with platforms like Clearbit.
• Add forms and other ways for viewers to show interest in your solution.

13 of the best video demo examples in SaaS

Here are our favorites 👇

Arcade (that’s us 👋) (🕹️ Interactive) 

Nudge (🕹️ Interactive) 

Slack (📹 Highly-produced) 

Webflow (📹 Highly-produced) 

Monday.com (📹 Highly-produced) 

Lemlist (🧑‍💻 Screen share) 

Descript (🧑‍💻 Screen share) 

Mixpanel (🧑‍💻 Screen share) 

Clay ( 🧑‍💻 Screen share) 

Click here to watch an example.

Posthog ( 🧑‍💻 Screen share) 

Relay ( 🤖 Programmatic) 

Click here to watch multiple example.

Appcues ( 🤝 Webinar recording) 

Headspace (📹 Highly-produced) 

Next steps: Create interactive video demos in Arcade today

Feeling inspired? Try Arcade for free or talk to our team 👇