How to Build a Stand Out Demo Video

A product demo video is a video walkthrough of your product. <It can be a great method to engage prospects and quickly showcase how your product features work together to tell the right story. A demo video can show the highlights and business impact all from an easy-to-digest medium with a low barrier to entry. The product demo video can be a key media asset for both marketing and sales teams trying to quickly showcase product value.

Making a great product demo video is a delicate balance. You want to showcase the product, yet still want the buyer to desire to learn more. You want it to be high-quality, but without distracting from the story. Here are some top examples. We looked at SaaS product demo videos across the web and noticed that great product demo videos have three key features in common:

Key Features of Great Product Demo Videos

• An engaging product story
• Production quality
• Clear CTA

Let's explore how to create an engaging demo video.

When planning out your product demo video, the first step is to understand your prospective audience. This scope may differ between sales and marketing initiatives. For example, sales assets should be more targeted to uncover the specific pain points or use cases a prospective buyer is thinking about. A generic product overview can be used for this audience, but a tailored message will go further when supporting their decision to buy. Marketing can take a wider view when evaluating potential product demo videos. A high-level overview would make sense for a more general, "just browsing" audience first seeing your product from a website or outreach campaign.

Consider Your Audience For Your Demo

Additionally, when considering audience you will need to evaluate video length to plan out your demo content. Different groups will have different levels of patience and willingness to spend watching the product demo video. The difference between a 1-minute and 5-minute product demo can be substantial. Many top of the funnel leads will not want to spend multiple minutes watching a video as they are impatiently looking to get what they want and move on. They want to quickly see the product value. Other more targeted sales qualified prospects may want to spend the time on a deeper dive into the product by watching a more detailed product demo video.

Lastly, your determined audience will also be important when you build out the content and make technical language considerations. Technical jargon will usually scare off certain buyers so it is best to be avoided when delivering high level demos for a wider audience. However, if a demo is geared to get into the specifics around a product feature or use case, in-depth technical language may actually make sense and should be considered when building out a demo script.

Avoid Product Feature Overload

The product demo video should not be a feature overload. When building a video overview, you should carefully pick and choose the right features that get to a "wow moment" but do not overwhelm a viewer. The demo video is a high-level overview of the general motions of a product rather than a detailed review of functionality. The principles of the Minimum Viable Demo can be applied to a product demo video. Choose the minimum feature set that helps a prospect both understand your product and its key differentiations from the rest of the marketplace, but also leaves a prospect wanting to learn more. The demo video should be a stepping stone to another conversation rather than a stopping point in the sales process.

What do the best product demo videos have in common? The production quality is at best impressive and at minumum, doesn't detract from the story.

There's great tools you can use like Camtasia by Techsmith to record your demo. What is camtasia? Camtasia is a screen recording and video editing software that teams can use to record their product. Their tools allow you to record your screen, overlay effects and add voice narration.

Camtasia has a free trial available. However, you can also experiment with some tools that offer free screen recording tools.

Free Product Demo Software

• Loom - Loom allows you to seamlessly record video messages of your screen, cam, or both.
• CloudApp - CloudApp allows you to record your screen as a video with your voice & face, an annotated image, or a GIF and instantly share it as a link.

A product demo exists to drive a prospect to take an action. A product demo video is no different. You need to clearly identify the desired goal for the demo. Is it to build brand awareness and establish your position in the market place or is it to drive sales and conversion?

Once you have this goal in mind, you can begin crafting your demo flow. Every step in the flow and corresponding product highlight should aim to meet this desired goal. If you are building a video to drive sales and subscriptions, you will need to tie your value back to a prospective buyer's needs and use cases. The language that you use when reviewing product features and components should always resonate with their business challenges. Moving away from this goal will create confusion and an inconsistent message.

Sample CTA's include:

• Sign up for a demo
• Connect with sales
• Start a trial

Product demo videos are a powerful tool to quickly showcase functionality and use cases. However, a video is a one-directional experience. It puts your prospect in a state to listen rather than actively engage. When watching a video, a prospect is in the passenger seat. When engaging with an interactive product demo, that same prospect is now in the driver's seat. The same principles around building the right demo for your audience and intended outcomes can be applied to interactive product demos.

Regardless of the medium you choose, building a great product demo starts with telling the right story to create an engaging and positive experience that prospects enjoy viewing and sharing with their colleagues and teams.