Conversion rates are arguably the most important metrics for SaaS businesses to understand and optimize. But what exactly is a conversion rate in SaaS, and what rates should you be aiming for? This comprehensive guide will cover everything you need to know.
What is a SaaS Conversion Rate?
A conversion rate represents the percentage of people that complete a desired action across different channels. For SaaS businesses, the primary desired action is when a trial user converts into a paying customer.
Some examples of SaaS conversion rates you may want to measure include:
- Free trial signups from website visitors
- Trial users that become active users
- Active users that convert to paid plans
- Customers that renew subscriptions
The formula for calculating conversion rate is:
Tracking conversion rates allows SaaS companies to understand the effectiveness of marketing channels and optimize the user journey towards purchase. Higher conversion equals more revenue and lower customer acquisition costs.
Why Conversion Rates Matter
High conversion rates directly translate to faster growth and higher lifetime value per customer for SaaS startups. As the cost of acquiring users goes down, unit economics improve allowing companies to scale profitably.
Let’s go over the key conversion rates for the SaaS buyer’s journey next.
Average SaaS Conversion Rates by Funnel Stage
As leads progress through the sales funnel from awareness to purchase and retention, there are benchmark conversion rates that top SaaS companies strive to achieve at each stage:
Website Traffic to Free Trial Signup
This initial conversion indicates how compelling your website messaging, content, and signup process is to convert raw traffic into leads in your funnel.
Industry Average: 2-5%
Good Conversion Rate: 10%+
For example, if you get 100 visitors per day on landing pages and conversion pages, aim for at least 10 free trial signups. Having a lengthy or complex signup process can negatively impact this conversion rate.
Free Trial User to Activated User
In SaaS, an “activated user” refers to a trial user that has a meaningful first experience and sees the core value from your product. For example, an activated user for a project management tool would set up their first project.
There is no fixed benchmark, but you want over 50% of free trial users becoming activated. Monitor this rate to understand adoption and engagement.
Activated Users to Paid Conversion
This conversion focuses specifically on users that had a quality initial experience with your product and reached your defined activation threshold. The conversion rate depends on your activation metric definition.
For example, if 30% of trial users create their first project portfolio (activation), aim for at least 50% of those activated users to convert to a paid plan.
Customer Retention and Churn Rates
In addition to customer acquisition, keeping existing customers happy and retained is critical for SaaS companies.
Good annual churn rate: 5-7%
This indicates the percentage of customers that cancel their subscriptions in a year. However, you should also track churn rate by plan type and cohort to identify high-risk segments.
For example, if churn rate among enterprise customers exceeds 7-10%, that is likely more alarming than 15% churn among SMBs on basic plans. Prioritize reducing churn among high lifetime value segments first and foremost.
Strategies to Reduce Churn
- Analyze reasons for cancellations and lost renewals
- Survey customers on satisfaction levels
- Reward loyalty and provide discounts for multi-year subscriptions
- Upsell customers to higher tier plans
- Deliver exceptional customer support
Keeping churn rates low ensures recurring revenue streams stay predictable while allowing companies to shift focus towards expansion revenue from upsells and cross-sells.
How to Improve Conversions Across the Funnel
Implementing best practices across the entire customer journey – from initial awareness to retention – is key for improving conversion rates.
Attract Qualified Website Traffic
Getting traffic is useless without getting the right traffic. Build lead generation content tailored to your ideal customer personas by:
- Identifying common pain points and solution keywords
- Creating targeted landing pages and blog posts
- Promoting content in channels your buyers frequent
You should also analyze visitor behavior via analytics tools to understand if site visitors demonstrate signals of being qualified leads, such as time on site, scrolling depth, and video views.
Optimize the Free Trial Signup Flow
The signup process is often the first user experience of your product. Minimize friction by:
- Reducing the number of fields and steps
- Using single sign-on integration with Google or Office 365
- Offering multiple options like email, Google sign-in etc.
For example, Calendly drives high conversion by simplifying the trial signup to just requesting the user’s name and email on the homepage.
Nurture Leads with Email Campaigns
Email is still one of the highest converting digital channels. Consider using:
- Promotional discount emails for upgraded plans
- Free trial extension or renewal reminder emails
- Newsletters showcasing new features or customer success stories
Writing compelling subject lines and sending targeted emails based on lead lifecycle stage and activity optimizes conversion to trial and sale.
Define and Track Activation Metrics
To optimize trial user engagement, determine what “activated” means for your product based on core value metrics. Some examples:
- Created first campaign (email marketing app)
- Added 5 product variants (e-commerce app)
- Generated first proposal (sales CRM)
Analyze activation rates over time and how product changes impact activation behaviors. Other key metrics to track include:
- DAU/MAU ratio
- Average time in app
- Feature adoption rates
- User lifecycle trends
Benchmarks will differ based on your product category and defined activation milestone. The key is picking a North Star metric that measures delivering initial value.
Guide Users Through Onboarding Flows
Don’t just expect users to naturally activate and adopt key workflows. Instead, create guided paths including:
Technique | Examples |
---|---|
Checklists | Task lists for import data, add teammates etc. |
In-app walkthroughs | Popup tips for next steps in a flow |
Tooltips | Quick feature explanations on hover/click |
In-app messaging | Chatbots, support agents |
Prioritize guiding users to complete high-value actions for activations using prompts and messaging.
Continually Optimize Pricing Plans
Leverage pricing page best practices to convert activated trial users:
- Limit tiers to 3 paid plans
- Show comparison chart
- Emphasize annual subscription savings
- Offer free support level
- Include testimonials
Experiment with pricing models such as per user, feature based, unlimited, enterprise quote only etc. according to your product offerings.
Key Takeaways and Next Steps
Improving conversion rates should be a core focus area for all SaaS companies targeting growth. To recap, here are some of the key conversion benchmarks and best practices covered in this guide:
SaaS Conversion Benchmarks
- 10%+ free trial signup rate
- 50%+ activation rate
- 50%+ activated user conversion rate
- 5-7% annual churn rate
Conversion Optimization Strategies
- Attract qualified traffic that fits customer personas
- Reduce friction in free trial signup flow
- Lead nurture via targeted email campaigns
- Define and track activation metrics
- Create onboarding checklists and in-app walkthroughs
- Continually A/B test pricing plans
The above playbook can help significantly move the needle for businesses struggling with lead generation or trial conversions.