Interactive product tours are an extremely effective way to demonstrate your product‘s value, increase conversions, and reduce confusion. According to a study by Whatfix, 85% of users prefer guided walkthroughs over traditional user manuals or video tutorials.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll show WordPress site owners step-by-step how to build beautiful, engaging product tours using the SlideDeck 2 plugin. As longstanding WordPress experts who have used SlideDeck 2 extensively, we‘ll also share advanced tips to take your tour to the next level.
The Powerful Business Benefits of Product Tours
Well-designed product tours provide huge value for SaaS companies, online course creators, agencies – anyone selling products online. Let‘s look at some key real-world statistics:
- 94% higher user onboarding completion when using interactive walkthroughs according to Amplitude data
- Up to 400% increase in conversion rate by guiding visitors through sales funnels with targeted messaging at each step
- Visitors spend 3-4X longer exploring sites that use guided tours to actively walk them through key pages
By investing some time into building a custom product tour, you can expect to see hard ROI through higher sales and lower customer churn.
Why SlideDeck 2 is the Best WordPress Product Tour Plugin
As experienced WordPress consultants here at WPBeginner, we‘ve tested all the popular plugins for creating guided website tours. We can confidently recommend SlideDeck 2 as the top choice.
Here‘s why SlideDeck 2 beats other solutions:
No coding required – The easy drag and drop editing means anyone can build a product tour
Works perfectly with WordPress – Seamlessly integrates versus clunky external tools
Analytics included – See which slides perform best to optimize conversions
Mobile responsive tours – Look great on any device size automatically
Custom branding – Match the rest of your website design through flexible themes
Affordable pricing – Packed with features even at low tier pricing
Now let‘s dive into step-by-step instructions for harnessing the power of this amazing plugin…
Step 1: Install and Activate SlideDeck 2
First, purchase a SlideDeck 2 license at their website. We recommend the Professional package ($39) which includes access to custom content building.
Next, install and activate the plugin like any other WordPress plugin:
- In your WP admin, go to Plugins > Add New
- Click Upload Plugin, choose the .zip file and Upload
- Activate the plugin
Or, use our guide on properly installing WordPress plugins which covers best practices in more detail.
Step 2: Create New Custom Content SlideDeck
Under the SlideDeck menu, click Manage then "Create New SlideDeck" to open the editor.
Start by giving your new product tour a name at the top, for your own reference.
The editor page has everything you need to start building your guided tour:
- Central area – Real-time preview of your SlideDeck
- Left side – List of slides and editing panel
- Top – Main product tour settings
We‘ll work from left to right to construct our tour slide-by-slide.
Step 3. Add Your First Slide
Click on Slide 1 in the left side list to open editing options. Select what type of content you want:
- Image – JPEG, PNG or other graphic format
- Video – Embed YouTube, Vimeo players
- Text – Headlines, bullet points
- HTML – Custom code snippets
Let‘s demonstrate building an introductory Image slide:
- Choose Image as first Slide Type
- Upload the graphic or paste an external URL
- Add a short informative caption
- Click Apply to insert into SlideDeck
Repeat this process to create additional slides that guide visitors through what makes your product powerful and easy to use.
Step 4. Embed Video Demonstrations
The key to an engaging product tour is showing, not just telling. Use video demos to showcase exactly how your product delivers value.
With SlideDeck 2, seamlessly embedding video is a breeze:
- On a new slide, select Video for Slide Type
- Paste in YouTube or Vimeo embed code
- Click Apply to add the working video player!
Don‘t forget to include an explanatory headline and caption with each video.
Step 5. Insert Opt-In Forms Using HTML Slides
A product tour is the perfect opportunity to collect leads, with visitors‘ attention fully focused.
Thanks to HTML slides in SlideDeck 2, embedding opt-in incentives like:
- Downloadable samples
- Discounts
- Email newsletter signup
…is super easy and doesn‘t require any coding knowledge.
For example, to add a mailing list signup form:
- Choose HTML as Slide Type
- Paste embed code from your email marketing platform
- Customize messaging around the form
- Click Apply to insert the working form
Inserted forms, videos, and other elements will be responsively styled by the theme you choose in Step 8.
Pro Tip: To maximize conversions, offer an irresistible lead magnet like a free tool, template, or exclusive discount in exchange for an email address.
Step 6. Arrange Slides and Navigation
Once you‘ve compiled all the pieces of your product tour, arrange them in the optimal order for telling your product‘s story.
Easily rearrange slides using drag and drop:
Optionally, add navigational buttons, auto advance, page dots, and more from the Lens toolbar settings.
Step 7. Select a Matching Visual Theme
Under Lens settings choose from dozens of templates with unique styles, animations, colors and layouts.
Preview different Lens options to find one that visually matches your overall site design. This helps integrate your new SlideDeck content seamlessly.
For even deeper customization, click Customize next to the theme preview. Here you can tweak:
⛏️ Font choices
🎨 Color palette
▶️ Transition effects
…and much more
Step 8. Publish and Promote Your New Product Tour
The final step is adding your completed tour to a live page.
From editor click Publish > Insert Into Post/Page then choose which page to embed it on. We recommend adding to:
👉🌎 Home/landing page
👉🛒 Product / pricing
👉✏️ Blog posts
Next, link to the tour page from visibility areas like:
🔗 Main site navigation menu
🌐 Headers/footers
🚀 Email autoresponder sequences
🎥 Demo videos
This drives visitors into your high-converting product tour.
Finally, monitor performance with built-in analytics for continual optimization.
And that‘s it! By following these steps you can create stunning product tours using WordPress and SlideDeck 2. For additional details and examples, see SlideDeck‘s comprehensive documentation.
Let us know if you have any other questions!
