9 Amazing CRO Tactics Your SaaS Business Should Be Using
Selling software can be a tricky endeavor, and it’s often more difficult than selling regular products. After all, when someone is looking to buy clothing, what they see is what they get in most cases. But with software, potential customers may have a harder time understanding what they are looking at, which may cause them to be more hesitant at first. These challenges make it vital for SaaS businesses to focus on conversion rate optimization (CRO).
As a friendly disclaimer, consider working with a custom web development company if the DIY approach is not for you. Today we will look at the essential CRO tactics your SaaS business should be using. Let’s dive right in!
Essential Conversion Rate Optimization Tactics for Your SaaS Business
CRO Tactic #1: Focus on Social Proof
People will most likely be hesitant when choosing the SaaS company to work with. To mitigate their hesitation and make them feel more comfortable, one of the first things you should do is focus more on displaying social proof.
92% of consumers make their purchase decision based on recommendations from their peers. In other words, if done right, social proof can be one of the most powerful marketing tools you’ve got in your arsenal.
So, how can you display social proof effectively? One of the most effective ways of using social proof is by letting customers show what kind of experience they’ve had with your SaaS product.
You can use social proof by implementing a review section on your website.
Don’t forget to encourage your customers to publish their testimonials on your website. That’s because, unlike regular reviews, testimonials allow you to add a customer’s photo or location.
You can even create video testimonials as well. As a consequence, testimonials can be more humanizing and are ultimately better at turning prospects into customers.
And finally, create a few case studies. Case studies will highlight what type of problems some of your previous customers had and how your products fixed these issues.
As a result, you’ll increase the chances of getting potential customers to convert while also educating them on how your product works.
CRO Tactic #2: Offer Free Demos
Free demos or trials are a great way to get people more accustomed to your software. Not only that, but users will be more likely to buy from you once they’ve finished their trial.
Personalize your free trials by using the data you’ve collected from users and applying it so that each users’ free trial experience satisfies their needs.
You’ll show your prospects that you actually care about them, making them more likely to convert.
CRO Tactic #3: Offer Trial Extensions
If you noticed that users didn’t sign-up after their trial period ended, it doesn’t always mean that they did not like your product. Sometimes, your trials may not give potential customers enough time to figure out whether they should work with you or not.
With that said, offering a trial extension might be enough to convince your users to sign-up for your SaaS service. Not only that, but this tactic is also very easy to implement, and it’s not that expensive.
Furthermore, you could also use this method for users who tested your product further in the past yet never signed up. Back when you maybe did not have certain features included.
Some users might have chosen not to work with you because your product lacked the features they needed.
If that’s the case, offering them a free trial showcasing the changes you’ve made since they last interacted with your company might be enough to make them convert.
CRO Tactic #4: Invest in Customer Support
In the SaaS market, providing good customer support is essential.
Your customers will most likely need your help at one point or another. By assisting them whenever they have issues or questions about your product will improve customer experience, ultimately increasing your conversion rates.
Secondly, you could showcase your customer support as the main selling point because people often consider the quality of the support they get when choosing a SaaS product.
With that said, consider investing in human support to help out customers with any issues or questions they may have regarding your software.
An alternative digital solution you could use is automated chatbots. That’s because they are much cheaper compared to human employees.
In fact, 57% of businesses have said that automated chatbots bring a large ROI on minimal investments.
Chatbots also seem to be preferred by 69% of customers, mainly because they can answer questions much quicker than humans.
CRO Tactic #5: Get Your Pricing Right
Another issue that may determine users to not work with you once their free trials have ended might be your pricing. If they figure your product is not worth their money, they’ll likely flock to your competitors.
Spend some time on getting your pricing right. You’ll first need to do research.
See what your competitors are up to and make your pricing structure similar to theirs. That way, you’ll be able to give your potential customers one less reason to move to your competition.
Create different pricing models as that allows you to target a much wider audience.
For example, some users may not need to use certain features of your software. So for them, paying the full price may not be worth it.
However, by giving them the possibility to pay less for a stripped-down version of your software, you’ll likely increase the chances of getting these types of users to convert.
One more way to use pricing to gain more conversions is by giving users a reason to subscribe to one of your long-term plans, like a 15% discount for a one-year subscription.
For instance, with a yearly plan, users will get more value out of your product, while you’ve probably gained yourself a loyal customer that will stick around beyond that year-long plan.
The more familiar customers are with your products, the more likely they keep using them in the future.
CRO Tactic #6: Encourage Referrals
Referrals can be great for increasing your conversion rate. As we’ve previously mentioned, people are more likely to buy a product if they’ve heard about it from someone they personally know.
Referral marketing is a good method of generating high-quality leads.
With that said, you should consider implementing a referral strategy. To make it even more effective, you could encourage users by giving them rewards every time someone signs up using their link.
CRO Tactic #7: Invest in Webinars
Hosting webinars can benefit your conversion rate in multiple ways. Webinars are great for reaching out to both existing and potential customers.
By hosting live webinars, you’ll communicate with your audience in real-time. Live webinars enable you to engage your audience and make them more receptive to the information you offer, making them more likely to convert.
And finally, webinars are also great for Q&A sessions. As a result, you’ll get to understand your customers’ needs better and gain valuable insights to improve your product further.
CRO Tactic #8: Focus on Micro-Conversions
Here’s the thing: most users won’t visit your website with the goal of buying your product right away. They’ll want to research and understand the value of the product you’re offering before they decide to make a purchase.
Micro-conversions are the steps a visitor usually takes towards accomplishing a macro-conversion. In your case, that would be signing up for a newsletter or downloading a free demo. Each of these could help them decide to purchase your product.
With that said, instead of trying to convince users to buy your software as fast as possible, you should rather encourage them to take these small steps, as that will increase the chances of getting the macro-conversion in the long run.
CRO Tactic #9: Make Use of Exit Pop-Ups
A good way of getting more micro-conversions is through exit pop-ups.
With exit pop-ups, you might catch the attention of users who quickly scanned through your site, did not find what they wanted, and decided to leave.
In other words, with exit pop-ups, you get a second chance at making your visitors interested in your company. However, to do that, you’ll need to come up with a good offer.
Adding downloadable content that offers value to the user, like a free ebook, for example, might be a good idea. That way, a user who intends to leave might take an extra second to download that piece of content
If your downloadable content provides your users something useful, they might visit your website a second time.
Final Words about Conversion Rate Optimization
All in all, when it comes to SaaS companies, the process of CRO might require a little more attention compared to other types of businesses. Hopefully, the tips you’ve found in this article will prove useful to you.
About the author:
Tomas is a digital marketing specialist and a freelance blogger. He is focused on new web tech trends and digital voice distribution across different channels.In his spare time, he writes a lot about new business strategies and digital marketing trends for DigitalStrategyOne.
Essential CRO Tactics for your SaaS Business
- Focus on social proof
You can use social proof by implementing a review section on your website.
- Offer free demos
You’ll show your prospects that you actually care about them, making them more likely to convert.
- Offer trial extensions
Offering a trial extension might be enough to convince your users to sign-up for your SaaS service.
- Invest in customer support
Consider investing in human support to help out customers with any issues or questions they may have regarding your software.
- Get your pricing right
Create different pricing models as that allows you to target a much wider audience.
- Encourage referrals
You should consider implementing a referral strategy, encouraging users by giving them rewards every time someone signs up using their link.
- Invest in webinars
Webinars are great for reaching out to both existing and potential customers.
- Focus on micro-conversions
Instead of trying to convince users to buy your software as fast as possible, you should rather encourage them to take these small steps.
- Make use of exit pop-ups
With exit pop-ups, you might catch the attention of users who quickly scanned through your site, did not find what they wanted, and decided to leave.
