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Facebook Ads Manager for Excel, FAME for short, is a tool designed to alleviate data export and reporting by fetching information from multiple Facebook campaigns or accounts. Learn more!
Read more at PPCHero.com Yes, maybe, or no. For reluctant buyers, they aren't quite certain whether your product works for them. The consumer isn't sure if the product's features will actually help them. Tackling this segment of buyers is an issue facing most SaaS companies. The competition and the demand for the new best thing makes consumers apprehensive about purchasing.
It's time to give your audience that extra nudge to buy your SaaS product. Check out these five data-driven strategies below. 1. Customize the Product Demo ExperienceShow, don't tell is the underlying principle of engaging potential customers to learn more about your products. It's not enough to just list your features and benefits on your website. Purchasing a SaaS product is a big deal for most buyers. If they're the end user, your product will solve their immediate needs, and if they're purchasing software for their business, your product is supposed to help their company operate more efficiently. To ease reluctant buyers worries, you need to give them an inside look of how your product moves them forward in their endeavors. You can start by asking them specific questions before the product demo. How will they use your product? What do they hope to gain from the software? Who are the stakeholders involved in this purchase? You also may want to analyze the most used featured by your top customers. That way, you can show reluctant buyers how others derive benefit from your product. It may offer clarity to the buyer's particular situation. One gripe amongst reluctant buyers is how they sign up for product demos. It's important to dedicate a page for people to request demos. In the image below, sales engagement platform Outreach uses persuasive copy, along with a prominent call-to-action button to entice consumers. Before your next product demo, ask buyers questions to customize the experience. A unique presentation will pique their interest and may lead to a new sale. 2. Segment Buyers to Email Exclusive OffersAs a consumer, you've probably asked for something extra with a purchase. Maybe it was extra pickles on your burger or an extra discount on a pair of designer jeans. Well, while your SaaS product may be better than a gourmet sandwich, the same thought process about getting something extra may exist for your customers. Your buyers may expect a bonus to come along with your product no matter what. However, exclusive offers aren't created for every single buyer. You only want to deliver VIP treatment to a select group of reluctant buyers. These individuals have expressed a strong interest in your product and just need one additional reason to say yes. It's possible to tease these reluctant buyers with exclusive bonuses to get them to the shopping cart sooner. Email is an effective tool for communicating this type of message. With built-in tracking capabilities, email service providers can tell you who opened your emails, what links they clicked on in a message, and the time they read the message. And no more sending generic emails to your entire mailing list. Based on your buyer's behaviors, you can use email segmentation to send tailored messages to different target audiences. Kissmetrics Campaigns: Send triggered emails to users to nudge them toward engagement. Learn more about the newly-released Kissmetrics Campaigns. For instance, your data may reveal that reluctant buyers who participate in a product demo and request two content upgrades are more likely to buy with a bonus. Your team then can deliver a customized message with a bonus straight to their inboxes. Let your consumers' actions determine your bonus system. Then, you can execute your plan to capture those lingering sales. 3. Simplify the Checkout ExperienceSaaS companies get so bogged down with improving their products that they forget to polish their websites. You've probably experienced a few buggy sites from your own experiences. If you get confused for longer than a minute, you quickly exit the brand's website. On top of that, consumers hate wasting time looking for your prices. And if your prices are too complicated to understand, they won't continue with the process. The reluctant buyer already has concerns; therefore, the checkout process shouldn't scare them away. Below is an example of a pricing page from LiveChat. It's easy to read and gives pertinent details about each plan to diminish uncertainty. By observing your site behavior, you can identify the friction points causing buyers to bounce. Do they leave after viewing your pricing page? Or do they exit when it's time to enter a credit card?
Your buyers are reluctant for a reason. Find out if the issue is your checkout experience. 4. Monitor Online CommunitiesCommunity engagement is a key part of selling in today's economy. Consumers like talking about their experiences-bad and good-with their peers. Online communities give customers the space to praise how they used a product and to offer advice on how the SaaS company can improve. There are also online groups dedicated to helping people learn the basics of a product. For the reluctant buyers, these communities offer invaluable content. In their eyes, they get to hear the truth. And for proactive SaaS companies, it's a chance to persuade potential buyers. For example, with a Facebook group, your team can track post and comment activity to learn what customers enjoy about a feature or the different uses of how your product helps people. Plus, as the admin for an online community, you can guide the conversation of your consumers. That social listening data prepares your team for sales objections from reluctant buyers. If someone hates that you offer no phone support, you can point to how current customers get more value from your email support. You want to give reluctant buyers peace of mind. Show them a thriving online community that supports your product and brand. 5. Select the Best Customer TestimonialsSocial proof is an irreplaceable asset for persuading SaaS users to purchase products. Influencers and peers can convince consumers to decide between competing brands. So it's natural for reluctant buyers to seek out customer testimonials before they make a purchasing decision. Radha Sarma, marketing director at Luit Infotech, offers her insight:
To get the most from your customer stories, it's best to analyze your data to find the testimonials with the highest traffic. You want to learn what makes consumers gravitate to one story more than another. Is it the particular customer? Were the results phenomenal? From that information, you can produce similar case studies based on the reluctant buyer's circumstances. You want to purchasers to imagine themselves as the next success story. And of course, you want to continue to post these testimonials in easy-to-find areas on your site. Datanyze offers a quick format of their case studies for buyers to read. What do reluctant buyers want to achieve? Aim to gather case studies displaying the many facets of your product solution. Harnessing Data to InfluenceNurturing reluctant buyers requires strategic effort from your team. SaaS companies can use their data to influence consumers to purchase. Your team can personalize the product demo experience for your audience. When necessary, simplify the checkout process by eliminating friction. And don't forget to use customer testimonials that fit the potential consumer's current situation. Shake off your buyer's hesitation. Let data influence your next sale. About the Author: Shayla Price lives at the intersection of digital marketing, technology and social responsibility. Connect with her on Twitter @shaylaprice.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the correlation between testimonials and higher conversions. As humans, we're wired to seek feedback from others. But testimonials may carry even more weight than you may have thought. Research found that
And there's one particular A/B test involving testimonials I really like. It compareddifferent variations of a landing page for Seiko Watches. Here's the first version, containing no testimonials: And here's the second version, containing a widget featuring positive customer reviews: Guess by how much the conversions improved. By 58.39%! Not too shabby. But I have a bone to pick with the way most brands approach testimonials. I feel the majority stick to a conventional format and aren't fully harnessing the true power of testimonials. In this post, I break down what I think the ultimate blueprint for creating a super persuasive testimonial is. I'll briefly touch on the fundamentals and throw in some other angles you might not have thought of. Here we go. Use imagesI won't bore you with a long-winded explanation of the importance of images. This is usually one of the first bits of advice you'll hear. But they really are a critical element of a strong testimonial. In fact,
Not only do images make testimonials look more professional, they increase truthiness, defined as a subjective feeling of truth. This is what you're looking for when attempting to create a connection and persuade leads to buy. Include specificsYou probably know I'm a stat guy. I love stats! For me, data is the perfect way to help prospects connect the dots and understand why your brand is worth doing business with. I can't stress enough how important it is to include concrete numbers in your testimonials. Don't just feature testimonials that say your product is good. Give prospects real data. Here are a couple of examples of testimonials Iuse on NeilPatel.com. There's one reason I use these specific testimonials. They work. Seeing that Timothy earned $15 million in revenue and received 26% more traffic is much better than saying something like, Neil really helped my company and you should work with him. It's the same story here with Gawker Media: Here's how Freshbooks uses this technique: The point here is to make it crystal clear what results your prospects can expect. Show them how you can help them in a tangible way. And here's another quick tip. Try to stay away from round numbers, like 20% and 30%. Consumers tend to prefer exactness, and using only perfect numbers may raise suspicion. Show the good and badIf there's one mistake I see brands making time and time again, it's using only rosy testimonials. Don't get me wrong: you obviously want to sell yourself and ensure that prospects view you in a positive light. But you don't want to go overboard and feature testimonials that offer nothing but praise without any negatives whatsoever. This can kill your credibility, and it tends to make visitors more skeptical. After all, any charlatan can slap up some bogus reviews and make themselves look like a saint. What people are looking for is authenticity. They want to see your brand for what it really is, flaws and all. In fact, studies suggest that bad reviews can actually be good for business. Research from social commerce company Reevoo found that
Just think about it. Have you ever done research on a product and seen nothing but rave reviews, with every single testimonial giving it 10 out of 10? To me, that's a red flag. I feel something is definitely up. This isn't to say you should include testimonials that bash your company. That would be foolish. But showing a flaw or two can actually work to your advantage. Make testimonials traceableAnyone can say a testimonial was written by Jack W. from Orlando. But how do your prospects know it's legit? They don't. I've realized one of the best ways to quell skepticism is to make your testimonials traceable. By this I mean including a link to the person's website, portfolio, Twitter page, etc. It doesn't really matter as long as you can prove that the person giving the review actually exists and that the testimonial isn't fabricated. And here's another idea. Create an entire page that thoroughly explains how your product/service helped the person and contributed to their success. Here's a nice example from Kissmetrics: By clicking on the link, prospects are taken to this pagewhere they can learn more about the company (Mention) and how Kissmetrics helped it improve its performance. They'll instantly know the testimonial is genuine, and it can provide even more incentive to purchase. I took full advantage of this tactic on NeilPatel.com, where I feature a case study of Timothy Sykes. Here are a couple of screenshots: I've found this to be a tremendous help, and it's helped me reel in several big name clients. Target heavy hittersI'm going to preface this by saying this isn't applicable to every brand. If you're coming from relative obscurity, it may not be feasible to get testimonials from big name celebrities and industry experts. But if you can land even one heavy hitter, the rewards should be plentiful. Here's a good example from Help Scout: It's safe to say Gary Vaynerchuk is a pretty big deal. Here's another one, featuring Seth Godin: Just imagine the impact of having someone prominent giving your brand a nod of approval. It could make all the difference. Check out this resource for some pointers on landing this type of testimonial. Experiment with a long-form formatIf you listen to standard advice on testimonials, you'll probably hear that you should keep them short and sweet. However, this isn't always the best route to go. In fact, longer testimonials are often more persuasive than standard, short ones. Why? Think about it. Long-form testimonials allow you to explain the ins and outs of your product and provide specific examples of how it has helped your customers. You can effectively cover multiple aspects of your product and address any concerns your prospects may have. One of the best examples I've seen of long-form testimonials is Noah Kagan's landing page for Make Your First Dollar course. Here's what I'm talking about: It's incredibly in-depth, and I'm sure many of the people reading this testimonial could put themselves in Bryan's shoes. Now, I'm not saying long-form is the right approach for every single brand, but it's definitely something to consider. If you zig when your competitors zag, this could be your ticket to making your brand stand out. Experiment with videoWho says a testimonial has to be a conventional text-based snippet? There are no rules. I'm a fan of experimenting with different mediums, especially video. And quite frankly, video has never been hotter than it is right now. Here are just a few interesting video marketing stats:
If you're crushing it with video in other areas of marketing, why not incorporate it into your testimonials? One company in particular that pulls this off flawlessly is Codecademy: They provide a great real-life example of how one of their users elevated his career and created one of the top 50 websites in 2013. It's very compelling, and I'm sure it's motivated many iffy prospects to go ahead and sign up for Codecademy. Unbounce did A/B testing on their homepage to see what impact video testimonials would have. Here's page A, featuring traditional text testimonials: It looks good enough. But here's page B, featuring a video: This led to a 25% conversion lift! If you're looking for inspiration and ideas for creating video testimonials, check out this post from HubSpot. There's a bunch of great examples. ConclusionAt its core, a testimonial is a very simple thing. It's
But the way you go about creating a testimonial and the elements you incorporate can make or break it. The more tried-and-true tactics are okay, and I'm sure they will have some impact. But the tactics I explained in this post should maximize that impact. Following this blueprint should enable you to create a highly persuasive testimonial your prospects will eat up. This should make it possible to quickly gain their trust, squash any skepticism they may have, and ultimately motivate them to buy. What do you think the most important element of a testimonial is? |
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