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Show, Don't Tell

🀫 Show, Don't Tell #78 - Your demo embed doesn't have to look like one


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Welcome to our 78th edition of Show, Don't Tell. A newsletter to help you build REMARKABLE interactive demos...3 tips at a time.

This week, we found:

  1. a "demo" CTA that looks nothing like an embed
  2. a gate that does more than collect an email
  3. a section under the demo to answer questions a rep usually would

Let's get after it...

Supported By:

  • Navattic is our favorite interactive demo platform ❀️
  • It's easy to build demos of your product, that feel like the real thing
  • With HTML screen captures, easy editing, lots of sharing options, and powerful analytics
  • ​Try building your first demo for free!​
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Tip #1: Embeds Shouldn't Stick Out Like Sore Thumbs

Ever notice how most demo embeds scream "I'm a third-party widget"? They sit on the website and look like a total stranger.

Employment Hero's doesn't took matters into their own hands.

Instead of dropping in the raw embed, they built a custom "Take a quick look" CTA with their own branded image behind it. On the page, it reads as a big, designed piece of their site instead of a Navattic frame someone pasted in.

Here's why the extra styling is worth it:

  • the polish carries straight over to how people judge the product
  • when the entry point matches your brand, the whole thing feels premium instead of plugged-in

We banged this drum way back in Edition #27. And we’re glad to see someone else banging the drum with us. embeds shouldn't stick out like sore thumbs. Employment Hero just takes it up a level: the CTA itself is the custom art.

β†’ See the embed button Employment Hero built​

Tip #2: Make the Gate Earn Its Keep

We’ve seen a ton of demo gates that are no more than a sad, little form floating in white space. Name, email, "gimme."

Bloomerang went the native route with a full-page embed, and because they own that page, they dressed the gate up.

You’ll see a big, bold header, a line of description copy, and a customer testimonial sitting right next to the form. (They even blurred what's behind it… so it’s hard to tell if it's the live demo or an image, and honestly it doesn't matter.)

Jason and I love this because:

  • the testimonial does a lot of convincing while you're deciding whether to fill it out
  • it turns "ugh, a gate" into "okay, this looks worth it"

β†’ See how Bloomerang dresses up the ask​

Tip #3 - Put the FAQ Right After the Demo

Try to get in the head of someone deep in your demo. What are they doing in their head the whole time? Asking questions. (Can it do this? What about that?)

Coast must have done this exercise too. Their demo lives on a near-full-page embed… but underneath it, they dropped an FAQ.

Not the generic product-page kind either. It looks like the exact questions that come up during a demo, answered right there. They stopped treating it like a product page and started treating it like a demo with a rep standing next to it.

If people are already looking at the product, they've got questions. Don't make them go hunt for answers. Just put them a scroll away.

It’s not a big lift, either.

β†’ See what Coast tucked under their demo​

Build and manage demos directly from your LLM

Navattic just released a major update to their MCP server.

Not only can you get performance metrics or reminders to refresh your demos, you can actually build and edit demos directly from AI agents like Claude 🀯

And now, Navattic has released a library of 16 ready-to-use skills, making it even easier to build on-brand demos, report on analytics, use demos as sales follow up, and more.

For example, let's say you want to update your demos to include messaging around a new feature. Instead of doing it manually, try combining these two skills πŸ‘‡

Feature launch demo updater: Maps a shipped or changed feature to the exact demo steps that reference the outdated version, then drafts the fix.

Staleness triage: Ranks demos for refresh priority using traffic and staleness.

The Navattic MCP will then:

  • Look through demos by traffic and last updated date
  • Suggested Captures and text edits to those flows
  • Apply those edits directly into Navattic (after your approval)

All it takes is simple natural language prompts, and you can let AI build and improve your demos for you.

I created a short video testing one of the MCP skills, so you can see exactly what they're capable of πŸ‘‡

​→ See the "Demo QA Checklist" skill in action​

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Ask the Dash Bros πŸŽ™οΈ

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, July 22nd at 12PM ET.

​→ Register now - It's 100% Free​

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So that’s it. Our 78th 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.

P.S.

If you know anyone else who would love these tips, please consider sending them this edition so they can subscribe πŸ™
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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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