If you're finding it challenging to grab the attention of potential customers, it might be because they haven't truly experienced what your product can do. That's where product demos come in.
A product demo is more than just a presentation—it's a way to show your audience how your product works and how it can solve their specific problems. By giving them a firsthand experience, you make your product real to them, building trust and sparking interest.
In this blog, we'll dive into what product demos are, why they're essential, and how you can use them effectively to boost sales and engagement.
What is a product demo?
A product demo is a presentation, either live or recorded, that showcases how a product works and how it can solve the specific problems of potential customers. It’s not just about highlighting features—it’s about telling a compelling value story that resonates with your audience.
Product demos are crucial in the sales process, especially for B2B SaaS companies. They provide a unique opportunity to connect with prospects, helping them visualize how your product can meet their needs and make their lives easier. A great demo, when done right, can be the deciding factor between closing a deal and losing a prospective customer. In essence, a great demo lets your prospects understand how your solution truly solves their pain points and enables them to become more successful in their job.
Whether it’s a pre-recorded demo on your website, a short intro early in the sales process, or a personalized session after qualifying a lead, the goal remains the same: to create a memorable and persuasive experience that drives the purchase decision.
What are the proven tips for creating impactful product demos?
A practical product demo highlights your unique value proposition and directly addresses your audience's needs. Its primary goal is to convert prospects into customers by demonstrating how your product solves their challenges. Here’s how to create an impactful demo:
- Identify Your Audience: Tailor the demo to address the needs and pain points of your target audience.
- Highlight Key Features: Focus on the features that solve problems and set your product apart from competitors.
- Keep It Concise: Stay focused to maintain engagement without overwhelming viewers.
- Encourage Interaction: Make the demo interactive to foster engagement and participation.
What are the different types of product demos in the SaaS industry?
The choice of demo type depends on the product's complexity, the use case, and the target audience’s technical expertise. Different types of demos, such as live product demos, product demo videos, and interactive experiences, each serve a specific purpose. Ahead, we’ll review the various types of saas product demos.
1. Product Demo Videos
Product demo videos function as mini-commercials, offering a concise overview of the product's features, functionality, and unique advantages. They provide potential customers with a quick, engaging look at how the product works and what sets it apart from competitors. These videos are cost-effective, shareable, and can reach a broad audience across various platforms, making them a powerful tool for showcasing the benefits of a product.
To maximize their impact, ensure your demo videos have high-quality visuals, an engaging narrative, and a strong call-to-action. Capturing attention within the first few seconds is crucial for converting viewers into potential leads.
2. Live Product Demos
Live product demos offer a personalized experience by addressing real-time queries and objections from potential customers. Led by a sales representative, these demos highlight product features, benefits, and value propositions. They are particularly useful for complex or high-ticket products, providing a personal touch that enhances understanding and builds relationships.
Conducted via webinars or in person, live demos allow for large-scale, interactive sessions, reaching a broad audience from various locations. Despite being time-consuming and requiring skilled presenters, live demos provide immediate feedback and are effective in the sales conversion process.
3. Pre-recorded Product Demos
Pre-recorded product demo videos are used by sales professionals to showcase a product's value during calls with prospects. These videos demonstrate how the product’s features address specific pain points and provide value.
Pre-recorded demos are ideal for introducing new products into the sales funnel, allowing time for preparation, editing, and refinement. They also offer the flexibility to pause and address important points during the presentation, ensuring a tailored and effective demonstration.
4. Interactive Demos
Interactive demos allow potential customers to experience a product firsthand by allowing potential customers to experience firsthand how the product operates. These demos can range from fully functional access with demo data to a limited version highlighting specific features.
Compared to other demo formats, interactive demos foster a stronger sense of engagement and ownership among users. This hands-on approach helps potential customers evaluate the product’s fit for their needs, making interactive demos crucial for converting prospects into leads and loyal customers.
How to select the right product demo strategy?
Choosing the right product demo strategy is vital for effectively showcasing your product’s value and driving customer engagement. The success of a product demo hinges on selecting the approach that best aligns with your product’s complexity, market positioning, and your customers' needs.
Understanding these elements will help you determine whether a sales-led or product-led approach would be more effective, whether a high touch or low touch onboarding method suits your demo, and which type of demo works best at each step of the buyer’s journey.
Sales-Led vs. Product-Led approaches
Consider your product, client expectations, and market positioning when deliberating between sales-led and product-led demo approaches.
Sales-led Demos: A sales-led demo involves a sales representative guiding the potential customer through the demo, highlighting key features and benefits, and answering queries. It's often leveraged with high-value or complex products that require a more personalized, consultative approach. Each demo customization meets the specific needs of the potential customer, demonstrating the product's capability to resolve precise problems. Personalizing the sales experience is crucial in a sales-led approach, as it allows the sales rep to demonstrate a deep understanding of the prospect's needs and challenges.
Product-led Demos: In a product-led approach, emphasis is placed on the product's abilities and self-service. Potential customers are given trial access to explore the product and its functionalities independently. This approach often suits simpler products that are easy to understand and use. It empowers users to experience the product, building their understanding and potential buy-in.
The choice between sales-led and product-led approaches centers around what brings your product's value to the fore, considering its complexity, usage, and the user’s technical proficiency.
High touch vs. Low touch onboarding
Matching your product demo strategy with your onboarding approach can enhance the effectiveness of your demos, leading to enhanced user experience and potential conversions. The complexity of your product generally dictates whether a high touch or low touch onboarding approach is appropriate.
High-Touch Onboarding: High-touch onboarding is personalized and hands-on, involving one-on-one assistance for users. It's suitable for complex products that demand detailed explanations and guidance. Users find the learning curve easier to manage when they have expert help to guide them through it.
Low-Touch Onboarding: Low-touch onboarding drives self-learning using automated guides, knowledge bases, and tutorials. It's ideal for simpler products that are intuitive to comprehend and operate.
Each onboarding method has its strengths. Choosing the right method relies on the level of guidance your customers need to firmly grasp the functionalities and value proposition of your product.
High-Touch Onboarding | Low-Touch Onboarding | |
|---|---|---|
Personalization | High | Low |
User Interaction | 1-on-1 assistance | Self-learning |
Best Suited for | Complex products | Simple, intuitive products |
Learning Format | Guided walkthroughs | Tutorials, knowledge bases |
Tailoring the demo to product complexity
Choosing the right demo format also depends heavily on your product’s complexity. The more complex your product, the more personal and detail-oriented your demo needs to be. Products with multiple features and specific use-cases require a comprehensive walkthrough, in most cases best achieved through different types of product demos. A sales representative can effectively navigate potential customers through different functionalities, ensuring they understand how each feature resolves their pain points and aiding in the discovery process of the software solution.
On the other hand, if your product is simple and intuitive, a product demo video or an interactive demo could suffice. Here, prospects can grasp the product's basics without requiring in-depth explanation or guidance.
How do product demos impact conversion rates?
Great product demos can boost conversion rates by a staggering 30%. They effectively tackle objections in real time, addressing questions and uncertainties as they arise, which prevents prospects from forming doubts.
Product demos help build genuine connections by demonstrating the product’s value and aligning it with the customer’s needs, fostering trust and rapport. Additionally, seeing the product in action can create a sense of urgency and FOMO, prompting prospects to commit before the opportunity slips away.
How to create a product demo?
Creating a product demo involves a series of strategic steps to ensure it effectively communicates the value of your product and engages potential customers. Here's a detailed guide to help you build an impactful product demo:
1. Choose the right type of demo for each stage of the buyer's journey
The buyer's journey includes awareness, consideration, and decision stages. Use an overview demo to introduce your product without overwhelming details in the awareness stage. In the consideration stage, provide detailed demos, such as live or recorded presentations, that delve into the product's features. For the decision stage, offer interactive demos or free trials to allow potential customers to experience your product firsthand.
2. Select the right tools and plan your script
Choose a tool for creating your demo video that aligns with your needs and budget. Develop a clear, engaging script that emphasizes the product’s key features and benefits. Ensure your script is structured to capture attention and convey essential information effectively.
3. Focus on professional production and interaction
Ensure the demo is professionally produced to reflect your brand’s quality. Incorporate interactive elements where possible to engage viewers and make the demo more dynamic. A well-produced demo will enhance credibility and attract interest.
4. Include a clear call to action and track results
End your demo with a strong call to action, guiding viewers on the next steps. Monitor the leads and engagement generated from the demo to assess its impact on conversion rates. Use this data to refine and improve future demos.
5. Incorporate feedback for continuous improvement
Regularly gather and analyze feedback from users to identify areas for enhancement. Adjust your demos based on this feedback to better meet the needs of your audience and improve overall effectiveness.
By following these steps, you can create a compelling product demo that effectively guides prospects through their buying journey and enhances your chances of conversion.
What to include in each product demo? Checklist
When creating a product demo, ensure you have these bases covered:
- A clear introduction to the product and its key benefit.
- Emphasis on the most compelling features that address the potential customer's needs.
- Real-life examples or scenarios of the product in action.
- Testimonials or success stories from existing users.
- Information on pricing plans (if applicable).
- A clear call to action, guiding viewers towards the next step like signing up for a trial or reaching out for more information.
- Lastly, strive for high video and audio quality to keep the viewers engaged, and maintain a tone that best resonates with your target audience.
SaaS interactive demo examples
Interactive demos have become a game-changer in SaaS marketing, allowing potential customers to experience products firsthand in a more engaging and immersive way. Below, we highlight some of the leading SaaS companies like Airtable, Zendesk, Salesforce, SurveyMonkey, and Grammarly that have mastered the art of interactive demos and set the standard for showcasing products.
Example 1: Airtable
Airtable uses a captivating 2-minute sales video as its product demo. Within these two minutes, several use cases of the Airtable product are presented, taking a broad approach that shows viewers how they can benefit from the product.
As the video progresses and gets more specific, Airtable realizes that anyone who has viewed it for over a minute is most likely a qualified lead who desires to learn more. Thus, they focus even more on specific tactics and features, presenting detailed insights on how the product can cater to such prospects. Airtable’s product demonstration reflects innovation, ease, and clarity, revealing the power of a well-constructed product demo video that educates viewers while retaining viewer interest.
Example 2: Zendesk
Zendesk makes an instant impact, with its invitation to view a demo being one of the two primary calls to action on its landing page. On accepting the invite, you're taken through a minor onboarding survey aimed at determining your interests; then, you’re introduced to an interactive tour environment with dummy data.
Depending on your responses and interests, you'll find varying numbers of product tours, each addressing a unique feature of the Zendesk software. Potential customers can thus interactively explore the software with guided tour experiences tailored to their needs.
The set-up ensures that right from their initial interaction, potential customers can navigate through the product and self-learn about the features relevant to them, thus making a strong case for why they should choose Zendesk.
Example 3: Salesforce
Salesforce, another well-established SaaS brand, uses a dedicated demo center full of product demo videos to educate prospects about CRM and its offerings. Many companies have entire demo centers with pre-recorded demos designed to provide a quick product overview. Viewing these videos provides the opportunity for potential customers to understand your tool and its capabilities, becoming lead magnets for customer success.
In the case of Salesforce, the demo center uses a playlist of videos to demonstrate how Salesforce can assist a sales team in resolving some of their pain points. Viewers who find this aligns with their needs can then request a live demo with a sales representative by booking a discovery call to learn more about the product.
Example 4: Grammarly
Grammarly takes advantage of the moment right after signing up to introduce new users to an interactive demo in the form of a dummy content editor. The dummy editor is riddled with typed errors, which Grammarly quickly highlights and suggests corrections. Actual intuitive interaction with the product's features ensues as it provides solutions in real-time.
This approach lets the users see the value of the software instantly while bringing out unique attributes that set Grammarly apart from similar products. Interactive demos such as these help in faster user activation, reducing the time gap between sign-ups and paying users.
Use SmartCue to create a product demo
SmartCue is interactive demo software that allows users to create complex product tours in minutes without the need for any coding skills. You can create demo paths that look like real user journeys, which guide people through the key features of your product.
Here’s why SmartCue is a special pick for creating demos:
- Easy-to-use demo editor
- Admins can manage user access and share links with view-only.
- Intuitive dashboard for creating showcases and tracking demo analytics.
- It offers a Chrome extension that captures your steps and creates automated texts.
Why use SmartCue?
SmartCue offers the flexibility to edit each step of your demo by recording the screen. SmartCue stands out from other demo software because of various reasons:
- Repurpose videos into PDFs, GIFs or other formats.
- Users can embed links on their web pages or create password-protected videos to share with leads.
- Offers detailed insights and metrics such as time spent, drop-off rates, views, impressions & much more to gain insight into buyer behavior.
- It integrates with various third-party tools such as HubSpot, Salesforce, MS Teams, and more.
Who can use SmartCue?
SmartCue is best for business owners, solopreneurs, or product marketing teams who wish to create quick interactive demos. SmartCue’s intuitive interface makes it a perfect choice, even for newbies.
Wondering how SmartCue works? Start with the 14-day free trial and see how SmartCue works.
Conclusion
In a rapidly evolving and competitive digital landscape, product demos have unmistakably emerged as an influential tool for businesses to showcase their products or services. When executed well, product demos can seize the attention of potential buyers, enlighten them about the key features and benefits of the product, and spur them to make a purchase.
By understanding the fundamentals of product demonstrations, exploring different types of demos in SaaS, and deciding on the appropriate demo strategy, you can craft compelling product demos that align with your audience's needs.
Customization, storytelling, and interaction are the shining stars of effective demos tailored for each stage of the buyer’s journey and accentuated with interactive saas demos. Bolstered with the best tools and approaches, your demo can play a significant role in stakeholder engagement, eventually leading to higher conversions and business growth. Therefore, investing time in crafting and refining engaging product demos is indeed worth the effort.
Frequently asked questions
What is the primary objective of a product demo?
The primary objective of a product demo is to showcase its features, functionality, and benefits to potential customers. It helps in illustrating how the product can solve their problems and meet their needs effectively.
What does a good product demo look like?
A good product demo is engaging, concise, and tailored to the audience's needs. It showcases key features, benefits, and solves common pain points effectively. Visual aids, real-life examples, and interactivity enhance the experience for viewers, making it memorable and impactful.
What are the three types of demo?
There are three main types of product demos: live demos, recorded demos, and interactive demos. Each type offers unique benefits and caters to different audience preferences. Understanding these types can help you choose the best demo approach for your product.
How do you choose the best demo format for your product?
To choose a good demo format for your product, consider your target audience, product complexity, and desired outcome. Interactive demos work well for engaging users, while video demonstrations may be more suitable for showcasing features. Evaluate based on what resonates with your potential customers.
How long should a product demo take?
A product demo should ideally last between 30 to 60 minutes. Keeping it concise yet informative ensures engagement without overwhelming the audience. Tailor the duration based on complexity, audience attention span, and the goal of the demo.
What are some examples of successful SaaS interactive demos?
Some successful SaaS interactive demo examples include Slack, Canva, and HubSpot. These companies effectively showcase their product features through interactive demos, engaging users and demonstrating the value their software provides.
