For SaaS developers (and frankly, for everyone selling online for that matter), the conversion rate is definitely an aspect that needs to be seriously considered.The fun thing about the conversion rate is that it’s your engine for driving customers. There is the pre-conversion rate era, in which users are simply users, everyone’s your potential customers, and then there is the post-conversion rate era, in which everyone’s users become your customers. The part that interests you the most is what happens in the in-between eras period.
The conversion rate optimization is a long process, which must not be treated chaotically. Yes, there is hard work ahead, and yes, we are all interested in reaching that one goal, a high conversion rate. But at the end of the day, you needn’t compromise, you needn’t be chaotic about your work, but, rather, take everything step by step because the work you do today will serve you tomorrow and the next day, and the next day and so on.
To give you a spoiler about what optimization actually means and why you need to take things methodically and organized instead of being chaotic and all over the place, know that the process takes time. It’s about testing, collecting data and interpreting it. And once you have the results, you need to put them to good use and observe. And it’s not over yet, so don’t get overjoyed. Because if you have made a few modifications in the wrong area, the results you are hoping to get fail to appear. So you need to start the entire process all over again in order to make other changes. This situation can go on forever and you need to prepare yourself for that. So, let’s get down to business and see what we can find out in terms of conversion rate optimization.
Conversion Rate and E-commerce
We tend to minimize the importance the online environment has had on this conversion rate ordeal. Transforming a window-shopper into a money throwing client was a concept familiar to sales even before the e-Commerce era, but somehow, this battle has been getting louder and louder since the apparition of the Internet. And quite frankly, there are several voices insisting that CRO strategies have been defined by e-Commerce, by the force of this phenomenon. And it must be said that SaaS comes with its own little set of rules. Generally speaking, conversion rate optimization speaks about the product presentation. You are thinking how to better showcase your products, how to better present them and place them in the spotlight, thus going up against your competition. In SaaS, however, everything is about the customer. Is he happy? Should you make the trial longer? What kinds of offers speak to him? In the SaaS world, conversion rate optimization is actually a plan to better cater to your customers, they being the ones responsible for the number of sales you are making.
It’s only natural for SaaS businesses to be preoccupied with customers because the relationships established between businesses and their clients are the source for increased recurring revenues. Therefore, when looking to increase the conversion rate, you look towards the aspects that directly influence the journey of the customer. Take them one by one to ensure an adequate presentation of your product. Focus on your customers and allow them to discover your product.
Homepage conversion optimization tips
Because you are part of the e-Commerce world, you need to start making improvements on your homepage. This is where customers have their first contact with your business. Your homepage needs to be:
Offer all important details regarding your available pricing plans. Help the customer understand what his options are.
Customer-driven practices in terms of content. While your aim is to attract customers that are familiar with your product, you need to address those that aren’t as well. So, going for focused, informative content is the best thing you could do. Also, try to keep everything balanced. Offer content, offer details and information, but try to contain yourself. Remember the attention span of your customer.
Informative, but with a purchasing intent. Drive sales through content using strong CTAs, adequately mixed with the design of your homepage. Bring your customer just where you want him and that is deeper within your website and with a growing purchasing appetite.
Pricing Page conversion optimization tips
Indeed, the pricing page is a key moment in the development of any buying process. This is your first real challenge in terms of customer acquisition. So, treating the pricing page with the attention it deserves makes all the sense in the world. A few things worth knowing:
Clean, intuitive, optimized for mobile traffic and easy to navigate. When designing the homepage, put yourself in the shoes of your customers and think about the aspects that might complicate your life when navigating online.
If you are offering discounts or offers, clearly specify the details. Make sure the customer understands what the offer implies.
Orders tend to matter, so if you have pricing plans that grow in terms of value, start with the cheapest and work your way up, mentioning the features customers are gaining.
Check out page conversion optimization tips
When a customer reaches this point, you need to make sure that you keep him there. You’ve reached this crucial point, you know he is interested, he has chosen a plan he is comfortable with and now it’s time to make that last decisive step. Your checkout page needs to be just as he would expect it to be. You might say that you cannot read minds, so how on earth could you create that one amazing design that could speak the language of your customer? Here are a few facts you might want to remember.
Keeping things simple is the best piece of advice you could possibly receive.
Asking for a limited number of personal details.
The checkout process should be easy to follow.
Conversion Rate Optimization Strategies
So, when it comes to conversion rate optimization, strategies come flooding in. Because the truth is that this is one trial and error kind of method. Basically, you need to struggle to find the right algorithm to increase your conversion rate through whatever instruments you have at your disposal. There is nothing too complicated really. But as always pointing out a few directions is great news for those entrepreneurs who want more, who want to grow and become bigger and bigger.
Conversion Rate Optimization through Marketing
Your marketing endeavors are, as you very well know, ongoing. You need to keep your business out there where everyone can see it. However, when trying to optimize your conversation rate you need to approach this matter as targeted as you can, preferably looking at different segments of your audience.
We all have a problem with waste, right? Intelligent marketing is about presenting your offer to the right audience, getting the right customers to react. It will do you no good to see that one ad drives the interest of 100 users if you end up selling your product to just 10 of them. The 90 users that have been left outside represent waste and that waste will be noticed in your marketing budget.
So, what you want to do is create customer persona or at least go as deep as you can in creating an audience, based on specific interests and needs and refer to that audience by means of marketing. Create landing pages that speak the language of your customers, make a few modifications on content to answer direct needs and so. Basically, try to customize your marketing endeavors in the best possible manner.
Lead Nurturing
Unfortunately, as we were mentioning earlier in our guide, customers do not have an increased attention span. This can often place you in a rather uncomfortable situation. Browse abandonment is a well-known, common issue among e-commerce entrepreneurs, which makes it even more important in terms of conversion optimization. After all, wouldn’t be awesome to be able to recover some of those 90 users who have abandoned your website? Of course, it would.
Recovering leads is usually a practice best carried out by means of emails. If you have been fortunate enough to obtain contact details, then you can go right ahead to create your email marketing strategy.
The good news is that if you practice the trial method, you have customer details. So, why not start planning a full-blown strategy? Instead of limiting yourself to a thank you message and a trial end announcement, use the trial time to build a relationship. Subscribe the user to your newsletter, send useful tips and tricks, offers, show those users what you are all about.
Reach out to your customers in whatever way you can. You could even ask for feedback. Surveys are always a great way to figure out where exactly you are as far as the customer is concerned. Plus, you might discover a few drawbacks, which you could fix and regain their appreciation.
Pricing and conversion rate optimization
At a first view, you might be tempted to say that a pricing strategy aimed at increasing your conversion rate would represent a significant discount. However, while this may be a strategy, you cannot view it as a long-term solution. After all, we are all here to make a profit and a pricing strategy of this kind might not serve this purpose. Now, trying out different pricing plans, having various pricing strategies can turn the tables and allow you to grow in a healthy manner. So, what are your options?
The trial option
can be a real relationship product. Over a limited period of time, your client can test your product and understand, first hand, if they can make use of it in fact. Once that period of time has reached its end, your customer needs to make a decision. Is he in or is he out? This pricing strategy offers the following benefits:
- The user has had plenty of time to test the product to understand if it is worth using.
- You are sending out a message of confidence regarding the quality of your product. You know what you have and you are confident that your user will share your views on the product.
- You can communicate with your user throughout the trial period and understand where he is at in terms of commitment.
The Freemium king
is a strategy that has certainly enjoyed a huge amount of popularity among entrepreneurs. The idea behind this strategy is that you provide the user with access to a basic form of your software for as long as he wants and when adding new functionalities, features, to the table, that’s when costs start to build up. The user is charged on features. The great advantage to this pricing strategy is that you can have direct feedback on the popularity of features and you can extract further details regarding your audience, which can be, later on, incorporated in your marketing strategy, aimed at increasing your conversion rate.
The
“Pay as you Use”
model speaks about your option to use the software and pay as you go. There are certain aspects that help the developer calculate the price at the end of a set period. If you think about it, this is the model that you might be used from your utility bills. The advantage of this pricing model is that users no longer have to select an entire and pay a large monthly fee simply to benefit from one feature they are in fact interested in. So, basically, there is a lot less waste with this pricing model and you, as the software developer can make a pretty clear idea regarding the features that are most popular among your target public.
Last, but not least are the
Custom Plans.
These speak the language of users, as these plans focus on their direct needs. They can be used in different sales strategies, even in retention strategies. A client tells you what he is interested in, the number of team members that might use the software and you, the developer, can create a unique plan, in most cases better than what he would normally obtain.
Optimizing your conversion rate is not something that you can fix overnight. It takes time, patience, dedication and most importantly, a solid insight interpretation. If you are not willing to put a bit of effort into analyzing the data you have collected through testing, then you shouldn’t bother to test in the first place. Testing without insight interpretation is meaningless.
The trial option
can be a real relationship product. Over a limited period of time, your client can test your product and understand, first hand, if they can make use of it in fact. Once that period of time has reached its end, your customer needs to make a decision. Is he in or is he out? This pricing strategy offers the following benefits:
