In this guide, we’ll walk you through implementing Tolstoy videos throughout your web app, native app, or website. They will pop up at certain points of the customer journey, on the bottom of your app, like Intercom or Drift, except with video. It’s like giving every user their very own personal guide, complete with 1-on-1 face time. We like to think of it as adding an In-App Customer Success Manager to your product.
Let’s get started.
1. Decide where you want your In-App Customer Success Manager to appear. The most common touch points that in-app Tolstoys are used for are:
Welcome message. Introduce users to their in-app CSM to build a connection, and explain the next steps to get onboarded successfully. The person being filmed can be a founder, a friendly face from the team, or the user's real Customer Success Manager. You would usually launch this right on the first screen after signing up.
Prompt users to complete a desired action. Your Tolstoy can enable and/or highlight a certain button, area, or component inside the app, while the narrator is speaking. You can leverage screen sharing and/or explain the value of the user completing the action.
To show the value of using the service (i.e, analytics, dashboards, etc.) Often, this is interspersed with a screen share video showing the user how to enable the service. You can use a new or existing Loom video, or Tolstoy’s own screen recording functionality for this.
Explaining pricing and packaging. Do you have multiple pricing & packages? Use the In-App Tolstoy to explain the reasons and benefits of each of the packages, and help direct people to the right plan for them. You also ask them qualifying questions and recommend a specific plan for them, right inside the Tolstoy.
Announce new features. In-App Tolstoys are a great way to announce and explain the value of new features, to drive adoption.
Offering support/explaining complexities. A screen recording is often helpful here as well.
2. After you’ve determined where in your platform you need higher touch points, create a basic script for your videos.
What do you typically say on a support call?
Where do you typically start when going through a product demo?
How do you describe features to your users in clear terms?
3. Now it’s time to film! You don’t need to be an actor or have state-of-the-art equipment. Your customers just want to put a face to your company. Easier said than done, we know, so here are a few tips to get started.
An iPhone is all you need (or an android- we don’t judge.) The camera quality on a smartphone is better than a computer- so get into the selfie position.
Lighting is usually everything. Aim to face a source of natural light, like a window, and find a comfortable position to film.
Have fun with it! Your users want to get to know your brand and feel like they have a friend on the inside so make sure you seem happy and comfortable.
4. Upload your videos to Tolstoy, and customize them to fit your needs.
Add response options to let users respond to you via text, audio, or video.
Build out your Tolstoy to include video branching if you’d like to create walkthroughs that are relevant to each user.
Add overlay text to explain how users should interact with the video.
5. Once you have all of your videos, it’s time to set rules to publish them in your app. To do this, just click on the "Publish Tolstoy" button, and set specific pages inside your app for the Tolstoy to appear on.
Pro tip: If you want to launch multiple Tolstoys inside the same app, this is easy to do, just follow the instructions here.
And if you want to add additional rules or triggers (based, for example, on certain user attributes or actions), just shoot us a message to support@gotolstoy.com!
That’s it! You’re all set to provide exceptional customer service to your users.
Have any questions? Feel free to send us a note to support@gotolstoy.com.