I’ve watched 100+ demo videos. Here’s how the best ones convert viewers into customers.

In today’s Nice Slice Newsletter, we are going to cover:

Top 5 mistakes we see in 99% of demo videos
How to get new customers from demo videos
Structuring your demo videos - so you aren’t rambling.

Watch the full video: (YouTube)

Watch Video

Actionable Tip 💡

Record your demo video today.

Demo videos are an incredible tool to quickly show off your product's value.

Plus, it can qualify your leads around the clock with you sitting on tedious demo sales calls.

First, start with an “Above the Fold Promise” that hooks viewers instantly. This opening sets expectations and keeps people watching. Here’s how to nail it:

Call out your specific target audience
Highlight their main problem or pain point
Preview the exact takeaways they’ll get

Example:

“Startup founders with under 11 employees: struggling to launch? This video shows you how to use our $500K SaaS Launch Kit. You’ll learn to navigate the Launch Command Center and craft killer launch emails. Let’s dive in.”

Nice Links

🍰 Best Product Hunt This Week (YouTube)

🍰 Best New Upcoming Product (Twitter)

🍰 Best Keynote I saw this week (YouTube)

🍰 New! Launch Kit (link)

🍰 Startup News - Beehiiv acquires typedream (Twitter)

Deep Dive on Demo Videos

What is a demo video?

Or maybe - what is NOT a demo video?

A demo video is not a…

VSL
Hero Video
Hype Trailer
Product Hunt Video

These I would consider to be sales videos with the purpose of viewers watching and then directly buying after watching the video.

A demo video is the gray area between a helpdesk video and a sales video.

It’s showing
It’s teaching
It’s selling (a little)

5 Demo Video Mistakes That Most Founders Will End Up Doing

1) Ignoring Customer Pain Point

When you ignore customer pain points - or skip over them - you are simply babbling on about features.

You have to ground your feature walkthrough with the problem that it is solving.

Add context so your customers actually care about your features.

2) Over 20min

It’s tempting to just keep going.

This one BIG feature has a ton of subfeatures and different ways to use it.

But your customers didn’t sign up for a 90 minute webinar.

They have limited time and attention.

The sweet spot is 10-20 minutes.

3) Feature overload

You’ve covered your top 3 features - why not just keep going?

(It won’t take that long, right?)

But what about this feature?
And you can’t leave out THIS feature?

You could easily walkthrough your entire app from start to finish.

And yes, that video should exist somewhere on your YouTube channel, but for the purpose this demo video - no.

3 features max.

4) No ending sales pitch

You’ve taken your customers on this ride for 15 minutes - it’s a shame to waste that sunk cost fallacy.

Those of your viewers that are sticking around are clearly here to buy your product.

All you have to do is lightly pitch them at the end of the video.

Sell them by telling them what to do next (hint: go buy).

5) Too easy/too hard

It’s fun and exciting when you’re recording your demo.

And founders have the tendency to do one of two things:

Speed through the demo at 98mph
Go into the weeds on every little thing

Take your time.

Be deliberate.

And keep the pace up.

What all the highest converting demo videos have in common:

Above the fold promise (keep reading)
Always Be Closing
Clear microphone audio (you don’t need a camera)
Plenty of use cases & examples
Preview/overview/review (reengage your viewers)

How to Structure Your Demo Videos in 5 Steps

1. Above the Fold Promise

Much like “above the fold” on your website, your video has an above the fold.

And like your website, this is where 90% of the attention goes and this section is make-or-break when it comes to retaining viewers.

What to say in the Above the Fold Promise?

Hyper specific demographic callout
Specific problem callout
The exact takeaways for the viewer

Example:

If you’re a startup founder with less than 11 employees, and less than $1,000 MRR then you’re probably facing a huge hurdle when it comes to launching.

In this video, we are going to walkthrough the $500K SaaS Launch Kit.

We’re going to talk about how to use the Launch Command Center, and how to write your launch emails.

Let’s dive in.

It’s going to feel uncomfortable being this specific, but if you’re reading this, then you need to just focus on one core target person.

Not the entire market.

2. Table of Contents

Now that you’ve got everyone’s attention, now you set up what exactly you’re going to cover in the video.

Put the outline on the screen.

Set expectations

3. Most Notable Feature

Start it off with a bang.

What feature do you have on your app that is going to cause the biggest shockwave?

Use Case #1

Your most popular scenario for this feature.

[Inject a Casual CTA for your viewers]

Use Case #2

Your 2nd most popular scenario that is not closely related to Case #1.

This gives you the widest cast of the net.

(Repeat for Features 2 & 3)

4. Review

Like a great teacher:

Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
Tell them.
Tell them what you just told them.

5. Hype Specific CTA

They’ve made it to the end of the video - you’ve got them.

I want you to be painfully specific on what to do next.

Talk like you’re talking to your grandma, and you need her to sign up for your AI SaaS product.

You’re already on your site, just switch tabs during the recording and literally show them which buttons to press.

Even show them the signup and new customer dashboard looks like.

Where to place your demo video to get more customers?

Email #3 or #4 of your Welcome Flow

After your leads have received their lead magnet, and have learned a little about The Problem, send them a link to your demo video.

“Watch Demo” button

The most obvious one.

Put your demo video on the other side of filling out your form or Calendly.

YouTube

YouTube is perfect for longform 20-minute videos.

Add chapter markers.

People will dig in.

Help Article

You’d be surprised how many prospects/leads go to your Help Articles when they’re shopping.

Put your demo video in your “Getting Started” section.

Make it a top/most popular result

Post-Launch

After you’ve launched your keynote, wait a few days in the Post-Launch phase and then drop your demo video.

It’s another great reason to email your hotlist.

And it’s a great to get those last few stubborn customers over the hill.

See $500K SaaS Kit to learn more about Launching. (Link)

How We Can Help You

If you like this newsletter and want to work with us, there are a few ways you can do so:

Launch your product: If you're a startup founder, and you're ready to launch your next feature or product, then you can apply with our Studio (link)

Get the $500K Launch Kit: Want the EXACT formula we use to launch apps and help our clients earn $50M+ in revenue? This course includes lessons, templates and the downloads that you can use on your next product launch. Enroll here (link)

Case Study: We show you how our startup client went from $0 to $594,444 in 6 days (link)

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