Getting personal – using behaviour generated in-app messages to trigger sales and conversions

Dine out in a fine restaurant, and you’ll expect to be waited on hand and foot in the VIP manner in which you’re accustomed. Head to the shops and you’d be surprised if sales assistants weren’t on hand to make sure you can find what you’re looking for, and to offer advice on how to make products work for you. And SaaS software is really no different. Once a shiny new customer has signed up to trial your software, you’ll need to provide the right level of in-app service to not only keep them interested, but to guide them towards the ultimate path of becoming a paid subscriber.

Leave a new user unattended and they may simply get bored and wander off. Their questions may go unanswered. They may not completely understand the product and simply decide it’s not worth their time. But you know that it is, which is why you need to be there every step of the way to advise, remind and recommend the next steps to take. With in-app messages being a vital tool in nurturing new prospects, Xander Marketing offers some tips on the how and why behind using behaviour-based prompts to increase conversions and sales.

Highly engaged

Contacting a user in-app is proven to produce a higher level of engagement than external methods of communication, increasing their interest, involvement and time spent using your platform. Customers are focused on your product at the moment of communication, and can be delivered immediate, direct information that is targeted specifically to them and their patterns of behaviour. In-app messages can be used to welcome, inform and educate users, while you benefit from data collection, automating some aspects of customer service, and keeping users as active as possible.

Embrace the familiar

In today’s digital landscape, customers are already familiar with the concept of online messaging, staying up to date via social media, using mobile chat apps to talk to friends, and readily typing their customer service queries into the online chat windows of websites. So using in-app messaging to contact them as they experience your product is likely to be seen as a convenient, informal and easily identifiable way of receiving information.

Target users based on their actions

In-app messaging allows you to be highly selective in terms of what you say, who you say it to, and when you say it. Sending contextual messages based on a user’s behaviour is the best way of giving the right information at the right time, keeping communications relevant and offering the opportunity to influence the decision making process.

A triallist who is confused about how the software works, or doesn’t see the value of the product to their daily life is unlikely to renew, but contact them as they flounder to offer a help service or handy how-to guide, or to point out a useful feature and how it works, and you could keep them on track and steer them back towards the path of subscription. Know that someone has been inactive for a certain amount of time? Giving them a gentle reminder of your existence and what they’re missing may just be the trigger they need to get them back up and running.

The power of positivity

In-app messaging isn’t just for guiding lost sheep back into the fold. Even users who are flying through your software can benefit from the positive reinforcements that in-app messaging can bring. Letting an engaged user know about advanced settings or providing additional calls to action will make an already great experience even better by creating additional value, enforcing the feeling of excellent customer service, and cementing the likelihood of ultimately producing a sale.

Gather feedback

Collecting data in-app is the best way to know what’s happening in the customer psyche in real-time. If users are at the point of churn, asking for feedback at this particular moment will allow you to understand what’s not working, and why users are choosing to leave. Monitoring this thought process as it happens will provide you with the information you need to make the necessary improvements and changes to reduce your churn rate.

Getting your message across with Xander Marketing

Using in-app messaging and behaviour-based triggers as part of your onboarding strategy is key in converting new leads to sales, and lowering churn rates. A specialised marketing agency can give the professional support and direction you need to ensure that you’re saying all of the right things, at just the right time.

Xander Marketing works with many SaaS businesses to improve their websites, create thought leadership content, and execute marketing campaigns that engage new and ongoing business prospects. If you’d like to add your name to that list, get in touch.