When should you use an AI avatar video? How to make one with HeyGen

Video is now the norm: according to Wyzowl, 91% of businesses use it in their marketing, and 63% of video marketers have already used AI tools to create or edit it, up from 51% a year earlier.

Among businesses that still don't make video, the most cited reasons are that it's expensive (24%), lack of time (19%) and not knowing where to start (10%). An avatar video solves exactly that: there's no shoot, it's updated by changing the script and it's reused across formats.

• Founders and teams who don't want to be on camera: they communicate with their own image and voice, without filming themselves every time.
• Training and product explainers: messages that change often and are updated without reshooting.
• Other markets: the same video in other languages, in the person's voice.
• Frequent social media content: the same brand face in every post.

• When emotion is the message: a testimonial or a major launch calls for a real person in front of the camera.
• When the product must be shown with total accuracy: it's shot on camera.
• When there's no script: an avatar won't fix a confusing message.

A startup BlackFrameStudio supports had the problem many founders have: she knew she needed video, but she didn't want to film herself all the time. She created an avatar with her own face in HeyGen and now works in a hybrid way: the avatar for day-to-day content and, from time to time, videos she records herself. She's now learning to take them into other languages.

1. The script: a short, clear message, written to be heard, not read.
2. The avatar: of the person themselves, from a recording of them and with their consent, or a brand avatar or character.
3. The voice: the person's own, cloned, or a voice from the library.
4. The creative direction: background, framing, light and pacing consistent with the brand. It's what separates a professional video from a generic one.
5. Languages: HeyGen translates the video into more than 175 languages and dialects, in the person's voice and with lip sync.
6. The review: pronunciation of names and brands, gestures and subtitles, before publishing.

In many cases, yes. If the avatar is realistic and could pass for a real recording, in the European Union it must be disclosed visibly since August 2026. We explain it in Do you have to label AI-generated ads?

BlackFrameStudio produces avatar videos and versions in other languages within its Hybrid visual production service, and teaches teams to do it themselves. Every project starts with a free initial review.

Karen Joya is a HeyGen ambassador.