Day after day, SaaS Startups have to face the challenge of increasing their conversion rates.

There are several key performance indicators that can help you to assess the success of strategies which may lead to sales conversion rate, whilst avoiding issues such as customer churn.

The formula is a simple one: measuring, monitoring and taking actions!

Our goal is to provide SaaS Startups with some tips that will help them to build, keep and escalate a profitable business with a minor investment.

The conversion rate is the major indicator of a given campaign’s success, however, the averages of conversion rates vary a lot between sectors, products, and within the software industry the picture is not different.

Thus, the more specific the area of operation is, the greater the results gathered will be.

Without wasting another minute, these are the seven marketing tactics which we happen to recommend if you want to increase the conversion rates.

1. Encourage them to convert

Trial “registration” has a major role when it comes to obtaining conversions, considering that prospects are just one click away.

The tendency is to create a “Call-to-Action” series, with buttons and big letters, in order to take people to complete the registration.

In our opinion, less is more, and the cleaner a web design is, the easier it is to draw attention to the really important points, such as the one related to subscriber registration.

By applying the same line of thought, create an easy registration based on a straightforward form. Too many fields in a single form can demotivate a lot of people right away, who’ll just avoid the registration; in other words, you will lose prospects.

The easier the process is, the greater the number of registrations will be, and the same goes for conversion rates.

Finally, particularly for SaaS Startups which are based on really recent forms of business, it’s important to display some elements which increase the confidence of those who will register. You should include, on the web design, an area that gives some highlight to the customers’ opinions, such as a space for testimonials made by partners, or one devoted to the customers’ logos.

Knowing the opinion of someone who uses the app is one of the best ways to increase the subscriber’s confidence level on the product, which is reflected in conversion rates.

2. Take the advantage of the “Free Trial”

This item almost seems unnecessary. Today you can barely find a SaaS Startup that doesn’t use the method in which its users can try the app’s “Free Trial”, throughout a certain timeframe.

However, no user will subscribe the app’s service without testing it first, and, because of that, avoiding to restrict the app’s functionalities is crucial. You should do quite the opposite in fact!

Optimized free trials increase engagement. We don’t want to limit the product’s experience, but actually expand it.

The true emphasis is based on providing the best and more complete experience possible, encouraging the user to get in touch with all the app’s specifications, and even having them inviting someone to “test” the product as well.

Motivate them to increase their usage and engagement during the test period, by relying on optimized content.

By making them remember that they have an app to explore in their hands. Send them reminders through the app! Foster them by email! The more they know about it, they more they will probably like it. And it’s in that moment that we’re able to convert subscribers into customers.

This is also the moment when you have a bigger amount of people using your app, and it wouldn’t be smart at all if you weren’t able to take advantage of the info that they can give you! Seize the trial period to get as much feedback as possible.

Try to know what users think, fix the bugs to optimize the app overall, and so you’ll able to convert more customers.

3. Provide a plan that’s based on usage

The model that relies on a single quote for a perpetual license is more than outdated.

These days, most SaaS Startups tend to offer a subscription service which gives the user more freedom – they pay for the service as long as they need it.

Even though it seems like the best option for the user overall, if they happen to use just a section of the app and they don’t need all the options provided by it, they can pay just for what they actually use.

The subscription plan concept is then born due to it, based on the usage, and it’s are more flexible because it provides different options for different kinds of use.

It’s during the app’s use that subscribers will be exposed to all the available resources, many of those were perhaps not considered necessary or relevant for their personal needs, when they subscribed the plan.

Encompass the customers as much as possible with all the product’s capabilities in order to boost engagement, and then provide complementary optional services for those who may need them, thus increasing the revenue by each customer.

4. Get to properly know the users

A SaaS is under evaluation as soon as someone installs its app.

Everything that takes places at the first stage of engagement has a great impact on the user’s growth as a customer.

Due to being a pre-sale moment, “Free Trial” is also a particularly delicate one.

It’s a test and assessment period, which will determine if the subscriber actually becomes a customer. The relationship with the subscriber right after the first contact can determine all the success throughout his lifespan as a customer.

The sooner a subscriber converts himself into a customer, the greater the profits will be throughout time and the bigger the probabilities are of bringing other customers through recommendation.

Satisfied customers are capable of incredible feats for the companies to which they are loyal.

Don’t waste the opportunity.

In order to be able to get exceptional results, you first need to understand in what way the users handle the app, and it’s only after doing so that you’ll segment them.

Promoting within the “one-size-fits-all” is not the one that’ll generate the best outcome. Customers like to feel appreciated and special.

The closer the relationship with your customer is and the better you know him, the greater will also be his interest and response’s likelihood.

There are several actions that can be taken in order to boost sales, particularly by offering customized packages, targeted to each audience, taking into account their different usages.

Establish a connection with your customers, make them see by themselves that your product is going to help them reaching the intended results, and that’s purely more convincing than any other thing you may offer.

5. Understand how much a customer is willing to pay at most

Price has a major role in conversion: when it’s too high, the users will not buy it and, in the other way round, when it’s too low they’ll question the product’s quality. If your startup is trying to introduce itself in a market that’s comprised of some “players” already, then it’s easy to check the prices of the competition in order to have a better understanding of how much the users are willing to pay. But keep in mind that that’s only a reference point. The important thing is to understand what the best way is to have users appreciating your software.

Most customers don’t mind paying more for a service that provides extra value. Find out the value that your product offers and learn how to differentiate things between plans. Think about ways to improve your price, by providing a premium, attractive service, in which the user unequivocally acknowledges the added value. You can even use strategic discounts to increase the amount paid by the customer at the moment of conversion.

6. Don’t overlook the mailing list

No matter what they say, emails are still one of the most powerful marketing tools, available for a really affordable price.

When properly planned they can make all the difference.

Sending a simple email after someone completes their registration on a service can convert indifferent customers into happy and loyal customers.

In addition to that, within the context of SaaS, sending an email to someone who has not used the app for quite some time, offering, for instance, a discount, can make all the difference in the conversion of users.

Emails are also a great “up-sell” option, offering a product or service that adds and increases the purchase’s end value.

Dedicate some of your time to the mailing list, target it, and the conversion rates will increase.

7. Make customer service a priority

In order to improve conversion, it’s crucial to communicate on a constant basis with the users.

Many times, the main focus falls upon constantly getting more customers, however the results tend to be more beneficial when the target is placed on retained customers.

Conversions are important, however, keeping the conversions already achieved is more interesting when things are seen from the revenue’s point of view.

We’ve already talked about retaining users’ feedback in order to optimize the app, however customer service is much more than that. It’s being able to develop a relationship, be attentive to all details, clarify questions, increase the customer’s satisfactions.

Give him a 24/7 support, get to properly know your customers, talk to them, ask them why they’re not buying, remember them that there are new updates with more beneficial plans, offer exclusive promotions and upgrades, extend the free test period for a regular customer who has yet to make a purchase decision…

And remember: conversion is not solely the moment when trial subscriber becomes a paid user. This is a continuous process and one that perhaps will never end: it’s about adding value to customers and making them pay for it.