Patrick McKenzie (patio11) discusses conversion optimization for SaaS companies, using Freckle as a practical example. Includes advice on headlines, SaaS pricing, button calls to action (CTAs), etc

1. CONVERSION
OPTIMIZATION IN
PRACTICE
Patrick McKenzie

2. Want To Follow?
 Hashtag #BaconBiz or tweet at @patio11

3. Bingo Cards… Who Knew,
Right?

4. It Beats Running A WoW Guild
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BCC
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5. Once More, With(out) Feeling

6. Products With A Side Of Consulting
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7. 2012 Was A Very Good Year

8. Not Important Relative To Last
Slide
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Profits (Through 2012, Excluding
AR)
Training
Consulting
BCC
Day Job

9. Three Stages Of
Bootstrapping

10. The Fundamental SaaS
Equation

11. Charge. More.
• Killed the $9 plan
• Added in $199
plan due to
apparent demand

12. In Which I Take My Own Darn
Advice
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Scaled Revenue for Appointment Reminder

13. Consulting In 30 Minutes

14. Meet Our New Consulting “Client”

15. Get Prospects Into Free Trial

16. Get Trialers Onboarded

17. Get Trialers Engaged

18. Turn Trialers Into Customers

19. … And Keep Them

20. Why Not Just Dig In Blind?

21. Pre-signup Funnel For Freckle

22. Losing HUGE Numbers Early
15% conversion from
home page to viewing
plans page

23. All Comparisons Are Rough
But…
38% conversion
from home page to
viewing plans page
20% to 100%
more signups
(all else
equal)

24. Identify High-Value Targets

25. What can we fix that with?
Hypothesis: Customer doesn’t what Freckle is

26. Online Time Tracking With Freckle

27. Frictionless Time Tracking

28. Time Tracking With 42% Less Suck

29. What can we fix that with?
Hypothesis: Customer doesn’t understand
how Freckle benefits their life

30. Bill more hours in less time

31. Earn more money freelancing with less pain

32. Bill 15 more hours next month

33. What can we fix that with?
Hypothesis: Customer doesn’t know if Freckle
is right for them, specifically

34. Too much Free in your freelancing?
“Freckle helps you actually bill every hour
you actually work.”

35. Freelancers And Firms Find Freckle
Fabulous
“Time tracking doesn’t start with an F?
Dang, we had a pretty good thing going
there.”

36. Do you bill at least $25 an hour?

37. Poking Holes In The Funnel

38. Always Have A Clear Next
Step

39. Nobody Buys “Plans & Pricing”

40. Buttons Should Look Like
Buttons

41. You’re Trained To Miss This One

42. Big And Easy To Click
Get your pancake

43. Speaking of Button Copy

44. Verb + Benefit +
(Immediacy?)

45. Note omission of “account” / “sign
up”, which suggest the pain of charges and
bureaucracy.
Get started now

46. If your feature/value proposition is
sufficiently compelling, it can be a good
button.
Start tracking your time now

47. Classics are classics for a reason.
Try Freckle For Free

48. “No, really, this is the time tracking software
you will actually use. 45% of people who sign
up for our free trial actually start tracking
time in their business. Find out why.”
Start tracking your time

49. “Plans And Pricing”

50. It’s important to you, but fails to provide
value to the customer. Also, loses scent
versus the previous page.
Avoid “Sign Up”

51. “Don’t worry, you can change at any time.”
Start With This Plan

52. Analysis Paralysis

53. Less Choices Often Raises
Conversions

54. Too Much Information

55. Objection: What if I don’t like it?

56. Objection: Can I trust you?

57. Objection: Is it worth the
cost?

58. Objection: Will my team use
it?

59. Spend More Time Than You’re
Comfortable With On This Page

60. First Run Experience

61. Explicitly Ask To Onboard Team

62. Thanks for Listening
 Blog at http://www.kalzumeus.com
 Slides will be posted. See @patio11
 Send me email. I love chatting about this.
patrick@kalzumeus.com