May 11, 2019

Highlight Annual Subscription

3. Retention  >  Highlight Annual Subscription

Highlight annual subscription to reduce SaaS churn

Annual subscription reduces churn, improves cashflow, and makes revenue predictable. Encourage, motivate, and incentivize customers to opt for annual billing instead of monthly.

● PERSUASION

Buffer

Buffer offers both monthly and annual billing. Customers save 20% with annual billing.

Mailerlite

Mailerlite offers both annual and monthly billing and clearly displays the actual dollars a customer will save per year.

Segment

Segment also has an annual billing option. To show some contrast, these two are presented in details side-by-side in a dynamic calculator

How to use the technique

  • Add annual subscription option without removing the monthly subscription. It is best to offer monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, and annual plans. Give maximum discount on the annual plan. Refer to our free churn optimization framework to get more details.
  • Offer discount on annual plans. No incentive works better than immediate savings. Clearly show how much a customer will save with an annual plan. Mention amount as well as percentage. Highlight savings.
  • Offer other incentives to annual subscribers. For example, priority support, a dedicated account manager, free access to webinars for the whole year, etc. Convert annual billing into a complete package with savings and additional incentives.
  • Communicate the benefits of opting to an annual subscription. Highlight benefits and make them prominent on the pricing page.
  • Send emails to monthly subscribers and encourage them to switch to the annual plan. Before you charge a customer’s card for the next month, send an email and clearly tell the benefits of switching to annual.
  • Show customers how much they missed to save. Send a history of monthly payments a customer has made and show how much could have been saved if it was an annual plan in the first place. Highlight the savings they missed just because they weren’t on the annual plan.
  • Test multiple annual billing options. You can test different variations of annual billing: Annual only, optional annual billing, and annual default. Also test CTAs, benefits, and savings. Optimize for conversions. We have crafted a grea free churn optimization framework to help you with conversion optimization.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Removing monthly subscription. Removing monthly billing and switching to annual only is a big mistake that might turn-off people ready for only small & safe commitments. Don’t do it. Monthly payments are better than no payments at all.
  • Ignoring annual subscribers. Not engaging with them assuming they're sure to stick with your company. Ignore them and they won’t renew their plan. Give these customers special attention.

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> SaaS customer retention best practices to maximize renewals

> 4 Major Advantages Of Annual vs. Monthly Subscription Billing

Research evidence

David Skok argued that SaaS should focus on three things: Acquiring, retaining, and monetizing customers. He further explained how SaaS businesses can deal with negative cashflow is early years (which is a common SaaS challenge) by switching from monthly to an annual subscription. Annual subscription reduces months to recover CAC which converts negative cashflow into positive right from the first few months.

365

Annual subscription reduces months to recover CAC which converts negative cashflow into positive right from the first few months.

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May 11, 2019

Create A Loyalty Program

3. Retention  >  Create A Loyalty Program

Create a loyalty program to reduce SaaS churn

A loyalty program can benefit your SaaS in several ways: Increase in revenue, repeat customers, churn reduction, engagement, and customer satisfaction. It’s a great way to build a community of loyal and satisfied customers.

● PERSUASION

Zizzi

Swarm Perks [https://www.theverge.com/2016/6/7/11870810/swarm-perks-app-rewards-update] gives interesting and useful reward to customers based on their location.z

Dropbox

Dropbox grew 3900% in 15 months with its customer loyalty program.

Swarm_Perks

Swarm Perks gives interesting and useful reward to customers based on their location.

How to use the technique

  • Analyze and get feedback from current customers. Use data to figure out how your current customers use your app, what challenges they have, what’s your profit margin, etc. Get feedback from customers to understand what rewards they prefer, what features they like, how much they’d pay for an upgraded version, etc. Not sure how to collect data? Get this free guide. Refer to our free churn optimization framework to learn more. 
  • Devise a point and reward system. It has to be simple yet challenging. Link point system to usage or other crucial metrics. Rewards should be interesting and meaningful.
  • Create customer selection criterion. Is your loyalty program for all customers or do they have to qualify for it based on a criterion such as usage, volume, payment, engagement, etc.?
  • Integrate into CRM. It will make your loyalty program systematic and meaningful. You'll be in a better position to set realistic goals.
  • Communicate and promote your loyalty program. Share on social media, emails, and send notifications. Add a CTA within the software. Create a support document to explain the program.
  • Measure performance. Has it reduced churn? Are rewards motivating customers? What buyer persona participated actively? The loyalty program should achieve its goals. If it doesn’t, revise and improve it. Read this free guide for step-by-step instructions.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Making it complex. Do customers have to spend time to learn and understand your loyalty program? If so, it won’t work. Change it. Make it simple. Use terms, scoring system, and rewards your customers are aware of.
  • Poor rewards that don’t motivate customers. The rewards shouldn’t be meaningless. Nothing works better than monetary rewards (free subscription, free upgrade, gift cards, etc.).

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> Customer Loyalty: The Ultimate Guide

> How To Develop The Right Loyalty Program For Your SaaS

> 15 SaaS Retention Strategies and Subscription Renewal Best Practices

Research evidence

Frederick Reichheld conducted research on how loyal customers help businesses save cost. The findings revealed that increasing customer retention by 5% will increase profits by 25%-95%. The reason is simple: Return customers don’t cost a penny to your business. The customer acquisition cost has already been incurred and as they buy again, it reduces operating cost significantly.

95%

Increasing customer retention by 5% will increase profits by 25%-95%. The reason is simple: Return customers don’t cost a penny to your business.

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May 10, 2019

Offer Gamified Trial Extension

4. Revenue  >  Offer Gamified Trial Extension

Offer gamified trial extension to reduce SaaS churn

A perfect way to reduce churn and boost conversions by using gamification for trial extension. Ask users to complete certain tasks (that will make them fell in love with your app) to increase trial duration.

● PERSUASION

Prodpad

Prodpad did an amazing job at using gamification for trial extension.

Dropbox

Dropbox gives users free GBs for completing tasks that keep them engaged and provides them with awesome rewards.

Autodesk

Autodesk used gamification to increase free trial to paid conversions by 15% and trial usage by 54%.

How to use the technique

  • Develop a strategy on what to gamify. What actions and events need to be gamified should be based on research and audience preferences. Do surveys and interviews. Use buyer personas for more details. Our free churn optimization framework will reveal actionable insights. 
  • Divide trial period into small segments. Link segments to tasks and when a user completes the tasks, extend trial by a couple of days (or so). This works best to keep them engaged and they will be least likely to churn.
  • Shorten trial period. Let users earn trial through gamification. When they will earn it, they will be more likely to engage and stick with your app.
  • Use a checklist or progress bar to show users their progress. This will keep them motivated to do more.
  • Keep it interesting. It shouldn’t be boring. Don’t make it all about your app and its features. Don’t make users feel they're using an app. Track user actions.
  • Emphasize on conversions and engagement. Gamification is all about boosting engagement and developing user’s interest in your app so they eventually convert to paid subscription.
  • Track performance. Remove hurdles. Remove steps that take time for completion. Make it easier for users to extend free trial. Tracking and tweaking will become easier with our free actionable guide.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Hurting UX with gamification is a lethal mistake. Don’t ruin UX with gamification. Keep it simple and intuitive. It should improve UX instead of ruining it.
  • Overdoing with gamification can impact your app’s UVP negatively. Make sure gamification doesn’t become the reason why people use your app. Keep it interesting but don’t let it overcome your app features.

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> #1 Framework to Convert Free Trial Users Into Customers

> The Ultimate Guide to Hack Your Free Trial Conversion Rate

> User Onboarding: The UX Behind Our Magically Extending Free Trial

Research evidence

Lucassen and Jansen published a qualitative article in Elsevier on how gamification is and will be used on consumer marketing. They identified three benefits of gamification for businesses (via literature review): Engagement, brand loyalty, and brand awareness. Use of gamification was expected to increase in the future.

Play!

Lucassen and Jansen identified three benefits of gamification for businesses (via literature review): Engagement, brand loyalty, and brand awareness.

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May 10, 2019

Add Motivation To Paywall

4. Revenue  >  Address Motivation On Paywall

Address motivation on trial paywall to reduce SaaS churn

A soft paywall puts restrictions to some features of your app after free trial expiration. This is a perfect approach to reduce churn and motivate users to convert to get access to features that they don’t have access to.

● PERSUASION

Typeform

Typeform is free but it has several features walled that need upgradation.

Appcues

Appcues reduced its free trial from 30 to 14 days and added a soft paywall allowing users to extend the free trial for 5 more days by entering credit card details.

Slack

Slack smartly notifies users to get access to more features (which they're missing now) with an upgrade.

How to use the technique

  • Create a soft paywall strategy. What features to restrict? When to add the restriction? Do you need to target your entire audience? Have a complete strategy for your paywall that ensures the right context and timing. Read our free churn optimization framework for more details. 
  • Restrict some features of users who don’t upgrade after the expiration of free trial. Let them use your app. Remind them about the Aha! moment in a paywall to get them to upgrade.
  • Use in-app notifications to tell users what features are walled. Let users know why a specific feature is walled and how they can unlock it.
  • Use clear CTAs in the notifications and emails. Describe how to get access to the full app. Prominent CTAs with the right placement get attention and reduce churn.
  • Measure performance of soft paywall. Is it really helping you improve conversions and reduce churn? If users aren’t upgrading, consider restricting a few more features. Track user actions. Use our free actionable guide on testing and measuring performance.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Not highlighting the benefits of unlocking walled features. Show users what they're missing and how upgrading to premium will benefit them.
  • Not engaging with users who don’t upgrade and continue using your app with walled features. Don’t ignore them. Connect with them. Engage with them. Persuade them to convert with promotions and rewards.

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> How freemium apps convert users with brilliant upgrade prompts

> From trial to paid–how we accelerated sales by 68% with our very own paywall

> The freemium model and paywall strategies: how much should you give away?

Research evidence

Sjøvaag conducted a longitudinal comparative study to analyze how three Norwegian online newspapers are using the paywall. Findings revealed that premium content is used for paywall while news and syndicated content (not premium) is available for free. Users don’t hesitate to pay for the most valuable content. However, the free content keeps being a major contributor to traffic generation for the three newspapers.

$$$

Use paywalls to increase profit, use free trials and demos to drive traffic.

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Implement with our proven SaaS Churn Optimization Framework

Download a PDF with an exact process we use with our SaaS clients to research, define optimization opportunities and test.

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May 10, 2019

Offer Upgrade With Urgency

4. Revenue  >  Offer Upgrade With Urgency

Offer upgrade with urgency to reduce SaaS churn

Persuade users to upgrade by offering them with promotions that they cannot refuse. A powerful promotion coupled with urgency is a great way to skyrocket free trial to paid conversions.

● PERSUASION

Grammarly

Grammarly does an exceptional job at highlighting the upgrade to a business tier in the interface.

Getresponse

GetResponse offers an 18% discount on annual billing that’s a perfect way to create urgency for upgrade promotions.

Booking

Booking.com smartly uses urgency and promotions to persuade users to book now.

How to use the technique

  • Create relevant promotions based on user data, buyer personas, and your software. Such as a limited time discount. Get feedback from users as to what type of promotions they expect. Use our free churn optimization framework to get help on doing research. 
  • Link promotions to user behavior. For instance, if a user has used a specific feature of your app during the trial, link promotion to that particular feature. You can reduce churn with this simple technique.
  • Create urgency. The upgrade promotion should have an element of urgency attached to it. Let users know this promotion is available for a limited time only.
  • Clearly communicate the promotion. Send emails and notifications to pre-sell promotion. Send regular reminders to make users realize it’s urgent and important.
  • Describe the benefits of an upgrade along with the promotion. Differentiate upgrade promotion from a simple upgrade for persuasion and reducing churn rate.
  • Focus on upgrades. The purpose of the promotion and urgency should be to convert trial users to paid customers. Don’t dilute the actual benefits of the upgrade in the process.
  • Measure conversions. Analyze different upgrade promotions. Improve promotions based on user feedback. This free actionable guide will show you how to do it.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Offering upgrade promotions to all the users. Don’t do it. Only offer upgrade promotions to users who haven’t converted. Making it a norm will negatively impact conversions as users will always expect an upgrade promotion.
  • Fake urgency is suicidal. If it’s urgent, make sure it is real. Remove promotion after the said time period passes. Don’t make it permanent.

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READ MORE ON THE TOPIC

> How to Use Urgency and Scarcity to Improve Conversions

> How freemium apps convert users with brilliant upgrade prompts

> 13 Loss Aversion Marketing Strategies to Increase Conversions

Research evidence

Zhu, Yang, and Hsee published an article in the Journal of Consumer Research (JCR). The authors conducted 5 different experiments to measure the impact of urgency on consumer behavior. The results revealed that individuals are more likely to prioritize unimportant task over important task when the former is characterized by urgency. It is known as mere urgency effect which reveals how consumers value urgency during buying.

!!!

Individuals are more likely to prioritize unimportant task over the important task when the former is characterized by urgency

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May 9, 2019

Use Short Trials & Extensions

2. Activation  >  Use Short Trials With Extensions

Use short trials with extensions to reduce SaaS churn

Offering short trials develop urgency and reduce your cost. Those who don’t convert after trial expiration, extend their trial to boost conversions and reduce churn. Offering extension works great because you get a chance to engage with users.

● PERSUASION

Kashflow

Kashflow increased trial to paying customer conversions by 25% after they reduced free trial duration from 60 days to 14 days.

Freshbooks

Freshbooks offers its active users an additional two weeks of free trial on expiration to keep them engaged.

Sleeknote

Sleeknote offers a free trial extension to partially inactive users but they have to implement tracking code to receive the extension.

How to use the technique

  • Research and decide an optimal trial length. Should it be 7, 14, 28, or 30 days? Refer to your ideal customers and ask them via surveys and interviews. Our churn optimization framework will show you how to collect data from your audience. 
  • Can users fully explore your software within the trial period? Don’t squeeze trial too much that users cannot explore all the features. It is best to offer 14 days trial as any software can be fully tried and tested in 14 days.
  • Create urgency. Short trials naturally create urgency. Customers will use your software to avoid expiration. Long trials aren’t persuasive as users get all the time to try it. This makes them churn because they forget about the app.
  • Convert a long trial into a short trial and add an extension. For instance, convert your 28 days free trial into 14 days trial. Offer users with another 14 days (or 7 + 7 days) trial as an extension. This will make them use your software.
  • Engage with the users when offering the extension. The majority of users won’t respond to emails but when you offer them an extension, most of them will respond positively. And that’s where you can initiate a conversation.
  • Bribe users with extension. Ask users to complete a specific task (step) in the customer journey to get a free trial extension. For instance, if they haven’t experienced Aha moment, ask them to complete it to enjoy an extension.
  • Test different trail durations. There are several variables that you should analyze empirically to come up with optimal trial length. Such as ease of use, sales cycle, customer lifecycle journey, average activation time, etc. We created an amazing free step-by-step churn optimization framework to help you get along with testing.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Lack of follow-ups. Sending an extension once isn’t enough. Follow up multiple times to ensure users don’t churn and opt for the extension.
  • No testing. A big mistake that SaaS makes is that they don’t measure and test the results of different trail variations. Test all changes you make to your free trial duration.

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> SaaS startups: Why your free trials are way too long

> How Long Should Your SaaS Free Trial Be? It Depends…

> SaaS Free Trial Extension Requests are a Bad Sign

> 8 Ways to Convert Free Trial Users Into Customers Through Email Marketing

Research evidence

Cheng, Li, and Liu developed an analytical model to examine different SaaS free trial strategies. The findings revealed that small and relatively new businesses should offer a time-locked free trial. The optimal length of a free trial depends on several internal and external factors, however, it is best for relatively new brands to offer time-locked free trials as it helps them increase profits. As your business grows, you can use short trials as it will perform better in terms of profitability.

<7 d.

As your business grows, short trials will perform better in terms of profitability. Small and relatively new businesses should offer a time-locked free trial.

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    May 9, 2019

    Run Retargeting Ads

    2. Activation  >  Run Retargeting Ads

    Run retargeting ads to reduce SaaS churn

    It always pays off (big time…) when you run retargeting ads to convert free trials into paid customers. Not just conversions, but these ads can be used to engage, reduce churn, and to persuade users to complete onboarding sequence.

    ● PERSUASION

    WordStream

    WordStream used retargeting ads to target visitors who visited a specific page on their website. It increased conversions by 51% and average visit duration by 300%.

    Lumension

    Lumension used retargeting to increase leads by 81% and 865% increase in homepage views.

    Baremetrics

    Baremetrics uses retargeting ads to bring visitors back to their website. They earn $650 for every $6. How’s that ROI?

    How to use the technique

    • Create a retargeting ad strategy. Define goals, create a user selection criterion, allocate budget, choose retargeting ad platform, and enable tracking. Take it seriously as any other marketing campaign. We have an awesome free churn optimization framework to help you get started.
    • Offer a discount. The best technique to reduce churn and to persuade free users to become customers is to offer them a discount on the upgrade.
    • Extend trial. Target users whose trial is expiring soon or has expired but they were active. Extend their trial. Add a few more days.
    • Invite to a webinar. Invite inactive users to a webinar with retargeting ads, so you can show them how useful your app is.
    • Persuade them to get over the phone. Let your sales team handle it. Target inactive users with an ad and convince them to schedule a call for personalized onboarding or guidance.
    • Get feedback. Run a retargeting feedback campaign. Ask users to share their feedback. Use their feedback to save future users from churning. Not sure how to do it? Grab this step-by-step churn optimization framework.

    Mistakes to avoid

    • Running a single retargeting campaign. One campaign means nothing. Create multiple campaigns to target the same or different users. A/B test. Improve and tweak.
    • Lack of personalization. Running retargeting ads that aren’t personalized will lead you nowhere. Target users based on their recent interaction with your software. If they didn’t complete the onboarding sequence, refer to it in the ad.

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    READ MORE ON THE TOPIC

    > How to increase free trials to paid customers with “onboarding retargeting”

    > 5 Ways to Onboard Free Trial Users With Retargeting

    > How Retargeting Gets Our SaaS $650 for $6

    > The Ultimate Guide To Retargeting Unconverted Visitors – How Retargeting Works

    Research evidence

    Adroit Digital and Toluna conducted an online survey to find how US online buyers perceive retargeted ads. Around 30% of respondents said that they either positively or very positively respond to a retargeted ad. However, the majority of the respondents (59%) said they have a neutral reaction to a retargeted ad. The neutral reaction doesn’t hurt your brand so it is a great idea to use retargeting ads to bring back consumers to your website.

    30%

    One third of users respond to retargeting ads positively. More than a half of respondents are neutral to those.

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    May 9, 2019

    Start An Online Community

    2. Activation  >  Start An Online Community

    Start an online community to reduce SaaS churn

    An online community is a great step towards reducing churn and increasing retention. It provides value to customers and they get to know your software better, and thus are more likely to stick.

    ● PERSUASION

    Mention

    Mention reduced churn by 22% by connecting and engaging with their users.

    Moz

    Moz is a perfect example of how to create a community that will grow itself. It has a forum, Q&A session, and uses Twitter to engage customers.

    Zendesk

    ZenDesk provides resources and articles to their audience. Its executives engage with customers on social media to keep them hooked.

    How to use the technique

    • Select the right platforms. There are several platforms to create and manage an online community. For instance, forum, knowledge base, resource center, YouTube channel, or a Facebook group or a third-party app. Ask your customers what they prefer. Inspect buyer personas. Use our free churn optimization framework to do research like a pro.
    • Send invitation. Invite new users who have achieved Aha moment with your app. Send email reminders. It’d be best to add an invitation link in onboarding sequence to make sure minimal users churn.
    • Engage the users. It’s all about engagement and building a community where your customers can network. It’s all up to you on how you develop the structure and culture of the community. Make it friendly and less formal.
    • Listen. The more your customers speak, the better. See what they're talking about, what their issues are, and what they love about your software. Constantly listen to conversations.
    • Share exclusive content. The best way to reduce churn is to share exclusive content (not found elsewhere) with your community. Make them feel special and important.
    • Learn and improve. You’d get a chance to learn a lot about your customers from an online community. The data you collect is priceless. Use it to tweak your app and update personas. We have created a step-by-step churn optimization framework that will show you how to use data practically. 

    Mistakes to avoid

    • Selling through online community. Using your community to sell, up-sell, or cross-sell will kill the sole of the community. Don’t use it sell. Use it for engagement and networking.
    • Not participating actively. Don’t ignore your community. Lack of participation from your end will ruin everything. Customers won’t take it seriously and lose their interest. Be proactive and participate in discussions.
    • Not integrating to your CRM. It’s all about data and information. Integrate your online platform with your CRM or email marketing tool to get better at segmentation and targeting.

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    READ MORE ON THE TOPIC

    > How to Increase Customer Retention with an Online Community

    > How Your Online Community Can Increase Customer Retention

    > Top 6 Ways to Improve Customer Retention using Online Communities

    Research evidence

    A Harvard study by Reicheld and Schefter highlights the importance of building online communities and the awesome benefits that businesses drive from them. A 5% increase in customer retention will increase profits by 25-95%. The best thing about an online community is that it increases customer retention by developing trust – which, according to the authors, is the ruling force on the internet. Over time, online communities create loyal customers who won’t leave you.

    95%

    Maximum threshold of how a 5% increase in retention could increase your profits according to a Harvard study.

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    May 9, 2019

    Host A Live Webinar

    2. Activation  >  Host A Live Webinar

    Host a live webinar to reduce SaaS churn

    Hosting a webinar to help users better understand your app and have their questions answered is a great way to boost engagement, increase conversions, and reduce churn. Interacting with your audience live is a different thing altogether.

    ● PERSUASION

    J_Turner_Research

    J Turner Research conducted a webinar with great numbers. It achieved a 756% ROI.

    Drip

    Drip hosts an event each year where they educate participants for free. It helps them boost engagement and get new customers.

    Leadpages

    Leadpages create 16+ webinars a month to acquire new signups and to reduce churn.

    How to use the technique

    • Set clear goals. What exactly you want to achieve with a webinar? What buyer persona will be targeted? Are you interested in reducing churn, increasing activation, or just doing it for brand awareness? Set clear goals for your webinar. Our free churn optimization framework will help you do it better. 
    • Have a plan. Create an action plan. Divide the webinar into different sections. Distribute time to present different sections. It is best to write plan on a paper.
    • Show participants how your app works. A webinar isn’t about you or your business rather it should be focused on how your software works. Show participants what they can do and how they can do it.
    • Explain the benefits users will get. What benefit participants will get from your software or once they activate? Why it’s necessary for them? Clearly explain all the benefits of installing and using the software.
    • Measure and track conversions. It is essential to measure the performance of your webinar. Results will guide you what changes you need to make to your strategy. Here is a free guide on mastering tracking.
    • Test and tweak. Are your video tutorials underperforming? They should be tweaked several times to make them work. Use our free churn optimization framework for help. 

    Mistakes to avoid

    • Hosting a webinar at the wrong time. At what customer journey stage you host a webinar makes a lot of difference. Carefully and strategically select the right time based on user stage in the flow mapping.
    • Not asking questions. Using a webinar to sell your app and share all the information about your brand and software won’t work. Take input from users. Ask questions. Take feedback. Use this information to create subsequent webinars.

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    > How To Achieve Successful Customer Onboarding with Webinars

    > How to reduce customer churn with webinars

    > How Leadpages & Drip Use Webinars to Reduce Churn, Generate Trials, and Increase LTV

    Research evidence

    Agnes carried out an in-depth experimental study to analyze how webinar impacts behavior and engagement of the participants. Webinar increased engagement of the participants, increase satisfaction, and it helped them feel more connected to other participants.

    ►

    Webinar increased engagement of the participants, as well as satisfaction and the feeling of attachement.

    Related techniques SEE ALL THE TECHNIQUES >

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    May 9, 2019

    Distribute Free Video Tutorials

    2. Activation  >  Distribute Free Video Tutorials

    Distribute free video tutorials to reduce SaaS churn

    Video tutorials are great at making it super-easy for new users to start using your app. Not only does a video tutorial will guide but it will keep users engaged and help them achieve success with your app quickly.

    ● PERSUASION

    Dropbox

    Dropbox increased conversions by 10% with an explainer video.

    Xero

    Xero has created engaging video tutorials for its users.

    Experience_Fellow

    ExperienceFellow has an animated video that explains the core features of the app to the new users.

    How to use the technique

    • Trigger emotions in the tutorial videos. Make it more than a tutorial. Hit pain points. Show how users can solve their biggest problem in a few seconds. Our free churn optimization framework has all the details on how to better understand your audience.
    • Show instead of telling. Don’t create tutorial videos to share features rather show how people can use your app. The idea is to help users, boost engagement, and reduce churn by making it dead simple to use your app.
    • Show screenshots. Show users actual app. Use screenshots. It is best to show a real person using your app.
    • Embed CTA. A video tutorial without a CTA won’t tell users what they're supposed to do after watching it. Thus, they will churn. Embed a powerful and compelling CTA in the tutorial.
    • Create short videos. Nobody likes watching long videos. It shouldn’t be longer than 120 seconds. Short videos are more likely to be shared.
    • Test and tweak. Are your video tutorials underperforming? They should be tweaked several times to make them work. Use our free churn optimization framework for help. 

    Mistakes to avoid

    • Using video tutorials as an alternative to onboarding. These are two different things and shouldn’t be mixed. The video tutorial cannot replace onboarding sequence.
    • Not publishing tutorials on streaming sites. Don’t make it hard for users to find tutorials. Distribute video tutorials on leading streaming sites. Share links in emails and on social networks.

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    Stop Your SaaS From Leaking Customers With Our Proven Optimization Process

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    READ MORE ON THE TOPIC

    > Why You Should Use Video In Onboarding Emails

    > Onboarding New Users With Video 

    > 20 Best Customer Onboarding Videos – EVER!

    > How To Reduce Churn At Various Stages Of Customer Journey With Videos?

    Research evidence

    Andreas and Sandra conducted an empirical study to understand consumer perception of explainer videos and how effective and efficient these videos are. The results revealed that consumers prefer watching videos over text because they can easily remember what they see as opposed to what they read. Around 71% of respondents in Germany and 47% in the US reported that they have watched explainer videos. Over 50% of people watch explainer videos for e-learning.

    71%

    This is how many of respondents in Germany reported that they have watched explainer videos.

    Related techniques SEE ALL THE TECHNIQUES >

    LOOKING FOR THE WAY TO STOP YOUR SAAS FROM LEAKING MONEY?

    Download our FREE guide with the battle-tested process for SaaS conversion & retention optimization

    Get a PDF with an exact step-by-step framework we use with our SaaS clients to research why their SaaS is leaking money, define optimization opportunities and run data-driven experiments that bring tangible ROI.

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