Last Updated: 3 months
Last updated: May 2025
Promotional videos are some of the most creative, humorous, emotional, (and yes, artistic!) pieces of visual storytelling out there today. A video that goes viral can grant global exposure for a cause, brand, or product. Here are some great examples of promotional advertisements done right to feast your eyes upon!
Looking to get a promotional video? Get in touch and we’d love to give you a helping hand!
To learn more about Bold Content’s promotional videos and how we can help you, please click here.
What Is a Promotional Video?
A promotional video is a short video that helps you sell or promote something, such as a product, service, event, or idea. It’s usually focused, visual, and created to spark interest or drive action. We’ve made promos for everything from tech platforms to recruitment campaigns. The goal is always the same: to get people to care about what you’re offering and want to learn more.
Why Do You Need a Promotional Video?
People are far more likely to watch a video than read a block of text. That’s not just anecdotal – we’ve seen it time and again across campaigns. Clients who’ve used promo videos on landing pages or social channels get more clicks, better engagement, and higher conversion rates. A good video makes your message quicker to understand and easier to remember. And when it’s done right, it can do the work of several marketing assets at once.
What Should You Say in a Promotional Video?
What you say depends on what you want the viewer to do. But there’s a structure that works well:
- Start strong: Hook the viewer in the first few seconds.
- Show the problem: Make it clear what’s at stake.
- Offer the solution: Your product or service should feel like the obvious next step.
- Highlight benefits: Not just what it does, but why that matters.
- End with a clear CTA: Tell people exactly what to do next.
When we write scripts for clients, we keep it short, sharp, and focused on outcomes. The best videos don’t need to say everything, just the right things.
How Do I Create a Promotional Video?
The easiest way? Let us make it for you. We’ve produced hundreds of promotional videos and know how to manage the entire process without wasting time or budget. That includes:
- Planning: We help you shape the idea and script.
- Production: Filming with the right crew and gear.
- Editing: Cutting, colour grading, adding music and graphics.
- Delivery: You get a polished video ready for web, social, or internal use.
You don’t need to worry about jargon, cameras, or timelines. We take care of all of it.
What Type of Promotional Videos Work Best?
The type of video you need depends on what you’re trying to say and who you’re trying to reach. These are four of the most useful formats we work with:
- Explainers: Perfect if you need to break down a product, service, or process. We often use motion graphics, voiceover, and a clear script to keep things simple and engaging.
- Testimonials: Hearing directly from happy customers or clients builds trust. A well-shot testimonial can do more than a whole page of written reviews.
- Brand Videos: These give people a feel for who you are, what you stand for, and why you do what you do. Great for web homepages or social channels.
Recruitment Videos: Show potential hires what it’s actually like to work with you. These work especially well when they’re genuine and people-focused, rather than corporate.
We’ve made all of these for a range of clients – sometimes a single video, sometimes as part of a full campaign. The key is choosing the right format for your message.
12 Examples of Fantastic Promo Videos
M&S
Visually, it really pops, thanks to the contrast between the colorful food and non-distracting backgrounds. The geometric shapes were also consistent, notice the dominance of circles, circular objects and the smooth match cuts between them.
Plus, it just makes me hungry.
Colu
Unfortunately, when you start throwing out phrases like ‘distributed ledgers’ and ‘open-source’, it’s easy for people to get confused.
To solve that problem, we created a promotional video for Colu that tells a simple story. It’s a narrative piece about one woman who engages with her local community using the Colu App. The video mixes user-generated content with traditional documentary-style filmmaking to lend authenticity. You can read more about the Colu video here.
Starbucks
Starbucks really tries to identify and connect with their customers, and this comes through by using organic social media-style video clips and images. Customers feel like they contributed when they watch this.
Nike
A variety of angles, playback speed, and editing, together with the rousing music and eye-contact, makes this commercial a real celebration of sportsmanship and achieving the impossible.
Fixed Gear San Francisco at Golden Gate Bridge
The use of flares, speed shifting and shallow depth of field add to the minimalist and romantic appeal of urban biking. Shooting the video at golden hour doesn’t hurt either and makes everything look gorgeous.
Samsung VR
Many 360 VR videos tend to be visually appealing but lack a narrative. This video had texture, depth, and a simple story to make it more immersive. Plus, it’s incredibly festive, and who doesn’t love Christmas?
Google Assistant
Need help with a promotional video? Give us a shout – we’d love to hear from you!
Apple
Hostelworld
Humor and persuasion are used effectively here as the creators take our expectations and turn the tables on us, which makes the piece memorable. Hostels (and Mr. Sheen) don’t have to be uncivilized!
Virgin Holidays
Virgin has a strong call-to-action and adventure here, ‘seize the holiday’. With the popularity of live-video-streaming on Youtube and Facebook, a person watching others ‘seizing their holiday’ may very well think, “Yeah, I can totally do that, it’s no big deal.”
3M
Again, we see humor and persuasion used effectively. The audience is shown how easy it is to use the product. No big deal!
Slack
The video feels like an episode of a comedy series about a semi-dysfunctional video production company. Demonstrations of the app in action help convey how useful it is.
There you have it! Some great examples of promotional videos pulled off really well, in a variety of ways, and with incredible creative flare. Hopefully, this list inspires you for your next video project!
To learn more about Bold Content’s promotional videos and how we can help you, please click here.
Attract the right talent with a standout recruitment video – let’s bring your story to life. Get in touch today.