There's Still Value In Creating A Great Demo

In the 80’s I started creating demos for technology products. They were typically done by shooting the screen and editing the video. Very dull. I probably still have one or two in a box somewhere. Then we had a boom in computer graphics software, and I made even more and better product demos usually in Macromind Director (that should bring back some memories for some of you out there). Then came websites and I built lots of those, again usually with a product demo.

You might wonder why I created all these demos. Because every product has a buying cycle which includes awareness, consideration, trial and purchase. All good marketers understand that they have to build tools to drive a buyer through the cycle. One of the big changes with websites is it allowed marketers to manage the entire process online.

But even with all this automation, making a great product demo is still critical and I am amazed at how rare it is that I see a good one. Thus, I thought, I would share a video-based demo that came to me over email from Ralph Lauren announcing its spring line. I read the email, hit the link, watched the demo and clicked on one of the items which I would have bought if it hadn't been out of my price range.

So, the moral of this little story is to know your target market, understand your product’s buying cycle and don’t forget that most sales, based on my 30+ years of experience, are lost in the trial stage which is why you always need a good demo.