conversion optimization in practice: baconbiz 2013

CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION IN PRACTICE

Patrick McKenzie

Want To Follow?

Hashtag #BaconBiz or tweet at @patio11

Bingo Cards… Who Knew, Right?

It Beats Running A WoW Guild

2005 2006 2007 2008 20090

20000

40000

60000

80000

Profits (While Employed)

BCCDay Job

Once More, With(out) Feeling

Products With A Side Of Consulting

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

Profits (Excluding AR)

ConsultingBCCDay Job

2012 Was A Very Good Year

Not Important Relative To Last Slide

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

0

80000

160000

Profits (Through 2012, Excluding AR)

TrainingConsultingBCCDay Job

Three Stages Of Bootstrapping

The Fundamental SaaS Equation

Charge. More.

• Killed the $9 plan

• Added in $199 plan due to apparent demand

In Which I Take My Own Darn Advice

12/2

010

2/20

11

4/20

11

6/20

11

8/20

11

10/2

011

12/2

011

2/20

12

4/20

12

6/20

12

8/20

12

10/2

012

12/2

012

2/20

13$0.00

$1.00

$2.00

$3.00

$4.00

$5.00

$6.00

$7.00

$8.00

Scaled Revenue for Appointment Reminder

Consulting In 30 Minutes

Meet Our New Consulting “Client”

Get Prospects Into Free Trial

Get Trialers Onboarded

Get Trialers Engaged

Turn Trialers Into Customers

… And Keep Them

Why Not Just Dig In Blind?

Pre-signup Funnel For Freckle

Losing HUGE Numbers Early

15% conversion from home page to viewing plans page

All Comparisons Are Rough But…

38% conversion from home page to viewing plans page

20% to 100% more signups (all else equal)

Identify High-Value Targets

What can we fix that with?

Hypothesis: Customer doesn’t what Freckle is

Online Time Tracking With Freckle

Frictionless Time Tracking

Time Tracking With 42% Less Suck

What can we fix that with?

Hypothesis: Customer doesn’t understand how Freckle benefits their life

Bill more hours in less time

Earn more money freelancing with less pain

Bill 15 more hours next month

What can we fix that with?

Hypothesis: Customer doesn’t know if Freckle is right for them, specifically

Too much Free in your freelancing?

“Freckle helps you actually bill every hour you actually work.”

Freelancers And Firms Find Freckle Fabulous

“Time tracking doesn’t start with an F? Dang, we had a pretty good thing going there.”

Do you bill at least $25 an hour?

Poking Holes In The Funnel

Always Have A Clear Next Step

Nobody Buys “Plans & Pricing”

Buttons Should Look Like Buttons

You’re Trained To Miss This One

Big And Easy To Click

Get your pancake

Speaking of Button Copy

Verb + Benefit + (Immediacy?)

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

Get started now

If your feature/value proposition is sufficiently compelling, it can be a good button.

Start tracking your time now

Classics are classics for a reason.

Try Freckle For Free

“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

“Plans And Pricing”

It’s important to you, but fails to provide value to the customer. Also, loses scent versus the previous page.

Avoid “Sign Up”

“Don’t worry, you can change at any time.”

Start With This Plan

Analysis Paralysis

Less Choices Often Raises Conversions

Too Much Information

Objection: What if I don’t like it?

Objection: Can I trust you?

Objection: Is it worth the cost?

Objection: Will my team use it?

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

First Run Experience

Explicitly Ask To Onboard Team

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