Companies often offer free trials of their product to entice new users and convert them into paying customers. However, what can companies do to turn potential customers from the problem into paying subscribers? First, it is essential to know the conversion rate of free trial users into paid customers. This article explains how to convert free trial and free plan users into paying customers. If your company depends on subscriptions for income, you most likely provide a free trial for customers to try your product before asking them to pay. This is a great plan. People may be reluctant to pay for your subscription at first, but allowing them to check it out first provides you a chance to convert them into paying customers.
For specific services, some of you may even provide free plans. This approach is based on the assumption that these users would ultimately upgrade to paying programs. However, you can’t assume that every person who signs up for a free trial or a free plan will become a paying client. In my consulting practice, I often encounter this issue. Businesses have little trouble persuading customers to sign up for free programs and free trials, but their conversion rates are lower than anticipated when it comes to being paid. Even if you don’t employ this business model currently but aim to deploy subscriptions to create recurring revenue, you must get this approach right from the outset. You may improve your chances of
Strategies to convert free plan consumers:
1. Make the change as painless as possible.
The first thing you should do is assess your present procedure. Go through the processes that a user must do to become a paying client. Conversions will suffer if there is too much friction, needless form fields to fill out, and anything else that slows down the process. Everything should be as straightforward as possible for the user. Let’s pretend the free trial time has ended. So, what’s next? Is it necessary for them to contact a customer care person and provide their credit card details over the phone? That is just too complicated. If you operate subscriptions via a mobile app, you may have the consumer scan their payment card with their camera. It’s even more convenient than inputting the numbers. Finally, please don’t make your users commit to a long-term strategy to make this move easier for them. In reality, monthly subscriptions have a greater free trial conversion rate than yearly plans:
If you have someone commit to a year, they will think about it considerably longer and more carefully. That’s something you don’t want to happen. However, if they have to pay for one month and may cancel at any time, it will be a much simpler choice for them. I understand why you’re attempting to encourage yearly plans. However, if your product is excellent enough, buyers will continue with you for a long time, even if you offer a monthly schedule.
Furthermore, you will most likely generate more money this way. By concentrating on your pricing approach, you may increase your profitability. Customers who sign up for a yearlong membership or subscription will likely spend less over the year than those billed monthly.
2. Provide users with a compelling cause to cancel their free trials early.
Another thing I see all too frequently with subscription companies is this. They don’t attempt to convert users till the trial period has ended. It’s too late at that time. Let’s imagine you’re offering a 14-day free trial. You offer the user some time after the trial ends to consider whether or not they want to become a paying client. You send an email with a CTA to a premium membership link a week later. If this seems like a method you’re presently using, it’s likely the reason for your poor conversion rates. It’s not a smart idea to wait this long. Consumers are no longer thinking about your service at this moment. They haven’t used it in a week and have recognized it isn’t something they need in their life. Rather than waiting until the trial period is finished, provide the user an incentive to join up while their trial is still active. But why would anybody want to take advantage of their free trial period before it expires? You must present a compelling offer to them. Discounts and other special offers will generally suffice. Here’s an excellent 500px example:
FOMO (fear of missing out) is used in this email. With this method, you can manipulate people’s emotions to increase purchases. For example, 500px is providing a 15% discount on its subscription, as well as free account upgrades. This offer, however, is only available for a limited time. As you can see from the highlighted portion, this deal was only available for 24 hours. For a moment, put yourself in the shoes of a customer. Let’s pretend they’re on the 22nd day of a 30-day trial. They enjoy the product and want to upgrade after the trial period ends. But why would they wait and pay the total price when they can save 15% right now? This sort of incentive provides them a cause to convert and terminate their trial early. You want to reach out to these users while they’re still captivated and remembering your brand. You’ll boost the odds of their becoming a paying client if you offer them a reason to quit the trial early.
3. Extend the trial period.
What happens if a user doesn’t fall for the hook of an early trial termination incentive? Does this imply that you should abandon your efforts to persuade them to convert? Certainly not. Some customers may need a little more time to decide whether or not they want to utilize your goods. Here’s what I’m talking about. Assume someone registers for a free trial. They executed this activity without hesitation since the procedure was straightforward and painless. However, they could not thoroughly examine your offering due to their circumstances. This might be due to a variety of factors. It’s conceivable they were preoccupied with work, suffering from a physical condition, traveling, or just forgetting about the trial. It doesn’t matter why they need additional time. What matters is that they have the opportunity to prolong their trial period. Take a look at this Squarespace example:
Anyone may try Squarespace for 14 days for free. On the other hand, the team is eager to work with those who need extra time to test its program. Users may easily add a seven-day extension to their two-week trial, as seen in the email above. This is an excellent technique to persuade people who are undecided to convert. I understand what some of you would be thinking. You don’t want to devalue your product by making it accessible for an extended period. That is the incorrect mindset. If you can keep this client for years, the expense of an additional free week or two is worth it. Allowing a potential client to walk away because you’re hesitant to go the extra mile to get them is a terrible business. These consumers are already interested in your brand in this situation. They’ve completed the necessary steps to register, download your app, or begin the procedure. It’s far simpler to convert them into paying customers than to promote them to someone new. Also, take another look at Squarespace’s email from earlier. To extend the trial, all the user has to do is click on the link emailed to them, making it straightforward—one of the aspects that help conversions that I outlined earlier. If extending the trial required sending an email or calling a customer service agent, the user would be less likely to do so.
4. Personalize promos for consumers on the lowest rung of the plan.
Depending on your company, you may provide a free version of your product. This version is available to everyone for an indefinite period. This is not the same as a free trial, with a time limit. It would be best to create marketing strategies that are mainly geared to convert these freemium consumers. As I said in my previous point, these folks are already acquainted with your product and utilize it daily. You must make a move from a free membership to a premium service as simple as possible. Personalized content is the most excellent method to achieve this:
Marketers’ most successful strategy is to personalize email communications. Take this into account when marketing to freemium users. Send them a tailored email with information on the free material they’re now enjoying. Then provide an incentive for them to convert. For example, you may give a free trial of a premium membership to someone currently utilizing your lowest tier membership for free. Finally, allow them to examine the features and advantages of your alternative selections. It may be challenging for them to return to the freemium version after they’ve tried these upgrades and realized what they’re losing out on.
5. Encourage people who haven’t used your product in a while to do so.
There is a trend with these tactics if you haven’t seen them yet. Marketing your premium membership to customers already acquainted with your brand, goods, services, and software is considerably more straightforward. This is due to the lack of a learning curve. You don’t have to justify yourself to those who have previously utilized your services. This is true for folks who have a free trial that has ended or who have a free membership plan that they haven’t used in a while—allowing that user to churn is a bad idea. Instead, send them an email with a coupon code to encourage them to use your service again. Send a push notification to their smartphone if you have a mobile app. Here’s an example of how Pokemon Go utilized this approach to resurrect a long-dead user:
As you can see, they’re luring this user back to the app with a gaming reward. The user will access three active lures if they activate the app during the following 30 minutes. Pokemon are attracted to these lures, making catching them simpler. In addition, this form of push notice might entice inactive users to return to the game since they had trouble seeing additional characters.
6. If a payment fails, contact the customer.
Your company is probably on your mind. Three hundred sixty-five days a year, 24 hours a day. However, this is not the case with your consumers. The truth is that they are preoccupied with other issues. For example, they may not think to update their payment details for their membership with your firm if their credit card is lost, stolen, or expires. In other circumstances, that card is linked to their utilities, health insurance, auto payments, or other regular expenses, so whatever you’re selling will take precedence. You don’t want to do anything, however. Unless you contact the individual, they may never update their payment details. Send automatic emails anytime a payment is refused rather than losing a client. It’s simple! Take a look at this Netflix example:
That’s all there is to it. You may eliminate friction in the process by including a CTA in the email that takes the customer to a landing page where they can change their payment details. You risk losing these clients if you don’t contact them. They may revert to the free plan or quit using your service entirely if you don’t reach them.
7. Email marketing may be used to nurture free trial users.
Email marketing is a powerful tool for communicating with consumers. You can target free trial consumers and convince them to convert if you understand how to develop an active drip campaign. This simple procedure will assist the consumer in progressing through the conversion funnel. The process begins with a welcome email. According to research, 75% of consumers expect a welcome email after registering for anything. Give your potential consumers precisely what they want. An example of how Spotify employs this method is as follows:
Spotify is just verifying that the customer has joined up for the service, as you can see from this notice. There is no attempt to get customers to upgrade to a premium subscription. The user may listen to their favorite music for free and get tailored suggestions, according to the statement. Begin slowly. Keep in mind that the user just signed up for a free trial or plan. They are unlikely to increase their membership within the first hour. But that doesn’t rule out using an email drip campaign to nurture them. The emails that follow will urge them to upgrade in the future.
Conclusion
Subscription-based companies may utilize free trials and free plans to entice as many people to sample their goods as feasible. However, if those users do not convert into paying customers, they are worthless. Rather than concentrating your marketing efforts on a new audience, you should convert free trial and free plan consumers. Ascertain that the user’s transition is simple. Conversion rates will be poor if customers go through hoops to become paying clients. Please give them a reason to finish their trials sooner. On the other hand, if customers need additional time to evaluate your goods, consider extending the trial period. You may reach out to your lowest-tier members and inactive users with tailored campaigns. When your existing clients’ payment methods stop working, don’t forget to contact them. To nurture leads and free trial users, employ your email marketing approach. You’ll have a much simpler time attracting free trial and free plan customers to convert if you follow the advice in this tutorial.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you convert freemium to paid?
A: If a game is free to play and has in-app purchases, you can purchase the app to remove these.
What is free trial conversion?
A: Free trial conversion is the process of converting a non-subscription service from one pricing model to another. This could be as simple as lowering subscription costs, or it might require alternative business models such as introducing continuous payments over time.
Do free trials increase sales?
A: A free trial does not increase sales, but it can help a company decide if they want to offer the product for sale on their website permanently (assuming there are no other factors that would cause them not to).
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