How to Set Up HeyGen for Your Small Business: A Complete Step-by-St...

Creating professional-looking videos used to require expensive equipment, editing software you needed a degree to understand, and hours of your precious time. For small business owners juggling a hundred responsibilities, video marketing often fell to the bottom of the priority list—not because it wasn't important, but because it seemed impossibly complicated.

That's where HeyGen comes in. This AI-powered video creation tool lets you make polished marketing videos, training content, and social media posts by simply typing what you want your video to say. No camera, no microphone, no editing skills required. An AI avatar reads your script with natural-looking lip movements, and you end up with something that looks like you hired a production team.

If you've been curious about AI video tools but felt intimidated by the technology, this guide is for you. We'll walk through everything from creating your account to publishing your first customer-facing video, with clear explanations designed for business owners who'd rather focus on running their business than learning complicated software.

What Is HeyGen and Why Should Small Businesses Care?

HeyGen is a browser-based platform that creates videos using AI avatars—digital presenters who will read any script you type. You don't download software or install anything on your computer. You simply log into a website, choose an avatar that fits your brand, type your message, and the system generates a video file you can use anywhere.

For small businesses, this solves several expensive problems at once. You no longer need to hire actors or spokespeople for promotional videos. You don't need to invest in lighting, cameras, or audio equipment. You can create training videos without scheduling filming sessions with busy staff. And perhaps most importantly, you can produce consistent video content regularly without burning out your team or your budget.

The applications are surprisingly broad. Think about explainer videos for your website, weekly social media tips featuring the same friendly face, onboarding videos for new employees, product demonstrations, customer FAQ videos, or even personalized video messages for important clients. Tasks that once required significant production investment now take minutes.

Before You Start: Planning Your HeyGen Setup

Jumping straight into any new tool without preparation leads to frustration. Spending fifteen minutes planning before you touch the website will make everything smoother.

Choosing the Right Plan

HeyGen offers several pricing tiers, and understanding them upfront prevents surprises later.

The free plan works well for testing whether the tool fits your needs. You can create videos up to about three minutes, but they'll be limited to 720p resolution and include a HeyGen watermark. This is perfectly acceptable for experimenting, but you probably won't want watermarked videos representing your business publicly.

The Creator plan (approximately $29 per month at the time of writing) removes the watermark, allows longer videos up to thirty minutes, provides higher resolution output, and unlocks voice cloning features. For most small businesses serious about using video, this tier makes sense.

Higher tiers exist for larger teams and more intensive use, but start with the free version to confirm the tool works for your needs before committing money.

Gathering Your Materials

Before creating your account, collect a few things:

A dedicated email address for your business works best. While you can use personal email, a business address keeps things organized and makes it easier if you eventually add team members.

Your logo file, ideally in PNG format with a transparent background. This lets you place your logo on videos without ugly white boxes around it.

Your brand colors, usually the colors from your website or business cards. Having the hex codes (those six-digit codes like #FF5733) handy makes setup faster.

One simple script for your first video. Don't overthink this—a thirty to sixty-second welcome message or company introduction works perfectly. Write it conversationally, around sixty to one hundred fifty words. You can always create more complex content once you're comfortable.

Creating Your HeyGen Account Step by Step

Since HeyGen runs entirely in your browser, setup is refreshingly simple. No downloads, no installations, no compatibility worries.

Step One: Visit the Website

Open your web browser—Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge all work fine—and navigate to the HeyGen site HERE. The homepage shows examples of what the tool creates, but you want the sign-up process.

Step Two: Start the Registration

Look for a button labeled "Get Started" or "Sign Up" in the top-right corner of the page. Click it to begin creating your account.

Step Three: Choose Your Sign-Up Method

HeyGen typically offers two ways to create an account:

Email registration: Enter your email address and click to send a verification code. Check your inbox (and spam folder if needed), find the code, enter it on the HeyGen page, and create a password. Choose something secure that you'll remember.

Social login: If you prefer, you can often sign up using Google or Facebook accounts. This is faster but means your HeyGen access is tied to that social account.

For business purposes, dedicated email registration usually makes more sense long-term, especially if you might eventually transfer account management to an employee.

Step Four: Complete Onboarding Questions

HeyGen will ask a few questions about your role, team size, and what you plan to create. Answer honestly—this isn't a test. These questions help HeyGen suggest appropriate templates and features for your situation. A small business owner creating marketing videos gets different recommendations than a corporate training department.

Step Five: Confirm Your Account

After completing these steps, you'll land on the main dashboard with a free account ready to use. You can upgrade to a paid plan anytime through account settings, but there's no pressure to do so immediately.

Understanding the HeyGen Dashboard

Your dashboard is mission control for everything you'll create. Spending a few minutes exploring before you build anything reduces confusion later.

The Main Navigation Areas

Home or Templates is usually your landing page. Here you'll find hundreds of pre-designed video templates organized by purpose—advertisements, training videos, explainers, social media content, and more. These templates give you a starting structure so you're not facing a blank canvas.

Avatar Library contains all the AI presenters you can use. Stock avatars cover diverse appearances, ages, and styles. Paid plans may let you create custom avatars based on your own appearance or upload photo-based avatars.

My Creations or Projects stores every video you've worked on. You can return here to edit previous projects, download videos again, or duplicate successful videos to create variations.

Asset Library is your storage space for logos, background images, music files, and other materials you'll reuse across videos. Upload your brand assets here once, then access them whenever you're building.

Account and Billing handles your plan level, payment information, and any team management if you add other users later.

A Useful First Activity

Before creating anything, simply click through each section without changing settings. Open the avatar library and browse the options. Look at a few templates without selecting them. Check your account settings to see what options exist.

This exploration serves two purposes: you become familiar with where things are located, and you reduce anxiety about accidentally breaking something. Nothing you click on these pages commits you to anything or costs money until you explicitly generate a video.

Setting Up Your Basic Brand Configuration

While you can create videos immediately with default settings, spending five minutes on brand configuration makes every future video look more professional.

Uploading Brand Assets

Navigate to your Asset Library and upload the materials you gathered earlier:

Your logo should be uploaded first. If you have versions in different formats, the PNG with transparent background is most versatile. You might also upload a white version if you plan to place it over dark backgrounds.

Background images relevant to your business help personalize videos. Photos of your storefront, your team, your products, or your workspace give videos authenticity. These don't need professional photography—clear, well-lit smartphone photos work fine.

Any music files you're licensed to use can go here too, though HeyGen provides stock music options if you don't have your own.

Configuring Brand Settings

Depending on your plan level, HeyGen may offer a "Brand Kit" feature. If available, set:

Primary brand color to match your existing branding. This is typically whatever color your website uses for buttons or important text.

Font preference for any text overlays. Sans-serif fonts (like Arial, Helvetica, or Open Sans) generally read better on video than decorative fonts.

Once set, these defaults appear automatically in templates, saving time on every video you create.

A Note on Hardware

For basic text-to-video creation—where you type a script and an AI avatar speaks it—you don't need any special equipment. No microphone, no camera, nothing beyond your computer and internet connection.

You only need recording equipment if you later decide to clone your voice or create a custom avatar based on your own appearance. Those features are optional and we'll cover them separately.

Creating Your First Simple Video

With your account set up and brand assets uploaded, you're ready to create something. Let's walk through the most straightforward video type: a text-to-avatar video where you type words and get a video of someone saying them.

Starting a New Project

From your dashboard, look for options like "Create," "New Video," or "Text to Video." The exact wording may vary, but the concept is consistent—you're starting a new video project.

Alternatively, browse the Templates section and select one that matches what you're trying to create. A simple "Introduction" or "Explainer" template provides structure if you're unsure how to begin.

Choosing Video Dimensions

Before adding content, select your video format:

Horizontal (16:9) is standard for YouTube, websites, presentations, and most traditional video uses. If viewers will watch on computers or televisions, choose this.

Vertical (9:16) is designed for TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and smartphone viewing. If your audience primarily uses social media on their phones, this format fills their screen better.

Square (1:1) works across many platforms and is sometimes a good compromise.

You can always create the same video in multiple formats later, but choosing correctly the first time saves work.

Selecting Your Avatar

Open the Avatar tab or panel to see your options. You'll see dozens of AI presenters with different:

Apparent ages and demographics
Clothing styles (casual, business, formal)
Expressions and energy levels
Background settings

Choose someone who matches your brand tone. A friendly casual avatar suits a neighborhood café differently than a formal business presenter suits a law firm. Neither is better—just appropriate for your audience.

Don't stress over this choice too much. You can change avatars later without rewriting your script, so nothing is permanent.

Writing Your Script

The script box is where you type or paste what your avatar will say. For your first video, keep it short—thirty to sixty seconds is plenty, which translates to roughly sixty to one hundred fifty words.

Writing tips for natural AI narration:

Break your content into short sentences. The AI handles periods and natural pauses better than long run-on thoughts.

Write the way you actually speak. If you'd say "We'd love to help you out" in conversation, write that instead of "We would appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance."

Avoid unusual abbreviations, acronyms, or technical terms without considering how they'll sound. If something might be mispronounced, you can adjust spelling phonetically (writing "EE-zee" if the system misreads "easy" for example).

Include any pauses you want by using commas or periods strategically.

Configuring the Voice

Under voice settings, you'll choose:

Language: Select the primary language of your audience.

Accent: Many languages offer regional accent options. Choose what sounds most natural to your customers.

Tone or style: Some voices offer variations like "professional," "friendly," or "enthusiastic." Pick what fits your message.

Speed: You may be able to adjust how quickly the avatar speaks. Slightly slower often sounds more natural than rushed.

Adding Visual Elements

Now enhance the video with your brand elements:

Place your logo by dragging it from your assets onto the canvas. Corner placement (usually top-left or bottom-right) is standard and stays out of the way of the main content.

Add text overlays for important information. A title at the beginning, key points as the avatar mentions them, or a call-to-action at the end all help viewers remember your message.

Enable captions or subtitles. Many people watch video with sound off, especially on social media. Captions ensure your message gets through regardless.

Previewing Before Generating

Click "Preview" to see and hear a short sample of your video before committing to generation. This lets you catch:

Mispronounced words (fix by adjusting spelling)
Awkward pacing (adjust punctuation or script structure)
Visual elements that look wrong (move or resize them)

Fixing problems at preview stage is much faster than regenerating entire videos.

Generating and Downloading

When satisfied with your preview, click "Generate" or the equivalent button. HeyGen will process your video, which takes anywhere from seconds to several minutes depending on length, complexity, and current server demand.

Once complete, you'll have options to:

Download the video file (usually MP4 format) to your computer for uploading anywhere you choose.

Share directly via link if you want to quickly distribute without downloading.

Access embed options for placing the video on your website.

Save your project even after downloading—you can return to edit it or use it as a starting point for similar videos.

Use Case: Creating a Customer-Facing Promotional Video

Theory is useful, but seeing a practical application helps everything click. Let's walk through creating a common small business need: an "About Us" or promotional video suitable for your website homepage or YouTube channel.

Planning Your Script Structure

Effective promotional videos follow a predictable structure:

Opening hook (one to two sentences): Who you are and what you do, stated clearly and directly. "Hi, I'm Sarah, and I run Greenleaf Landscaping here in Austin."

Core value proposition (two to three sentences): What you offer and what makes it valuable to the viewer. "We design and maintain beautiful outdoor spaces for busy homeowners who want curb appeal without the weekend work."

Differentiator (one to two sentences): Why you specifically, rather than any alternative. "Unlike big corporate services, you'll work directly with me on every project, and we use only organic-certified products."

Call to action (one to two sentences): What you want viewers to do next. "Visit greenleafaustin.com to schedule your free consultation, or give us a call at the number on screen."

This entire script runs perhaps one hundred to one hundred fifty words—about a minute of video.

Building the Video

Start with a marketing or product introduction template from the Templates section. These often include pre-structured scenes you can modify.

Use your logo prominently in a consistent location throughout. Add background images that show your work or workplace—for the landscaping example, photos of completed yards would work well.

Keep the same avatar throughout for consistency. Changing presenters mid-video looks jarring unless you're intentionally creating a conversation format.

Output Settings

For a website or YouTube promotional video, export in horizontal (16:9) format at the highest resolution your plan allows. Free plans limit you to 720p, which is acceptable but not ideal. Paid plans typically offer 1080p or even 4K, which look notably sharper on modern screens.

If you also want this video for social media, consider creating a second version in vertical format. You might shorten the script slightly for attention-span differences on social platforms.

Use Case: Building Staff Training Videos

Creating training materials that new employees can watch repeatedly saves enormous time compared to explaining the same things individually. HeyGen has templates specifically designed for this purpose.

Finding Training Templates

In the Templates section, search for "training" or browse business-focused categories. You'll find options labeled for various training purposes, often including sections for objectives, step-by-step instructions, and recap summaries.

These templates provide structure that keeps training videos consistent and complete.

Planning Your Training Content

The most effective training videos cover one focused topic each. Rather than creating "Everything a new employee needs to know" (which would be hours long and overwhelming), create separate videos for:

How to open the store in the morning
How to process a return or exchange
How to handle an unhappy customer
How to close the cash register at night

Each video might be two to five minutes. Short, focused videos are easier to create, easier for staff to watch, and easier to update when procedures change.

Building a Training Video

Select a training template and customize:

Choose an avatar that fits your company culture. A friendly, approachable presenter usually works better for training than an overly formal one.

Write clear step-by-step instructions in your script. Number the steps both in what the avatar says and in on-screen text.

Add visual support through on-screen bullet points, highlighted key information, or relevant images. Staff should be able to glance at the screen and understand the current step even without audio.

Distributing Training Videos

Download completed training videos and upload them to wherever your staff can access them:

A shared Google Drive or Dropbox folder
Your internal communication platform (Slack, Teams)
A private YouTube playlist (unlisted so only people with the link can view)
Your learning management system if you have one

Consider creating a simple index document listing all training videos with brief descriptions so new employees know what to watch.

Translation for Multilingual Teams

If you employ staff who speak different primary languages, HeyGen includes video translation features. You can take your English training video and create Spanish, Mandarin, or other language versions without refilming. This feature alone can save significant time and money for businesses with diverse teams.

Use Case: Regular Social Media Video Content

Consistent social media presence builds brand awareness, but creating fresh video content every week overwhelms most small business owners. HeyGen makes this sustainable through systematization.

Starting with the Right Format

For TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts, begin with a vertical (9:16) template. Many templates are specifically designed for social formats with engaging graphics and fast pacing.

Keeping Videos Short

Social media videos should be brief—fifteen to forty-five seconds for most purposes. This means scripts of just fifty to one hundred words. Topics that work well:

Quick tips related to your expertise
Answers to frequently asked questions
Product highlights or new arrivals
Behind-the-scenes glimpses
Limited-time offers or announcements

Creating a Repeatable System

The real efficiency comes from systematization. Once you create a video you like:

Save it as a template for future use. HeyGen allows you to duplicate projects and save configurations.

Keep consistent elements across videos: the same avatar, the same logo placement, the same color scheme, the same intro and outro. This builds brand recognition and makes production faster.

Batch your work by writing multiple scripts at once, then creating all videos in one session. Spending two hours monthly to create four weekly videos is more efficient than creating one video each week.

A Simple Content Calendar Approach

Map out topics for a month at a time:

Week 1: Industry tip or educational content
Week 2: Product or service highlight
Week 3: Customer question answered
Week 4: Behind-the-scenes or company culture

This rotation provides variety while keeping planning simple. You're never starting from zero wondering what to make.

If you're looking to expand your social media approach with AI tools, you might find additional strategies in our guide to automating social media with AI, which covers how various tools can work together for efficient content creation.

Optional Advanced Feature: Using Your Own Voice

Once you're comfortable creating basic videos, you might want the avatar to sound like you or a specific person at your company. HeyGen offers voice cloning to make this possible.

Understanding Voice Cloning

Voice cloning creates a synthetic version of a real person's voice. The AI learns speech patterns, tone, and pronunciation from sample audio, then can read any script in that voice.

This feature typically requires a paid plan and comes with additional usage terms. Read these carefully—you should only clone voices with explicit consent from the person being cloned.

Recording Quality Voice Samples

HeyGen provides instructions for what audio samples it needs, but general best practices include:

Find a quiet space without background noise, echo, or interruptions. A small room with soft furnishings works better than a large empty space.

Use a decent microphone close to your mouth. A good smartphone held a few inches away often produces better results than a laptop microphone across the room. If you have a USB microphone or headset, use it.

Speak naturally in your normal voice. Don't try to sound "professional" if that's not how you usually talk.

Follow HeyGen's specific requirements for length and content of the sample. They may request you read specific phrases designed to capture your voice's range.

Processing and Using Your Cloned Voice

Upload your recording to HeyGen's voice cloning section. The system will process it, which may take some time.

Once complete, your voice appears as an option when creating videos. Instead of selecting a stock voice, you choose your custom voice, and the avatar speaks in what sounds like your voice.

If results aren't perfect initially, HeyGen typically offers adjustment options for similarity, accent, and stability. Some experimentation may be needed.

When Voice Cloning Makes Sense

Not every business needs this feature. Stock voices are professional and effective for most purposes. Consider voice cloning if:

You're an expert in your field and your voice is part of your personal brand
Customers already know and recognize your voice
You want training videos to feel like they come directly from leadership
You're creating content where personal connection matters significantly

Practical Tips to Avoid Common Frustrations

After helping many non-technical business owners adopt new tools, certain problems appear repeatedly. Avoiding these saves significant time and stress.

Start Smaller Than You Think Necessary

Your first video should be thirty to sixty seconds, not ten minutes. Your first training series should cover one simple task, not comprehensive onboarding. Learning the tool with low-stakes projects means mistakes are cheap and experience builds quickly.

Once you're comfortable, longer and more complex projects become straightforward. Trying to learn everything while creating something important leads to frustration and subpar results.

Write Scripts How You Actually Speak

The biggest quality difference between professional-sounding and awkward AI videos often comes down to script writing, not technology settings. Scripts that sound good when you read them silently often sound strange spoken aloud.

Read your script out loud before entering it in HeyGen. If you stumble or it sounds unnatural coming out of your mouth, it will sound worse from an AI. Write shorter sentences. Use contractions. Include natural phrases you'd actually say.

Monitor Your Plan Limits

Free and lower-tier plans have restrictions on video length, resolution, storage, and sometimes "credits" that determine how many videos you can create. Getting excited about creating content and then hitting a wall mid-project is frustrating.

Check your plan limits before starting significant projects. Know how many videos you can create, how long they can be, and what quality settings are available.

Always Preview on Mobile

A surprisingly large percentage of video views happen on smartphones, especially for social media content. Videos that look perfect on your computer monitor may have text too small to read on a phone screen.

Before finalizing any video, preview it on your actual phone. Can you read all the text? Does the avatar's face display clearly? Are important elements visible and not cut off by your phone's interface?

Protect Identity-Related Features

If you clone your voice or create a custom avatar based on your appearance, you're creating tools that can make you appear to say anything. This power requires caution.

Read consent and usage terms carefully. Understand what HeyGen can and cannot do with your biometric data. Restrict account access to trusted employees only. Consider what would happen if account credentials were compromised.

These concerns aren't reasons to avoid the features—they're reasons to use them thoughtfully.

Connecting HeyGen with Your Broader AI Strategy

HeyGen solves specific video-related problems, but most small businesses benefit from multiple AI tools working together. Understanding how HeyGen fits into a larger picture helps you maximize value. For a broader look at essential AI tools for small business owners, our 2026 AI toolkit guide covers the most valuable applications across different business functions.

Content Creation Ecosystem

HeyGen handles video, but you might use other AI tools for related tasks:

Written content like blog posts and social media captions might come from tools like ChatGPT or Claude. You can then adapt that written content into video scripts for HeyGen, maintaining consistent messaging across formats.

Image generation tools can create custom graphics or backgrounds to use in your videos.

Transcription services like Otter.ai can turn meeting discussions into written content that then becomes video scripts.

Customer Communication

Video from HeyGen can integrate with your customer communication systems:

Live chat tools can share video links to explain complex topics visually when text isn't sufficient.

Email campaigns can include video thumbnails linking to personalized welcome messages or product explanations.

Website FAQs can include video answers alongside text, serving customers who prefer watching to reading.

The Learning Curve Consideration

Each new AI tool requires time to learn and integrate into your workflows. If you're just starting with AI for your business, focus on mastering one tool before adding others. HeyGen paired with a text generation tool like ChatGPT covers many content needs.

Trying to implement too many tools simultaneously leads to superficial understanding of each and rarely delivers the promised efficiency gains.

What Success Looks Like

After following this guide, you should be able to:

Create a professional-looking video in under thirty minutes for basic marketing or communication purposes. Your first video might take longer as you learn, but efficiency improves quickly.

Produce consistent branded content using saved templates, uploaded assets, and established brand settings. Every video should look like it belongs to your business.

Train employees without scheduling filming sessions by creating video content that new hires can watch on their own time, as many times as needed.

Maintain regular social media presence without the time investment that would make it unsustainable for a small business owner.

Expand into advanced features like voice cloning when and if they become valuable for your specific needs.

Most importantly, you should feel confident rather than intimidated by the tool. HeyGen's interface is designed for non-technical users, and with the foundation from this guide, you can explore additional features independently as your needs evolve.

Your Next Steps

The best way to learn any tool is to use it. Here's a suggested progression for the next week:

Today: Create your HeyGen account and upload your brand assets (logo, colors, one or two images).

Day Two: Create a thirty-second test video—anything, it doesn't need to be perfect. The goal is completing the full workflow from empty project to downloaded video.

Day Three: Watch your test video on your phone. Make notes about what you'd change.

Day Four: Create your first "real" video—a simple introduction to your business suitable for your website or social media.

Days Five through Seven: Create two to three short videos for specific purposes—a frequently asked question answered, a product highlight, or a quick tip related to your expertise.

By the end of one week, you'll have practical experience with the tool and several usable videos. The confidence and skills you build transfer to any future project.

Video content has become expected by customers and valuable for search visibility. With HeyGen, creating that content no longer requires expertise, expensive equipment, or unreasonable time investment. You have a powerful tool—now go use it.

How to Set Up HeyGen for Your Small Business: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide for Non-Technical Owners