How to Market Your SaaS Demo and Convert it to Sales (20 Tips)

Creative Tips – Marketing Your SaaS Demo

You’re still going to need to stand out and be memorable. So here are the tips that are a bit more out-of-the-box:

Leverage Influencer Partnerships

You’re not Atlas – don’t carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Save the martyr complex thing for that annoying person in your family that you can’t get away from at holiday meals.

Nearly every concert has those people outside who sell bottled water, burritos, and bootleg t-shirts to excited fans. And the reason they do that is because it makes sense to make the most of customer groups and markets that already exist rather than going it alone.

Have a think about what types of industry influencers complement the problems that your software solves.

When you partner with industry influencers or thought leaders (and you offer them something that’s mutually rewarding), they can promote your SaaS demo for you to people whose ear and trust they already have.

When it comes to getting the word out, good influencers (especially those that have been around for a while) know what they’re doing. They can create a variety of content that speaks to a variety of people.

What types of content are your ideal customers here for? Influencers can reach them with reviews, personal tutorials and webinars, or interviews. They’ll drive interest and sign-ups for your demo.

Create a Viral Challenge or Contest

Okay- yes, it’s easier said than done.

There’s no way of predicting if a campaign will go viral. But if you get all Benoit Blancy about your competitors again, your research will show you what works, what’s a disaster, and what’s missing.

That’s why thinking about unusual ways to give people a fun and memorable challenge or contest around your SaaS product is much more likely to get attention. It’s an ice-cold Coca Cola in a creativity desert.

An irresistible prize always helps. It just has to be worth the perceived pain-in-the-buttness of signing up and giving away your email address.

When you encourage users to participate and share their experiences on social media, that will help build up the buzz and attract new potential customers to sign up for your demo.

Find an industry mate to couple up with

This is like the influencer angle, but with a little different flavour.

The right partnerships between businesses can at least double, triple, or quadruple your market really fast.

Again, it’s about finding the companies whose mission and purpose complement yours. Companies who have the same ideal customer personas as you. When they do, they can not only shout out about your demo but offer your demos to their customers as a perk.

The chances for successful partnerships go up even further when these companies have a need you can fill for them too. After all, partnerships must go both ways.

When Zendesk and WhatsApp partnered up in 2022 they gave each other their audiences and applications. Zendesk was able to contact and give support through WhatsApp, and this drives more customers to use the WhatsApp platform more often.

And it’s all about cross-promotion and cross-purposes. Some of the best SaaS companies crow about their industry partners from the rooftops, not only on social media, co-hosting events, and even creating dedicated website pages with info and links to their partners.

Gamify the Demo Sign-Up Process

Who doesn’t love a game? It kicks in the old mega-competitive nature (not that we’re…erm…competitive….)

You can add elements of gamification to the demo sign-up process. Offer badges, points, or rewards throughout the process – when they do things like sharing your brand on social media, taking quizzes, or referring friends and colleagues.

You can also add exclusive access, longer length, or even additional features in the demo as extra perks.

Anything that makes the signing-up process more entertaining will be welcome. You know what it’s like when you’re stuck in filling-out-fields purgatory. It’s as fun as a mortgage application.

Now that we’ve covered some out-of-the-box ways to market your SaaS demo and grab the attention of potential customers, it’s time to focus on the demo itself.

We know you love your demo. You’ve poured time and effort and sleepless nights to make it amazing.

So let’s look at tips that will help you turn your demo into something that customers realize they need in their lives.

Traditional Tips – Demo to Sale

Of course, we don’t know what your demo does, or who your target audience is. But there are certain actions you can take that are a great starting point because customers do have expectations.

Focus on the Customer’s Pain Points

You would be shocked at how many companies try to crowbar all their potential customers’ problems into one solution.

But generic solutions won’t be the kind of thing that sticks in a customer’s mind.

What will stick in their mind is if you take the time to go through their specific problems. Talk to them about any doubts they may have – it will show them that you care and that you’re confident that you can help.

Take this info and shape the demo to tackle their pain points and challenges. Show them how your SaaS solution can alleviate these issues and help them meet their goals.

Keep it Concise and Engaging

We’ve all been somewhere where someone dumped lots of information on us.

It’s called knowledge blindness and it happens to all of us. Because we’ve known so much about something for a long time, we forget that other people don’t have this knowledge, and can’t always pick up on it right away.

Explaining the demo in simple language, not forgetting any steps along the way will really help. And even if your software tackles a really dry topic, you can make it more engaging by constantly bringing them and their company back into the instructions.

Watch out for the trap of kicking into logic mode – A solves B because of XYZ. Bring it back over and over to how they will feel when each problem is solved. This feature will save them time so that they can work on their latest innovation. This feature will take the pressure off their sales team. This feature will take them out of damage control mode.

Use stories from customers you already have. If you’re still new and haven’t got a massive list, talk about how your solutions have helped you and your own teams.

That’s the kind of stuff that engages people.

Interactive and Personalized Experience

The demo can’t just be personalised at the start.

We’ve all bought things and watched the person who was looking after us disappear. Chances are your demo is interactive so encourage them to experiment and explore the features.

When they do, the data you get from how your customer uses it is GOLD. It shows you what they think is what is most valuable, and what they might be missing.

When you keep adjusting how your customer uses your solutions, you make them feel safer. They know you aren’t going to run off, hoping for the best.

Highlight Your Competitive Advantages

Yikes – it’s like online dating, with tons of options jumping right onto the screen with little effort.

That customer could be smack dab in your demo, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still looking around. They probably searched online to find you, which means the algorithm will continue pumping your competitors all over your screen.

So, you’ve got to showcase the features and benefits that set your SaaS product apart from competitors. And the same goes for your team – if your team is on it, and they’re good people to work with, that is a competitive advantage.

(Probably the best advantage).

Provide Clear Next Steps

When your demo ends, it’s tempting to kind of hide, and hope that your customer will magically realise that the next step is to buy the solution.

But it doesn’t work that way. Your sales team will tell you about all the times the customer phrase “I’ll think about it” has made them roll their eyes back into a coma.

It’s essential to guide the potential customer towards the next steps in the sales process. You can get the ball rolling with a chat about what they liked best, what surprised them, how your software made their lives easier, and what might still be missing.

The jury’s still out about when you reveal pricing – some companies like to be upfront on their website so that the cash-strapped (or cheapo) customers don’t waste their time.

But maybe you like to customise pricing in the same way as your demo. Keep listening to what your customer likes and needs in your products, and be flexible about how to price. They might be able to bring you something more valuable than upfront money.

For instance – maybe they have 5 colleagues who they’ve told about your demo. Maybe they want to do a software solution swap.

Whatever you do, it’s important to be transparent. Don’t hit them with a surprise charge, or they’ll leave a trail of dust after they run screaming for the hills, hopping out of a customer relationship forever.

Creative Tips – Crafting the Demo to Lead to a Sale

Again – to be memorable, you must stand out. Taking the time to do unusual things can offer long-term benefits. Here are a few of our favourites:

Dive into Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality

Hoo boy, this might make you grab your heart, because unless your SaaS solutions already involve VR or AR, it’ll take time and resources upfront. But it will make your demo memorable.

When you integrate VR and AR into your SaaS demo, you create an immersive and interactive experience. Potential customers can do a deep dive into your product and check out the features. It’s a way that’s more fun than the one-on-one chat.

This type of idea can work especially well at live events like conferences because right off the bat people understand what your product and UX is all about.

And – bonus – it shows your commitment to keeping ahead of the curve and adopting cutting-edge tools. Boom- that’s more credibility and a better reputation.

Bring on the Laughs and Storytelling

Your demo doesn’t have to just be an exact replication of your software. You can make it so much more fun.

In our day-to-day lives, jokes and stories are how we connect with each other. Why is it that this should disappear the moment we’re in business mode?

You breathe life into your SaaS demo and delight your demo user with humor and storytelling. Related anecdotes, clever inside jokes, niche stories that your audience will get right away- these are the things that relax them into your solution.

You know what it’s like when someone does something funny or unexpected or tells a great story. It breaks the ice and changes the vibe. It also breaks down barriers because it becomes a shared experience.

We’re big believers in injecting a bit of fun and finding stories to share. We like to feel emotionally connected with people who take the time to engage with our content. That’s important to us.

Your potential customers can enjoy a stronger connection with your brand. When you tell engaging stories in your demo you help them get the real-world benefits of your product. And your brand sticks out in their mind- why wouldn’t they want to keep the relationship going?

Embrace Artificial Intelligence

Is it safe to say you’re already using AI in your software? Probably.

AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants are not just for your website landing page. They can give personalized guidance and support throughout the demo experience.

These smart tools can answer questions, make recommendations, and even get feedback that you can use to improve the experience. We would add a recommendation on top – AI shouldn’t be used as a substitution for people-powered customer support. But it works great during unsociable hours!

And you’ve once again got that bonus of showing your customers that your company’s committed to keeping ahead of the industry trends. After all, innovation in a software company’s kind of the point.

Go Behind-the-Scenes

Between you and us, we like this tip because it’s always hilarious to see how people act once a camera is pointed right in their face. The difference can be SHOCKING (and very meme-able).

Now we’ve got that truth out of the way, going behind the scenes really piques curiosity and puts names and faces to the software your company’s developed.

If you give your demo users an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how your SaaS product was developed, you can build trust. You can showcase the passion that your experts put into your solution.

Let your team members share insights. Let them tell stories about those moments where things went wrong. Or those nights they couldn’t sleep till they got an a-ha moment. The things that surprised them.

And all the while, keep reconnecting back to your company’s values and vision. Long-term customers need to believe in what you’re doing, and they want to be along for the ride so they can enjoy the same success.

When you give exclusive glimpses, you humanize your brand. You make these potential customers feel special. And you pique their curiosity about what’s coming in the future.

Incorporate a Collaborative, Real-Time Demo

Break the mold! Traditional demos usually are really passive for the demo user.

So turn it into a live event that’s a collaborative and real-time demonstration where multiple potential customers can actively participate. They can all interact with your product at the same time (even if it gets chaotic, it’s certainly different to most demos!).

They can be guided by one of your product experts- the most charismatic one.  Because the experience is shared, potential customers learn from each other’s questions and insights. And they see how your solution performs in a multi-user environment.

You create a sense of community during the demo which means a deeper connection with your brand and a higher likelihood they’ll stick around for more.

For extra points, lean into the fact that this is a networking opportunity for them. They’ll be  participating with other businesses with similar challenges and experiences. Who knows what kind of collaborations can come from the time together?

For even more extra bonus points, if you have brand ambassadors (they’re customers who really love your brand and solutions and will crow about it), get them involved in the demo. It’s great social proof and builds trust with your demo users because they can see with their own eyes that your products are valuable and worth buying.

Leverage Virtual Escape Rooms

We wanted to save the wildest one for last.

Yes- you too can create an adrenaline and anxiety-soaked experience for your demo users free of charge!

Why not take your SaaS demo to the next level by creating a virtual escape room experience? You can design an interconnected series of puzzles and challenges that they must solve to survive and avoid a death more painful than the ones suffered by Indiana Jones baddies.

Okay, maybe not survive. Maybe not death. That would require soooo much code.

But maybe a ticking clock they have to beat, and if they do, they get a prize or special discount?

But, they can solve the puzzles using your product’s features and functionalities. And as they go through the rabbit warren of awesome, you can expose them to different bits of your solution while having fun in an immersive environment.

This way you’re memorable. You’ve given them an exciting experience, and the satisfaction of completion. Not only are they more likely to buy your product, but they are very likely to tell other people about it.

Conclusion

There you have it! Tips a-plenty, both traditional and a little more creative.

We’re certain that some of these tips leapt out to you as things you’d love to do to both market your demo and increase the likelihood of getting conversions.

By implementing these strategies and crafting your demo in innovative ways, you can rise above the noise and make yourself more memorable to potential customers.

Running a SaaS business is hard. It’s unrelenting. It’s expensive – the costs of the ulcer medication before that Series A funding pitch alone can break the strongest-willed of us.

But one thing that’s certain is that when you can find opportunities to make your life easier, you need to grab them.

After all, that’s what you’re trying to get your customer to do.

So have some fun with making your demos memorable and irresistible. That way it’ll be so much easier to get that sweet, sweet leg-up on the competition.