How to make a product launch video: structure, timing and sizes

What does a product launch video need to do?

A product launch video is a short film that announces one new product, release or feature, shows it working and says where to get it. Unlike an explainer, it does not teach the whole product. It answers three questions in order: what was wrong, what is new, and what the viewer should do now.

A launch film can answer them in five beats:

• Hook: the problem, in words the viewer already uses.
• Promise: one line on what the product does about it.
• Features: two or three, each shown working on a real screen.
• Proof: one fact that makes the promise believable.
• Call to action: one place to go, said aloud and shown on screen.

The beats hold for a SaaS release, an app update or a new feature; only the material on screen changes.

How long should each part of a launch video run?

In a 30-second launch film, give the hook and the promise about 5 seconds each, three features about 12 seconds together, the proof about 5 and the call to action about 3. That plan fits Voom’s planning rules for a 30-second film: seven shots, a new one about every 3 to 6 seconds, and 48 to 63 spoken words.

The table is a plan, not a measurement. It shares the seven shots and the 56-word budget for a friendly read among the five beats; treat it as a starting point and adjust it to your product.

Beat	Shots	About	Spoken words	What the viewer sees and hears
Hook	1	0 to 5 s	10	The problem in the viewer’s own words, on screen from the first frame
Promise	1	5 to 10 s	9	The product’s name and what it does, over a real screen
Features (three)	3	10 to 22 s, about 4 s each	24 (8 each)	Each feature working on its own screen
Proof	1	22 to 27 s	7	One figure your own website states
Call to action	1	27 to 30 s	6	The logo and the web address, said and shown

What the plan teaches:

• The hook works from the first frame. Voom’s first shot is a finished hook, with no logo build-up, and ten words give the problem time to land. For ads, Google’s ABCDs of effective video ads advise introducing the brand or product from the start, so an ad cut should show the name or logo in the first frame.
• Each feature gets one screen and one sentence. A new shot comes about every 3 to 6 seconds of voice, so three features fill about 12 seconds. Estimate: a fourth feature would cut each one to about 3 seconds (12 ÷ 4).
• The ending is short. Proof and the call to action share the last 8 seconds: one number, then one address. Voom’s end card, with the logo and one call-to-action line, runs 2.5 to 3.5 seconds.

For a 60-second film, the studio plans 14 shots: keep the five beats and give each feature two shots, the action and then its result. The product launch video script template turns these beats into lines for 15, 30 and 60 seconds.

How to make a product launch video, step by step

These steps work whether you edit the film yourself, brief a designer or use a generator.

1. Write down the one thing that is new. One product, one release or one feature, in a sentence a customer could repeat.
2. Open on the problem, not the logo. Name what is slow, costly or annoying today in about ten words, enough for one opening shot.
3. Give each feature its own screen. Pick two or three, show the product doing the job, and write one sentence of voice-over for each.
4. Add one proof point you can back up. Use a customer count, a rating or a result your own website already states, or leave the beat out.
5. End with one action. Say the web address and show it, or show the store badge, for about three seconds.
6. Choose the size before you start. Make 16:9 for your website, YouTube and Product Hunt, and a separate 9:16 film for Reels and Shorts.
7. Watch it where it will play. Check names, numbers and captions on a phone and a laptop, and the finished length against each platform’s limit.

With Voom, step 1 goes in the prompt and step 6 in the settings; Voom writes and animates steps 2 to 5 from your product link. Make your launch video from your product page, then check it against the beat sheet.

Which size should a launch video be: 16:9 or 9:16?

Make the 16:9 film first if the launch lives on your website, YouTube, LinkedIn or Product Hunt, then a separate 9:16 film for Reels, Shorts and other vertical feeds. A vertical film is a new layout, not a crop. These rules were current on 1 October 2026:

Where the film plays	Shape to use	What the platform says
Your website and YouTube	16:9	YouTube’s standard aspect ratio on a computer is 16:9, and 1080p is 1920 × 1080 (YouTube Help)
Product Hunt gallery	16:9	Video is optional and only YouTube links are supported; about 53% of products that reached Product of the Day since 2021 include one (Product Hunt)
LinkedIn video ads	16:9, 1:1, 4:5 or 9:16	All four are supported, and LinkedIn recommends 15 to 30 seconds so a video qualifies for every placement (LinkedIn Help)
YouTube Shorts	9:16	Square or vertical uploads up to three minutes long count as Shorts (YouTube Help)
Instagram Reels ads	9:16	Meta recommends 1440 × 2560 pixels and keeping 14% at the top, 35% at the bottom and 6% at each side free of text and logos (Meta)

Bottom line: one 16:9 film and one 9:16 film cover a typical launch. Our guide to social media video sizes lists every platform’s specs.

How a 9:16 film differs from the 16:9 film

On Voom each size is its own film: every frame is composed for the chosen shape, 1080 pixels on the short side, so a 16:9 film is 1920 × 1080 and a 9:16 film 1080 × 1920. The table shows what changes between the two.

	16:9 film	9:16 film
Frame	1920 × 1080	1080 × 1920
Plays on	Your website, YouTube, LinkedIn, Product Hunt	Reels, Shorts and other vertical feeds
Layout	The line beside or over the product screen	The headline on top, one picture below, captions near the bottom
Product screens	The whole screen fits	One panel at a time
Captions	Optional on your own site	On, for viewers watching on mute

Bottom line: plan the 9:16 film as its own layout, with its own shots, rather than as a crop of the 16:9 one.

What a vertical film changes:

• Stack the frame. Put the headline at the top, one picture below it and the captions near the bottom. When Voom adds captions, the rest of the on-screen content keeps clear of the caption band.
• Show part of the screen. A 1920-pixel-wide screen squeezed into a 1080-pixel-wide frame shrinks to about 56% of its size, so show the one panel the line talks about.
• Keep headlines short. A narrow frame holds only a few large words per line, so let the voice explain while the headline names the point.
• Mind the safe zones. Meta asks for the bottom 35% of a Reels ad to stay free of text, so check where captions and the end card sit before you run a vertical cut as an ad.

What changes for an app launch video?

An app needs two videos: the launch film for your website, social channels and Product Hunt, and a store preview made of footage of the app itself.

• Apple App Store: app previews use footage captured on the device, must show only content within the app and run 15 to 30 seconds (Apple Developer, App Store Connect Help). They autoplay with the sound muted.
• Google Play: the preview is a YouTube link with ads turned off. Google asks for at least 80% of it to represent the real user experience, with the app shown within the first 10 seconds, and it may autoplay, muted, for up to 30 seconds (Play Console Help).

A designed launch film does not fit those rules, so record the app on a device for the stores and keep the order of the beats: the most useful screen first, then two or three features.

Common mistakes in product launch videos, and how to fix them

• Opening on a logo animation. Fix: spend the first seconds on the problem. Google’s video-ad guidance is to get to the heart of the story faster.
• Listing every feature. Five features in the 12 seconds a 30-second film has for them get under 3 seconds each. Fix: keep three.
• A number you cannot back up. Fix: use a figure your own site states, or leave the proof beat out.
• One crop for every platform. Fix: make a separate 9:16 film, composed for the vertical frame.
• No captions on the vertical cut. Fix: turn them on. Meta recommends captions for Reels ads.
• Not checking the finished length. On Auto, Voom gives a feature launch about 25 to 40 seconds, which can be longer than an ad placement wants. Fix: set the length for ads, and check the finished film against each placement, such as LinkedIn’s 15 to 30 seconds.

Can an AI generator make your launch video?

Yes, if the film is built from type, shapes and real product screens. A product launch video generator such as Voom reads your product page, writes the five beats, records the voice-over, animates each shot and adds an original score and captions.

With a link, Voom takes the site’s colours, fonts, copy, screenshots and logo and designs the film around them, with no preset theme. Every number in the script is checked against the site text and your request, so the proof beat can only quote a figure your site or your prompt states. Our guide to AI motion graphics walks through how such a film is made.

On Voom, a film costs 8 credits plus 9 a minute of finished film, rounded up. A 30-second launch film uses 13 credits, about $0.58 on the Pro plan ($29 a month for 650 credits). The Free plan makes one video of up to 30 seconds, with a faint Voom watermark that moves across the picture (Voom pricing).

Use a person when the launch needs people on camera, character animation, detailed 3D renders of a physical product, or a brand that does not exist yet. To weigh a designer, an agency and a generator on price, read about cheap motion graphics generators. If the film should teach rather than announce, an explainer video generator is the better fit.

Plan your beats with the table above, then turn your own product link into a launch video. Check the finished film against the plan before you publish it.