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Insights, Marketing
“When people see our product, they love it.” I hear this a lot from SaaS founders, marketers and salespeople.
But the problem is, your prospect doesn’t get a good look at the product until they jump on a demo or start a free trial, which is a HUGE hurdle for any buyer, especially these days when time is more precious than ever. People dislike being sold to or having to onboard a product trial when they’re in the exploratory phase of the buying cycle.
The solution is simple…
If you have a great product, don’t be afraid to showcase it in the buying journey before the demo or trial.
Yes, you may get an initial decline in booked demos 😱 but if you have a fantastic product with a good-looking UI, and it solves a burning problem for your prospects, you will generate demand and start to see not just an increase in demos/trials, but an increase in demo/trial conversions. Why?
Try adding these to your website:
I love these.
Many SaaS businesses make the mistake of copy/pasting screenshots of their software on their website. These look awful, as the visitor can’t understand it. Instead, get a designer to redraw some of your main software pages. Tell them to strip out the unwanted detail, pump up the font size and add a little flair. Then, hire an animator to create a looping GIF.
Here is an example from the Slack website. If you use Slack, you will understand the difference that has been made. It’s subtle, but super effective.
An interactive demo is similar to a slideshow, but it has hotspots that seamlessly move you to the next slide when you press on them. Each hotspot has a caption explaining what the button or feature does.
It’s an excellent way for visitors to quickly demo your product on their terms.
Another benefit is that they are interactive. Getting your visitors to interact on your website makes them more engaged and more likely to convert. You can also finish the slideshow with a call to action form to book a full demo. Nice!
Check out Storylane. They are a decent low-cost provider.
Create a 5-minute whistlestop demo of your product with you talking over the top of it. This is free and, therefore, thousands of dollars cheaper than an explainer video.
Add this to your website’s navigation bar as a “5-minute tour” and see how it performs. Remember to promote the full demo or trial at the end of the video.
If you have the budget, invest in an explainer video with a professional voiceover artist. Check out this one that we at Rocket SaaS made for Trickle.
Give one or some of these a try. Don’t make any knee-jerk decisions if live demos and free trials drop. If you have confidence in your product, this should result in net-positive sales.
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By Ryan James