?? Trial conversions BENCHMARKS from OpenView + how to improve them ??

I was feeling a little uninspired about today's newsletter until I saw?this post by Kyle Poyar?on the good vs great conversion rates in SaaS:?

Kyle &?Lenny Ratchisky?looked at data from 1,000+ products and here's what they found:

?How do you stack up??

What also caught my eye was not just the benchmarks alone, but also the discussion in the comments on the impact of CC vs no CC in the trial on the trial conversion rates:?

2 x higher conversion rate but also much higher month-1 churn can indicate that your conversion rate is simply...inflated due to people?forgetting to cancel their trial before they've gotten charged. And then quickly remembering once they've seen their CC statement??? which is not exactly the way to grow sustainably.

So...should you ask for a CC in your trial signup? ???

Watch my video rant on this!?

?? + read the full post on?Lenny's blog here.

But now, the big question is: how do you improve your trial experience so you can improve your conversion metrics?

Well, first: You can't improve what you don't measure.?

But then there are so many "industry standards" of measuring user experience, and so many different tools, it may all be a tad overwhelming...

User...paths, flows, funnels, journeys? ?? ?? What should you measure first to reduce trial drop-out?

Watch a video explaining this...

UX designers use both?user flows and user journeys?to understand and improve the user's experience with a product, but they focus on different aspects of the user's interaction with your product, and thus - allow you to improve different aspects of your user experience.

User Flows: A user flow is a diagram that maps out?the various paths a user can take to achieve a specific goal within your product, from a particular starting point.

Think of it as a visual map of all the UI interactions the user has.

A user flow is visualized with flow charts, made up of boxes and arrows. Each box represents a step in a user’s action, like entering information or clicking a button.

User flows are typically?more task-focused?and are often used early in the design process to ensure that the product's architecture and navigation will support the user's goals. They are more about the logical sequence of steps a user needs to take to complete a task.?Your "benchmark" for the ideal user flow should be the "happy path"?- the ideal sequence of steps a user should take from a specific starting point to achieve a specific goal.?

Use user flows to:?

-?remove roadblocks and UX issues?from certain paths?

- add navigation to push people towards the "happy path", e.g.?native tooltips?or interactive walkthroughs (you can build them in Userpilot ofc ??)

User Journeys: A user journey, on the other hand, is a?more holistic view of the user's experience.?It not only includes the steps the user takes to achieve a goal, but also their?thoughts, feelings, and pain points along the way.?User journeys are often used to understand and?improve the emotional experience?of using a product. They are more narrative and story-based, and they often include elements like the user's motivations, frustrations, and moments of delight.?

And?then - back to the "to require a?CC, or not to require the CC" question - finding out your Credit Card was charged for a tool you haven't really used is barely a moment of delight???

What about funnels and paths then?

Funnels are yet another way of looking at user actions - this time through the lens of a?predefined sequence of actions - the funnel.??

Funnels: A funnel analysis is typically used when you have a defined series of steps or actions that you expect users to take.?

By analyzing how many users make it to each step of the funnel, you can?identify where users are dropping off and then investigate why that might be happening.

Yes, we're gonna have funnels in?Userpilot?soon - stay tuned for September!???

User funnels for:?

- identifying specific drop-off points in one user flow?

Paths: Path analysis, on the other hand,?is more exploratory and less structured.?It allows you to see the various routes that users take through your website or app, without predefining a specific sequence of steps. This can be?useful for identifying unexpected user behaviors or discovering popular features or pages that you weren't aware of.?

So in fact - paths are part of user flows. I hope that didn't make you any more confused!?

To learn more about user flows/paths vs journeys vs funnels, check out these posts:?

• User Journey vs User Flow: What’s the Difference and Why do You Need Both?
• SaaS Conversion Funnel: How to Track & Drive Growth

And this talk?by Audrey Melnik?"10x your Growth with Customer Journey Optimization"?at?Product Drive 2023!

Join us for this?FREE?two-day festival of product inspiration,?delivered to you as usual in October, with the best and largest lineup ever!?

See you all next week!?