WordPress has become widely popular, offering endless possibilities for website creation and adding functionalities to it with its vast array of themes and plugins.
Now, if you are into WordPress, you will understand the significance of product or site demos in converting your customers. Whether you’re a plugin proprietor or offer white-label plugins, providing potential customers with a trial or access to your product is essential.
Sure, implementing licensing setups to your plugin could be troublesome, but if you offer a demo site where your customers can explore and experience your plugin prior to purchase is not only beneficial but also a best practice.
However, you can eliminate all the complexities typically associated with creating demo sites and integrating them into your website with a life-changing solution, i.e., InstaWP.
In this article, we’ll delve into how effortlessly and rapidly you can build a plugin or site demo for your product using InstaWP. But before we jump into the building process, let’s first explore the considerable value a WordPress Plugin Demo adds to your marketing arsenal, providing a clearer picture for potential customers.
WordPress Product Demo – Boost Your Conversions
If you own a WordPress business, then you might know that the user journey is quite crucial. A typical customer explores multiple Facebook groups and reads reviews and articles about your business. And once the prospect finally has enough feedback on your business, only then would they land on your home page.
I know we all want to capture that lead right away. The good news is that a simple button offering a product demo can do that magic.
Countless plugins and theme providers offer their product’s demo experiences. These demos not only showcase the site but also grant users full access to the website, enabling real-time exploration of the product’s capabilities.
Consider you have created or own an LMS plugin. Given the significance of this niche, you know that offering your users a mere video demonstration or even a free or paid trial will not suffice. These are all old marketing techniques that no longer work well.
Now, if in this situation, you offer that LMS plugin’s demo site, where visitors can effortlessly navigate the WordPress dashboard and test functionalities with a few clicks. It will be a marketer’s dream come true moment. And guess what? You can actually do it with InstaWP.
InstaWP’s Demo Builder for WordPress Products
With just a few simple steps, you can create demo sites allowing visitors to launch and explore their own instances. Many leading plugins have adopted this approach, including industry giants like LearnDash LMS, Gravity Forms, and WP Job Manager, leveraging the power of InstaWP to drive conversions.
Curious to witness this tactic in action? Head to our sandbox examples and click “Try Demo” to experience yourself how it seamlessly integrates into the user journey.
By marketing this feature to your users as free demos, you can significantly reduce refunds and even save up your sales team valuable time by not explaining how the product works; instead, directly ask them to create a WordPress product sandbox.
Moreover, offering demos presents an invaluable opportunity for data collection. How? By implementing a simple form submission process, you can gather user information for future email marketing campaigns and offer exclusive discounts to drive conversions.
Plus, you know how marketers work really hard in creating numerous content pieces, e-books, and webinars just to collect the users’ data. Imagine how easily you are getting this job done by just adding demos.
Now that you have an idea of how demo builders play a role in getting more conversions and the usage of InstaWP by several popular plugins and theme providers is a testament to that; so, let’s delve into how you can implement this strategy effectively using InstaWP.
How to Build a WordPress Plugin Demo – A Complete Guide
Now let me walk you through the process of creating a demo for your WordPress plugin using InstaWP. Here, I will use LifterLMS as an example, but you can follow the same steps for any plugin.
For this setup, I’ll assume that you already have an InstaWP account, and if you don’t, then simply sign up from here For FREE.
Step 1: Website Creation
First, you will need to create a website on InstaWP where you can display your product demo to customers.
Once logged in to InstaWP, launch your website. While you launch, take some time to set up your chosen plugin or theme and design an attractive site. Because this website will serve as your product sandbox.
As I mentioned, I’ll be using LifterLMS here and if you’re interested, we have covered a detailed article on creating an LMS site with LiferLMS using our platform.
However, if you prefer to start from scratch, follow our step-by-step guide on building and launching a WordPress site on InstaWP. Don’t worry about the domain; InstaWP provides a dummy URL so you can simply launch your site and start installing your theme or plugin to create a visually stunning site.
Step 2: Make Your Template
With your website ready on InstaWP, it’s time to create your template so that your visitors can use your site as their demo experience.
So, simply save your site as a template:
- Click on the saved template icon and select “Save as Template.”
- Add a Template Name and Description.
- Choose the Template Type and enable “Instant Template.” Then, click Save.
- After saving, you can find your template in the “Templates Tab.”
- You can even copy the shared URL by clicking on the Shared icon and test it in incognito mode to ensure everything is functioning correctly.
- Now that you’ve created your template, it’s time to give it a more professional look. Let’s dive in!
Step 3: Design Your Template
Now it’s time to fancy up your site to create a professional WordPress product demo that actually reflects your brand identity via your company’s logo, colors, design, language, and more.
- First, click “Edit” on your template.
- After that, within the editing interface, you’ll see two main sections: Template Setup and Monetize section. Let’s explore them separately.
Template Setup
The Template Setup is divided into four major tabs that let you set the design, images, emails, and other settings:
- Setup
- Branding
- Gallery
- Advanced Option
Let’s quickly go through each tab:
- Setup
From this section, you can customize your template’s name, description, design, and even language preferences.
- Branding
The branding tab lets you modify your logo, customize your email templates, privacy policy, Custom CSS, and color scheme to align with your brand identity.
Gallery
The gallery tab lets you set up gallery images that will be displayed on your product demo launch page.
You can also review your changes at any time using the Preview button to ensure everything looks polished and professional.
As you can see in the image below, how mine looks after editing:
Advanced Options
The “Advanced Options” tab is an important setup section that lets you adjust the main settings of your demo.
As you can see, I have set the Site Lifetime to 7 Days, allowing my users to do file modifications on the demo site. Also, I have enabled the collect emails option & other details before creating a demo link for my visitors.
Similarly, you can customize your demo experience further by enabling or disabling features like email collection. For instance, you can add a “Try Demo” button to your site’s navigation bar for seamless access without email collection.
Let me show you an example here. I have disabled this collect email option and added a button on my main menu as Try Product Demo.
Similarly, you can use any custom form and redirect your users to your WordPress product’s demo link.
So, feel free to experiment with various options such as setting up the admin email, allowing users to change the admin’s password, enabling cloning, auto-login, CRM integration via Webhooks, connecting to an email provider, and more.
Once you’ve fine-tuned your template to perfection, save your settings to ensure the changes are preserved.
Monetize
You might be wondering if you can make money from WordPress Plugin demos. The answer is a solid YES.
InstaWP offers a feature that lets you monetize your demo and charge your users to test your demo.
- Simply navigate to the Monetize section and click enable monetization. Set a price for your demo and click “Save.”
Sales
- The “sales” section lets you monitor your earnings and sales to track the success of your monetized demos.
Store
- Once you have enabled monetization, you can also add your demo to the Insta Store for increased visibility and potential sales opportunities.
By following all the above steps, you’ve successfully created a professional WordPress product demo using InstaWP to streamline the process and create an engaging demo experience for your users.
Why Must Your WordPress Plugin/Theme Have a Demo Feature?
Integrating a demo feature into your WordPress plugin or theme offers a list of benefits that enhance the user experience and boost conversions. Here are some of the main reasons why you must have a demo feature:
Improved User Experience
Users can freely explore the plugin or theme’s features and functionalities in a real-world setting before making a decision. This hands-on exploration helps them understand how the plugin works and assess if it truly aligns with their needs.
Try Out Features
Demo sites provide users with access to the full range of functionalities offered by the plugin. Users can try out features, understand their benefits, and see how well the plugin helps them get their job done.
Hands-On Experience
A demo site lets users directly interact with the product, allowing them to explore its features and interface in a practical manner. This hands-on experience further lets them assess whether the plugin is intuitive and easy to navigate, leading to a better understanding of its functionality and usability.
High Conversion Rates
When users get a chance to try out a product before committing to a purchase, it instils a sense of trust and confidence. Plus, this firsthand experience allows potential users to experience the product’s value themselves, making them more likely to convert into paying customers.
Reduced Refunds
Offering a plugin or theme demo allows users to make informed decisions about their purchase before investing financially.
By allowing users to test the product’s suitability for their needs beforehand, the likelihood of refunds decreases as users are less likely to encounter unexpected issues or discrepancies between their expectations and the actual product.
Overall, demo sites significantly enhance the user experience by showcasing functionalities, evaluating ease of use, testing compatibility, and facilitating the decision-making process for potential users.
Final Thoughts
In the bustling world of WordPress, integrating a demo feature into your plugin or theme isn’t just a luxury—it’s a necessity. By offering users a firsthand experience of your product’s capabilities, you enhance their understanding, build trust, and ultimately drive conversions.
And with tools like InstaWP, creating professional demo experiences has never been easier. With WordPress plugin demos, you empower your users, boost conversions, and revolutionize the way you showcase your products.
So, try out InstaWP’s WordPress plugin demo today and watch your business soar.
FAQs
Q. What is a WordPress Plugin Demo?
A WordPress plugin demo refers to a live demonstration or trial version of a plugin that allows users to explore its features and functionalities before making a purchase.
Q. How can I create a demo for my WordPress Plugin?
To create a demo for your WordPress plugin, you can use platforms like InstaWP, which streamline the process and provide tools for setting up and managing demo sites effortlessly.
Q. How can I sell a WordPress Plugin using demos?
Selling a WordPress plugin using demos involves providing users with access to the plugin and showcasing its features and functionalities. By allowing users to test the plugin before buying, you increase the chances of conversions.
