Types of Video Content for Business and How to Use Them

The right types of video content depend on what the viewer needs from you at that moment. Someone discovering a problem needs a different video from someone comparing vendors, learning a product, or deciding whether to trust your company.

That sounds simple, but it is where many video strategies go wrong. Teams often start with the format they want to make, then try to force a marketing goal into it.

At Yum Yum Videos, an animated explainer video company, we have produced more than 1,000 videos over 14+ years. The projects that work best usually start with one question: what should the viewer understand, feel, or do after watching this video?

Once that answer is clear, choosing the format gets much easier.

Below are 13 types of video content for business, organized around the jobs they do best: attracting attention, explaining a solution, helping buyers decide, educating customers, and building trust over time.

What Is Video Content?

Video content is any video created to inform, educate, entertain, persuade, train, or support an audience.

For a business, that can include a 15-second social clip, a two-minute product demo, a customer testimonial, a webinar, a tutorial, an internal training video, or a longer educational series.

The useful distinction is not “marketing video versus content video.” The more practical question is what job the video needs to do.

A video may be part of marketing, sales, customer education, recruiting, internal communication, or several of those at once.

That is why a useful video marketing content strategy usually contains more than one format.

How to Choose the Right Type of Video Content

Before choosing a format, answer four things:

1. Who is watching? A new prospect, existing customer, employee, investor, or general audience?
2. What do they already know? Are you introducing the problem, the category, your product, or a specific feature?
3. What is stopping them? Lack of awareness, confusion, skepticism, missing information, or lack of trust?
4. What should happen next? Search another topic, visit a product page, book a call, try the product, complete a task, or remember the brand?

We use those questions early in production because they prevent the script from trying to do five jobs at once.

A commercial that tries to become a tutorial usually gets too dense. A tutorial that spends half its runtime on brand messaging becomes slower than it needs to be. The format should match the task.

1. Educational Videos

Educational videos teach something the audience wants to understand.

They can explain an industry concept, define a term, break down a process, compare approaches, or answer a question that appears repeatedly in search.

This type of video content works especially well near the beginning of the buyer journey because the viewer may not be thinking about your company yet. They are trying to understand the problem.

That makes the topic more important than the pitch.

For our own YouTube channel, some of the videos that continue bringing in traffic years after publication are educational pieces built around topics people search for, such as explainer video styles and examples.

A business can use the same approach with questions from sales calls, support tickets, Google Search Console, YouTube search, and customer interviews.

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When to use educational videos

Use them when the audience needs context before it can evaluate a solution.

They are a strong fit for SaaS, healthcare, finance, B2B services, education, and any field where customers research before buying.

2. Commercial Videos

Commercial videos are built for fast awareness.

They are usually short, visually direct, and designed for paid distribution on platforms such as YouTube, connected TV, social media, and display networks.

Unlike an educational video, a commercial does not need to teach the entire category. Its job is usually narrower: introduce the brand, create interest, communicate one benefit, or make a product memorable.

The first few seconds matter a lot because the audience did not necessarily ask to see the ad.

That affects everything from the opening image to the pacing and amount of information you can include.

Our promotional video examples show several ways brands handle short-form promotional content.

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When to use commercial videos

Use them when you need reach quickly and already have a clear offer, message, or campaign concept.

3. Branded Videos

Branded videos connect a company with an idea, value, story, or emotion.

The product may appear, but it does not have to dominate the video.

A strong branded piece can focus on a customer situation, a company belief, a social issue connected to the brand, or a story that helps people understand what the company stands for.

This format is useful when the audience already understands what you sell and the bigger challenge is differentiation.

The script needs discipline because “brand story” can easily become vague. A good branded video still needs a clear subject.

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When to use branded videos

Use them when your message is bigger than a feature list and you want people to remember how the brand thinks or feels.

4. Social Media Videos

Social media videos are designed around the way people consume content inside a specific platform.

A LinkedIn video, Instagram Reel, YouTube Short, and TikTok may cover the same topic but should not automatically use the same edit.

Aspect ratio, pace, captions, framing, runtime, and opening all matter.

The strongest social videos usually focus on one idea. Trying to compress a full explainer into 20 seconds often produces a rushed summary rather than useful content.

Instead, pull one answer, insight, reaction, statistic, or moment from the larger topic.

Social content also gives you a practical way to test video marketing ideas before investing in a longer production.

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When to use social media videos

Use them for reach, frequent publishing, quick ideas, event coverage, repurposing, and audience interaction.

5. Explainer Videos

An explainer video makes a product, service, process, or idea easier to understand.

This is the format we use most often when the viewer needs context before the offer makes sense.

A good explainer does not try to reproduce every detail. It selects the information the audience needs in order to understand the problem, the solution, and why the solution is relevant.

Animation can be especially useful when the product is abstract, technical, digital, or difficult to film.

Our explainer video production work often combines script development, custom illustration, animation, voiceover, and sound to build that explanation from the ground up.

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When to use explainer videos

Use them when the main barrier is understanding.

If prospects keep asking what the product does, how the service works, or why the solution is different, an explainer may solve that communication problem more directly than a commercial.

6. Video Series

A video series is a repeatable group of videos connected by topic, format, visual identity, or audience.

The advantage is consistency.

Instead of inventing a completely new concept every time, the team builds a recognizable structure that can continue for months.

A SaaS company might publish a series about customer workflows. A healthcare brand could produce a set of patient education videos. An educational company might build a library around one subject.

Series also make planning easier because the audience knows what to expect.

The individual videos still need to work on their own. A viewer may discover episode seven before seeing episode one.

When to use a video series

Use one when the topic is too broad for a single video or when you want a repeatable publishing format.

7. Product Videos

Product videos show what a product is, what it does, or why someone should care about it.

The term covers several formats.

A physical product video may focus on materials, design, use, scale, or the result it produces. A software product video may show the interface, recreate a workflow, or use animation to explain what happens behind the scenes.

For more demonstration-focused projects, our product demo video service gets closer to the actual product experience.

The key decision is how much product detail the buyer needs at this stage.

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When to use product videos

Use them when prospects already understand the category and now need to understand your specific product.

8. Testimonial and Case Study Videos

Testimonials and case study videos give customers the microphone.

That changes the source of the claim.

Instead of the company saying the product is useful, a customer explains the situation, the experience, and what changed.

The best testimonial interviews usually contain specific details. What problem were they dealing with? Why did they choose this solution? What was the process like? What result did they see?

Over-scripted answers can make real customers sound less believable, so we prefer guiding the interview with good questions and editing afterward.

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When to use testimonial videos

Use them when trust is a major barrier and prospective customers want evidence from people in a similar situation.

9. Company Culture and About Us Videos

Company culture videos show the people, values, working style, and story behind a business.

They can support recruiting, sales, partnerships, investor communication, and brand trust.

A useful culture video should show something specific about the company rather than listing values from a presentation.

Show the team at work. Explain why the company started. Follow a project. Let employees describe the environment in their own words.

This is one area where live action often makes more sense than animation because the people themselves are part of the evidence.

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When to use company culture videos

Use them when the audience wants to know who they would be working with, buying from, or joining.

10. FAQ and Q&A Videos

FAQ videos answer questions customers already ask.

That makes them one of the easiest types of marketing video content to plan because the topic list already exists inside the business.

Talk to sales, support, customer success, and account management.

Which questions appear every week? Which objections slow down deals? Which details are easy to misunderstand?

One question can become one short video, or several related questions can be grouped into a longer piece.

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When to use FAQ videos

Use them when repeated questions are creating friction in sales, support, onboarding, or purchasing.

11. Tutorial and How-To Videos

Tutorial videos teach the viewer how to complete a task.

They work best when the steps are visible and easy to follow.

For software, show the actual interface when possible. For physical products, show hands, tools, setup, controls, and the result.

The pace should follow the task, not a marketing edit.

If the viewer has to pause every five seconds to understand what happened, the tutorial is moving too quickly.

Our guide to how-to videos covers structure, examples, and production choices in more detail.

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When to use tutorial videos

Use them for onboarding, support, product education, training, and search-driven content around specific tasks.

12. Internal and Training Videos

Internal videos are made for employees rather than customers.

They can cover onboarding, compliance, HR policies, software training, safety, leadership communication, product updates, or standard operating procedures.

Video is particularly useful when the same explanation has to reach many people consistently.

A recorded process also reduces the need for one person to repeat the same training session every week.

Our training video production projects often combine instruction with diagrams, animation, screen recordings, or live action depending on what employees need to learn.

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When to use internal videos

Use them when a message needs to be consistent, repeatable, and available on demand.

13. Behind-the-Scenes Videos

Behind-the-scenes videos show the work that normally stays out of view.

That could be a production line, design process, animation session, product launch, event setup, shoot, office day, or customer project.

The appeal is access.

Viewers get to see how something is made and who is involved.

BTS content can be less polished than a commercial because some of the value comes from seeing the real process. It still benefits from a clear idea, though. “How we animated this scene” is stronger than a random collection of office clips.

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When to use behind-the-scenes videos

Use them to build familiarity, show expertise, document a process, or give the brand a more human presence.

Types of Video Content by Buyer Stage

The buyer journey is still a useful way to organize video, as long as you do not treat it like a rigid funnel.

People move back and forth. Someone can watch a tutorial before a testimonial, discover you through a product demo, or return to an educational video after becoming a customer.

Still, the model helps with planning.

Awareness

Use:

• Educational videos
• Commercials
• Branded videos
• Social media videos

At this stage, the audience is often learning about the problem, category, or brand.

Consideration

Use:

• Explainer videos
• Video series
• Product videos
• Webinars and deeper educational content

The audience now needs to understand possible solutions and how they differ.

Decision

Use:

• Product demos
• Testimonials
• Case studies
• FAQ videos
• Tutorials
• Company culture videos

At this point, buyers often need proof, detail, and reassurance.

Customer and employee education

Use:

• Tutorials
• Training videos
• Internal videos
• Product walkthroughs
• FAQ videos

Video content does not stop being useful after the sale.

Which Video Content Is Best for YouTube?

The best content for YouTube depends on what people are using YouTube to do.

For search, educational videos, tutorials, comparisons, FAQs, and explainers are usually the most natural fit because the viewer arrives with a question.

For product consideration, demos, reviews, webinars, and case studies can work well.

For reach, Shorts, social-first edits, timely topics, and collaborations can introduce the channel to new viewers.

For trust and familiarity, interviews, testimonials, behind-the-scenes content, and recurring series give people more time with the brand.

If you are asking which content is best for YouTube, start with the questions your audience already asks and the videos already bringing search impressions to your site or channel. That gives you a better starting point than picking a format because it is popular.

Video Marketing Content Ideas by Industry

The same formats work differently across industries.

SaaS and Tech

Useful video marketing content includes product demos, feature announcements, tutorials, explainers, webinars, customer stories, and onboarding videos.

Healthcare and Biotech

Educational videos, patient journeys, process explainers, training content, FAQ videos, and case studies are often more useful than highly promotional pieces.

Real Estate

Real estate video content can include property tours, neighborhood guides, market updates, client testimonials, agent Q&As, renovation progress, and short vertical clips focused on one feature.

These are also practical real estate video ideas for YouTube, Instagram, and listing pages because the product is inherently visual.

Finance and Professional Services

Educational videos, explainers, webinars, FAQ content, case studies, and thought leadership can help make unfamiliar services easier to evaluate.

How to Build a Video Content Strategy

Do not start by trying to produce all 13 types.

Choose the formats that match the biggest communication problems you already have.

If prospects do not understand the product, start with an explainer or demo.

If buyers understand the product but hesitate, add testimonials, case studies, and FAQs.

If customers keep asking how to complete a task, make tutorials.

If nobody knows the brand exists, invest more heavily in educational, social, branded, and commercial content.

Then measure the result that fits the job.

Search traffic matters for educational content. Completion rate matters for tutorials. Leads can matter for explainers and product videos. Adoption may matter for onboarding. Internal completion may matter for training.

One metric cannot judge every type of video.

FAQ About Types of Video Content

What are the main types of video content for business?

The main types include educational videos, commercials, branded videos, social media videos, explainers, video series, product videos, testimonials, company culture videos, FAQ videos, tutorials, internal training videos, and behind-the-scenes content.

What type of video content is best for marketing?

The best type depends on the goal. Educational and social videos work well for awareness. Explainers and product videos help with consideration. Testimonials, demos, FAQs, and tutorials are useful closer to a purchase.

What is video marketing content?

Video marketing content is video created to support a marketing goal such as awareness, education, product consideration, lead generation, trust, conversion, or customer retention.

Which content is best for YouTube?

Educational videos, tutorials, explainers, FAQs, comparisons, product demos, and recurring series are strong starting points because they match common viewer behaviors on YouTube: searching, learning, comparing, and following familiar formats.

What types of video content work best for social media?

Short videos built around one clear idea usually fit social platforms best. Product moments, tips, reactions, behind-the-scenes clips, customer quotes, and extracts from longer videos can all work.

How many types of video content should a business use?

Start with two or three formats tied to specific goals. Add another format when the data or customer journey shows a clear gap. A smaller repeatable system is easier to learn from than a calendar full of unrelated video ideas.

What is the difference between a product video and an explainer video?

A product video focuses more directly on the product, its features, use, or benefits. An explainer usually spends more time building context around a problem, idea, service, or solution.

Choosing the Right Video Content

A simple way to choose is to finish this sentence:

After watching this video, the viewer should ________.

Understand the problem. See the product work. Trust the company. Complete a task. Remember the brand. Learn a process.

That answer points toward the format.

The clearer the job, the easier it becomes to choose the right type of video, write the script, and decide what belongs on screen.