Bringing Your SaaS Apps to Market

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Bringing Your SaaS Apps to Market Josh Martin

Transcript of Bringing Your SaaS Apps to Market

Bringing Your SaaS Apps to MarketJosh Martin

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Josh MartinProduct Marketing ManagerLogi [email protected]

“I cannot name a single song by Taylor Swift.”

ABOUT ME

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• “What an Amazing Presentation”• “It hasn’t even started yet and my app is already 40%

better”• “A conference session for the ages”

Some Social Suggestions…

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The impact of SaaS

Finding & Winning Users

Why Poor Planning Leads to Failure

Conclusions

What You Are Going to Learn Today

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YOUR CHALLENGESaaS has changed expectations— making it harder to win, retain, and monetize customers

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SaaS Impact on Software Companies

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Abundant Free Trials Short/No Contracts Low PricesFree Upgrades

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The 5 Essentials for Success

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1. Spend ad dollars in the right channels

2. Optimize landing pages for rapid conversion

3. Clearly define tiers of service (and value)

4. Develop a funnel strategy for trials

5. Mix and match business models

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Attention spans are shortening….

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Leanplum; Hubspot Blog 2014; MarketingLand Blog 2015

15Seconds

Before Abandoning

30 Seconds

Before Abandoning

.1%Engagement

Rate on

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Finding & Monetizing Users in a SaaS World

“The harder I work, the luckier I become.”

- Samuel Goldwyn

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Spending Priority

Step 1: Advertise in the Right Channel

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You need a media strategy that mixes paid advertising with free brand-building channels

Finding the right leads Finding engaged users Finding the right personas

Brand building

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Step 2: Get the Download

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Optimize Landing Pages Match Copy to Your Ad Offer Social Proof

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Step 3: Price & Package Clearly

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• Avoid multiple pricing options– Bundle features/services/benefits into tiers– Simplify choices for mass audience– Limit number of tiers– One or two major reasons for upsell

• Entry tier must be more than viable– Basic/trial: entice user to purchase– Freemium: drive usage for vast majority

• Requires that you really understand distinct needs of customer segments

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Step 4: Offer an Easily Accessible Trial

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Unlimited

Trial Type Trial Payment Trial Access

Limited Yes, Sales Contact

No,Simple

Download

Users get feel for the service

User pain fuels upsell opportunity

Move to auto bill post trial

Increase potential downloaders

Develop a relationship

More non-serious downloaders

Trial is too overwhelming

Users deem service not good enough

Limit potential downloaders

No way to transition to paid service

Severely inhibit number of downloaders

Less serious downloaders

Credit Card

No Credit Card

Unlimited No Credit Card

No, Simple Download

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Step 5: Mix & Match Business Models

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Subscription Business Model

Pros: Recurring revenue streamCons: Churn risk, Continuous marketing

Upgraded TiersPros• Unlimited upside• Product extensions

Cons• Requires ongoing

development• Must master marketing

TransactionsPros• Guaranteed revenue• Low churn risk

Cons• One-time revenue• Need to offer ongoing

support

ServicesPros• Unlimited upside• Expanded target market

Cons• Invest in resources• Not enough users could

result in loss

AdvertisingPros• Unlimited upside• Allows for freemium tier

of service

Cons• Risk alienating users• Complicated to set up

and run

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Great Examples to Emulate

“Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.”- Terry Pratchett

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Ads to Emulate: Twitter, Google, LinkedIn

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Trials to Emulate: Mozenda – Web Scraping

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Free Trial featured on home page

Usage-Based TrialFull Access

No CC Required

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Trial/Pricing to Emulate: Wishpond – Landing Pages

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Free Trial featured on home page

Clearly defined tiersTime-based trialExplicit Pricing

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Pricing to Emulate: Google Drive - Storage

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Robust Free TierClearly defined tiers

Explicit Pricing

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Business Models to Emulate: LinkedIn

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Subscription Business Model

Upgraded Tiers Transactions Services Advertising

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A Cautionary Tale“Always remember that the crowd that applauds your coronation is the same crowd that will applaud your beheading. People like a show.”

- Terry Pratchett

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Warning: Your Conversion Rate will Stink

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“We have about 80 million users globally, and that’s a combined number for free and paid. Our conversion rate increases linearly with cohort age, so the longer you use Evernote, the more likely you are to convert to premium”

- Evernote CEO Phil Libin

• Slack is reported to have a 30% conversion rate• Dropbox has a 4% conversion rate• Google Drive is .5%

Source: process.st

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How Did Evernote Do?

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Trial PricingAdsBusiness

ModelsGet the

Download

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1. Product Extensions Failed– Clearly, Skitch, Food

2. Partnerships failed to deliver– Lifestyle product store closed in February (Notebooks, bags, etc.)

3. Didn’t stay ahead of the competition– Microsoft OneNote, Google Keep, Apple Notes

4. Failed to better differentiate its service tiers– Poor conversion rates from free to paid– Failed to understand what would drive usage– No other business model to monetize free users

5. New Pricing Hurt Highest Value Customers Most

What Else Happened to Evernote?

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Some Headlines

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Key Takeaways

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Create a checklist to review your current customer acquisition strategies

Focus on consumer-style trial, adoption, pricing packages, and behavioral analysis

Consider what features might allow for the creation of new service tiers

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Learn more with the Business Intelligence Buyer’s Guide