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Show, Don't Tell

🤫 Show, Don't Tell #52 - We broke the #1 rule of homepages


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Welcome to our 52nd edition of Show, Don't Tell. A newsletter to help you build REMARKABLE interactive demos...3 tips at a time.

This week we:

  1. Bookend your demo like a landing page
  2. Let people explore 45 demos without losing their minds​
  3. Find the missing piece in every checklist demo​​

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: Make Your Demo Feel Like a Landing Page

Leading with a screen that's NOT your product isn't new. But we haven’t seen this before.

MeBeBot designed both their intro step AND their closing CTA to look like landing pages. Not product screens or a snazzy video. Actual landing page layouts with headlines, copy, and CTAs.

It’s a bold, but functional swing because:

  • It feels familiar. Landing pages are a pattern people know
  • It doubles as an outbound asset. Because it looks like a standalone landing page, sales can send it without it feeling like "here's a demo."
  • The bookends matter. Starting and ending with landing page-style screens feels like there’s closure.

Jason doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to request this to one of our clients 🤫

​→ Check out MeBeBot's landing page screens​

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Tip #2 - Build Demos for Every Scenario

Platform-selling is a nightmare. You've got multiple products, multiple segments, multiple use cases. How do you let people explore on their own terms?

Some companies build demo centers. But that takes resources and planning.

FYNXT built the mega adventure.

They have 5 core products in their platform. Across those 5 products, you’ll find 45 demos to navigate through without ever changing pages or hitting filter options. Just click and play.

I’ve wanted to do something like this because:

  • When you're selling multiple products, you can't force everyone through one linear demo
  • You're not being kicked back to a another page to pick-and-load another tour
  • Listing "we have 45 demos" sounds exhausting…but it’s presented in chunks

We called Wise's six-pathway demo from Edition #10 a multiverse. I’m still struggling to find the right words to call this work of art.

​→ Explore FYNXT's mega adventure​

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Tip #3 - Don't Keep People Guessing

Checklist demos are having a moment. But there is one problem

Most of them don't tell you what you're about to see. Just a label like "For Sales Teams" or "XYZ Use Case." You're taking a leap of faith every time you click.

Now introducing, Gremlin.

They added 1-sentence excerpts under each checklist item that makes all the difference.

  • Instead of “Sales Team” (okay…and?), you see "how [persona] use [feature] to [use case] before [scenario]"
  • It qualifies interest faster because if the excerpt doesn't resonate, you skip it
  • Adding that one sentence shows you care about helping them find what their answers

Most checklist hope that people pick the right one. Gremlin just tells you what's inside.

​→ See how Gremlin explains their checklist​

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What Makes a Top 1% Interactive Demo?

Every year, Navattic does an in-depth study analyzing the top 1% performing demos on their platform. Based on this year's data, here are our 7 non-negotiables for a top 1% demo:

  1. Keep it tight: Between 5-13 steps with an average of 7.
  2. Offer choices: Demos that had multiple flows (gave users options to explore different product lines, personas, use cases) had a 57% completion vs single-flow demos 35%
  3. Nail Step 1: 29% use “you/your” language, 24% add visual beacons, 15% give explicit instructions, 12% have images.
  4. Have multiple CTAs: Average of 4 - 5 per demo
  5. Deploy everywhere: 50% of top performers deploy demos in multiple places on their website.
  6. Don't Gate: 65% were ungated, with a 6% higher engagement rate vs gated.
  7. Use HTML captures: 85.5% use HTML and 52% edit their HTML captures.

How many does your demo check off?

Want to learn what else the top performers do differently? The State of the Interactive Demo Report 2026 studies the common strategies of these top builders. Sign up now to get notified when it launches 🚀

​​→ Be the first to access the full report!​

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Ask the Dash Bros 🎙️

A live, FREE coaching session to help you build better interactive demos (and make them your top marketing asset.)

In these 45-minute coaching sessions, Eric and Jason answer your questions about demo strategy, distribution, sales enablement, and any other challenges you're facing with interactive demos.

The next session is Wednesday, Jan 21st at 12PM ET.

​→ Register now - It's 100% Free​

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So that’s it. Our 52nd 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 🙏
​

​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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