Explainer Videos vs. Product Demo Examples: How Do They Differ?

Ever tried pitching your product in a way that makes total sense in your head… but leaves everyone else nodding politely with zero clue what you just said?

We’ve all been there. That’s why product demo videos exist. They cut through the fluff and show your product in action; no lengthy explanations are required.

But let’s get one thing straight: not all product videos wear the same hat.

Take explainer videos, for example. They’re like the charming storyteller at the party, setting the scene, introducing the problem, and wrapping everything up with a neat, animated bow. Their goal? To explain the why behind your product or service, usually with a friendly narrator and some slick motion graphics.

On the other hand, product demo videos are more like the hands-on friend who skips the small talk and dives straight into “Here’s how it actually works.” They’re practical, clear, and built to show the real-world value of your product.

In this article, we’ll explore some more differences between product demo videos and explainer videos. Most importantly, we’ll also show you real product video examples that don’t just tell—they show off.

Product Demo Videos and Explainer Videos: Are They Related?

In 2008 and 2009, an animated explainer video production company was a novelty for businesses.

Breadnbeyond was one of just a few companies that recognized the potential early and started helping brands simplify their message through animation before it became mainstream.

More and more companies then noticed their high potential and placed them at the center of attention. Next thing you know, everyone started using them.

Product demo videos, on the other hand, were the standard before professional explainers emerged. These days, demo videos are emerging again, which means the video marketing trend is going through a cycle.

Product demos are being used as e-commerce videos that showcase the real-life use cases of certain products.

Animated videos are everywhere. They’ve become a sort of standard for companies in general. Since demo videos are scaling the trend chart again, does this mean explainer videos are no longer relevant?

No, it doesn’t.

If anything, explainer clips have proven their value in helping businesses grow. If not, why would they have become standard?

Explainer and demonstration videos are two separate genres of video with unique functions and strengths.

More often than not, they can work together in the same conversion funnel but in different stages.

For example, explainer videos can be used at an early conversion stage, such as in a crowdfunding video, while a product demo is more useful when closing sales.

Even though explainers and product demo videos are a good genre for a business to have, content is still king.

The value of information an explainer video has will determine the final outcome significantly more than its visual properties do.

The same rule applies to app demo videos. It doesn’t matter as much as you may think whether the star of a product demo is a CEO, a busboy, or a Hollywood star, it doesn’t matter much.

If the video’s content isn’t true, entertaining, or valuable in any way, it’s likely the video will be ignored.

In a nutshell: An explainer video is an awesome type of content for the top-of-the-funnel stage in the buyer’s journey. A product demo has the upper hand in closing sales.

Product Demo Videos vs. Explainer Videos: What’s the Difference?

Now that you understand how product demo videos and explainer videos work together and complement each other, it’s time for the nitty-gritty.

We will break down some of the main differences between two of the highest-performing types of marketing videos in the market today:

Explainer Videos

Explainer videos are well-known for their simplicity and conciseness.

Take a look at an explainer video we made for KeyOpp:

The points below will show you what makes this short, engaging video different from product demo videos.

1. Explaining Complicated Products

Coming up with innovative ideas is not easy or simple, and communicating them to others is even harder.

Many startups and businesses have trouble projecting their ideas to the public and sometimes it’s the struggle that can kill a company.

I have encountered hundreds of startups with bizarre, unique, and quirky products. New ones pop up daily. Whenever I think I’ve seen all kinds of startups in obscure niches, there’s always another one.

2. Increasing Brand Awareness

You create brand awareness at the marketing funnel entrance by making your product more visible.

Explainer videos, among a few other things, are an eye-catching type of content that’s hard to miss.

When creating an explainer video, your goal must be to inform people about your company and how your product or service can resolve certain issues your potential customers have.

If an explainer video reaches its target and delivers its intended message, it will intrigue them to watch and start the Internet’s butterfly effect: a like and a share, which are essentially the seeds of brand awareness.

In other words, explainer clips have the potential to be viral and engaging, but that shouldn’t be your ultimate goal; it is just one of the small options at your disposal.

The importance of videos in the brand awareness stage is that you have a very limited amount of time to engage your viewer. While you explain what you do, don’t be scared of entertaining viewers.

This is your best shot for them to learn more about you and take it all in.

Explainer Video: The Bonus Tips

Here are some tips for achieving a valuable, engaging explainer video:

• Evoke emotion through your videos. Often, the secret of a video’s virality is its emotional triggers. These give viewers a reason to view and share videos.
• Tell the world who you really are, beyond the products you sell. Create videos that show off your company culture and your company’s behind-the-curtain lives.

In addition to explainer videos, add lightweight videos (in terms of content) to your website so you can rank better on search engines.

Animated videos are excellent at many things, including expressing personal feelings. The level of physical experience that live videos can produce is also achievable with animated explainers, but it is not yet.

Product Demo Videos

You now have a more solid insight into what an explainer video is all about.

Now, let’s move on to the product demo videos.

But, first, let’s take a look at an example of a product demo video so we can understand what the type of video looks like in the first place.

Here is a product video we produced for Ionopure:

Learn more: 25 Best Product Demo Videos from Different Industries

Let’s break down the differences!

1. Visual Proof

“There will be haters. There will be doubters. And then there will be you proving them wrong.” – Robert Falcone

If any quote explains product demos perfectly, it’s that quote.

In the online business world, a product demo video is a crucial point of interaction between your product and its end user.

It is the first point of contact between a company and a user and a great way to demonstrate products.

As Robert Falcone implied, some people may think your product doesn’t meet their quality standards or may not be convinced to give it a try.

It’s even worse when they think you’re running a scam and your emails are marked as spam.

A product demo video provides visual proof. It shows your audience your product’s practical functions. It also acts as a sales pitch enhancer.

This is why video production has emerged as one of the key marketing services.

Target consumers who are visual learners often need to see your product in action to fully grasp its value and potential. This is especially true if physical features are your product’s unique selling points, as is the case with furniture or vehicles.

By all means, a product demo video shows a product’s worth instead of telling everyone how good it is.

A picture is worth a thousand words. That’s what a product demo video is all about. Or, as Millennials say, “Pics or it didn’t happen.”

2. Physical Sampling

Demoing the product is a physical sampling that lets viewers know how it performs physically without viewers taking the risk of buying it first.

A product demo video usually includes:

• Showing people how the product works.
• Sampling existing consumers in a testimonial video.
• Featuring giveaway announcements for sample products.

Leads, or potential customers, usually assume that you, as a salesperson, will say only good things about your products. They often have an inherent distrust of salespeople in general.

This matters greatly, especially when it comes to web shopping.

The inability to see the product before buying it is a dealbreaker for many people.

Let them see what your product looks like and what it can do. Provide necessary proof in the way that grocery stores provide food samples.

3. Creation Process

Nowadays, creating videos is easy. Due to YouTube’s increased popularity as a live video and music platform, video-creation technology has also evolved.

By simply browsing through Google, you can find and install a random video app (oftentimes for free) that will guide you through the process.

Lots of people have built careers from nothing, by simply using automated software. Because of that, competition has also increased.

Whether we’re talking about demo videos or explainers, you can easily find highly qualified help that will put your company on the map.

More Product Demo Video Examples: Inspirations to Get It Right

If you’re looking for inspiration for what product demo videos excelled, you’ve come to the right page. Here are a few product demo video examples for your inspiration.

1. Apple Card

Apple is a one-of-a-kind brand. The company knows how to create a buzz and attract people to come over with simple commercial content. This ad is a perfect example of how a new launch can draw so much attention.

Apple Card is a brand-new credit card that serves simplicity over complexity. This latest product launch is met with high expectations after their previous successes.

The promotional campaign follows a minimalist design and life-like movements that capture viewers’ attention from start to finish, making it one of the best product demonstration videos out there.

2. Mega Creator

Mega Creator is an online drag-and-drop design tool for creating social media graphics, brochures, book covers, and more.

The best thing about this tool is its impressive collection of built-in graphic assets. In this calming video, you can see all Mega Creator’s assets — templates, photos, illustrations, icons, and AI-generated photos.

They playfully move across the screen to be placed on the artboards at the end of the video. The goal of this product demo video is to show that creating designs with Mega Creator is easy: choose a template, customize it, and export. No special skills, time, or effort are required.

3. LEGO Life

LEGO is every child’s all-time favorite toy. Hence, the video is designed to meet kids’ understanding. This product demo video has bright colors, fun icons, and loud music that appeals to kids of all ages.

LEGO’s cool product videos show how parents can use the free mobile application with their children to create adventures together while also providing opportunities inside the virtual world they are building on screen.

4. SoFi Hongkong

SoFi HongKong is an investment app that lets you find trusted brokers easily. Users don’t need to deal with investment and financial scrutiny while using this app. The SoFi demonstration video embodies the great combination of colors that truly represents the company. Infused with strong animation, viewers can learn more about the app and the brand itself within seconds.

5. Nespresso

The Nespresso coffee machine is so appealing in its allure. This great product video doesn’t just sell products; it tells a story about how your life will improve if you purchase one for yourself. The visual representation is just epic as if you’re there. As if you are the actor, holding a cup of coffee from the Nespresso machine and enjoying your morning breeze.

6. IKEA Place

IKEA’s new augmented reality app is an innovative way to make furniture shopping more enjoyable. Customers can use the IKEA Place App on their phones, available for iOS and Android devices, before buying anything from any of the ten different designer collections at home or online store locations around town.

The bright product demo video does a great job explaining how it works. It also has some excellent steps showing what customers should do if there isn’t enough room to fit every item side-by comfortably.

7. Peloton

Peloton is an online fitness company that offers ridership classes from home. The video does a great job of showing how Pelotons offer more than just indoor cycling and gives potential customers what it feels like to take their class in real time.

This demo video describes that users might be hesitant about switching gyms or joining another gym membership. Therefore, the company offers an exciting solution by giving them a choice to cycle at home without dealing with changing gyms all the time.

8. DuoLingo Push

DuoLingo’s new feature is hilarious. This demo video features a character named “Wordsmith,” who goes on adventures to teach people how to speak different languages with this interactive storybook style. Users can choose from activities such as matching phrases or completing sentences based on what they see on the screen by tapping them when prompted about pronunciation.

The video shows that DuoLingo can help you learn vocabulary more efficiently because it reinforces the correct usage of words rather than just showing spelling errors as other programs do without teaching proper sentence structure.

9. Slack

The product demo shows off clever interaction between the voiceover artist and actor. The live-action scenes with screenshots of software alongside them are shown perfectly using bright colors throughout, making the video stand out.

Brianna, the character, is so great from how articulate she sounded while talking on camera or wearing her signature Slack shirt. She makes the Slack representation astounding from the get-go.

10. FridaBaby

There are so many hilarious moments in the FridaBaby demo video presentation. This is one of the best-animated product demo videos on this list.

The honesty is refreshingly direct. It touches on every new parent’s pain points without leaving anything out about why these products will work wonders. As soon as you see them coming up next with an unconventional strategy like this one, you know the video is going places.

11. Survey Monkey

This two-minute product demo shows the many benefits and features that SurveyMonkey offers, including a walkthrough of their interface. Viewers can see how they send surveys quickly with this easy tool while also integrating it seamlessly into other platforms like Slack for an even more seamless experience.

12. Sphero

With its 3D animation and live-action video demo, Sphero shows the whole process of creating RVR – a programmable robot. The company called themselves “Spheros,” Greek for a ball about how cute these little robots are when you first see them up close on your mobile device screen.

Sphero’s robot ball is a new and innovative toy that can be controlled through a mobile app. In the video, they show how students use their products to create programs for themselves.

13. Tasty

Tasty has always succeeded in making a yummy-looking video that everyone can agree on. Looks like Tasty always goes the extra mile while creating product demo videos for YouTube. While you may be aware of its wholesome food content, you may wonder if Tasty has made another enticing video there.

Tasty is a food recipes network, and its app demo video for this product provides an intuitive walkthrough of what users can do. It simply tells you how to use it without overwhelming viewers with too many details or complicated instructions.

14. Google Translate

Google Translate has been the go-to place for when we need a quick translation over foreign languages. Sometimes it can be daunting to copy and paste a sentence into Google Translate every time you don’t understand a word. With the new Tap-to-Translate, you can find the meaning of foreign sentences in seconds.

This best demo video has perfectly described how Tap-to-Translate from Google works best on every device. The guidance inside the video also makes great tutorial content for every new user.

15. Nightingale

Nightingale’s demo video is one of the best examples of how a demo and promotional video is done correctly. Watching this commercial content feels like learning a new thing while also getting to know about the product through a short explanation.

This type of product demo doesn’t need a voiceover or additional music to accompany the information. Nightingale uses a great combination of soothing sounds with crystal-clear animation to describe the product well.

16. Pipedrive

The Pipedrive software product demo video is long, but it keeps you engaged till the end. It has clever animation and live-action elements to keep things interesting, as well as some catchy music that won’t get stuck in your head for days after watching it.

The voiceover artist does such an awesome job with this script. The scriptwriting also fits the personality of each section, making this demo reel perfect if they want a commercial that humanizes the brand.

17. Hootsuite

The Hootsuite video is a welcoming and informative introduction to the company’s social media tools. With minimal animations, it relaxes viewers without overwhelming them with too much information while offering valuable tips about how these services can benefit your business in an easy-to-understand way that doesn’t go over the top or bore anyone who watches it.

19. Airtable

Airtable is project management software that allows you to manage, track, and customize every project to meet the due time. This software demonstration video is classic. It demonstrates several different use cases, taking a quick approach to how users can operate the tool right away without dealing with some boring guidelines.

20. Nike Free

The Nike Free running shoes are the result of years of research and development. They’re designed to emphasize natural movement, which can be difficult for some people who have been wearing traditional sneakers that cause them to over-achieve or underperform because their muscles don’t receive enough stimulus from walking around all day long.

Nike’s demo video delivers a design principle where each part worked together fluidly without oppressive forces causing stress elsewhere; this idea later became known as “Natural Running Motion.”

21. HeadSpace

HeadSpace is a meditation app that has been critically acclaimed for its innovative approach to guided visualization. The company created an animated video showcasing the features of its product, and it easily ranks among the best-made. The video also allows users to learn how they can help live more smoothly and see what it feels like using HeadSpace’s intuitive interface in real-time.

No music at all was used because there isn’t any need for this type of content – just calming voiceovers by founder Andy Puddicombe as you follow along on your own device or listen from home without needing anything else other than yourself.

22. Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch is a unique video game console that can transform from a home to a handheld. This product brings people together through gaming, no matter where you are, whether in your bedroom or on an airplane.

The live-action footage with review-like commentary really shows how much fun these games could potentially be for all ages, including kids of different ages who usually prefer watching TV shows over playing video games with adults.

23. Digivante

Digivante aims to market the product and educate potential clients on how it works. To do this, they created an engaging motion graphic animation and informative screencast video combined perfectly for maximum customer satisfaction. So, people who barely know about this tool can quickly understand how to use Digivante within minutes.

24. Salesforce

The Salesforce CPQ & Billing tool demo video takes viewers on an entertaining journey through the product’s features by following a sales representative’s day-to-day work. The narrative is told from their perspective, providing more engagement and entertainment for those watching it unfold.

The product demo video for the Salesforce CPQ & Billing tool is a story that takes the viewer as one of its characters. It highlights features and scenarios, using humor to bring engagement in an entertaining way.

25. LinkedIn Learning

This LinkedIn Learning video is engaging and aspirational with its message and the right tone for professionals. The creators explain how they can help you grow professionally by recommending content based on your skills. The video isn’t all about common information, but it gives people something useful to do during their workday.

26. Zoom Clips

 

Nowadays, who doesn’t use Zoom? This video conferencing platform has seen its success after everyone was forced to stay at home. They created a quick demo for the Clips feature.

The product demo video is easy to understand because it perfectly demonstrates the feature. It quickly jumps into how individuals can use and benefit from the feature, so viewers have a clear picture of how and when it benefits them.

Product Demo Videos vs. Explainer Videos: The Verdict

Explainer clips and product demo videos are unsurprisingly similar in their ability to showcase a product. They can be used for product or service overviews and can increase clicks and conversion rates.

Despite all the similarities, they, in fact, have their own strengths that serve different purposes throughout the conversion funnel.

The upper side of the marketing funnel is better for explainer video clips to garner more visibility and awareness.

Product demo videos are a perfect solution when people are already familiar with your product but need to see the product in action.

While it’s a great type of video for proving your product’s reliability to target consumers, it’s unlikely to get a lot of attention on its own. Therefore, both explainer videos and product demo videos are the perfect resources for improving your video marketing game and thus getting more conversions.

This list should help you find inspiration for making a product demo video. If you’re ready to create product demo videos, let’s roll with Breadnbeyond by clicking the banner below: