Exploring the Benefits of Interactive Product Demos

“Partner, let me upgrade you, upgrade you!” 

Ok, so you may be wondering why on earth we are singing this song. 

Fair enough. 

We’ll explain.

It’s not just because we love Beyoncé. That’s only part of it (ALL HAIL QUEEN B).

The other reason is because this is how we like to think about interactive product demos: demos that have been given a serious upgrade. 

So what exactly makes interactive product demos so much better than your normal product demos? 

Well, that’s exactly what we are going to cover in this article.

What are interactive product demos?

But first, let’s take a minute to go over what an interactive product demo is.

You’ve talked up your product during your elevator sales pitch. But now it’s time to let your product do the talking.

This phase of the sales process is what’s known as the product demo or the software demo. And it’s where you can showcase your product and its value. 

So, what’s the difference between an interactive demo and your run of the mill demo? Great question!

An interactive product demo allows users to freely click through your product to offer a hands-on experience and give a realistic sense of what it would be like to actually use your product. 

7 benefits of interactive product demos 

1. Highlight what your product can do  

Let’s face it, prospects don’t want to listen to you blab for an hour about every single feature your product has to offer. 

That’s why it’s essential to show, not tell.

By creating an interactive demo, you can craft engaging and informative narratives that help prospects understand what your product can do and what it would be like to use it in their day-to-day lives.

2. Improve demo engagement

Because interactive product demos are clickable, demo viewers have the ability to experience the product and its features firsthand. 

This creates a more engaging and meaningful experience for your prospect. 

And because prospects can interact directly with the product, it also helps make it easier for them to understand the benefits of your solution. 

3. Showcase your product at any point of the sales process

What’s the best thing about interactive demos?

How are we supposed to choose just one thing? 

That said, one of the best things about interactive product demos is that if you use a demo platform (like Walnut) they can easily be shared by email or via links. On top of this, you can also embed them on your website. 

And this means that prospects don’t have to wait until the demo call to get a glimpse of your product. Instead, they can see your solution at any point of the sales cycle, which helps streamline the sales process and cut down friction with prospects. 

4. Boost high-intent lead generation 

When you have the ability to share interactive product demos at any point within the sales process, it can also have a major impact on your lead generation.

How? Well, by sharing demos earlier on in the sales cycle, prospects have a better understanding of how your product works before you meet with them. And this can help you improve conversions and speed up your sales process. 

Plus, if you use a demo platform (like Walnut), you can monitor how demo viewers interacted with your demo. This information can then be used for lead qualification. 

5. Reduce the time to value

Prospects might understand what a product brings to the table. But how long did it take them to get there?

When you use an interactive product demo, you empower prospects to consume product content at their own pace. They can spend more time playing with the features that interest them and skip aspects that may be less relevant to them. 

This goes a long way in speeding up the time it takes for prospects to realize your prospect’s unique value proposition. 

In an interview with one of our customers, Eyal Webber-Zvik, the VP of Product Marketing at Cato Networks, shared how Walnut has improved the time to value for the company.

Check out this video to hear everything he had to say:

6. Gain valuable insights 

If you use a demo platform (*clears throat*) like Walnut to deliver interactive product demos, you’ll be able to analyze data on how prospects engaged with your demo. 

This will enable you to gain key insights about what parts of your demo resonated the most and which parts might have missed the mark. 

With this information in hand, you’ll be able to make improvements to your demos going forward.   

7. Focus your team’s resources

Every potential deal that comes your way is an opportunity.

But some opportunities are bigger than others. And many sales teams don’t have the ability to devote the same amount of resources to each and every opportunity. 

Sometimes you need to save your resources for the most valuable potential deals. 

That’s where interactive demos can come in handy. Because you can share them so easily, you can expand your reach without needing to schedule a live demo with every prospect. 

This allows sales teams to increase their focus on the leads with the highest intent.

Coincidentally, this happens to be exactly what one of our customers, CT4, was able to use Walnut for. 

To learn more about how CT4 reduced the cost of sales and improved sales velocity, read the full case study. 

Using interactive product demos to improve the sales process

We hope that by now, we’ve convinced you why you absolutely need to be using interactive product demos. 

If not, we’re gonna give it one last shot. 

By using a demo platform (WALNUT) to create interactive product demos, you can offer prospects a personalized and realistic experience that shows what it would be like to actually use your product. 

Plus, these interactive demos can be shared at any point during the sales process to make sure every prospect can see your product directly and easily. Even before you schedule a call with them. 

Not to mention, if a specific demo flow performs well for certain use cases, you can duplicate it and personalize it in a few clicks, and use it again for another prospect. ‍  

You’re convinced? 

Amazing, that’s just what we wanted to hear!

FAQs

How can you create an interactive product demo? 

There are five steps that you need to take to create an interactive product demo: capture your product’s screens, personalize your interactive product demo for your prospect, link your buttons (and other elements) to the right places, add annotations, and share the demo. 

How long does it take to create an interactive demo?

There’s no one answer when it comes to how long it should take to create an interactive demo. 

However, if you use a demo platform like Walnut, you can create an interactive product demo that is personalized to meet your buyer’s needs and engaging in just a few minutes! 

What is the goal of an interactive product demo?

Ideally, an interactive product demo should give buyers a realistic sense of what it would be like to actually use your product and show them the value it will bring.

When done right, interactive product demos are a valuable tool that you can use to convince your prospect to sign on the dotted line.  

So what’s the hold up? Start using interactive product demo software to deliver interactive product demos by pushing the “Get Started” button at the top of your screen.