Do launch videos need a voiceover?

Of 317 launch videos, 229 have someone speaking. Roughly two thirds of those use a single narrator, and the other third use dialogue, such as a founder and a colleague talking together. The rest carry everything with picture, text and music.

The longer the film, the more likely it talks

The median film with a voice runs 81 seconds, against 56 seconds without one. Past two minutes, a silent film is very rare: holding attention that long seems to need someone explaining. Under a minute, it is a real choice, and close to an even split below 30 seconds.

What films without a voice do instead

They write. Animated type is the most common technique in the whole library, used in 84% of videos with or without a voice. In a silent film, the on-screen text carries the script, with music setting the rhythm. That also means the message survives when the sound is off, which matters in a feed. See the techniques and their examples.

What this means for your video

Our reading: decide from the length and from what needs explaining. A short film built around one idea can do without a voice. A long one, or a product that takes explaining, probably cannot. If you do use a voice, keep the key words on screen as well, so the film still works on mute.