Full Business Video Guide: 7 Types & Examples to Learn From

What is a business video?

A business video is a type of visual content companies use to promote their goods and services, create awareness, tell their story, and more. All types of businesses, from small one-person operations to mega corporations, use video to drive interest, create awareness, increase sales, and more. Business videos can take many forms, including demonstration and product explainers, testimonials, FAQs, behind-the-scenes, and other types of videos. 

What is the purpose of a business video?

Rather than just telling your customers what your business is all about, business videos allow you to show them. Videos can be used to explain how you are solving a problem for your potential customers. You can also explain what your product or service is and how it works in more detail. Small businesses can use video and social media content to create interest and sell directly to customers. 

Why should your business use videos?

Nearly everyone is now carrying a smartphone and can view video content on the go as well as stream endless options at home. Many businesses are now taking advantage of this, with 91% of businesses using video as a marketing tool in 2023. 

Potential customers don’t expect expertly produced corporate content on every platform. Social media allows for videos to be more casual and accessible for small businesses. Video content can be used to showcase and sell products and services but also increase traffic to your website from social media, email newsletters, and other platforms. 

Benefits of using business videos

It’s easier than ever to create video content. Large television, newspaper, radio, and online campaigns can cost thousands of dollars. But now, you can create video content for businesses with just a phone, allowing you to upload videos to millions of people in just a few minutes. Other benefits of using business videos include: 

• More engaging: It’s much easier to hold customers’ attention with videos than it is with large amounts of text on a website or marketing materials. 
• Video is more effective for conversion: Video works well for converting into sales, with 89% of customers saying watching a video has convinced them to buy a product or service. 
• Humanizing businesses: Business videos can provide a more human feel to a company and brand by showcasing employees, sharing values, and building trust and credibility. 
• Rank higher in search: Producing video content may enhance your position in web searches. Google owns YouTube, and video has been shown to increase your search engine rank. Video content will also have customers spend longer on your website, making your website more engaging for search rankings. 
  

7 Types of Business Videos & Examples

1. Demonstration & Product Explainer Videos

An excellent option for small businesses that sell products is a demonstration or product explainer video. This can be a very effective way to show people what the product is and how it works rather than telling them through words. It puts the product in a more tangible view and allows customers to see the product used in action, as well as better see more information, like the dimensions, materials, and weight of the object. 

Shorter is better for these types of videos, with 90 to 120 seconds being an ideal time for showcasing demo videos on social media. These videos can be made with a variety of live-action footage, interviews, B-roll of product use, and other footage types.

Vervoe is a platform that predicts job performance using skills assessments. In this explainer video, they show the bad side of hiring employees and how their tool can help to better predict suitability for the role:

2. Informational/Educational Videos

As a company owner, you likely have expertise in the field you are working in, especially if you are offering a service. You can make informational videos to share your knowledge and provide insights to those customers looking for help. Educational videos can help train employees.

Shopify, which is an e-commerce platform, created a YouTube channel called Learn with Spotify which features informational videos about making money online. One such video is: “How To Make Money on TikTok in 2023

The owner of the small business Lit City Candles created this video: “What I wish I knew before starting a Candle Business in 2022”

3. Testimonial Videos

Is your business already fairly well established? Do you have lots of happy customers that have found value in your product or services? Consider making a testimonial video that showcases the great feedback you are receiving. This can be done with on-camera interviews with some of your customers or clients talking about what they enjoy and find value in with your company. 

Subaru, the vehicle manufacturer, often features happy customers in their commercials and creates a community around Subaru owners. On YouTube, they have a series called #SubieStories which tell the stories of how their customers use their cars. 

While Subaru has massive advertising dollars behind it, these videos can now be made on smaller budgets. 

You can even do a testimonial video with your employees to showcase your company and what makes it unique. Check out this testimonial video from the beauty subscription box FabFitFun:

Read more: How to Record Video Testimonials 

4. Company Story Videos

Every company has a story to tell about how it started, what makes them unique, and what its fans think of them. Especially if you have a smaller business, with an interesting background or origin story, a company story video could be an excellent way for you to let customers know what you’re about. Include interviews with employees about what makes your company great, and consider adding stats or behind-the-scenes information. 

Company story videos are a way to convey the personality of a brand, as well as company values and mission. Bolt, the rideshare company, created this company story video about how they’ve gone from a small Estonian startup to the fastest-growing tech company in Europe. It’s fast-paced with quick cuts to mirror their quick growth: 

5. Behind the Scenes Video

Behind-the-scenes videos provide a look behind the curtain at how your company and employees work and how you make your products. Behind-the-scenes videos are a great option for super fans and create interest and brand loyalty.  

You’ve seen lego blocks and toys everywhere – but how are they made? Lego put together a behind-the-scenes factory tour showing how they make the minifigures for their sets. Watch how thousands of little yellow heads move through the factory getting faces, then bodies and limbs, to be shipping off to happy kids.

6. FAQ Videos

With an FAQ business video, you can simply explain to customers how to fix the problem they’re looking to solve and cover more complex topics. Find out what questions your customers have contacted you about or are searching online for about your product or service. Then use a video to explain answers, walk through steps, or simply for users to learn more about your offerings. 

This product FAQ video series from the U.S. Plastic Corporation looks at questions about plastics - such as How do you find the wall thickness of tubing? 

7. Webinars

Webinars, online seminars that are usually held live, are increasingly becoming a popular type of video content and can be used by businesses of all types. Use a webinar to introduce a product or service, for example by teaching the audience about the topic. 

Webinars can feature guests or panelists to interview or discuss the topic with. Make the event more engaging by adding an interactive element such as a question and answer period with the audience. The video can be rewatched afterward and Webinar clips can easily be repurposed for social media, website, or newsletter content. 

An example of a business webinar video is this one uploaded by Amazon:

Using Amazon Web Services for Disaster Recovery Webinar

Read more: How To Record a Webinar in High-Quality on Any Device (2023) 

How to create your own business video in HD with Riverside

Riverside is a studio-quality video creation platform that you can use online from any device. You can record in high quality with up to 4K video and 48kHz audio resolution without worrying about your internet connection ruining anything. With local recording, all files record directly onto your device instead of relying on your internet connection.  

On Riverside, you can create videos with up to 8 remote participants, and up to 1000 audience members if you choose to go live. You can record and download audio and video in separate tracks for each participant to ensure greater editing flexibility. 

Start recording with Riverside

Easily record high-quality podcasts & videos remotely

Get Started

See how easy it is to record with Riverside using the steps below

Step 1: Open Riverside.fm in a Chrome web browser.  Create your free account with Riverside and log into your account.

Step 2: Click ‘+ New Studio’ to create a studio for recording your business video, then click ‘Enter Studio’ or you can customize your studio first if you select ‘Continue set up studio’. 

You can also invite guests now, or you can do so once you’re in the studio.

Step 4: You’re now in your studio’s lobby where you can test your camera and microphone technology before joining the studio. When you are ready select ‘Join studio’. 

Step 5: Once in the studio, prepare for recording. You can invite participants if you haven’t already, or you can adjust any last-minute settings by pressing on the gear button on your top right. 

If you’d like to record your screen or share a presentation, you can select the screen share button. 

Step 6: When you are ready, click the Record button to start your video and Stop to end. 

Step 7: Once all your files upload, select ‘View recordings’ to either download your separate video and audio tracks or to edit them directly on Riverside with our text-based video editor. 

Learn more about Riverside, or start recording business videos seamlessly!

Top Tips for Impactful Business Videos

In order to make waves online with your video content, here are a number of top tips you should follow to ensure your videos are memorable, impactful, and useful to viewers. 

Be authentic

Nothing distracts faster from your message and has viewers clicking off your video than people or content that seems inauthentic. Sometimes a script is needed to guide video production, but no one wants to see someone feeling awkward and uncomfortable on screen trying to read out their lines. Make sure everyone on screen seems natural yet engaged. 

Video also allows you to share your brand's values and mission. Authenticity should show through your content, the brand personality, and tone of the videos. 

Clear messaging

It can be tempting to jampack video content with facts and statistics but this is overwhelming to viewers. Make sure your business video is centered around a clear story or message. It’s best to use simple language without corporate jargon. Customers and clients will also be attracted to videos that inform, educate, or entertain and content that features human stories. 

Tailor content

Ensure you have a good idea of the demographic of your ideal customer and where they spend their time online. Are they an older generation that checks Facebook every day and loves YouTube? Or younger people that love TikTok but don’t have Facebook accounts? Targeting your video content for your customer base and making sure it’s on the right platform will set you up for more success than trying to appeal to everyone online. 

FAQs on Business Videos

What can videos do for your business?

Video content can provide a number of benefits for businesses. You can use videos to sell and explain your products or services directly to your audience. Business videos can also tell your company story, showcase testimonials from customers, and answer frequently asked questions. Using video content is an effective strategy to drive online content to your website or online store and can be produced affordably. 

How do small businesses use videos?

Small businesses use video content to promote and explain their products and services, create awareness and brand recognition, and to provide a human face to a company, among many other reasons. Many small businesses are using social media videos on platforms like TikTok and YouTube to market their brand and products, while also inspiring, educating, or informing with their content. 

Why is video good for small businesses?

Video is an excellent option for small businesses because it can be cheap and fairly easy to produce this type of content. The most difficult part of creating video for small businesses can be the effort and time required to continuously be producing content. Ensure that video content is useful and helps your customers in some way, for example in demonstrating products or answering FAQs. If users are interacting with your content, it’s more likely to be favored by social media algorithms and widely shared. 

Why is video a powerful marketing tool?

Most people own smartphones which provide 24/7 access to video content while on the go. Video can be watched while doing other things, allowing people to digest them quickly. Video-based social media platforms like TikTok continue to proliferate and grow in popularity while videos can now be made cheaply making them more accessible to small businesses for marketing purposes. 

Human beings also have a great emotional connection to seeing other people on screen, especially when hearing their authentic stories. Video can be used to share a company’s brand story and those of its founders and employees, as well as display brand personality and values. 

What is important in a corporate video?

What’s important to include in a corporate video can depend on a number of factors, including the brand persona, corporate values, customer base, and more. Business videos should be tailored to your audience and preferred platforms for disseminating content. Ensure your messaging is clear, without overly complex data and numbers, and centered on a single story or topic. Above all, make sure your videos are authentic to the company’s brand and voice.