5 Best Practices to Create Software Demo Videos That Win More Sales

What makes demos in video form more effective?

Nearly a quarter of sales engineers say over 50% of demos are unqualified^[1]. This means more prospects are requesting product demos early in the buying cycle at a stage when they aren’t nurtured enough to make a purchase. This leaves sales executives scrambling to keep up with the rising demand for demos.

Videos provide a perfect sandbox to effectively take such buyers through a product in action and reserve more time for qualified leads^[2] that may need a deeper dive during demos.

In Gartner Digital Markets’ 2022 Global Software Buyer Trends Survey^[*], we asked buyers what content they refer to the most when making software purchase decisions. Video tutorials and product demonstrations emerged among the top three choices.

5 smart ways to make software demo videos

Here are some best practices for creating product demo videos that resonate with buyers and win more prospects. 

1. Use multiple demo videos to close a deal

There are different types of demo videos that you can create. You will need a diverse range of demo videos throughout sales- and marketing-related interactions to maximize engagement and build urgency among end-users.

That said, giving detailed demonstrations too early can generate more questions than answers, prolonging the sales cycle. Use different types of demos for buyers at different stages of the purchase journey to give prospects a peek into your product but without tiring them out with details they might not need yet.

The number and types of demo videos needed for a sales win are dictated by the size of the buying group and the complexity of your product.

2. Highlight business value; avoid feature- or function-based focus

Demonstrations, as an element of the buying journey, come after reference checks (including peer discussions and third-party user reviews) and lay the foundation for the future actions buyers take, such as requesting a proposal (RFP) or proof-of-concept (POC) (see the figure below). 

At the demonstration stage, resist the temptation to show every feature and functionality of your product. Stay focused on business outcomes that underline a prospect’s reason for coming to you in the first place. It will reinforce their need for change and show them your product’s value.

3. Build a list of role-driven demo videos

Delineating who your buyers are and what their associated pain points are is critical to successful product value demonstration.

As many as nine active buyers could be involved in a software purchase decision for small and midsize businesses. Not all of these would be your end-users, but it is important to cater to these decision-makers in your demo videos and show them the potential of your product. They are your true lead, as they can make the deal happen.

Present your product’s features and functionalities as a solution to the challenges faced by these target roles. For instance, a product demo video for business analysts in marketing could show how they can use the software to combine online marketing campaign data with sales data to directly correlate campaign results with sales numbers.

4. Add user reviews and testimonials

Claims become more compelling when real users give their first-person accounts. Use testimonials, reviews and case studies in product demo videos to add authenticity to your assertions. These social proofs put a face on the beneficiaries of your product (or service) and make prospects see themselves as recipients of those benefits and part of the success story. If you aren’t sure where to start, request reviews from your customers in the form of video interviews. 

Using content like this might be the differentiator between buyers asking you for more information and buyers looking elsewhere. Use video marketing, instead of the text format, to embed testimonials into landing pages, websites, social media, email and other customer outreach collateral to generate high user engagement.

Additionally, use symbols of validation by third parties, such as the “top performer” or “category leader” badges awarded by popular software review sites such as Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp.

5. Don’t miss out on creating a canned software demo video

There’s a significant time lag between when a prospective client requests a demo and its actual execution by a sales executive. That duration can run as long as 5.6 days^[4], i.e., more than a work week. While customizing demos for key buyers and users is essential, having at least one canned demo can reduce this time lag and bring greater consistency in the standards of demo delivery.

Scaling the performance of successful demos to all meetings, errant interfaces in the middle of demonstrations and misconfigured capabilities in default software versions are some challenges a canned (or recorded) demo video can solve for software providers. In a canned video demo, highlight prospects’ reasons for making a change and restate the business outcomes from your solution

Demo videos are a versatile format that can be used to educate consumers during a high-level search as well as direct them to brand sites and introduce products.

Learn more about how to use videos in your marketing strategy to boost lead generation: 4 Best Practices To Optimize Your B2B Video Marketing Efforts

Amita Jain

Amita Jain covers B2B content creation and strategy to help businesses reach their marketing goals. She received her master’s degree from King’s College London, U.K. Exploring the world of art and reading fiction are some of her usual happy distractions outside of work. Connect with Amita on LinkedIn.

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Methodology

*Gartner Digital Markets’ 2022 Global Software Buyer Trends Survey

Results presented are based on a Gartner Digital Markets study to understand business challenges and approaches to technology and software investments. The primary research was conducted in October 2021 among a total of 2,501 respondents in the following countries: United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Colombia, Belgium, Poland, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Germany and France.

Respondents were screened for having recently purchased technology and decision-making authority. Respondents were required to be responsible for making decisions on purchasing technologies for their organization.

Disclaimer: Survey results do not represent global findings or the market as a whole, but reflect the sentiment of the respondents and companies surveyed.

Sources

1. Sales Engineering: 2022 Compensation and Workload Report, Consensus
2. Qualified Lead, Gartner Glossary
3. Establishing a Product Demonstration Strategy as a Tech CEO, Gartner
4. Quick Answer: How Do I Improve Demo Effectiveness Through Sales Enablement?, Gartner