After years of legwork, you’ve finally developed the perfect product—but you’re not done yet. Even the greatest products don’t sell themselves. To woo investors with a brave new idea or convince your target audience to click Buy Now, develop stellar product presentation skills and seal the deal.
Let’s take a look at what a product presentation is, what a product presentation aims to accomplish, and how to create product presentations that push your product across the finish line.
What is a product presentation?
A product presentation is the process of sharing your product with an audience—typically existing or potential customers, investors, company board members, or other industry professionals. A successful product presentation often features a slide deck and scripted pitch explaining your product’s key features, though it could also include a product demo.
Product presentations vary in format and level of formality, and companies deliver them in a range of settings. You might give a product presentation with a slideshow onstage at a convention or present a product presentation with a product demo to company leadership in a conference room.
Benefits of product presentations
- Spread awareness of your product
- Provide guideposts for the sales team
- Stand out from the competition
As a business owner, you’re likely familiar with the importance of amplifying a product’s features and benefits—whether you’re doing so in social media posts, website copy, or product packaging. Focusing on your product presentation can pay off, too. A great product presentation can help you do the following:
Spread awareness of your product
Every time you present a product to potential customers, you increase your pool of potential buyers. When customers learn about your product’s value proposition or relate to your personal story, they become more likely to purchase from you in the future. Plus, presenting a strong product presentation slide deck is a great way to spread your message through word-of-mouth marketing, letting you reach more potential customers than those in the audience and ultimately leading to more sales.
Provide guideposts for the sales team
Product presentations that break down your product’s unique value proposition and key features can be great resources for your marketing and sales teams. For example, let’s say you create a powerful product presentation that outlines each pain point facing your target audience and how all the features of your product solve those problems. Your sales team could use that presentation as a guide when they’re speaking with potential customers.
Stand out from the competition
Preparing an excellent product presentation will help you establish and communicate the key points and core message you want to share about your product—ultimately leaving potential customers with a lasting impression about your product that can set you apart. Consider creating a strategy document outlining your product positioning and key benefits, so your entire team can be on the same page.
7 elements of a successful product presentation
- Company overview
- Reasoning
- Problem and solution
- Product specs
- Effective visuals
- Customer testimony
- Call to action
No matter where you deliver your product presentation (and whom you deliver it to), make sure it includes the following key elements:
1. Company overview
People love personal stories, so briefly introduce your business and hook your audience by sharing the idea that led to your physical product or how you started your company.
2. Reasoning
People are naturally curious (and sometimes resistant to change), so if you’re doing a rebrand or launching a new product, tell your audience why switching things up makes sense. For example, let’s say your ecommerce hair care company is changing the ingredients in a bestselling shampoo. To convince customers that the change is worth it, you could detail your product road map and testing process, explain how the new ingredients are better for hair health than the old ones, and outline the sustainability benefits of your new materials.
3. Problem and solution
If your product solves a problem your customers face, let your audience know. Clearly present how your product will address their pain points and make their lives easier.
4. Product specs
Provide technical product details so your audience knows exactly what they’re buying or investing in. Sharing detailed information alongside key points can also help you establish credibility; your audience will know that you thought through all of your product’s essential elements and are an expert on even the most minute details.
5. Effective visuals
Stunning visuals alone won’t sell your product, but a persuasive product presentation with memorable product presentation slides can help your audience stay focused and remember what you said long after they’ve left the room.
6. Customer testimony
You might already be familiar with the impact of sharing social proof on your website, but sharing case studies and customer success stories during a product presentation is a great way to provide specific examples of how your product meets customer needs and resolves pain points. Collecting customer testimonials can also guide your product development process.
In an episode of Shopify Masters, Jen Liao, who runs the direct-to-consumer (D2C) soup dumpling company MìLà along with her partner, Caleb Wang, talks about how she relied on customer feedback to guide her. “You can gather data points, and that can inform … how you plan for the rest of it,” Jen explains.
7. Call to action
Don’t stop at just pitching your product. Include a call to action that tells your customers what to do next, whether that’s clicking Add to Cart, starting a free trial, or signing up for your newsletter.
Tips for creating a successful product presentation
Crafting a successful product presentation isn’t as easy as opening a PowerPoint presentation template and putting a few lines of text over stock photos. If you want to craft a product presentation that converts skeptical audiences into lifelong customers, investors, or clients, consider the following tips:
Focus on your core values
An effective presentation will clearly present your company’s core values. “If we start from [our North Star], then all of our questions are answered by ’Why are we doing this?’” Jen says.
When your product presentation showcases exactly what your company and product aim to accomplish, it’s easier to keep the audience’s attention. “Having the core of that first principle—then the storytelling becomes a little bit easier,” Jen adds.
Maintain your brand image and voice
Make sure your audience recognizes your brand in your product presentation—you want new customers to remember your company and existing customers to feel a sense of familiarity. When Jen and Caleb decided to rename their existing company MìLà, they worked hard to make sure the branding felt familiar to existing customers. “We did pull through a lot of the same things about the brand that make it feel like our brand. So we have collage elements, and that felt like a really good way to tie something that was historical vintage with something that’s modern, refreshing, and new. We used those collage elements before, and we continue to use those collage elements even now.”
“People actually came up to our MìLà booth [at a product expo] and demanded to know what gave us the right to copy Xiaochi [the former brand],” Jen says, adding she was happy to see that customers saw the similarity and felt a sense of familiarity.
Be direct
Your customers are smart, and they can sense when you’re concealing information. For example, avoid using stock photography in your product presentation, as it may make it look like you’re hesitant to show the real thing.
Be clear about the product benefits you can provide, and don’t promise too much. Give specifics about your product features and anticipate audience questions.
Make it hands-on
When you hear “product presentation,” you might conjure an image of a businessperson delivering a product PowerPoint presentation in a sleek conference room. But an excellent presentation can also include demos. When you’re conducting a product demo (just as when you’re delivering your product presentation), maintain eye contact and positive body language to convey confidence and passion, thereby showing customers that you believe in your business.
Product presentation FAQ
What should be in a product presentation?
Regardless of the presentation format or product category, your product presentation should always feature the value proposition of the product or service you are selling. Then, consider additions such as visual aids, case studies, and a clear call to action.
How do you organize a product presentation?
You should generally organize a product presentation by placing your core value proposition front and center—that way, you can showcase how your product or service solves the customer’s problem. You can then include product specifics, case studies, and a call to action—while always adhering to your brand guidelines and company messaging strategy.
How do you introduce yourself in a product presentation?
You can introduce yourself in a product presentation by briefly giving your name and relation to the company or product. This is a great time to share a story about your product and communicate your passion for the business.
