What is Demo Software? [Plus Top Tech for Every Type of Software Demo]
The rise of PLG has prompted an explosion of new tools and strategies designed to help customers get hands on with a product faster.
In fact, this area has grown so quickly that G2 recently dedicated an entirely new category to demo automation. Gartner is likely doing the same, stating that a potential new category is blooming with venture capitalists “circling around in the demo and product experience space.”
But most people don’t know what demo software is, the forms it takes, or how people use it in practice. So in this post, we’ll define demo software, outline the three main types of demo software, and technology suggestions for each type of demo.
What is demo software
Demo software is designed to help teams showcase their product to prospective buyers and end-users.
Simply put, it’s a suite of no-code tools that help teams deliver better software product demos. These solutions can vary from software to help improve live demos, video demos, or interactive product demos.
Types of software demos
Below, we discuss three main types of sales demo software, sharing our recommended tooling and the pros and cons of each approach.
Live demo software
Live demo software is what it sounds like – it helps sales reps or sales engineers demo a product live. Today, live demos typically take place over online meetings.
Prospects watch and listen as the presenter shares their screen, pointing out various product features depending on the current issues the prospect is facing or the unique use cases they are trying to solve for.
Pros
- Direct interaction with your prospects
- Allows reps and engineers to answer questions on the fly
- You can tailor presentations to fit a prospect’s exact needs
- Almost all live demo software is affordable
Cons
- Not 100% repeatable - Live demos won’t be the same for every prospect, meaning that sales reps or engineers have to sync and prepare for each one ahead of time.
- Reliant on everyone’s schedules - Live demos are only possible when both the prospect and salesperson are free – they can’t be done on-demand.
Demo video software
Demo video software allows you to show prospects how specific features work without having to spin up a free trial or demo environment.
If you want to be efficient, you can create multiple videos – one for each feature – in one go and reuse them over and over. With demo video software, videos are easy to make, share, and even the most complex products easy for prospects to understand.
Pros
- Great for visual learners
- Can be reused for future sales conversations, marketing materials, or onboarding resources
- Addresses a large audience
- Gives customers a clear idea of what to expect when they buy your tool
Cons
- Impersonal - Video demos cater to a wide audience who may not all be struggling with the same use case.
- Incomplete - Your videos wouldn’t let your prospects get hands on. Prospects don’t just want to see your product – they want to try before they buy.
- Expensive - High-end product videos can be pretty costly. Especially considering they have to be updated each time your product UI is updated.
Interactive demo software
Interactive demos are lightweight clickable versions of your product that don’t require any coding or engineering to configure. They empower potential buyers to experience the product, becoming familiar with it before they buy it.
For example, on one of their product pages, Citrix has an embedded click-through demo, prompting prospects to see if they are interested in the product before signing up for a live demo
Pros
- Prospects’ hands on a product early and educates them faster on product value
- Demos can be edited and tailored specifically for each ICP, guiding prospects straight to aha moments
- Are no-code and can be built out and deployed in a few days
Cons
- Risk of competitors seeing the product
- Customers may want a demo using their own data - Product tours are front-end captures, so they don’t use actual customer data.
Top Tech for Software DemosLive demo software
Saleo
Saleo utilizes your existing live environment and directly transplants data into the platform. This eliminates the common problem of demos “breaking off” from all of the data that powers the full product, which tends to create functionality issues.
Demo Gorilla
Demo Gorilla a browser extension for live SaaS demos that tells your sales teams exactly what to say to sell your product. With Demo Gorilla’s presenter notes, reps have access to synchronized talking points as they navigate through your application. Meaning they always have the most contextually relevant information to share with prospects.
DemoDesk
DemoDesk takes Zoom and Google Hangouts to another level, encouraging everyone to engage collaboratively. Reps can prepopulate talk tracks for specific use cases, upload battle cards, and store other content on the Demodesk platform. And after a conversation concludes, meeting information is synced directly to your CRM.
Demo video software
Loom
Loom is a free online video platform that lets sellers record their screen and camera. Once they’ve created a video they like, they can copy the link to the video and paste it into an email, text, or LinkedIn message to prospects. They could also download videos to leverage in other sales enablement activities or pass them along to other teams to incorporate into customer onboarding materials.
Consensus
Consensus specializes in delivering personalized, self-service demos. Presales teams can create demos from prerecorded videos, slides, and other documents and store them on the Consensus platform. When prospects select topics of interest, they are directed to a demo that showcases relevant product features and benefits. And as a prospect watches the demo, Consensus tracks their reactions, noting which demos are more or less popular.
Interactive demo software
Navattic
Navattic enabled any member of your team to create no-code interactive product demos. These demos can be used across the funnel, from first touch in outbound campaigns, to website product demos and post-demo leave behinds. With a built-in no-code editor, Navattic makes it easy for anyone to design gold-standard demo environments in minutes. We show off our own interactive demo and how it was built on the homepage of our website.
Arcade
Arcade lets you record screenshots of your application and walk prospective customers through your product. They can also be embedded or attached to an email follow-up to give visitors a sneak peak of your tool prior to jumping on a call to purchase.
Demo software can save your sales team time, educate leads, and, most importantly, get prospects excited about purchasing and using your product. If you’re interested in learning more about presales software and how it might work for you, consider reading: