The 2024 Guide For Product Walkthroughs

Static demos? Those could engage the viewer a decade ago.

People no longer want to watch how products work, they want to try them firsthand and see whether that's what they were looking for.

Free trials might be a solution for this, but they still require users to commit by leaving their contact details or signing up, which many first-time visitors are reluctant to do. Also, building a free trial might be complicated for the company since it requires creating a fully functional product and limiting it in some way (e.g., time-limited, feature-limited).

That's where interactive product walkthroughs come in.

They're quickly becoming a standard when we talk about SaaS product demos as prospects don't want to schedule a call. They’re available on your website 24/7, whenever someone wants to watch them.

Instead of passively watching videos, product walkthroughs enable viewers to explore the product at their own pace before committing, which significantly boosts your conversion rate as they get to see the product in action.

In this article, you’ll learn how to create interactive product walkthroughs and ultimately drive more conversions.

What are product walkthroughs?

Product walkthroughs are interactive demos that allow users to get hands-on experience with a particular product or software. They qualify visitors as warm leads if they’re interested in what they see. Unlike live demos, product walkthroughs enable users to explore the product at their own pace, whenever they want.

Types of product walkthroughs

Product walkthroughs can be used in different stages of the user journey. It's important to distinguish product walkthroughs that are used during the onboarding process from interactive product demos that help with conversion.

The main difference between these two types is in terms of their target audience and goals.

You've probably heard of user onboarding walkthroughs. They're in-app tours that you can access after purchasing the tool or subscribing to the free trial and downloading the app to your device.

They guide new users through the tool, showing them how to use its features and how to get the most out of it. The main goal of these walkthroughs is to shorten the learning curve and increase the activation rate after purchasing the tool.

On the other hand, we have interactive product walkthroughs that can be used before a user commits (before they purchase your tool, book a sales call or even get a free trial). You can embed the interactive walkthroughs on your website or landing page or share a link on social media or in a newsletter.

This significantly reduces the entry barrier and expands your product's reach, enabling it to connect with more potential customers.

Interactive product tours significantly increase conversion rate, providing a much more accurate picture of your product than screenshots or static demos.

Check out these examples to increase SaaS landing page conversion rates.

Use cases and benefits of product walkthroughs

One product tour, many ways to use it. Here are some of the ways you can use walkthroughs built with HowdyGo:

• Website/landing page embed: Embedding walkthroughs to your landing page is one of the best ways to show your product in action and increase conversion rates. According to HowdyGo's survey, 88% of people wouldn't book a demo call if they weren't able to see your product first.
• Social media videos: With only one click, you can export your demos in a quick video form that's adjusted for social media and engages users. Social media has a big reach, and it allows you to give a glimpse into your product to a large audience. Even if only a small percentage of that audience visits your website to see the full product tour, it can still lead to many potential customers.
• Product GIFs: You can turn your product tours into engaging GIFs that you can use for your marketing campaigns on social media or email newsletters.
• User onboarding: Although HowdyGo focuses primarily on building interactive walkthroughs that will help you get more customers, you can also use these tours for your existing users to provide them with additional value and some tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your platform. Well-crafted product tours can lead to increasing activation rate and user retention. For example, HowdyGo's client Flagsmith experienced a 1.5x higher in-app activation rate, after adding interactive guides.
• Demo center: If you have multiple product walkthroughs (maybe some of them are platform overviews while others focus on particular features or use cases), you can build a whole demo center on your website that can serve as a knowledge base both for your potential customers and existing ones. According to our statistics, one out of four customers views multiple demos, if that option is available.

Top 3 product walkthrough examples

Here are some of the best interactive product demo examples created with HowdyGo.

1. Flagsmith

Flagsmith's product walkthrough is divided into four chapters, making it easier for users to follow. They also used their brand colors for all the interactive elements such as annotations and buttons. Here are the results they achieved:

• 1.7x more conversions
• 1.5x higher activation rate
• Over 90% completion rate
• Over 580 sign-up clicks

2. Tango

Story-led walkthroughs are a great way to keep your users engaged throughout the whole tour. Tango, a contract automation platform, used the fictional character Don Draper who guides users through the process of creating proposals making it seem easier.

3. ADInstruments

ADInstruments is another example of a simple yet effective product walkthrough. Here's what you can learn from their example:

• Write a user-centric copy using active verbs.
• Keep it short and simple, but always highlight the main features.
• Don't be afraid to use emojis and make it witty (if that resonates with your target audience).

How to create a product walkthrough with HowdyGo

Here's how to create interactive walkthroughs using HowdyGo demo recording software.

1. Create an account

• Sign up for HowdyGo for free. Free trial users get 14 days to test the tool, no credit card required.
• Install HowdyGo's Chrome extension that's necessary for recording walkthroughs.

2. Capture a recording

• Open your product (software or web app), and then open the HowdyGo extension. Click  "Start Recording" to begin.

• You can work with your tool as usual; just naturally go through the workflow you want to show to the users. HowdyGo will record your flow and then break it down into steps to make it easier to follow.
• HowdyGo is based on the principle of 1 click = 1 step. The tool will create one step for each click you make. If you click something by accident, don't worry, as you can edit the steps later. If you want to do something without recording it, simply pause the recording and click wherever you want.
• When you finish, click "Stop Recording" to save the workflow, or "Cancel Recording" if you want to start from scratch.
• Don't exit this tab until all your files are uploaded to the HowdyGo's Editor. The process is quick and once it's done, the Editor will automatically open on your screen.

3. Edit the recording

You can edit your recording as much as you want and even use the same recording as a starting point to create multiple versions of your walkthrough, customized for different user segments.

Here are some of the options:

1. Annotations and highlights: You can add comments or annotations for every step to capture the product's 'aha' moments, making it easier for users to understand its value. Since you are using this feature to direct the viewer’s attention towards your note, avoid putting lots of content that doesn't provide much value.

2. Reordering the steps: You can reorganize the steps in seconds using a simple drag-and-drop feature. You can also delete the steps or add new ones, which can be useful when you add new features to your product. There's no need to create a new walkthrough when you can simply add that new feature as a new step.

4. Edit the captured HTML

Did you know that you can edit the actual content of your walkthrough, after recording? Yes, that's right.

HowdyGo is much more than a screen-recording tool. It creates an HTML copy that looks exactly like your product. Except that you can edit it with a few clicks!

Here's what you can do with this product demo video production tool:

1. Edit the text: You can edit any textual element in your recording, which can be useful if the names of the features change or you want to hide the actual numbers or client's data for security reasons. Just click on the text you want to edit, and enter the new text in the field that will appear.

2. Replace the images: You can change any photos and images that appear in your recording. For example, you can replace them with your prospect's logo, if you want to give the tour a more personalized touch. Don't worry, you don't have to manually edit the images in every step, you can bulk-edit them through the automatic brand fetch.

3. Blur elements: You can blur any element of your recording, whether you find something distracting and unnecessary, or you want to blur user details, for privacy reasons. Simply click "Blur HTML" from the top menu and then select the elements you wish to blur.

5. Share your walkthrough

There you have it! You have successfully created your first interactive product walkthrough. As mentioned, you can keep editing and optimizing it in the future, without the need to create a brand-new product tour every time you change something about your product.

There are multiple ways to share your demo. You can embed it to your website or landing page, or even create a whole demo center if you have more walkthroughs. Alternatively, simply copy a sharable link and send it to your audience or use it for social media and email campaigns.

Best practices for product walkthroughs in 2024

Here are the latest tips that will help you create a great interactive product demo and stand out from your competitors:

1. User segmentation

You should segment users into different groups. If your product is intended both for newbies and experienced professionals it doesn't mean the same walkthrough will work for both groups. 

That's why you need two demos, or two versions of the same walkthrough, which you can easily do with HowdyGo.

That’s exactly what Skodel, an app for the self-assessment of psychological well-being did. Their surveys target different target groups, from school children to people from the corporate world. They have different walkthroughs adjusted to the interests of each group.

2. Personalization

People love to feel special and personalization is still one of the most effective marketing strategies. Then, why not personalize your product tours by adding customers' names, names of their companies, company logos, etc?

Check out how Skodel implemented this by addressing users by their names.

3. Interactive elements

If you want to create an engaging product walkthrough, interactive elements are a must. You should add clickable buttons, animations, tooltips, fields to fill out, etc. Also, don't forget to add a navigation that will allow users to skip a step and move forward, or go back to revisit a particular step.

All of HowdyGo’s clients use clickable elements such as buttons and tooltips, but Sleekflow took it to the next level by showing how to fill out the form from scratch.

4. Optimization for different devices

You should always keep in mind that users might watch your walkthrough from devices that have a different screen size than the device used to create walkthroughs. 

But don't worry, you don't have to memorize screen sizes as HowdyGo's extension will automatically suggest the optimal screen size, which you can change if you want. Don’t make the recording too big, as the details will be too small for people watching on a device with a smaller screen than yours.

Want to learn more? Check out these 7 tips for better interactive product demos.

Measuring the success of your product walkthrough

Creating your product walkthrough is just the first step. With HowdyGo, you can edit and optimize your walkthroughs as much as you want and they'll grow better over time. You should optimize your tours based on user feedback and insights on their behavior.

When choosing a demo automation software, make sure that it has built-in analytics tools so that you can track users progress. HowdyGo's product analytics allows you to track everything in detail, providing you with user-friendly graphs that are easy to understand.

Here are the key metrics to track:

• Impressions: Tracking the number of people who've seen your demo helps you understand its reach, but knowing this metric is also essential for calculating many other metrics described above.
• Completion rate: This metrics shows you how many users complete your tour. If the percentage of users who complete the entire product tour is high, that's a good sign. If it's low, you should optimize the tour by adding interactive elements, dividing it into chapters if it's long, etc.
• User engagement: Track user interactions with specific elements of the tour, such as buttons, forms and other clickable elements, to see which UI elements drive the most engagement.
• Click-through rate: Measure how many users click the CTA that's inviting them to sign up or book a call. We suggest placing multiple CTAs, not only at the end of the tour but also during the tour, so that you can see which ones get the most clicks.
• Number of leads: Add lead-capture forms in your product walkthrough and track how many people leave you their contact information. You could A/B test different lead-capture forms and see for example whether the response rate is higher when you ask for email or phone number, etc.
• Drop-off points: Identifying points where many people exit the tour before completion could help you optimize these sections and remove friction. Analyze these points to see whether those parts of your demo are too slow and boring, whether they're complicated or confusing, whether you should add some interactive elements, etc.
• Time spent: Analyze how much time users spent on the tour. Too little time might indicate they've just rushed through the tour, while too much time might suggest that some parts of the tour are confusing.
• Return rate: Measure the percentage of users who come back to watch the product tour again. A high return rate is a good sign as these repeat viewers are more likely to convert into paying customers.

Here is an example of what interactive walkthroughs brought to Flagsmith:

Conclusion

As you can see, interactive product tours have many benefits, the biggest one being increasing your conversion rate and leading to more sales. But that's not the only benefit, as it also increases engagement, user activation and retention.

Also, the best part is that you don't need to be an expert in order to create effective product walkthroughs. With our product walkthrough software and guidance from our team of experts, everyone can experience these benefits today.

Try it out for free and see first hand!

If you want to dive deeper or compare different product tour software, check this out:

• 8 inbound marketing software for SaaS companies
• The interactive demo hierarchy
• Navattic vs Reprise
• Storylane vs Walnut
• Arcade alternative
• Storylane alternative
• Walnutio alternative

FAQs

What is the difference between product tour and walkthrough?

The terms "product tour" and "walkthrough" are often used interchangeably, but there's a difference. Product tours provide an overview of a platform and its key features, like a demo. Product walkthroughs are more interactive, as they encourage users to actively try out the tool and test its features instead of passively watching a demo.

What are product tours?

Product tours are demos that guide users through mobile or web apps, explaining to them how to use the tool and how to get the most out of it.

How to give a walkthrough?

There are different approaches. You can guide users through a platform explaining its key features. Or, you could show them how to do something with your product, using the chance to showcase its features and strengths. It's important to allow users to choose their own pace, by allowing them to skip some steps, etc.