Seven Exceptional Product Tours, and the Best Practices They Teach Us

To get wisdom, first get understanding; so the old proverb goes. When a visitor comes to your website, they’re looking to get wise about what you’re offering. In order to get smart enough to make a decision to buy, they need to understand what you do and what you sell. That’s where an exceptional product tour can shine – turning a first-time visitor into a customer. We’ve identified seven exceptional product tours to help get you inspired.

You’ll see from the collection below that tours can be used for consumer ecommerce, B2B websites, SAAS subscription services and free product downloads. In each instance, these product tours help visitors get to a decision by first getting understanding. While each one is different, they all share similar fundamental characteristics that are core to any good product tour.

Fundamentals of Exceptional Product Tours

1. Sequential steps - Each slide is clearly defined and moves the visitor down the path to becoming a customer
2. Bite sized - Each slide highlights one important aspect of the product or service that is easy to digest and understand
3. Short and to the point - The tours are succinct and deliver key value propositions in a compact form that respects the visitor’s time
4. Clear call to action - Each tour ends with a clear call to action that helps the visitor take the next step to becoming a customer

Seven Exceptional Product Tours

Mint

Why it works:

• Understands that users have questions before sharing their financial information with an online service. Provides comprehensive information to address those questions
• Uses lots of graphics and typography to break up text-heavy pages

Apple iPhone4S

 Visit the Tour

Why it works:

• Beautiful visuals and transitions make the tour compelling and engaging
• Using the entire screen keeps the main value propositions and highlights front and center
• Short and sweet with limited copy keeps the visitor focused on the core product benefits

OpenCandy (built with SlideDeck!)

Why it works:

• Clearly delineated steps walk the visitor through a complex product value proposition
• Simple slide content keeps the visitor focused on the benefits without being obscured by too much detail
• A clear call to action helps translate the visitor’s new-found understanding into action to become a customer

Campaign Monitor

 Visit the Tour

Why it works:

• With a full-featured product, this tour gives the visitor all the information they need to evaluate the service in a highly competitive marketplace
• Ends with a clear call to action, but also allows the user freedom to learn and discover at their own pace

Path

Visit the Tour

Why it works:

• Full-screen, HTML5 video shows the app in all of its glory, right in the hands of a user. A really engaging way to show the full app experience.

Wufoo

Visit the Tour

Why it works:

• Wufoo splits their tour up into separate, but linked pages, each with a call to action on them. Ensuring that a visitor can enter and leave the tour and become a customer at any point

Basecamp

Why it works:

• Basecamp leverages a full-page slider to deliver in-depth product information to help their visitor make an important business decision
• They also have short descriptions in the navigation tabs, to give the visitor a preview of the topic they’re about to explore
• Stylized images and smart typography break up text-heavy pages

Is a Product Tour Right for Your Site?

In an age of shortening attention spans, long, text-filled pages don’t get the job done. Product tours create a highly visual and crystal clear explanation of the value your product or service provides. If you have a product that needs explanation, or that isn’t easy to grasp in a few short seconds, consider using a product tour to help your visitors get understanding to help them make the decision to become your customer.

Have a favorite product tour that isn’t listed here? Has a product tour helped your site? Let us know in the comments, and we might feature it in a future post on product tours.

About the Author: Morgan Brown

Morgan is a product and digital marketing guy who writes and freelances for digital telepathy as a product marketing manager. Find me online at Google+.