SaaS Product Demo: Detailed 2024 Guide

Whether you're a product-led or sales-led growth company,  SaaS product demos are a key part of your marketing funnel because they build trust and let prospective customers see how your platform solves their problems before they commit.

Despite various software demo options, most companies are accustomed to the traditional sales call as the only way to present your product. A more user-friendly approach is an interactive demo that allows prospects to explore a product on their own without immediate pressure from sales teams.

As modern buyers have become accustomed to seamless, self-guided buying experiences common in B2C products, they expect the same in B2B SaaS. 

However, based on our research of over 200 SaaS companies, not many are meeting those expectations:

• 30% of companies don't show you any part of their product without talking to their sales team. Not even a screenshot or GIF.
• Only 30% show a demo video with their actual UI, and only 4% use interactive demos.

Because of this, using the right product demos at the right point of the customer journey can still be a real competitive advantage and one of the most effective demand generation tactics for your SaaS.

Don’t know where to start? Luckily, this guide will help you learn about modern SaaS demos from A to Z.

What is a SaaS product demo?

In SaaS, product demos demonstrate the value of your product to potential customers by showcasing how your product features alleviate your prospect's pain points.

A successful demo will move a good-fit prospect towards a buying decision.

In a nutshell, modern software companies have four main types of product demos available, and you should most likely aim to use a blend of these based on your prospect's stage in the funnel.

Asynchronous demos, such as product demo videos and interactive product demos, can engage prospective customers throughout their lifecycle, while traditional live demos with a sales rep should only occur if needed once the prospect is warmed.

Let’s get into the details:

1. Live demo call

Most B2B SaaS companies, whether product or sales-led, will incorporate live demo calls as part of their sales process.

While sales demos can be very effective in closing qualified leads, if they are the only way a potential customer can see your software in action, they can convert poorly and be a huge time sink for your sales team.

According to our research, 88% of software buyers will actually not book a sales call without having seen the product in action first.

Asynchronous software demo options are not only what buyers are asking for, but they will also help your sales team save time and focus on what sales professionals do best: nurturing and closing high-value, complex accounts.

Pros:

• Best way to close a complex sale with many stakeholders involved.
• Personalized approach.
• The sales rep can focus a demo on the exact pain points of a prospective customer.

Cons:

• Only effective on warmed, qualified prospects later down the funnel.

2. Explainer video

An explainer video uses abstract animations to give viewers an idea of a product's function. It doesn't show the actual product but only gives a big-picture sense of its function.

Explainer videos are very expensive to create (often requiring help from an agency) and don't actually help get your prospective customers any closer to a buying decision – they might catch their attention, though.

Pros:

• Flashy and engaging, great for catching someone's attention.

Cons:

• Expensive.
• Doesn't actually show how your platform works fully.

3. Demo video

Demo videos are generally screen recordings of someone's computer, showcasing specific features. They sometimes include a narrator explaining what's going on as they take the viewer through a flow—sometimes showing them in that familiar front-facing camera popularised by Loom.

Some demo videos can look much more polished than others. For example, videos exported from HowdyGo smoothly zoom in and out with each click, giving the clip a more dynamic, higher-production value feel.

You can create product demo videos with various software, and they don't require a large investment aside from some editing time.

The main issue with videos is that they're a passive medium so it's very easy for viewers to tune out. Your best bet is to edit them to be very short - aka keeping them under 2 minutes.

Pros:

• Asynchronous.
• Easily embedded anywhere.
• Useful at all stages of the sales funnel.

Cons:

• Videos are a passive medium, so it's easy for prospective customers to tune out.
• They need to be fully re-recorded whenever the app changes.

4. Interactive product demo

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Interactive demos (also known as automated demos) allow prospects to experience your product through a guided tour. They look and feel just like your actual product, but they take the viewer through a predefined flow populated with meaningful data.

Engagement with interactive demos is much higher than that with screen recordings, and they're much more likely to be experienced from start to finish—meaning your prospective customers don't lose interest halfway through.

Pros:

• Asynchronous
• Self-paced
• Useful at all stages of the sales funnel
• Flexible: No need to re-create every time UI changes - you can just switch a specific step.

Cons:

• You can't embed interactive product demos anywhere (E.g., social media posts, email), so make sure you pick a platform like HowdyGo that also lets you export interactive demos as videos and GIFS.

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How to create a product demo in 5 steps?

Planning can go a long way when you're creating a product demo. The more you plan, the less time you'll spend editing the final product in your chosen software.

1. Identify a use-case

Is your goal to drive more users to sign up or get prospects to book a call?

If you're looking to drive more sign-ups and activations for your business, keep demos ungated to maximize the number of eyeballs on the product.

If you're looking to drive live demo bookings for your business, then gate your demos behind a lead generation form or, better, insert the form after a couple of steps into a demo to ungate just enough content that it sparks interest.

On which channels are you planning to reach your audience?

This will likely determine where you place your demo and, therefore, what type is best for you. For inspiration, pick a use case from the list in the next section of the article.

To learn more about how to create a great interactive software demo for a specific use-case, click here.

2. Pick a platform

Demo creation tools are one of the best pieces of software for your inbound marketing stack. You should pick a platform that's flexible, and lets you test out different formats across different channels.

HowdyGo is a great solution because it's an all-in-one software that lets you build interactive demos and demo videos.

3. Storyboard your demo

Before you build out your demo, you should clearly know the flow you'll be showing.

Start by outlining the 3-4 core features your audience will care about, making sure each one addresses a pain point your potential customers have. If you cover too much, the risk is that no one will make it far enough to see the bits that matter.

If you're struggling to distill your product down to a few key features, a great starting point is to look through any internal assets you may already have at your disposal—think slide decks, fact sheets, web pages and any video recordings you may have lying around. 

What capabilities are normally being called out?

Another great source of inspiration is your sales, customer success and product teams. Set up a quick chat to ask them what they believe your product's 3 most important features are, and use their findings for your storyboard.

You can always create extra deep-dive demos that a prospective customer can choose to continue on to.

If you get stuck, the HowdyGo founders can help you storyboard and create your demos. We offer a depth of knowledge acquired through creating and analyzing thousands of demos for a broad range of SaaS businesses.

Pro tip: Great demos are short: < 2 mins for a demo video or < 10 steps for an interactive product tour. They get straight to the point and don't overwhelm the viewer by showing every single one of your product's features. Each capability you show should be directly linked to a pain point.

4. Build the demo & launch it

Perfect is the enemy of good. Don't overthink your demos too much, it's hard to cover everything you want to cover and keep things short and snappy.

Demos should be iterated over time, so just launch and start learning. Any prospective customer will appreciate the additional transparency on your product, so just go live.

For an in-depth guide on how to build great, engaging demos, check out our tips for better interactive product demos.

5. Iterate

Learn what's working and not and update your demo accordingly.

If you're using interactive product demos, use the platform's analytics to see when prospects are dropping off and tweak your demo accordingly.

Don't forget to update your demo content with any major UI changes or features that have been released.

Pro tip: With HowdyGo, updating interactive demos and videos is as simple as modifying a step, rather than re-recording the whole thing like you'd have to do with a traditional video platform.

7 product demo use-cases to inspire you

Demos are one of the most versatile tools you can add to your marketing stack, so knowing where to start can be overwhelming. Here are 8 applications for product demos to get your creative juices flowing.

1. Website embeds

Embedding product demos on your website is a great way to boost conversion rates. By allowing visitors to see your product in action before asking them for any commitment, you will help prospects visualize exactly how your software will solve their problems, moving them along your funnel.

Usually, a high-level product overview is best placed on the home page, while more detailed deep dives into how a specific part of the software works are best placed on specific feature pages.

To learn more about what style demos are best suited to which pages of your website, you should learn about the interactive demo hierarchy.

If you're looking for inspiration around other ways to improve the conversion of your landing pages, check out 8 great examples to increase your SaaS landing page conversion rate.

2. New feature blog posts

You can use interactive demos and screen recordings to show new functionality in action right from your feature launch assets.

Both customers and prospects are likely following your feature launches, but if you don't include any interactive content, only current customers will be able to experience your new functionality.

3. Book a demo page

Rather than forcing a prospective customer to wait for a live demo, you can instantly send them an interactive version that will answer some of their questions while they wait. 

Forcing visitors to a traditional book a demo page loses you conversions and interactive demos are one of the best ideas for increasing the performance of your book a demo page.

4. Outbound emails

Demos can be used in outbound emails to allow readers to see a feature in action instantly. Whether it's a newsletter, a mailing list or an outbound campaign, you can boost engagement with animated GIFs linking out to personalized interactive demos.

Pro tip: Use an interactive product demo platform like HowdyGo to personalize demos for each prospect in your campaign at scale (name, company, logos). Don't send generic videos. Here is an example of a single demo of Payble’s platform automatically personalized for the councils of Okaparinga and Sydney.

5. Social media

Your social media accounts should regularly inform your audience about your platform's new capabilities and key features. Demo videos and interactive tours can supercharge engagement.

Pro tip: Platforms like LinkedIn have algorithms that love video content. To make the most of it, post your demo video and link to an interactive demo in your first comment. You can use a platform like HowdyGo to build both a demo video and interactive product tour in a single shot.

6. Post sales follow-up

Interactive demos and screen recordings can be shared with prospects after a sales call. This helps them easily review what you covered and even forward the demo to decision-makers, significantly speeding up cycle times.

Make sure the demos you send directly address each pain point you discussed on the call.

Pro tip: Embed demos in a digital sales room like AssetMule to give your prospects all they need in one place (documents, contracts, social proof, etc).

7. Customer success guides

When embedded in product guides, product demos can be an effective tool for customer engagement and upselling. They're much more engaging than a long list of text and screenshots, and they allow customers to experience features they may not have access to under their current subscription.

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8. Conferences

A product tour can be a great way to generate leads at conferences. Simply gate your demo with a form and make it available at your kiosk via a QR code or on a shared device to automate your on-site lead generation.

If you're looking for more great product marketing examples used by leading B2B SaaS companies, check out this blog post.

Top 4 product demo examples

1. Flagsmith demo center

Flagsmith uses a secondary call to action on its home page: "Try interactive demo," which takes prospects to an interactive demo center.

The demo showcase opens to a quick product tour that gives an overview of the platform and offers additional deep dives into specific features prospects may be interested in.

Adding a single interactive product tour on their website resulted in 1.7x more sign ups and 1.5x higher activation for their PLG product.

💡 Pro tip: Demo centers are a great way to provide depth of content without overwhelming visitors with a single, lengthy demo. Particularly if you're marketing complex software products, you should consider a platform like HowdyGo that lets you combine multiple bite-size demos into a single page.

2. Cloudforecast ZeroWaste demo

Cloudforecast has embedded an interactive product demo of their ZeroWaste product right on their landing page. It's short, engaging and gives potential customers a clear overview of their unique selling points.

While they offer a free trial, the interactive demo allows prospects to understand the value proposition without forcing them to sign up and integrate their AWS account - boosting signups and account activations.

3. Skodel persona-based demos

Skodel uses multiple interactive product demos across its website, each tailored to the pain points of a specific target audience. Depending on whether you're an educational institution or workplace, you're directed to a relevant product demonstration embedded right on their persona pages.

Their call to action is a traditional sales call, but the self-serve demos allow prospects to build interest and warm up before committing the time to a demo call.

4. Payble personalized demos for each prospective account

Payble uses personalized interactive demos in their outbound email campaigns and at trade shows to show how their payment software would look for every possible Australian council. With a single link in their emails, they can dynamically update a demo to show any prospect's logo, name and company name in their recorded UI.

See examples of Payble’s demo personalized for the councils of Okaparinga and Sydney.

If you're curious to see more examples, you can check out our exhaustive list of interactive product demo examples here.

Conclusion

B2B buyer preferences have changed as they have become accustomed to the seamless, self-serve purchasing flows of B2C products.

Are you a product-led growth business looking to increase conversion & activation or a sales-led growth business looking to generate leads and close more deals?

Meet those preferences by making asynchronous product demos part of your marketing strategy.

Get started for free with a platform like HowdyGo and cover the widest range of use cases.

FAQs

How to give SaaS product demo?

For SaaS software products, a product demo can be given live or shared asynchronously. When done live, the demo is done over screen share using a virtual conferencing tool like Zoom. When shared asynchronously, product demo software like HowdyGo can be used to create it.

What is a demo in SaaS?

A demo in SaaS is a demonstration of a software's functionality and how, more specifically it can solve the problems of a prospective customer. SaaS demos can be carried out either synchronously over a sales call or asynchronously through an interactive demo platform like HowdyGo.

How long should a SaaS demo be?

A SaaS demo should take no longer than 2-3 minutes if you expect the prospect to go through it in their own time (ie it's a video demo or interactive demo). For an interactive demo that roughly equates to 10 steps. For a live demo, you should spend no longer than 15 minutes showing the actual product.

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