The easiest step is creating your SaaS platform. Converting and maintaining a new customer base in the pre-traction phase is the most difficult component of developing any SaaS platform. It doesn't matter how valuable a SaaS product is if you can't convince people to subscribe to it.
In fact, there are three different types of conversions to be focused on in a SaaS business:
1. Conversion Rate of Sign-Ups
2. Conversion Rate from Free to Paid
3. Customer Conversion Rate Over Time
Now that we've learned about different conversions on which you can concentrate your efforts, the real question is: how can I convert free users into paying customers? We'll now go over our top 8 suggestions for turning free users into paying clients. Let's get started with B2B SaaS conversion rate benchmarks and actionable SaaS conversion techniques you can implement immediately.
1. The Homepage as a Conversion Tool
The homepage is where most visitors land when they visit a website, besides dedicated landing pages. Visitors form opinions about the service and the product on the homepage. The homepage is where you offer visitors a compelling incentive to learn more about the product/solution and drive them further down the sales funnel. The suggestions below can assist you in improving your homepage.
Let your business model be simple and straightforward
Your SaaS homepage helps you place your brand/product in front of potential customers. Visitors to your homepage should be able to see your product's value immediately.
List of Major Clients
Tell your visitors that they will be in excellent company if they choose your service. Present them a list of your (local) top customers' from popular brands.
Number Base of Users
It's a good idea to post it on your homepage if you have a large number of users/customers.
Recommendations/Personal Reviews and Testimonials
Who would you believe: a firm talking about its own product or a friend praising it? The majority of people will choose the latter. They feel that people like them will have an unbiased evaluation of the product and show genuine gratitude. Adding recommendations from well-known brands/persons to your webpage will increase the trustworthiness of your service.
Use Cases and Success Stories
Visitors can see real-life examples when they see the success stories of a product. They assist visitors in visualizing the product's position in their own business strategy. Success stories are very helpful at persuading major (business) prospects.
2. Increase Conversion Rates by Lifting Credit Card Restrictions
We suggest starting with the Opt-In free trial (no credit card required) if you're a newer SaaS company. This will give you time to prove your worth and gain confidence from your free users.
We propose evaluating your SaaS free trial marketing strategy if you're already using an opt-out free trial (credit card required). However, the total number of paying clients could increase dramatically!
Suppose you don't require a credit card to sign up for your free SaaS trial. In that case, an opt-in free trial puts you in a wonderful position to attract more qualified leads and convert them into sales through efficient conversion rate optimization.
3. Use More Social Proof To Boost SaaS Conversion Rate
People are more comfortable making decisions when they see social proof. Ask the sales staff to call one paid subscriber weekly to get feedback. If the feedback is positive, request a testimonial from the customer.
This method allows you to have a deeper understanding of your current clientele. If they're having trouble with the software, do everything you can to help them. More social evidence, whether in the form of reviews, customer references, or case studies, improves the effective conversion rate of any SaaS business.
4. SaaS Conversion Optimization: Offering a limited free trial
Another frequently asked topic is how long should a free trial continue?
While many SaaS companies offer a 30-day free trial (on the assumption that this gives a prospect more time to get to know and love your app), we recommend a shorter period. Why? Because giving a consumer too much time to consider something may cause them to put it off till they forget about it.
When it comes to improving your freemium conversion rates, you should keep under a 14-day trial, as trial user interest tends to peak in the first 1-2 weeks before fizzing out and going on to trying out a few of your competitors.
It's a good idea to start with a 14-day trial. Within the first few days, most clients who sign up for a free trial realize whether they like or dislike your SaaS software. Furthermore, by providing them less time to select, you're unfairly putting pressure on them, making them feel obligated to make a choice.
5. Boost User Success with Triggers
Another effective method for increasing conversion rates and ensuring that free trial users become paying clients is to assist them in using your software successfully.
Your customers need to develop a strong attachment to your product. Automated reminder emails and onboarding emails to make the user more comfortable with using your tool are examples of powerful conversion triggers that are very flexible to setup for different segments of users.
In the early phases of a prospect's use of your product, we recommend relying on external triggers. As a prospect gets to know your product better, they'll start to construct their own internal triggers. You may then use behavior and activity reporting (with Intercom for instance) to better analyze and evaluate the user engagement so that you can provide them with a better outcome.
6. Simple Pricing; A Tool to boost SaaS Conversion rate
The fewer steps a potential consumer must take to become a paying customer, the better. As a result, we advocate keeping your pricing as simple as possible.
Examine the steps that a consumer goes through, from signing up for a free trial to entering payment details and then becoming a happy customer. Remove any obstacles that are preventing them from completing their transaction and provide as much as information needed to support the decision process.
7. Using a Variety of Marketing Channels to Optimize SaaS Conversion Rate
If many website visitors landed on your pricing page from a country with a low-average income, the SaaS conversion rate would suffer if your product is expensive. Conversions will be difficult to evolve if you try to sell an enterprise sales software package to college students.
Don't be concerned about the most up-to-date social media platforms. Find some marketing channels where you can reach your customers at a reasonable price. If you generate more qualified traffic at the top of your marketing funnel, your customer acquisition rate will might increase again.
8. SaaS CRO By providing FAQs
Prepare for any inquiries visitors may have about your pricing plans. And respond to them when they arise. You can include a brief FAQs section on your pricing page, with a link to a separate FAQs page (if you have one) to address all questions that may arise in the decision process.
Final Thoughts
Because there are various sorts of conversions and methods, Conversion Rate Optimization for SaaS can be a difficult task. Managing and controlling the entire CRO process can be a complex task due to various responsibilities and disciplines.
Every SaaS is unique on a granular level, and the only way to optimize conversions for your product is to go through a process of trial, research, conversion tracking measures and optimization over time using some of the above-mentioned tactics.