Why bother?
The traditional SaaS model proposes some sort of a free trial, allowing user to grasp what they will be paying for. The SaaS market is diverse and highly competitive, where the retention and conversion rates determine the leaders. Some businesses mistakenly think that the number one factor for a successful product is a great product. They fail to understand that the user experience is the key aspect. It matters not only from the perspective of how your software feels, but also for the purpose of user unlocking the full potential of your software.
The ultimate decision influencing fact, when it comes to the customer converting from a free trial to a paid version, will not be how great the features are, but what kind of first impression the software had. Let’s dive in into 3 key elements that will help you drive your SaaS conversion rates to the all time highs!
Educate and demonstrate
Never assume that your users will be smart enough to figure out how to use your application on their own. Moreover, simply providing them with the help manual will do you no good in terms of convincing them to pay. It is not a personal approach. The goal is to educate and slowly introduce the user to your software upon the first launch. Show them the features, the workflow and all the needed tips and tricks regarding how to get the most out of your product. It will not only improve the confidence of the user from the get go in your software, but also give you a peace of mind, knowing that users are aware how to use your product the way that you designed.
Once again, do not simply offer a help manual. Some of the better alternatives to covering this area is providing short video clips covering each feature. Perhaps going deeper and providing your users with an interactive tutorial that will guide them through all the important elements of your product. Not sure how or with what to create a captivating tutorial for your application? Stay tuned, we got something coming for you.
Simplicity and comprehensitivity
Some developers are guilty of naming features with short, almost code-like abbreviations. Mostly due to the fact that throughout the development phase they got so familiar with it, they cannot imagine how a person might get confused by it.
Keep in mind that when a user is trying out your product for the first time, they virtually have no idea about the backend and structure of it. Therefore, having short, confusing names for your features will only artificially increase the complexity of user experience. You should not be scared to go with simple, sometimes maybe even boring names for features. All users of software primarily desire a clear and efficient work process to get their needed output. No one wants to spend dozens of minutes trying to guess from the name of the feature, what is it supposed to do.
Keep the content coming
A great deal of damage to the first impression can easily be done in many ways. For example, when upon launching your software, the user will feel as if it has been abandoned for a while. It will provide sufficient positive returns to add a news feed section to the quick menu page of your product. It will make sure that your users, especially those on the free trial, can see the that product is constantly modified and improved, giving them a greater confidence in your product being a good investment of their time and money.
We have covered the three aspects worth considering regarding how to improve the first impression of your software. Let us know if any of these tips helped you out! In the meantime, check out our other blog posts and follow us on LinkedIn!
