Why how-to videos increase product adoption for SaaS

SaaS programs must impress quickly or the customer will move on to the next option. Kind of like dating. So how can SaaS companies get customers to swipe right on them?

Skip to section:

• How to increase product adoption with how-to videos
• How-to video ideas that improve the product adoption process
• Benefits of using how-to videos to improve product adoption
• Videate automatically produces how-to videos at scale

In today's fast-paced digital world, users expect software-as-a-service (SaaS) products to be intuitive and easy to use. Your software has multiple features, and likely only some of those are relevant to the needs of a brand new user.

Even the easiest, most streamline software products have a learning curve. Like understanding the layout and critical features. Unfortunately, SaaS companies have a very limited time frame to get their customers up and running or they will leave and Never. Come. Back. 

And not only are continued customers 5-25x cheaper than acquiring new ones, but increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can increase profits by 25% to 95%. The higher the customer adoption rate, the higher the revenue growth.

So, yeah. Product adoption is a pretty Big Deal. But you already know all this. So why are how-to videos the best method for increasing user adoption?

How to increase product adoption with How-to Videos

How-to videos provide a visual and interactive learning experience that shows how meaningful and enjoyable your product can be. Visual learning is a proven method for retaining information, and videos are an engaging way to deliver this type of learning experience. Video is a major part of peoples' lives, and it's already a major way that people prefer to learn. Just look at YouTube-- for anything. If you want to learn it, there's a video of it.

And the more people get used to learning this way, the more they expect it from every product they use.

Being a new user is intimidating. Your product's awesome features and capabilities can quickly become just a wash of unknowns in the mind of a user. So instead of making their lives easier, those same awesome features can actually become overwhelming to the point of giving up.

How-to videos provide a visual demonstration of how to use a product or feature, making it easier for users to understand and retain the information. This is particularly important for SaaS products that may have complex workflows or require specific steps to complete a task.

Short, informative, relevant videos during the onboarding process eases customers into  the learning curve. They're able to get up and running without talking to anybody and can get common questions answered as soon as they have them.

How-to video ideas that improve the product adoption process

You definitely don't want to overwhelm your users with too much information at once. Think from their perspective: what do they absolutely need to know, at a basic level, so they can start getting value from your software?

Some examples of helpful how-to videos for new users:

• Step-by-step guide for getting started
• Major features and functionality
• Basic platform navigation
• Dashboards and personalization/customization
• Setting up and generating insights from reporting
• Available integrations and how to set them up
• Troubleshooting common problems and solutions
• Sneak peeks of advanced features

You can also include interactive elements, such as quizzes or interactive tours, to help a customer on their journey.

Making this content readily available and up-to-date smooths the way for customers. They'll be able to go from total n00b to a power user way faster than if they had to wait for a Customer Success Manager or support person.

Benefits of using how-to videos to improve product adoption

One of the main advantages of using how-to videos is increased user engagement and satisfaction. Videos make it easier for users to understand and use a product, leading to higher product adoption rates and better user experiences.

By providing visual demonstrations of product features and functions, how-to videos can also help reduce the amount of time and effort required for users triumph over the learning curve.

Users are also more likely to find answers to their questions through video resources, which reduces support costs and workloads for customer service teams.

When a customer is engaged and satisfied with your software, they're going to stay for the long term. They'll start using more and more features as they continue to get value out of your product. And, ideally, they'll start buying upgrades or additional features and functionality.

Long term relationships are what SaaS businesses are built on. Not only do companies get repeated business and regular revenue from retained customers, they get word of mouth, valuable insight for new features, and upselling opportunities for those that want to take the relationship to the next level. 

Overall, incorporating how-to videos into a SaaS company's onboarding and support strategy can help drive product adoption, improve customer satisfaction, and ultimately contribute to business success.

Videate automatically produces how-to videos at scale

SaaS companies can improve user adoption and provide a better overall user experience by creating effective how-to videos that cater to the target audience, are concise and visually engaging, and easily accessible.

But, making how-to videos is time consuming, costly, and hard. Fortunately, Videate has solved this problem! 

Videate helps SaaS companies increase their user adoption with easy-to-make, engaging, automated videos. Prior to Videate, companies needed entire teams devoted to screen recording and editing. Now, you can produce a full library of up-to-date onboarding how-to videos automatically.

Stop working harder and work smarter: say yes to Videate and we can help you make a full library of how-to onboarding videos in minutes.