6 Ways to Improve Conversion Rates for More Subscription-based Revenue

Many online businesses use subscription-based monetization because it provides consistent recurring income over a period of time. This is particularly important when the business needs capital to expand its service or product offerings.

Subscription-based models often utilize a trial subscription program which allows customers to try the product or service, in order to see if it fits their needs.

These free trial subscription periods usually offer less functionality than paid subscriptions and are designed to encourage a transition from free usage to paid subscriptions.

The success of converting a potential user into a loyal customer depends on a lot of factors, one of them being the trial experience, during which the customer becomes gradually familiar with the features of the product offered.

Conversion Mistakes Will Cost you Customers (and Money)

I’ve been using 103bees, a search traffic tool for some time and have mentioned them in my extensive article on longtail keywords. Today, I logged into my 103bees account and realized that the 30 day trial period for my account had expired.

In order to continue tracking the search hits for my websites, I needed to pay $5 a month to upgrade my account. I didn’t take the bait and pay up because I didn’t find their web tool to be particularly helpful for my websites.

More importantly, I noticed some weaknesses in their conversion model for paid subscriptions. These mistakes are common to other websites as well and they will impact potential customer signups and profit earned.

Six Ways to Improve Conversion Rates for Subscription Products

Here is a collection of methods to increase your conversions for paid subscription models. Some of the points can be applied to blogging and affiliate marketing as well, to improve your own newsletter or feed subscription signup rates.

1. Provide Incentives to Encourage Signups

Apart from the usual paid features that users will enjoy, you can offer specific incentives which will improve your conversion rates. Examples of these incentives include free eBooks, software or video tutorials for advanced usage of the specific product.

A purchase-related incentive can also take the form of a satisfaction or moneyback guarantee, which will considerably soften the perceived risk.

2. Offer Flexible Paid Subscription Options

While locking users into a long term plan is beneficial for you, customers might hesitant to take that leap. For example 103bees only offers a 3 month subscription package which may not be appealing for everyone.

Offer both short term and long term subscription packages, while providing long term discounts to further encourage signups.

3. Send Reminders to Users with Expired Accounts

If the specific user has opt-ed in for newsletters and admin announcements, you should probably send an email notifying the user that his or her trial period has expired. The email should be brief, while containing a link to the specific benefits of a paid subscription.

Don’t assume that all users will be visiting your website to check their account regularly. 103bee forgot to send any emails to inform me that my trial subscription had expired.

4. Give Free Limited Period Upgrades

At the end of the free trial period, offer a free limited period upgrade so users can try the paid features for a few days.This gives them a clear taste of what to expect and is a powerful method to encourage a final conversion.

5. Build Customer Trust by Providing Efficient Support

The best way to earn the trust of your potential customer is to offer excellent and speedy support for customer queries. Don’t just offer a free trial and completely ignore the user because they aren’t paying for the service.

Users gauge the value of your company and product by the type of support they receive. For example, Feedburner is a company that has provided excellent support for its free feed users.

I was impressed with the fact that one could leave a question in their support forums and receive a reply within hours from an admin. Remeber to address any feedback you receive speedily through private or public channels.

6. Soft Sell Your Product by Providing Relevant Information

After a user has signed for your free trial they will need some prodding into convert into users. You can do this by creating a company blog or public support page which addresses troubleshooting issues and tips on how to better use the service.

103bees has done rather poorly in this aspect, by only updating their blog once or twice a month. A regular posting frequency with more articles on search traffic/keywords would really help to promote their product.

They should also integrate their latest articles within the user account profile as well for maximum visibility, much like what Wordpress is doing for most WP-powered blogs.

Remember the goal here is to gradually soft sell the potential customer and gradually convince him or her that your product is necessary for their goals.

I’ve limited my suggestions to these five methods but one should note that there several other relevant factors, such as your site design, brand reputation and sales copy.

While all these elements play a role in determining conversions, the value of your product or service remains of utmost importance.

If your service is useful or unique, it’ll naturally sell itself to the user. Such products will make it far easier to obtain conversions for most types of paid subscription schemes.

Found this article useful? Subscribe to Dosh Dosh for more monetization tips.

View the Original article