The SaaS world is one of the most competitive out there, as more and more companies look to sell software to individuals and businesses. You’re competing with so many other software platforms, so how do you ensure that people download yours?
A great product is the centre of everything – though here are some killer tips that encourage and nudge audiences to download your SaaS over your rivals.
Provide Free Versions
Audiences are way more likely to download your software when it’s free. Offer a free trial for everyone who downloads your SaaS (the longer the free trial, the better). This encourages people to download it and utilise all the various features. They’re basically giving it a test drive – and did you know that around 25% of users will go on to purchase software after downloading a free trial?
That’s 1 in 4 free downloads converted into paying customers – and expect your figure to rise if some of your closest competitors either don’t provide free trials or can only provide a 7-day trial to your 14 or 30-day one.
Make Payments Easier Than Ever
The payment process is a massive roadblock that gets in the way of numerous SaaS downloads. It’s too easy to overcomplicate things with:
- Too many versions and pricing options
- Really strict or confusing subscription fees
- Overpricing your SaaS compared to others
- Not offering quick checkouts
Streamline all of this to make payments easier than ever for prospective customers. You should also set things up so they don’t need to provide payment details when downloading your free trial – it’ll only be necessary when the trial ends. Many of the best embedded payment solutions for SaaS let you set up seamless payment portals for users to upgrade and pick a subscription plan immediately.
Put it this way: the less effort the payment process demands, the more downloads you’ll see.
Focus On Solutions When Marketing Your Product
It’s too easy to fall into the trap of making your marketing strategy all about your product. You want to display all the cool capabilities that your software boasts, but that’s not the correct approach. Rather than showing off your various features, switch the tone to show how your software helps streamline small businesses and the benefits a user will see when downloading it.
Focus on the solutions you bring to the table to demonstrate the value people and businesses get from downloading your software. If you’re able to make direct comparisons against your rivals, then that’s even better. E.g. A rival could promote an 11% increase in workplace productivity when users download their software – but your results show that users see a 20% increase. That’s a huge difference, so make a point of showing off comparisons like this to sway the attention in your direction.
Before you leave this post, please don’t forget that this is all redundant if your product isn’t up to scratch. Develop some genuinely good SaaS that will benefit your target audience in numerous ways and make a difference to their lives. Then you can lean on these three tips to ramp up the download rate.