Three Keys to Trial Conversion
You have a brilliant idea. It solves real problems for real people, and meets a real need in the marketplace.
You have a killer application. It is fast and sexy and has an adorable mascot and is built in the latest technology.
You have a great website to draw in leads. It’s beautiful and informative, and leads spend lots of time there.
You have new customers in line at your front door every day. Your free trials are flying off the virtual shelves.
But your trial conversion - switching from FREE to PAID - is low. Like, LOW low. The customers line up at your front door, walk in, and… cruise right on out the back door, never to be seen again. This means customers see the potential of your application, but something is preventing them from realizing value…and people don’t pay for things they don’t value.
Why Is Conversion Important?
Do we really have to say this out loud? The point of a company is to make money. If your users register for a free trial and never convert, your company will not make any money. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy things like buying food and having a roof over my head.
For early-stage startups it can be even more important. If you’re seeking Series A funding from Venture Capitalists, I’ll let you in on a secret: they LOVE recurring revenue. You gotta show them the future money, so they will show you the current money. And to have recurring revenue, customers need to first be paid subscribers.
Here are three key areas that you can focus on today to improve your trial conversion rate.
#1: First Steps First: Onboarding
Sign up, Download, Install, Configure, Use…. What do all these things have in common? They are all part of “onboarding”. If any part of this is difficult, confusing, unclear, unsupported or – honestly – annoying, people are likely to stop.
Sign Up: Ruthlessly streamline your registration process. Think of the ABSOLUTE minimum information you require to register a new user up front. Remember, this is just the gate to download or access the application; there are opportunities later in the funnel to gather more information. Now is not the time to ask marketing questions or even require a credit card in some cases! The point of a free trial is that it’s free…don’t make customers give up the goods just to see your application. If you have a low monthly or annual cost, or are focused on B2C, this is a game changer.
Download/Install: If you’re cloud-based/SaaS, this doesn’t apply. If you require a download/installation, it should be one click and done – manually configuring machines is so 2008.
Configure: Similar to Sign Up, this is another barrier to a customer using your application, so make it as minimal as possible. Fast and easy is the name of the game. If your application requires complex set up to gain full value, think about seeding a DEMO configuration that links to generic information to provide examples for trial purposes.
Use: Even if you believe that your application is so simple that anyone will intuitively understand where to start, this is in fact not true. Remember, you have spent many hours dreaming about, designing, building and using this application – you have what we call the “Curse of Knowledge”. You know these things, so it’s difficult for you to un-know them or to imagine that someone else doesn’t know. Solve this with an in-app walk-through/guided tour, a short automated how-to email, or quick video linked inside the app.
The bottom line is: if they can’t use your platform, they won’t buy your platform.
#2: Gimme Value, And I Mean NOW
We’ve crossed the first hurdle: your user is using and your app is apping and things are great.
So what?
If this is the thought your customer has after their first use, you are at risk of non-conversion.
As a customer, there’s a reason I am using your software, and it’s not just for the fun icons. I have a problem to solve, and you have promised to make it faster, easier, better, less annoying. The very first thing the customer needs to experience is the magical fulfillment of this promise. The time between logging in and experiencing a WOW moment – Time to Value (TTV) – is critical and must be as short as possible.
Got a product with a long value horizon? No problem! Break the customer value down into interim goals. For example: your application using social media promotion to drive customers into your funnel – which takes time. An early value indicator might be the ability to schedule out your social media posts and gain followers.
#3: Communication Is Key
How do your customers like to communicate? To learn? To get help? There are so many options today, it’s helpful to understand your ideal customer and how they most like to interact.
Here’s why communication is important:
You need to coach them through using the trial. Whether that’s pointing out individual features, pointing out new use cases, or reminding them to log in daily, it’s important that you stay in front of your customers as they establish new habits.
You need them to remember you. They may forget that WOW moment, forget how compelling it was, or just get busy with their lives and not ever log back in.
You need to build a relationship, illustrating that you are there to support them and help them achieve their goals. If they can’t find you for help, not only will they not trust you long term, but they will give up and stop using your application.
You need to communicate so they know how to sign up for a paid subscription!
So find out what works best for your ideal customer, and meet them where they are.
Remember: the goal of your free trial is not to give people free trials. The goal of your free trial is to convert trial users to paid users – and then to raving fans and reference accounts, but more on that another time.
To do this:
Make it EASY by streamlining your onboarding
Make it FAST by driving value early
Make it OBVIOUS by staying in front of the customer
Need help designing and implementing these ideas? The Customer Initiative can help!
Contact us to set up a call today, and let’s get started.
