The Power of Interactive Product Demos - Benefits, Steps, and Examples

Imagine this: your potential customers visit your website, and explore your product pages, but don’t even understand what the product exactly does or whether it will address their pain points. 

So what happens next? 

They leave without even understanding the value your product brings to the table. That’s a total miss, right? 

What if I tell you that there is a way to convert these potential users into your full-time customers? 

The solution here is to create interactive product demos for your website visitors. 

An interactive product demo is a powerful tool that allows prospects to experience your product firsthand. It provides a guided walkthrough of your software, showcasing its functionalities and value proposition. 

Unlike static content such as videos or screenshots, interactive demos actively engage viewers and allow them to explore and interact with your product independently.

Potential customers may struggle understanding how your product can solve their pain without an interactive demo. They might be skeptical or unsure about its capabilities. This can lead to lost opportunities and stalled sales cycles.

Does all that sound overwhelming? Well, I have got you covered! Settle in as a comprehensive guide on self-service product demos awaits you! 🙂

How is an Interactive Product Demo Different?

Traditional product demos often involve a sales representative guiding the prospect through a pre-recorded or live demonstration. 

Now, I am NOT saying that traditional product demos don’t work. They do. However, they require the involvement of a sales rep each time.  Therefore, if a customer is short of time and is willing to have a self-service product demo, they will probably not book a call with your sales team. 

An interactive demo software empowers your prospects. These self-guided demos allow prospects to explore your product at their own pace. They provide a hands-on experience that closely resembles using the actual product. 

With interactive demos, prospects can interact with features, navigate the interface, and get a real feel for how your product works.

The key difference between interactive and traditional demos lies in the level of engagement. Interactive product demos become your prospect’s best buddy to provide them with your product's natural look and feel. 

Why Do Businesses Need an Interactive Product Demo?

Still, having second thoughts about interactive product demos? Let me break this down for different teams at your workplace. 

Product Marketing 🏆

Product marketers are the champs bridging the gap between your product and marketing teams. Trust me when I say self-service demo software will make a product marketer’s life easier! 

Here’s how product marketers can leverage interactive product demo software: 

• It enables potential customers to experience the value of your product firsthand. It showcases your product's key features and benefits and communicates value proposition quickly!  

“Interactive product demos can help product marketers "show, don't tell." B2B buyers want vendors to "prove it"; it being that the vendor's product can solve the buyer's problem. Many of today's B2B buyers are increasingly self-sufficient, which means to want to play around with the product firsthand to learn about it. Product Marketers can engage more buyers by making an interactive product demo instead of relying on copywriting and Sales-led demos or demo videos.”
- Joe Kevens, Founder at B2B SaaS Reviews

• Interactive product demos personalize the experience for different buyer personas. it tailors the demo to specific use cases or industries, so you can explain how your product addresses the unique pain points of each audience segment. 

To know more about the usage of interactive demo in product marketing read our latest article - How to Create an Interactive Product Demo - Guide for Product Marketers

Sales 🤝

Self-service demos can be a superpower for your sales team. 

Here’s how they can make the most of interactive demos: 

• Sometimes, it gets overwhelming for sales teams to craft outbound emails. They are often confused about what to include in an outbound email. Adding an interactive demo to outreach emails can create a clear difference and encourage the prospects to try out the product independently.    
  

• Interactive demos are self-explanatory. That means more power over the buyer’s journey. Sales teams can use them as an incentive for post-sales calls. They can keep the sales calls brief with a quick overview of the product and leave behind the interactive product demo to help the prospects experience it on their own.   

What Should a Good Interactive Product Demo Look Like?

Creating a self-service demo is not a big deal if you use the right intercative demo software. 

What makes a good demo? Here you go:  

1. Intuitive User Interface (UI)

The UI of your interactive demo should be intuitive and visually appealing. It should guide users through the demo seamlessly, ensuring they can easily navigate and interact with the various features and functionalities. 

Use clear instructions, visually appealing graphics, and interactive elements to enhance the user experience and keep users engaged.

2.  Ability to create personalized experiences for different users 

An interactive product demo software demo should differentiate buyer personas or target industries. Identify the specific pain points of each audience segment, and explain how your product can address them. 

A personalized demo experience creates a stronger connection with potential customers and increases the chances of conversion.

3.  Ability to add interactive elements and simulations

Make your interactive software demo truly interactive by incorporating fun elements like simulated scenarios, interactive quizzes, or guided walkthroughs. This way, you can create a memorable experience for the users and encourage them to purchase. 

4.  Power of analytics and tracking

Integrate analytics and tracking capabilities into your guided product demos. This lets you gather valuable insights into user behavior, engagement levels, and conversion rates.

As a next step, analyze this data, identify areas for improvement, and optimize the demo experience accordingly. 

Steps to Create an Interactive Product Demo 

Creating an interactive software demo doesn't have to be a daunting task. With the right tools and approach, you can create a compelling demo that captivates your audience. 

Here's a step-by-step guide to creating a self-service demo using interactive product demo software :

Step 1: Capture your product demo using Rivia’s Chrome extension 

Step 2: Edit the demo page based on your requirements on Rivia’s intuitive dashboard. You can personalize this page by changing logos, images, charts, etc. 

Step 3: Now it's time to add all the helpful resources like videos, forms, and tools to the same page using Rivia Editor. 

Step 4: You can now make your product demo live. Monitor the analytics page to track how your interactive product tour works. 

That’s it! Creating an interactive product demo is literally that easy. Now sit back and chill! 

‍

Also, read our blog and make sure to avoid these Interactive Product Demo mistakes.

5 Ways to Place Your Product Demo on Your Website with Examples

You know what? "Create an interactive software demo" - this is not always enough! 

It all boils down to how and where you place the demo on your website. 

Here are five best practices and interactive product demo examples to showcase your product demo on your website in the best possible way: 

1. Homepage Placement

Your website's homepage is the best at creating a remarkable first impression. Placing your guided product demo prominently on the homepage can capture your prospect’s attention and encourage them to engage with your product. 

Notice how productivity platform ClickUp adds product demos in the hero section of their website: 

2. Product Pages

Dedicate specific sections on your product pages to showcase your interactive product demo. This allows potential customers to explore the products and learn more about their superpowers. 

Dooly adds an interactive software demo CTA to each of its product pages. 

3. Live Chat Integration

Integrate your self-guided demo into your live chat feature to provide real-time support and guidance to potential customers. 

When prospects engage in live chat, sales representatives can share the interactive demo to visually demonstrate how the product works and address specific questions or concerns. 

This approach enhances the customer experience and increases the chances of conversion. 

Again, we are coming back to Dooly! Notice how this brand carefully integrates product demos into the live chat window to offer the best experience to its customers. 

4. Demo Center or Library

Create a dedicated demo center or library on your website where potential customers can access all critical resources and a collection of interactive product tours. This allows them to explore different features, use cases, and vertical-specific demos how they like. 

5. Embedded within the Product Itself

Take your interactive product demo further by embedding it directly within the product. This allows users to experience the demo in a real-time, live environment, enhancing their understanding of the product's features. 

Canva does this really well 👇

What Should Be Part of Your Product Demo Tech Stack?

The right tech stack is essential when creating a self-service demo. Else, it will be a LOT of manual work that you DON’T want your team to go through. 

Add these tools to your tech stack ASAP to create a tremendous interactive product tour: 

• Interactive Product Demo Software: Choose a reliable and user-friendly interactive demo software, like Rivia that aligns with your needs and provides the necessary features to create engaging product tours.
  

• Video Hosting Platform: Consider using a video hosting platform like Vimeo or Wistia if your interactive software demo includes videos. These platforms provide reliable video hosting, customizable players, and advanced analytics.
  

• CRM Integration: Integrate your interactive software demo software with your CRM systems, such as Salesforce or HubSpot, to seamlessly capture and track leads generated from the demos. This integration ensures a smooth handoff between marketing and sales teams.
  

• Customer Support Tools: Consider integrating customer support tools like live chat or chatbots into your interactive software demos. This allows potential customers to ask questions and get real-time assistance while exploring the demo.

Final Words

Interactive product demos are powerful tools that significantly enhance your marketing and sales efforts. An interactive product tour empowers your prospects and lets them play around with the product to understand it inside out. 

It’s high time that brands ditch the traditional, pre-recoded demos and embrace the new-age interactive product tours to offer customers a personalized experience. Interactive demos powered with product-led marketing can take businesses to new heights. 

Wondering where to start? As a first step, Get a demo for Rivia, one of the best interactive demo tools out there!