In order to understand how interactive demos became popular, let's review the history of product demos.

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Traditionally, exploring a product before purchase was not very hands on for buyers. For example, prospects could watch a preset demo video crafted and scripted by the marketing team or participate in a live sales demo and try to remember what a seller shared. These methods restrict a buyer's ability to ask questions and therefore understand a product's full potential, leading to delayed decision making. While polished, marketing led recorded demos can come off as impersonal and may not address a specific buyer's question or concern. These approaches can feel transactional rather than focusing on building a relationship with the buyer and can miss the fact that buyers are looking for solutions to their specific problems.

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As times have changed, so has the approach of marketing teams, focusing now on facilitating the buyers needs and less on dictating their journey. This new strategy is called buyer enablement and it empowers the buyer with the information and tools they need to make informed decisions.

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For product and sales teams, this means getting buyers to an moment or finding value in the product much faster as they truly speak to their challenges and pain points and do not provide a one size fits all solution.

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Buyer enablement shifts the focus from selling a product to solving a problem. It's about building trust and providing value, which leads to more informed and confident buyers.

‍

This approach improves the buying experience and fosters long term customer relationships and loyalty. Buyer enablement has of course fundamentally changed product demos.

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Enter interactive product demos. Interactive demos change the dynamics of the buyer seller relationship.

‍

These tools give potential customers direct access to the product without any commitments. Prospects can explore a product at their own pace and ask and answer initial questions.

‍

Interactive demos are more personalized than standard demos and therefore better at addressing specific customer needs and interests.

‍

Interactive demos can also reach a wider audience than sales teams alone. Once created, they can be used by multiple buyers simultaneously, potentially resulting in more qualified leads. By engaging with the product first hand, buyers who express interest are also likely to be genuinely interested in its capabilities, making them warmer leads than those who have only seen a sales or marketing presentation.

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This can shorten the buying cycle because prospects come into the sales conversation more prepared to make a decision, reducing the need for follow-up meetings or additional demos. Interactive demos take many forms like guided tours, these provide a structured product walk through highlighting key features and functionalities.

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They're ideal for giving buyers a comprehensive overview without overwhelming them with too much information at once.

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Guided tours also allow the most control over what users see as they follow a predetermined path.

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Sandbox environments, these allow buyers to experiment with the product in a risk free setting, buyers can explore different features and use cases and focus on interactions that answer their specific questions.

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This is good for products with extensive customization or for users already familiar with the product. Interactive pathway demos. These enable buyers to tailor the demo experience to their specific needs and preferences and make choices that influence the flow of the demo.

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These are particularly effective for complex products with multiple configurations or use cases. If you use a product like Storylane creating interactive demos becomes a simple process. This interactive demo building tool walks you step by step through creating your own demos allowing you more time to build the best interactive demo for whatever you need. Plus Storylane comes with analytics capabilities that track how buyers interact with the product. This data can provide valuable insights into which features are most popular, where buyers spend the most time, and what common pain points arise, which in turn can be used by marketing, sales, product, and customer success teams to better segment and fine tune. We'll explore using story lane throughout the course, but for now let's explore how interactive demos can be used throughout the buyer's journey. Benefits of interactive demos through each stage of the buyer journey.

‍

In order to understand how interactive demos became popular, let's review the history of product demos.

‍

Traditionally, exploring a product before purchase was not very hands on for buyers. For example, prospects could watch a preset demo video crafted and scripted by the marketing team or participate in a live sales demo and try to remember what a seller shared. These methods restrict a buyer's ability to ask questions and therefore understand a product's full potential, leading to delayed decision making. While polished, marketing led recorded demos can come off as impersonal and may not address a specific buyer's question or concern. These approaches can feel transactional rather than focusing on building a relationship with the buyer and can miss the fact that buyers are looking for solutions to their specific problems.

‍

As times have changed, so has the approach of marketing teams, focusing now on facilitating the buyers needs and less on dictating their journey. This new strategy is called buyer enablement and it empowers the buyer with the information and tools they need to make informed decisions.

‍

For product and sales teams, this means getting buyers to an moment or finding value in the product much faster as they truly speak to their challenges and pain points and do not provide a one size fits all solution.

‍

Buyer enablement shifts the focus from selling a product to solving a problem. It's about building trust and providing value, which leads to more informed and confident buyers.

‍

This approach improves the buying experience and fosters long term customer relationships and loyalty. Buyer enablement has of course fundamentally changed product demos.

‍

Enter interactive product demos. Interactive demos change the dynamics of the buyer seller relationship.

‍

These tools give potential customers direct access to the product without any commitments. Prospects can explore a product at their own pace and ask and answer initial questions.

‍

Interactive demos are more personalized than standard demos and therefore better at addressing specific customer needs and interests.

‍

Interactive demos can also reach a wider audience than sales teams alone. Once created, they can be used by multiple buyers simultaneously, potentially resulting in more qualified leads. By engaging with the product first hand, buyers who express interest are also likely to be genuinely interested in its capabilities, making them warmer leads than those who have only seen a sales or marketing presentation.

‍

This can shorten the buying cycle because prospects come into the sales conversation more prepared to make a decision, reducing the need for follow-up meetings or additional demos. Interactive demos take many forms like guided tours, these provide a structured product walk through highlighting key features and functionalities.

‍

They're ideal for giving buyers a comprehensive overview without overwhelming them with too much information at once.

‍

Guided tours also allow the most control over what users see as they follow a predetermined path.

‍

Sandbox environments, these allow buyers to experiment with the product in a risk free setting, buyers can explore different features and use cases and focus on interactions that answer their specific questions.

‍

This is good for products with extensive customization or for users already familiar with the product. Interactive pathway demos. These enable buyers to tailor the demo experience to their specific needs and preferences and make choices that influence the flow of the demo.

‍

These are particularly effective for complex products with multiple configurations or use cases. If you use a product like Storylane creating interactive demos becomes a simple process. This interactive demo building tool walks you step by step through creating your own demos allowing you more time to build the best interactive demo for whatever you need. Plus Storylane comes with analytics capabilities that track how buyers interact with the product. This data can provide valuable insights into which features are most popular, where buyers spend the most time, and what common pain points arise, which in turn can be used by marketing, sales, product, and customer success teams to better segment and fine tune. We'll explore using story lane throughout the course, but for now let's explore how interactive demos can be used throughout the buyer's journey. Benefits of interactive demos through each stage of the buyer journey.

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