First Impressions: How To Introduce Your Product to The World

Q: I’ve created an amazing new product, but no one understands how it works. What’s the best way to educate and excite potential users?

 

A: We frequently work with large companies and start-up clients offering products and services that are relatively new to the world.

But no matter how cool a product or service — users who find it confusing won’t be able to grasp how much it can help them, and they’ll simply move on. A poor first impression is a common barrier to entry that can be avoided with the help of rich and compelling visual explanation and/or instruction.

Introduce yourself

For many of our clients with multi-faceted products and services, we recommend creating a product introduction video that explains what the product/service is, what it does, and how it makes your customers’ lives better — all in a clear, engaging way.

For a product introduction video that hits hard:

• Know your audience
• Storytelling is key
• Invest in quality talent, voice-over and/or animation
• Shorter is better

Here are two great product introduction videos by Dollar Shave Club and PadMapper. Note how well they explain their services using storytelling and humor to keep you engaged.

After the intro

Some products and services require more than just a great intro to land users. In the case of services — especially for those offering free trials — supplementary training tutorials and/or demos are key to user retention.

A clear and succinct written tutorial accompanied by LOTS of corresponding images is a great option, because users can easily go at their own pace. And short video demos are perfect for the more visual learner.

Tips for creating effective tutorials:

• Keep it simple; avoid technical terms and jargon
• Take care in the planning phase: create an outline of what your tutorial will contain and how it will be structured
• Go through each step of the process as if you were doing it for the first time
• Whether you are creating a step-by-step video or writing a how-to article, always start by giving an introduction
• Test it out on people who’ve never used your service and get their feedback

Here are a few links to some well composed tutorials. Note how, in some cases, the writer has included a list of what they’ll need to complete the tutorial, as well as an estimate of time to completion. This is a simple but excellent way to help users prepare themselves to get their learn on(!)

Use a column grid to align your typography

Adobe Illustrator tutorial: Master dynamic gradient techniques

Making perfect iced coffee

We can help

Your goal here is to help potential users understand and get excited about what you have to offer them. A smart, professional product introduction video and/or clear, engaging tutorials will help to ensure that nobody walks away from your product or services confused. Or walks away at all.