A product tour walks a person through a product with highlighted elements, short prompts or an interactive demo. Inside the app it supports onboarding. On a website it lets a visitor try the product before signing up, which suits products that are hard to explain in a screenshot.
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Making one that helps
Tours work when each step is tied to a task the user is doing. A long tour of every menu is usually skipped. A short prompt shown at the moment a feature becomes relevant tends to be used.
On the marketing site
An interactive demo page can target searches such as a product's name plus demo, and it gives visitors a way to evaluate without booking a call. Keep the sign-up prompt visible but never gate the tour behind a form.
Common mistakes
A tour on first login that cannot be skipped
People who already know what they want feel blocked.
Teaching features, not outcomes
A step should end with the user having done something useful.
Frequently Asked Questions
They solve different problems. A tour orients, and a checklist directs people towards the actions that lead to value. Many products use both lightly.
Keep reading
- Onboarding checklist: An onboarding checklist lists the first steps a new user should take, guiding them to the moment the product becomes useful.
- Aha Moment: The aha moment is the point at which a new user first sees the product's value, and getting people there fast is the core job of onboarding.
- Activation Rate: The share of new sign-ups who reach a defined first moment of value in a product. The bridge between acquiring users and turning them into customers.
- In-App Messaging: In-app messaging means prompts, banners and modals shown to users inside a product, used for onboarding, announcements and upgrade nudges.
- Acquisition Channel: A route through which a company finds new customers, such as organic search, paid ads, referrals, partners or outbound sales. Each has its own costs and limits.
- Annual Recurring Revenue: The yearly value of a SaaS company's active subscription contracts, excluding one-off fees. The headline size metric for most subscription businesses.
- ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue): ARR is the yearly value of a SaaS company's recurring subscriptions, the figure investors and buyers use to size the business.
- Average Contract Value: The average annual value of a customer contract, excluding one-off fees. It shapes which sales motion and acquisition channels a SaaS company can afford.
