Lead with your product
- Prioritize vibrant, visual, and value-adding product areas when taking captures. 86% of captures in top-performing demos are HTML web captures. Use the capture editor to refine text or images as needed.
- Use tooltips, beacons, and backdrops to highlight the most important elements on each step. See demos by Mixpanel, Edge Delta, and DailyPay for inspiration.
Craft an engaging narrative
- Top performing demos start with a hook, address customers directly, and contain 5-13 steps per flow. Keep dialog boxes to 25-30 words, with opening steps even shorter at 10-20 words. See copywriting tips for more guidance.
- Use multiple flows when demoing different features or use cases. Multi-flow demos achieve 48% higher completion rates than single-flow demos.
- Add CTAs after major product moments, on your final step, or throughout your demo with escape view. Escape view is recommended for demos with 10+ steps.
Apply finishing touches
- Create a theme that includes your brand colors and fonts. 63% of top-performing demos use custom themes. See demos by Guru, Close, and Drift for design inspiration.
- Set responsive strategies to control how demos appear at different resolutions. 52% of top demos implement mobile-specific strategies—important since mobile visitors spend less time (1.2 min vs 2.7 min on desktop).
Promote your demo
Where you place your demo on your website affects performance.- 80% of top CTAs appear above the fold—navbar and above-the-fold placements achieve 68% click-through rates
- Product pages (62%) and homepages (48%) are the most common locations for demos
- “Take a tour” remains the most popular CTA language
Add conversion points
Your demo should encourage visitors to take the next step—whether that’s booking a sales call, starting a free trial, or upgrading a feature. Top 10% of demos achieve 32% click-through rates, with the top 1% reaching 71%.1
Add CTAs to your final step
Add 1-2 buttons to the last step of your demo directing visitors to the next step (e.g., “Start a free trial”, “Book a demo”).
2
Include a mid-demo conversion step
Add a dedicated conversion step right after a major reveal or “wow moment” in your demo, as shown in this demo by Guru.
3
Enable escape view
High-intent or returning visitors may be ready to convert before reaching your final step. Enable escape view to give visitors access to your CTA at any point.
Form gating
Ungated demos show 6% higher engagement and 7% higher completion than gated demos. If you do use a form:- Keep it short—75% of forms use a single field
- Position the form at the end of the demo rather than the beginning