How long should an onboarding video be?

Short. A welcome video of 60 to 90 seconds, then separate two to three minute videos for each key task.

One long onboarding video or several short ones?

Several short ones. Customers can find exactly what they need and are more likely to finish each video.

Should onboarding videos show a person or only the screen?

A short on-camera welcome builds connection. Task videos can be mostly screen with a voiceover.

How to Script a Customer Onboarding Video

Onboarding videos help new customers get value fast. How to script short, task-focused welcome and setup videos that reduce support questions and churn.

New customers decide quickly whether a product is worth their time. A clear onboarding video helps them reach their first success faster, which reduces support questions and early cancellations. The key is to focus on tasks, not features.

Start with a welcome video

A short, personal welcome sets the tone.

Hi, I am Priya from the customer team. Welcome. In the next few minutes, you will set up your first project and invite your team. If you get stuck, reply to your welcome email and a real person will help. Let us get started.

Keep it to 60 to 90 seconds. A real face builds trust.

Then one video per task

Identify the three to five tasks every new customer needs to complete to see value. Make one short video for each.

Set up your account
Create your first project
Invite your team
Connect your tools
Run your first report

Task video structure

What you will do: one sentence.
Why it matters: one sentence.
Steps: shown on screen, narrated clearly.
Result: show the finished outcome.
What next: point to the next video.

This follows the same shape as a product demo script, but slower and more detailed.

Use the customer's words

Name things the way customers do, not the way your team does internally. If customers say "projects", do not call them "workspaces" in the video.

Narrate the why

Do not just narrate clicks. Explain why a step matters: "Set a due date here, so your team gets reminders automatically."

Keep them short

Two to three minutes per task video. If a video runs longer, split it.

Record the welcome with a prompter

On-camera parts are short, so script them tightly and read from a teleprompter. A warm, unhurried delivery suits onboarding.

Update when the product changes

Onboarding videos go out of date fast. Keep scripts so you can re-record quickly. In Cue, scripts stay in one library on your device and can be exported as a backup or as plain text files, so updating a video starts with editing the old script rather than writing from scratch.

Make them easy to find

Link each onboarding video from the place in the product where customers need it, as well as from the welcome email. A video that appears at the right moment gets watched far more than one buried in a help centre.

Measure

Watch completion rates and support tickets on topics covered by each video. If questions keep coming about a task, that video needs work.