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Show, Don't Tell

🤫 Show, Don't Tell #46 - An arrow is a terrible thing to waste ⤵️


Read Time: 4.2 minutes

Welcome to our 46th edition of Show, Don't Tell. A newsletter to help you build REMARKABLE interactive demos...3 tips at a time.

This week we:

  1. Won’t let you ignore this CTA
  2. Show you how lead-in copy can help conversions
  3. Stop making the choice between desktop or mobile demos

Let's get after it...

Supported By:

We are Navattic fanatics.

We had the idea for this newsletter after hundreds of hours spent building Navattic demos for our past companies and current clients. We love making remarkable interactive demos, and want to share helpful tips and examples so you can too.

A huge thanks to Navattic for helping make this a reality. If you want to create a better experience for your buyers, go check them out.

They have a free plan you can start using today!

​→ Try Navattic​

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Tip #1 - Put Your Demo in the Marketplace

Here’s some advice if your app is on a marketplace: stop assuming I’m ready to buy!

Why should I have to install your thing before I can see if it's any good? Either I’m taking a leap of faith, or ready to bounce somewhere else.

This is why Jason are showing some love to LoyaltyLion. They put an interactive demo CTA directly in their marketplace listing. 👏👏👏👏

We hope to see more of these because:

  • it reduces buyer risk (try before you install)
  • It meets people where they already are (no "visit our website" detours)
  • It differentiates from every competitor showing screenshots

If you're building demos, think about where people are when they're deciding. Then put your demo there.

P.S. This goes for any PLG product, too

​→ Check out LoyaltyLion's marketplace demo​

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Tip #2 - Show Me Something Pretty Before You Ask for My Email

That first screen of your demo is doing way more work than you think. In most cases, it’s the moment someone decides if they're in or out.

Unfortunately, most of us blow this by opening with a form or some vanilla copy. Jason and I are demo nerds, and even our brains check out when we see these.

That’s why we like North One. They start with this clean graphic showing their actual product. It’s got a mobile view, desktop view, and real account balances. They even put a Trustpilot rating for good measure.

I don’t know about you, but seeing something like this makes us excited to see the rest of the demo.

Instead of boring text, they’ve been able to:

  • get us excited before they ask for anything
  • give us a reason to stop scrolling
  • build trust early on

If you’ve been following along for awhile then you might remember Kickup's delightful running man from Edition #3 or Storyblok's spinning Earth from Edition #4. Those moments of "oh, this is nice" before the demo even starts are more important than you think.

​→ See how North One leads with visuals​

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Tip #3 - Give Them a Reason to Click

Airfocus has two options on their page: "Book a demo" or "Take an instant tour." Pretty standard stuff, right?

THINK AGAIN!

They added an animated curly-cue arrow that literally points from "Or take an instant tour" down to their product interface. It's hand-drawn style, kind of playful, and my eye can’t help but follow it.

It's such a small thing…literally just an arrow…but it's guiding me without being pushy about it.

And now suddenly the self-serve option doesn't feel like the backup plan. It feels like the thing I want to do.

B2B companies don’t do anything this playful. But maybe we should?

​→ Follow that arrow and see where it takes you​

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Make Magic With HTML Captures 🪄

Have you heard the term, "HTML Capture?"

It's when you capture the underlying code of a page in your app to create a life-like snapshot. Compared to static screenshots, HTML Captures let you build a demo that feels like the real thing!

But that's only the start of it, because HTML captures also unlock a number of powerful AI features in Navattic, like:

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  1. Text Animation - have text animate on screen like it's being typed or generated in real time. This is perfect for demoing AI chat tools and agents.
  2. Chart AI - turn unimpressive charts and dashboards into polished demo environments that tell the exact story you want.
  3. Table AI - transform messy data tables into anonymized examples for every use case.

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These features make it easy to build polished demos and tell an engaging story around your product.

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​​→ Learn more about editing HTML Captures in Navattic​

Don’t have time to build remarkable Navattic demos? We do.

​DemoDash is an agency 100% focused on making interactive demos your top product marketing asset. We’ll map your story, build your tours, and help you measure the impact.

​→ Learn more at demodash.agency​

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So that’s it. Our 46th edition of Show, Don’t Tell.

3 useful tips to help you build remarkable interactive demos.

Tune in next Tuesday for more advice from DemoDash.

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P.S.

If you know anyone else who would love these tips, please consider sending them this edition so they can subscribe 🙏
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​Jason and Eric​
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Show, Don't Tell

Learn how to create remarkable interactive demos that make your SaaS product easy to understand and buy. 3 practical tips and examples every Tuesday.

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