8 Tips For Improving Product Demos Experience To Close More Deals

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November 10, 2024
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15 min
Lorenzo Nicolini image
Lorenzo Nicolini

Imagine you’re trying to decide between two similar products in a store. One has a detailed product demo video that answers all your questions, while the other has no information. Which would you choose? If you’re like most people, you’d pick the one with the product demo video and the knowledge it offers. That’s the power of product demos! They improve the buyer’s journey and help folks make informed decisions. But what happens when you’re the one creating the product demo? You might feel a bit overwhelmed, and this is normal! After all, you want to get it right to boost sales and close more deals. The good news is that you don’t have to wing it. This article will help you improve your product demo experience to close more sales by exploring the ins and outs of product demo videos. Let's get started!

One way to hit the ground running is to work with a product demo video service like Moonb. Our team can help you create an engaging video that improves the product demo experience so you can boost sales and close more deals. 

What is a Product Demo Experience?

Person Working - Product Demos Experience

A product demo experience is more than just showcasing a product’s features. It’s about crafting an engaging presentation that: 

  • Captivates
  • Informs
  • Ultimately convinces potential customers

In a demo, you want to go beyond a simple rundown of your product’s capabilities. Instead, the goal is to show how it will benefit the prospect and solve their specific problems in a memorable and impactful way.

What’s a Product Demo Experience? 

The demo experience includes everything from how: 

  • The demo is structured
  • The platform used to deliver it
  • The content you choose to highlight

This impression sticks with attendees. It’s what they’ll recall when deciding whether or not to move forward. Suppose your demo feels: 

  • Dynamic
  • Helpful
  • Tailored to their needs

In that case, it builds a positive association with your product, making them more likely to remember you favorably and move toward a purchase. On the other hand, if it feels long-winded, generic, or unengaging, you risk losing their interest altogether. 

Why are Product Demo Experiences Important? 

Delivering a great demo experience means balancing education and entertainment to keep prospects interested, curious, and excited about your offer.

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Why Product Demos Experience Matters in the Buying Journey

Person Using Phone - Product Demos Experience

Demos are self-led walkthroughs that enable potential customers to test-drive an app or program before they buy. Up to 69% of consumers say product demos are helpful when deciding on a purchase. The product demo experience can make all the difference in the buying journey because it’s where potential customers get to picture themselves using the product. It’s not just about showing off features; it’s about helping people see how the product solves their unique problems and fits into their lives or businesses. Let’s break down why a great demo matters so much: 

Building Confidence

Think about it: when customers are just exploring a new product, they’re curious and hesitant. A good demo bridges that gap by letting them see the product in action, building trust. When customers can experience how the product works and understand exactly how it meets their needs, they feel more confident about buying it.

Showing What Makes Your Product Stand Out

A demo spotlights unique features that might need help to convey through a website. You get to show, not just tell, why your product is different and better than the competition. Customers walk away not knowing what it does but why it’s the right choice. 

Clearing Up Any Confusion 

Questions come up naturally when considering a new product; a live demo offers that real-time Q&A opportunity. Customers can get their specific concerns addressed immediately, which smooths out any lingering doubts. Plus, it helps them feel like the product is tailored to them, making it a lot easier to imagine it fitting perfectly into their life or work. 

Making It Personal and Memorable 

A well-done demo creates an emotional connection to the product. When customers see exactly how it could work for their needs, they start to envision it in their daily lives, and it feels personal. 

This connection can help in competitive markets. People remember that demo and how it made them feel like the product was right for them. 

Winning Over Other Decision-Makers 

In B2B situations, a demo can be the tool that wins over an entire team. When multiple people need to sign off on a decision, a strong demo can make it easy for a “champion” to advocate for your product within their organization. 

Showing a clear return on investment and practical benefits makes it easier for them to rally support from other stakeholders. 

Speeding Up the Decision Process 

Sometimes, seeing the product in action is all a potential customer needs to go from “maybe” to “let’s do it.” A good demo shortens the sales cycle by giving them a direct understanding of how the product fits their needs so they can confidently decide. This is especially true for complex products or high-stakes purchases where buyers weigh many options. 

Leaving a Lasting Impression 

A great demo stays with people. It’s often one of the last steps before deciding, so a positive, memorable demo can be the nudge that makes them feel good about moving forward. When buyers walk away excited and assured, it’s a win-win. They’re ready to buy and feel great about it.

Ultimately, a demo isn’t just about showing off features. It’s about connecting with customers, giving them the confidence to make a decision, and helping them feel great about it. A standout demo doesn’t just sell a product; it: 

Why Moonb’s Video Marketing Services Are the Ideal Solution for Your Business

Moonb is a video marketing agency offering unlimited video editing subscriptions. We offer seamless project management integration via:

  • Trello
  • Slack
  • MS Teams 

We also have weekly strategy calls and a contract-free, full-service production approach. Moonb is a superior alternative to:

  • Traditional video agencies
  • Freelancers
  • In-house production teams

Our flexible, subscription-based model, combined with our expertise in creating compelling video content, positions us as the ideal partner for companies looking to elevate their marketing and educational initiatives through the power of video. Start a 3-day free trial with our product demo video service to take your content to the next level.

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Where Product Demos Fall Short

People In Meeting - Product Demos Experience

According to a report, 66% of consumers prefer self-guided product demos over face-to-face sessions. While traditional product demos may have been effective, they now need help to engage modern buyers for various reasons.

Drowning in Features Instead of Solving Problems

Feature dumping is a common pitfall in product demos. Instead of connecting product capabilities to a prospect’s unique needs, demos often just list features. This approach forgets that prospects care most about how your product will address their specific pain points, not just what it can do. 

Instead of detailing every capability, focus on demonstrating how key features solve real problems for them. This shifts the emphasis from functionalities to the value those functionalities provide, making your product’s relevance immediately clear. 

Hard Selling Instead of Helping

Another significant shortfall is centering the demo purely on selling rather than helping the customer envision solutions. Modern buyers want to understand how a product can make their lives easier or address challenges. 

When the demo leans too heavily into sales mode, it risks losing connection with the audience. Aim to frame the demo as a consultative experience, positioning your product as a helpful resource rather than a sales pitch. 

Neglecting the Broader Audience

Several stakeholders are involved in any major buying decision, each with unique needs and concerns. Many demos only address the immediate audience, overlooking the broader group of decision-makers who will also influence the purchase. 

This narrow focus can lead to gaps in the presentation, missing out on critical aspects that matter to the hidden stakeholders and ultimately affecting the sale. 

Struggling to Simplify Complex Concepts

Explaining complex software to a diverse audience can be challenging. Demos often fail using a “one-size-fits-all” approach that can leave non-technical attendees feeling lost while failing to satisfy technical viewers' needs. 

This disconnect can make it hard for all stakeholders to gather the insights they need to make an informed decision, resulting in a less effective demo. 

One-Way Communication Leading to Low Engagement

Engagement plummets when a demo feels like a one-sided presentation instead of an interactive dialogue. This lack of engagement turns the experience into a monologue, which limits the audience’s opportunity to ask questions or clarify concerns. 

Demos that foster two-way communication allow: 

  • Potential customers to voice their questions
  • Keeping them invested 
  • Ensuring their unique needs are addressed throughout the presentation

Improving Product Demos Experience To Close More Deals: 8 Tips

People Wrking - Product Demos Experience

1. Create Targeted Demos for Prospects

Most product demo mistakes stem from a one-size-fits-all approach. No two prospects are alike, so why deliver the same generic presentation to every one of them? You need to understand your audience to create a truly resonates demo. What are their specific: 

  • Challenges
  • Frustrations
  • Desires? 

What outcomes are they looking to achieve? How would they be using your product on a day-to-day basis? Start by doing your homework. Research your customer personas and prospects. Look at their: 

  • Industry
  • Company size
  • Competitive landscape
  • Scour their website and social media presence
  • Ask targeted questions on a discovery call or survey
  • Speak to your customer-facing colleagues, such as: some text
    • Customer support
    • Success teams

Creating Tailored Product Demos for Different Buyer Personas and Industries

Use these insights to craft a hyper-targeted demo experience. Highlight the features and benefits most relevant to your prospects’ specific challenges and use cases. Use language and examples that resonate with their industry and role. Show them exactly how your product will make their lives easier and their business more successful. 

While you may want a short product demo video embedded on your website to speak to a wide range of prospective users, you can also create targeted demo experiences for different buyer personas and company types. For example, you could deliver a few industry-specific versions of a demo webinar, each with unique content and follow-up sequences. 

2. Communicate Your Unique Selling Proposition

Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is the core of your competitive advantage. It's why prospects choose your product over the myriad other options on the market. That means your USP should be the north star guiding your entire demo. Start by clearly articulating what sets your product apart for your customers. 

This last point is crucial: you want to tie every feature to: 

  • Specific customer challenges
  • Desires
  • Objectives

Highlighting Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Throughout the Product Demo

  • Is it a unique feature (or set of features) that addresses a previously unmet need? 
  • Is it unparalleled ease-of-use or customer support that will save them time while helping them meet their goals? 
  • Is it a pricing model that makes your solution more accessible or cost-effective, meaning they can get more with less? 

Whatever your USP is, ensure it comes through loud and clear in your demo. Don't mention it once, and move on; weave it throughout your presentation. Highlight specific features and benefits, showing how they link to actual pain points with plenty of examples. 

3. Use Storytelling to Showcase Benefits

While features are important, the benefits resonate with your audience, and storytelling connects the two. Craft a narrative that brings your product benefits to life. Never just list features: weave them into relatable narratives that illustrate how they solve real-world problems for your audience. 

For example, instead of saying that your software "improves team collaboration," tell a story about how a customer could use your platform to bring a complex project in on time and under budget, earning kudos from their boss. 

Turning Product Integrations into Tangible Benefits During Demos

Rather than listing my extensive integration capabilities, I should talk about how my prospective customers could seamlessly connect my solution with their existing tech stack (and get specific), saving countless hours of manual data entry and buying them time they can use to achieve their goals. 

The more you can ground your product's benefits in real, relatable stories, the more meaningful and memorable your demo will be. Prospects will be able to see themselves in these narratives and envision how your product could help them achieve similar successes. That's a powerful motivator to take the next step. 

4. Get Interactive to Boost Engagement

Let's face it. Keeping people engaged is tough if you’re just talking at them, no matter how compelling your demo script is. Demos that seem like one-way lectures lose the audience's attention quickly. The solution? Make your demo an interactive, two-way experience. 

Encourage your attendees to participate actively throughout the session. Short product demo videos might get your audience thinking about their challenges and goals or guide them to an interactive, clickable product walkthrough. 

5. Demonstrate Real-World Applications

Descriptions are great, but understanding how your product works is different. The more you can ground your demo in real-world applications, the more impactful it will be. Start by showcasing how your product solves common challenges or achieves desirable outcomes in your prospect's industry. Use relatable case studies and examples directly relevant to their: 

  • Business size
  • Maturity level
  • Use cases

Leveraging Customer Success Stories to Drive Engagement in Product Demos

Highlight real customer success stories and show how different users get value from your product. While walking through the full demonstration of your product, keep tying features back to actual use cases. Try to demo scenarios that mirror your prospects’ workflow so they can visualize how your product would fit into their day-to-day operations. 

The key is to make your product feel as tangible and applicable as possible. The more your prospects can picture themselves using and benefiting from your solution, the more likely they will take the next step. 

6. Use Compelling Visuals

The human brain is wired for fast, effective visual processing. Put simply, visual information connects with viewers — so if your demo relies primarily on verbal explanations with a few text-heavy slides and bland product screenshots, you're not making the strongest impression. You must engage your prospects’ eyes and ears to drive your message home. Incorporate compelling visuals throughout your demo to illustrate the following: 

  • Key points
  • Break down complex ideas 
  • Keep people engaged

Enhancing Product Demos with Visuals and Interactive Elements

Start with your slide deck. Instead of drowning people in bullet points, I use clean, eye-catching graphics and images to convey my main ideas. Incorporate brand colors and design elements to create a polished, professional look. Consider adding short video clips to bring concepts to life and add variety to your presentation. When showcasing your actual product, make liberal use of the following: 

  • Screen recordings
  • GIFs
  • Screenshots

Visually highlight key features and workflows, using annotations and callouts to draw attention to essential elements and guide the viewer's eye. 

7. Address Common Questions and Objections

No matter how compelling your demo is, prospects will almost always have questions and concerns. They may be worried about the learning curve of adopting a new tool, the potential disruption to their current processes, or the total cost of ownership. If these issues aren't addressed head-on, they can become significant roadblocks to moving forward. 

That's why it's so important to proactively address common questions and even objections to converting as part of your demo. You don’t have to wait for prospects to bring them up. You can weave the answers into your presentation from the start. 

Anticipating and Addressing Prospects' Concerns During a Product Demo

Begin by brainstorming a list of the most frequent questions and concerns you hear from prospects. These might include things like: 

  • We’ve had bad experiences with product training and support before. How do we know if the onboarding will be effective? 
  • We’re concerned we’ll end up duplicating work across our existing systems. How does your product compare to [competitor], which is slightly cheaper? 
  • What's the typical timeline for implementation? What's the ROI we can expect to see? 

Seamlessly Addressing Prospect Concerns During a Live Product Demo

Once you have your list, look for natural opportunities to address each point in your demo. For example, when discussing your product's ease of use, mention the comprehensive onboarding and training resources you provide and back it up with a success story. Of course, you should also offer ample opportunities for prospects to ask their specific questions. 

In a live product demo webinar, you can answer questions in real-time on the chat or by spotlighting attendees. The more you can address your prospects' unique concerns and curiosities, the more trust and credibility you'll build. 

8. Use Data and Feedback

Your product demo journey shouldn't be a one-and-done effort. Continuously improve and refine your demos by leveraging data and feedback from your audience. For instance, if you notice that a significant portion of your audience drops off during a particular segment of your demo, you can dig into the data to investigate why. 

  • Did the content need to be clarified? 
  • Did you need to convey the value effectively? 
  • Or the segment didn't resonate with your critical customer persona needs. 

With these insights, you can make data-driven adjustments and improve your product demo flow, messaging, and delivery. Great product demo analytics also help you track your demo’s impact on downstream metrics like pipeline velocity, conversions, and closed-won deals, allowing you to justify and improve your marketing tactics.

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Start a 3-day Free Trial to Take Your Content to the Next Level with Our Product Demo Video Service

Moonb is a video marketing agency offering unlimited video editing subscriptions. We offer seamless project management integration via:

  • Trello
  • Slack
  • MS Teams 

We also have weekly strategy calls and a contract-free, full-service production approach. Moonb is a superior alternative to:

  • Traditional video agencies
  • Freelancers
  • In-house production teams

Our flexible, subscription-based model, combined with our expertise in creating compelling video content, positions us as the ideal partner for companies looking to elevate their marketing and educational initiatives through the power of video. Start a 3-day free trial with our product demo video service to take your content to the next level.

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