If you’re tired of giving the same generic product demo over and over—and watching prospects tune out—this guide is for you. Personalizing demos used to take forever and require technical help. These days, tools like Demostack promise to make it a lot easier. But it’s not magic, and you’ll still need to do some hands-on work.
Here’s a no-nonsense, step-by-step walkthrough to creating a personalized product demo in Demostack, with some honest advice about what to skip, what to double down on, and how to avoid rookie mistakes.
Why Personalization Matters (But Don’t Overthink It)
Before we jump in, let’s be real: personalization isn’t about throwing a customer’s logo on a slide and calling it a day. But you also don’t need to spend hours crafting a Hollywood-level experience for every single lead.
Your real goal is to make prospects feel like you understand their world—so they can picture themselves using your product. Most buyers just want to see their use case reflected, not your best design work.
Step 1: Get Your Demo Environment Ready
First off, you’ll need access to Demostack with whatever permissions your team requires to create demos.
What you’ll need: - Admin or editor rights in Demostack (ask your ops team if you’re unsure) - A working version of your product, ideally with data that looks real (but isn’t sensitive) - A basic understanding of your prospect’s industry, pain points, and key workflows
Pro Tips: - Don’t wait until a live call to realize you’re missing access or assets. - If your product is confusing or clunky in places, note those down now—you’ll want to avoid them in your demo.
Step 2: Capture Your Product
Demostack works by “cloning” your product’s UI so you can demo it without showing live, risky data. It’s not a full replica—think of it as a safe, interactive snapshot.
How to capture your product: 1. Log into Demostack. 2. Click “New Demo.” 3. Enter your product’s URL and let Demostack crawl it. This usually means logging in and clicking through key flows while Demostack records. 4. Go through the main screens you want to show. Don’t bother capturing every page—stick to what matters for your story. 5. Finish the capture and name your demo environment.
What actually works: - Focus on flows that are visually impressive or unique to your product. - Skip boring setup screens or anything that’s not relevant to your prospect. - If Demostack misses a page or button, try recapturing just that part. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it right.
Watch out for: - Dynamic content (charts, dashboards) might not always look perfect. You might need to fake some data here. - Features behind feature flags or permissions won’t show up unless you enable them first.
Step 3: Personalize the Details
Now you make the demo feel like it was built for your prospect. This is where Demostack shines—you can edit text, images, numbers, and even fake notifications without coding.
Personalization basics: - Swap in the prospect’s company name and logo. Demostack usually makes this easy: click to edit, upload, done. - Change user names, account data, and project names to match the prospect’s world. - Edit sample data—like deals, tickets, or reports—so it looks relevant.
Don’t go overboard: - You don’t need to rewrite every single field. Focus on what’s visible and impactful. - Leave some generic data in if it’s not distracting. You’ll waste time trying to make every detail perfect.
Pro Tips: - Use names and scenarios the prospect will recognize (“Q2 Sales Pipeline for ACME Corp” beats “John Doe’s Deals”). - Add a personalized notification or message banner if your product supports it.
What to ignore: - Animations or fancy transitions. Prospects care about the workflow, not the sparkle. - Overly complex scenarios. Keep it simple—clarity trumps cleverness.
Step 4: Build Your Demo Flow
A good demo isn’t just clicking around. It tells a story, ideally one your prospect sees themselves in.
How to structure your flow: 1. Outline the 3-5 main points you want to hit. (E.g., “Here’s how you onboard users, here’s how you run reports, here’s how you fix a problem.”) 2. In Demostack, create a “guided flow” or “scripted path” for these points. 3. Add notes or talking points for yourself—Demostack lets you embed presenter notes that only you can see. 4. Link screens together so it’s easy to move from one part of the demo to the next.
What actually works: - Start with the “wow” moment, not the login screen. - Show the shortest path to value. Don’t meander. - If you know your prospect’s pain point, start there.
Pitfalls to avoid: - Going too deep—don’t show features they didn’t ask for. - Overcomplicating the flow. If you get lost, so will your audience.
Step 5: Add Interactivity (But Only If It Helps)
Demostack lets you make demos interactive—prospects can click buttons, enter data, and see what happens. This is great if you’re sending a demo to someone to play with later, but it can also backfire if you overdo it.
When interactivity makes sense: - You’re sending a demo for self-guided exploration. - You want to show how easy it is to complete a task.
When to skip it: - For live demos, too much interactivity can slow you down or lead to awkward dead ends. - If you’re short on time—setting up interactive flows takes longer than you think.
Pro Tips: - Limit clickable areas to the main flows. Don’t worry about covering every possible action. - Test the interactive demo yourself (and ideally with a colleague) before sending it to a prospect.
Step 6: Share, Present, or Embed
Once your demo is ready, you can present live, send a link, or embed it on your website or email. Demostack gives you several options.
How to share: - Live Presentation: Use Demostack’s presenter mode. You see your notes; the audience just sees the demo. - Share a Link: Generate a unique URL for your personalized demo. Set expiration or access limits if needed. - Embed: If you want to use the demo on your site or in marketing, grab the embed code.
A few honest takes: - If you’re sharing a link, follow up with a short note explaining what to focus on. People get lost in demos with no context. - Don’t expect prospects to “just get it” from a self-guided demo. The more tailored your walkthrough, the better. - Track who views your demo (Demostack offers analytics) but don’t obsess over every metric—use it to spot real interest, not just clicks.
Step 7: Iterate and Improve
Your first demo won’t be perfect. That’s normal. The best demos get better with feedback and repetition.
What to do: - After each use, jot down what worked and what didn’t. - Update your demo flows as your product (or your pitch) evolves. - Save templates for common use cases so you’re not starting from scratch every time.
Don’t fall for these traps: - Don’t waste time making one “master demo” for all prospects. It always ends up generic. - Don’t ignore feedback from your sales team—they’re the ones in the trenches.
Final Thoughts: Keep It Simple, Keep It Real
Demostack is a solid tool for building personalized product demos, but it’s not a silver bullet. The best demos are clear, relevant, and focused on what your prospect actually cares about. Don’t sweat every little detail. Start with what matters, ship it, and improve as you go.
Remember: a good demo makes it easy for your prospect to say “I get it. I want that.” That’s what you’re after—not perfection.
Now—go build your first personalized demo, and don’t overthink it.