Capturing the attention of website visitors is a challenge. Your website serves as the front door to your SaaS solution, and you need an irresistible hook to keep visitors engaged.

Matthew Weisberg, Director of Solution Consultating at Upland

The Goal

To transform casual website visitors into engaged prospects, you can:

Increase Engagement: To boost engagement, feature the demo prominently above the fold on your homepage; studies show it gets x2 more attention.
Educate Quickly: Ungate the demo and enable visitors to understand your product's benefits and features swiftly, addressing their pain points.
Generate Leads: Capture valuable visitor information through gated demos, allowing you to nurture these leads down the sales funnel.

Implementation Guide

1. Demo Structure

Identify Key Features: Determine which features solve the biggest problems for your target audience, and focus on showcasing them.
Steps 1-2: Create a hook. Start with a captivating headline or question that addresses a common problem your target audience faces. Then, introduce your product as a solution, using a text or image guide, or add a short teaser video.
Steps 3-10: Dive into the key features. Use tooltips, or hotspots to physically engage the viewer. Show 'aha' moments and how these features solve the main problems.
Steps 10-12: Recap the main benefits and features. Optionally, offer a special promotion, or limited-time offer to entice immediate action. End with a strong CTA, such as "Start Free", "Book Consultation" or "Visit Pricing".

2. Ungated vs. Gated Demo

Sales-Led Company

Product-Led Company

If your product is kept behind a gate, and you rely on the sales team to drive customer acquisition, we suggest:

💡 Combination of the ungated and gated demo:

Ungated Content (Steps 1-6):
- Allow all visitors to view the introduction and primary features of your product without any barriers. This ensures that potential customers get a taste of what you offer, enticing them to explore further.
- This section should be designed to hook the viewer, making them curious about the full capabilities of your product.
Gated Content (Steps 7-12):
- For a deeper dive into the product, including advanced features, success stories, and special offers, ask visitors to provide their email addresses.
- This not only serves as a lead generation tool but also segments genuinely interested prospects from casual browsers.

If your product is at the forefront of the acquisition strategy, and you are letting prospects experience the product's value firsthand, with minimal barriers, we suggest:

💡 Use only ungated demos

Why?

Since users can access the product without initial sales interaction, qualification might come later in the process, often based on user behavior, feature utilization, or engagement metrics.

Also, you can enable the Account Reveal feature, and identify viewers' companies automatically.

Pro Tip: Personalization is key to a memorable demo experience. Enhance user engagement by personalizing the demo from lead forms or URL parameters.

3. CTA Placement

Strategic Points:
- After introducing major 'aha' moments, place a CTA like "Want to see this in action?" or "Learn more about this feature."
- After presenting a success story or testimonial, use CTAs like "Join our success stories" or "Experience it yourself."
Final CTA:
- This should be the most compelling, urging the viewer to take immediate action. Examples include "Start Free," "Get a Personalized Demo," or "Unlock Full Features."

Pro Tip: To increase the Click-through rate (CTR), we suggest giving viewers a choice, by adding the secondary CTA.

4. Demo Position and Format

Where?

Above the Fold: For maximum engagement, the demo should be prominently positioned on the top of the main landing or product page.
Navigation Menu: Provides constant accessibility from any point on the website. It's a subtle reminder that the demo is just a click away.
Middle of the Page: Best for more detailed demos that align with surrounding content, such as feature breakdowns or use-case scenarios.
Bottom of the Page: Ideal for a recap demo or a more in-depth exploration, prompting visitors to take the next step, be it signing up or scheduling a demo call.

The right Format?

Demo Inline Embed
- The demo begins as soon as visitors land on the page, instantly immersing them.
Inline Embed with CTA
- Allows visitors to initiate the demo when they're ready, providing them with a sense of control.
- The presence of a CTA draws attention and creates anticipation.
Popup Embed (with CTA Button)
- Enables users to decide when they want a full-screen demo experience, keeping the main content uninterrupted.
- Popup format ensures the demo takes center stage, eliminating other distractions.

5. Performance and Optimization

Utilize the integration with Google Analytics to monitor the performance of each demo and combine engagement with your website event data.
Leverage Storylane's analytics features to gain insights into how users interact with the demos, identifying the most engaging sections and elements.
With Demo Reveal, you can enrich viewers' data with company info from Clearbit, automatically (no account required)
Set up Slack Alert and receive an instant Slack notification when a lead is engaged and identified.
You can also leverage other integrations and send demo events to CRM, Marketing Automation, or your Data warehouse.

Customer Examples

Clari

HRSoft

Convert CTA Button