How To Convert SaaS Free Trial Users: The Ultimate Checklist!

Though SaaS pricing strategies have evolved over the years, one thing has remained consistent: the free trial. A free trial is typically a 7- day grace period during which a client can use all paid features of a program without paying any fees. The hope is that the client, once having enjoyed the privileges of the premium version, will convert to a paid subscription membership, creating a consistent revenue stream for the seller.

Unfortunately, many sellers do not see shoppers converting beyond the free trial period to a full subscription. This could be for any number of reasons, from financial difficulties to user interface quality. But we believe the free trial doesn’t have to be the final point of contact with your shoppers.

Is a Free Trial Really Free?

Let’s bust that myth right now: a free trial is not free. Money may not be exchanged during SaaS free trials, but buyers and sellers invest in something else. Your shoppers invest in your services while you temporarily donate your Saas product infrastructure. This allows buyers to develop a relationship with your company and provides sellers access to information about usage trends which can give insight to developers.

Free trials, therefore, will allow you to see how much value you can provide and how much your product could be worth to customers while giving them a test drive to see if they will find your product worthy for the long term.

Why Offer Free Trials for SaaS Users?

The most compelling reason to offer a free trial is to see how helpful your product is and how much your services are worth to potential customers. Free trials will also enable you to draw from a broader market than only paid pricing models would allow.

Using the checklist below, let us show you how you can cash in on your SaaS trial users.

3 SaaS Pricing Models: Which One’s Yours?

Free Trial

A free trial is a temporary free license granted to a user, usually for 7 days, in which they have FULL access to ALL premium features of the software or service you are offering. Indeed a free trial should never be feature limited. Show the world everything your product can do.

Freemium License

A Freemium License is different in that it is a partial access license that allows the user to enjoy a LIMITED number of product features. An example of this would be Dropbox, which allows individual users a limited amount of cloud storage with a freemium plan – but then requires the user to pay for bigger storage options if they buy in. This is also a way to draw users in to test drive your product before committing any of their hard-earned money to you.

Subscription-Only Model

A subscription-only model is purely pay-to-use and has no free or trial option, whether temporary or otherwise. This model will offer the customer several pricing plans from which to choose (such as 100$/month for access to all features vs. 49$/month for access to a limited number of features). These plans are usually payable either monthly or annually. Annual memberships are offered at a discounted price and will entice the customer to commit to using the product for a longer period of time.

Relationship Between the Pricing Model and the User

Generally, free trial users are people within your target market, but they might need to be more judicious about which subscriptions they sign up for due to budget concerns. Having a wide range of free-trial users means that your SaaS is undoubtedly advertised correctly. However, whether it is judged as satisfactorily meeting customer needs will be reflected in your actual conversion rates.

The freemium model caters to those people whose financial constraints outweigh the urgency of their need for your services. The decision of whether to include freemium options should be based on your target market and their accessibility needs. Canva, for example, caters not only to businesses and content production companies but also to unemployed students and struggling artists. For this reason, their freemium plan makes a ton of sense.

However, if your target audience is geared toward companies in the industrial sector looking for data capturing software, it wouldn’t make financial sense for you to provide a freemium plan. Instead, we recommend offering them subscription services at prices that still produce a good margin for your company.

It’s important to note that subscription models tend to attract larger businesses, as they will be looking for bulk packages or licenses that allow for multiple user subscriptions at a time. So you can also model your pricing based on discounts for a more significant number of users (or a per-seat license). For this reason, if your target market is large-scale commercial businesses, choosing a subscription-only model may benefit you most.

Visit PayPro Global’s blog to learn how to track your conversion rate and discover some tips for emphasizing your software’s key functions.