Measure Loyalty to Increase Trial Conversions

While trials are a common mechanism for generating paying subscribers, trial conversion rates for most publishers are in the low single digits. The majority of users starting a trial do not have the budget or authority to convert into paying subscribers. Often times, the trial user is exploring or investigating, and most trial users become fence sitters whom without sales help don’t convert. Because the sales force doesn’t have the capacity to contact every trial user, focusing efforts on the right fence sitters becomes the key to increasing conversion rate and revenues. Research shows that focus on the most engaged trial users is the same as focusing on the right fence sitters and increases conversion rates by 100% or more.

In trials, engagement patterns emerge early. A trial visitor quickly establishes a pattern of engagement that categorizes the individual somewhere from a fan to a fly-by to a no-show. The likelihood of conversion increases dramatically at each stage of loyalty with fans extracting the most value from the trial and being most likely to convert.

Prioritization of sales effort to pull the right trial users off the fence is critical to increasing conversion rates. Looking at behavioral segmentation of trials users make it apparent why, because the number of fans is small compared to the rest of the trial users. As shown in the following figure, the typical trial population will have 20%+/- no-shows, 30%+/- fly-bys, 30%+/- occasionals, and 20%+/- fans and regulars combined. 20% of the trial users are engaged in a usage pattern that represents subscribers.

This minority population are the ones that statistically convert and they are typically the smallest segment leading to the low overall conversion rate. Without behavioral segmentation data, a sales force is 80% likely to engage a trial user who is highly improbable to convert. With behavioral segmentation data, a sales force is 100% likely to engage a trial user who is highly probable to convert.

Implication

The fans and regulars represent the opportunity to double overall conversion rate of trials. By focusing on the group with the highest engagement, a sales force can target their efforts to help fence-sitting fans build justification, differentiation, and ROI to go from trial to subscriber. Behavioral data reveals why conversion rates are typically low but also why conversion rates can be doubled.