If you’re running product demos through Storylane and want to know if people are actually paying attention—not just clicking through—this guide is for you. Whether you’re in product, marketing, or sales ops, I’ll help you sort out which metrics matter, how to read them, and what to do with what you find. No fluff, no jargon, just practical steps.
1. Understand What “Engagement” Actually Means in Storylane
First, let’s get clear on what you’re looking at. Storylane is a platform for building interactive product demos. Its analytics dashboard shows a bunch of numbers, but not all of them tell you anything useful about real engagement. Here’s what’s typically tracked:
- Views: How many people started your demo.
- Completions: How many finished it.
- Drop-off Rate: Where people stopped.
- Average Time Spent: How long they stuck around.
- Click/Interaction Events: Where they clicked, what fields they filled, etc.
- Heatmaps/Step Analytics: Visuals showing where attention pooled or flagged.
Honestly, “views” are just vanity unless you care about reach more than quality. The rest is where the real insights hide.
2. Set a Goal Before You Start Clicking Around
It’s easy to get lost in the data if you don’t know what you’re trying to learn. So, before you even open the analytics tab:
- Decide what you actually want to improve. (More demo completions? Better engagement on a key feature?)
- Write down a question you want to answer. Example: “Are users dropping off before they reach our pricing page?”
If you skip this step, you’ll end up staring at charts and making guesses. Don’t.
3. Get the Lay of the Land: Find the Metrics That Matter
Here’s how to zero in:
a. Ignore the Fluff
- Raw Views: Good for knowing if your distribution worked, but tells you nothing about interest.
- Superficial Engagement: Metrics like “hover events” can sound important, but they’re often just noise.
b. Focus on These
- Completion Rate: If people aren’t making it to the end, you’ve got a problem. Either the demo’s too long, too confusing, or just not engaging.
- Step Drop-off: Where exactly are people quitting? If it’s always at the same step, that’s your red flag.
- Time Spent Per Step: Fast skips might mean boredom or clarity; long pauses could mean confusion. Context matters.
- Key Interaction Events: Are users trying out the features you want them to see?
Pro Tip: Always compare engagement step-by-step. A high average can hide a single step that’s killing conversions.
4. Step-by-Step: How to Analyze Storylane Demo Analytics
Here’s the workflow I’d recommend:
Step 1: Open Your Demo Analytics Dashboard
- Go to your Storylane dashboard and pick the demo you want to analyze.
- Open the “Analytics” or “Insights” tab for that demo.
Step 2: Check the Big Picture
- Look at total views versus completions.
- Calculate completion rate: Completions ÷ Views. If it’s below 30-40%, that’s worth investigating.
Step 3: Find the Drop-Off Points
- Pull up the step-by-step funnel or journey.
- Identify which step has the highest exit rate.
- Ask: Is this step confusing? Too much info? Broken interaction?
What works: Using funnel visualization to spot one or two steps that consistently lose people.
What doesn’t: Assuming the problem is “user attention span” without double-checking the step itself.
Step 4: Dig Into Engagement on Key Features
- Use click/event tracking to see if users interact with the most important features you’re demoing.
- If your pricing calculator or dashboard is a highlight, but almost no one clicks it, you’ve buried the lede.
Pro Tip: If you see people backtracking—going forward and then back a step—it’s a sign something’s unclear.
Step 5: Time Spent—Signal or Noise?
- Look at average and median time per step.
- Short times can mean people are confused and skipping, or just not interested. Crazy long times can mean they walked away from their computer.
- Look for outliers, but don’t obsess over milliseconds.
Step 6: Use Heatmaps or Visual Path Analytics (If Available)
- Heatmaps show where people are clicking and lingering.
- Use them to check if users are focusing on the parts of the screen you care about, or getting distracted by something irrelevant.
Step 7: Segment Your Data
- Break down analytics by traffic source, device, or audience segment.
- For example: Are users from LinkedIn acting differently than those from your email campaign?
- If mobile users drop off faster, your demo might not be mobile-friendly.
Step 8: Cross-Reference With Qualitative Feedback
- If you’re also collecting comments or survey results, line them up with the drop-off points.
- Sometimes, one confused user can explain a pattern the numbers alone can’t.
Pro Tip: Don’t chase perfection. If 70% finish your demo and click the features you care about, that’s great. Obsessing over the last 10% is often a waste of energy.
5. What to Ignore (and When)
- Obscure Metrics: Don’t get distracted by things like “unique mouse moves” or “average hover time.” If you can’t explain it to your team in one sentence, skip it.
- Tiny Sample Sizes: If only 15 people have completed your demo, don’t overanalyze. Wait until you have at least 50-100 completions before making big changes.
- Edge Cases: One person spending 10 minutes on a step doesn’t mean everyone else will.
6. Turning Insights Into Action
All the analytics in the world are useless if you don’t act on them. Here’s how to close the loop:
- Fix High Drop-Off Steps: Shorten, clarify, or split confusing steps. Test again.
- Highlight Key Features Earlier: If people aren’t seeing the good stuff, move it up or make it more obvious.
- Shorten Overlong Demos: If you see attention fade after 3 minutes, tighten things up.
- Follow Up With Qualitative Testing: If the numbers are weird, ask real users or sit in as they try the demo.
Roll out one change at a time so you know what actually made a difference.
7. Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
- Reading Too Much Into One Metric: Completion rate tanking? Make sure it’s not just because you doubled your traffic from a less-qualified source.
- Assuming Every Click Is Good: Some clicks are misclicks. Make sure users are interacting the way you want—not just clicking randomly.
- Chasing Vanity Metrics: Big view counts don’t matter if nobody gets to the end or asks for a follow-up.
8. Simple Reporting Tips
If you need to share what you find:
- Keep It Simple: “80% of users finish the demo. Most drop off at step 4, which covers integrations.”
- Include Only Actionable Data: Don’t drown your team in charts. Highlight 1-2 things that need fixing.
- Show Before/After: If you make a change, compare old vs. new. That’s how you prove value.
Wrap-Up: Iterate, Don’t Agonize
Analyzing user engagement in Storylane demos isn’t about chasing perfect metrics—it’s about spotting real problems and fixing them. Focus on completion rates, drop-off points, and whether people are actually poking at the features that matter. Ignore the noise, make one change at a time, and keep tweaking. Don’t overthink it. The best insights are usually the obvious ones you can act on right away.