Motion Graphics Video Example: How Square Gets Small Businesses Started with Email Marketing
Last updated on April 21, 2026
Square shows how a well-structured motion graphics onboarding video turns a new feature into something a small business owner can set up in minutes.
I Want This for My Brand →| Category | Details |
| Featured Brand | Square (payments and business software platform for small and medium-sized businesses) |
| Industry | FinTech / Small Business SaaS |
| Video Style | Motion Graphics |
| Video Type | Product Demo / Onboarding Tutorial |
| Estimated Length | 3 minutes |
| Target Audience | Small business owners and retail managers who use Square for payments and want to add email marketing to their operations |
| Primary Goal | Walk new Square Marketing users through the email campaign setup process to reduce activation friction and drive first-campaign completion |
Square's Getting Started with Square Marketing video uses motion graphics to guide small business owners through setting up their first email campaign. The video targets Square users who have not yet activated the marketing feature and reduces perceived complexity by showing each setup step as a clean, animated sequence. Viewers leave with confidence that they can launch an email campaign without technical knowledge or a marketing team.
Video Overview
This Square Marketing email setup motion graphics video targets small business owners who are already Square payment customers but have not yet used the platform's email marketing features. Square is a FinTech platform that provides payment processing, point-of-sale tools, and marketing features to small and medium-sized businesses. The motion graphics format lets the production team show the Square Marketing interface in a clear, stylised way that communicates each setup step without the risk of confusing the viewer with a live product environment. This video appears in our video inspiration library as a benchmark for SaaS onboarding and product activation content targeting non-technical audiences.
Square structures this video as a step-by-step walkthrough with clear transitions between each stage of the email marketing setup process. The animation highlights the most important clicks and inputs. It removes interface elements that are not relevant to the getting-started flow. This editorial discipline in the UI animation is a key production decision. For SaaS brands producing onboarding content, showing only what matters and hiding what does not reduces cognitive load and increases activation rates from the video. MyPromoVideos recommends this approach for any motion graphics video targeting non-technical SaaS users at the activation stage.
What Makes This Video Stand Out?
- Step-reduction approach to onboarding content: Square does not show every feature of Square Marketing. The video shows only the steps required to launch a first campaign. This step-reduction discipline is critical for SaaS onboarding content targeting small business owners. Every additional step or feature shown increases the perceived effort of getting started. By limiting the video to the minimum viable onboarding path, Square maximises the chance that a viewer will attempt setup immediately after watching.
- Stylised UI animation rather than live screen recording: The production team animates a stylised version of the Square Marketing interface rather than recording the live product. This keeps the video visually clean and prevents the distraction of notification bars, cursor movements, and interface elements outside the demo flow. It also means the video does not need updating every time Square updates its UI. For SaaS brands with frequent product releases, this production choice significantly reduces long-term content maintenance costs.
- Existing customer data integration shown visually: The video shows how customer contact data from Square's payment system automatically populates the email marketing list. This is the core value proposition of Square Marketing over standalone email tools. Showing this integration in the first section of the video immediately answers the question of why a Square user would choose Square Marketing over an alternative. For integrated SaaS platforms, demonstrating data continuity in the onboarding video accelerates feature adoption.
- Outcome-oriented narration structure: Each section of the video closes with the result of the step just shown. This outcome-first narration keeps the viewer motivated through the setup process. For SaaS onboarding videos, showing the result before moving to the next step reduces drop-off by maintaining a sense of progress. Viewers who see concrete outcomes at each stage are more likely to complete the full setup flow shown in the video.
- Accessible language calibrated for small business owners: The video avoids marketing jargon and technical terminology throughout. Terms like "customer segment," "A/B test," and "open rate" do not appear. The script uses the language of a small business owner, not a marketing professional. For SaaS platforms serving non-specialist buyers, language calibration in onboarding video scripts is as important as the visual production quality.
Planning a SaaS onboarding or product demo video? MPV produces motion graphics that reduce activation friction for small business and FinTech audiences. Four to six week delivery.
Get a Free Estimate →6 Production Moves Worth Copying from This Video
Square's Getting Started with Square Marketing video demonstrates six onboarding video production techniques that any SaaS brand can apply to improve feature activation rates.
Show Only the Minimum Viable Setup Path
Square limits the video to the steps required to launch a first campaign. For SaaS onboarding videos, scope discipline is the most important production decision. Every additional feature shown reduces the likelihood of activation. Brief your studio to cover only the critical path from zero to first value. Save advanced feature content for separate, targeted tutorials that users access only after completing the initial setup.
Animate Platform UI Rather Than Record Live Screens
Square's stylised UI animation stays clean and consistent throughout. For SaaS brands producing onboarding demos, animated UI performs better than live screen recordings for two reasons. First, it allows the team to highlight only the relevant interaction without distraction. Second, it does not need updating when the product UI changes. Both advantages are significant for platforms with frequent release cycles.
Lead With the Integration Advantage
Square shows the customer data integration advantage in the first section. For platforms that integrate with the user's existing data, this integration benefit should appear early in every onboarding video. It immediately differentiates your product from standalone alternatives and confirms to the viewer that their existing investment in your platform makes the new feature more valuable, not more complicated.
Close Each Section With the Step's Outcome
Square shows the result of each setup stage before advancing to the next. This outcome-close structure maintains viewer motivation through multi-step onboarding content. For SaaS brands producing product demos that involve sequential setup flows, showing a small win at the end of each section reduces the perceived effort of completing the remaining steps and keeps more viewers engaged to the end of the video.
Write the Script in the Buyer's Language, Not the Product's
Square's narration uses the language of a small business owner throughout. For SaaS platforms serving non-specialist audiences, the gap between how the product team talks about features and how users think about problems is a constant script risk. Brief your scriptwriter with a vocabulary list of words your target audience uses and words they do not recognise, then enforce that vocabulary in the production script.
Target the Existing Customer for Feature Activation
This video is not an acquisition video. It targets Square's existing payment customers to activate a new feature. For SaaS brands with multi-feature platforms, dedicated feature activation videos for existing customers consistently produce higher ROI than general product explainers for new audiences. Your existing customers already trust you. A focused onboarding video removes the last barrier to value expansion within your current account base.
When to Use Motion Graphics for Your Business Video
Motion graphics is the most effective format for SaaS product demos and onboarding tutorials targeting non-technical audiences, as any experienced B2B video production company will confirm for small business and FinTech platform briefs.
SaaS Feature Activation Videos
Motion graphics with stylised UI animation is the ideal format for activating existing customers on new features. Square's email marketing onboarding video proves that a clean, step-focused animation is more effective than a live demo for non-technical small business audiences.
FinTech Platform Walkthroughs
For FinTech and payment platforms targeting small business owners, motion graphics creates the professional, trustworthy visual tone that a payments brand needs. The clean animation signals reliability without the visual risk of a live product demo encountering errors on screen.
Multi-Step Onboarding Flows
Motion graphics handles sequential onboarding flows better than live screen recording by allowing the team to isolate each step visually and show only the relevant interface elements. This results in fewer viewer drop-offs mid-flow for complex setup processes.
Advanced Technical Configuration
For developer APIs, complex integrations, or advanced configuration content, live screen recording with annotation is more practical than motion graphics. Non-specialist audiences benefit from animation but technical audiences expect to see the actual interface rather than a stylised version.
Production Duration
A three-minute SaaS onboarding motion graphics video runs four to six weeks from UI specifications to delivery. Providing accurate UI flows and screen annotations before production begins significantly reduces revision time. Lock the product flow before the studio starts scripting.
Real-Time Platform Demonstration
When prospects need to see the live platform in action during a sales process, a motion graphics demo does not substitute for a live demo call or interactive product tour. Use motion graphics to build initial interest and reduce explanation time before the live demo.
Why Motion Graphics Works for B2B Marketing
Motion graphics allows FinTech platforms like Square to produce onboarding content that reduces activation friction for non-technical users at scale. Square Marketing's getting started video demonstrates that a clean, step-focused animation drives feature adoption more effectively than a text-based tutorial or a live screen recording for small business audiences. The format also ages better than live product demos as the platform evolves. For more proof of this approach working across B2B SaaS brands, explore MPV's B2B video case studies.
Production Insight
Square's video works because the production team animated only the steps that move a small business owner from zero to their first sent campaign, removing every feature and interface element that was not on that critical path. When briefing a studio for a SaaS onboarding video, map the minimum viable activation journey first and brief the studio to animate only that journey.
MPV Production Team: 2,000+ B2B Videos ProducedIs Motion Graphics Right for Your Project?
If your SaaS platform needs to activate existing customers on a new feature or guide non-technical users through a first-use flow, motion graphics with stylised UI animation is the right production choice. Square's email marketing onboarding video is a strong benchmark for FinTech and small business platform briefs. Before commissioning, read MPV's guide on how to choose the right explainer video company.
Related Search Terms
This Motion Graphics video example is relevant to the following B2B video production searches:
- #Square Marketing onboarding video
- #SaaS email marketing demo
- #FinTech product walkthrough
- #small business SaaS video
- #feature activation motion graphics
- #email campaign setup video
- #how to video SaaS onboarding
- #B2B product demo animation