INFLUENCE GROWTH FOR SAAS STARTUPS

Tom Górski

TOM GÓRSKICo-Founder, 12 years of developing and implementing online marketing for clients. Specialties: SaaS Marketing, Growth Hacking, SEO, Lead Generation

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IT’S NOT HOW IT WAS MEANT TO BE…

YOU SPENT SO MUCH TIME AND MONEY DRIVING TRAFFIC TO YOUR SITE:

➤ Created content the audience

was simply bound to love

➤ Invested hours in promoting

it and building relationships

with influencers

➤ Ran ads to target and re-

target visitors

➤ Engaged in tens of other

marketing activities

PEOPLE STILL WENT TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR COMPETITOR’S APP

BUT THEY MIGHT HAVE HAD A REASON TO DO IT

➤ These users perceived your competitor’s product as a more trustworthy solution

➤ They’ve read reviews, testimonials and other social proof

➤ And heard stories how it has helped other people achieve their goals, become more productive, grow a business

WE OFTEN RELY ON THE OPINION OF OTHERS

I’M SURE THIS HAPPENED TO YOU TOO:

➤ You picked a busy restaurant to

an empty one, even though it

meant having to wait for an

hour to be seated.

➤ Bought a product because of the

number of its positive reviews.

➤ Followed a person on social

media merely due to their

already large following.

„ 88% of consumers read reviews to determine the quality of a local business. That’s a 3.4% increase to a year before

- BrightLocal discovered

ACCORDING TO ECONSULTANCY, 61% OF CONSUMERS READ REVIEWS BEFORE MAKING A PURCHASE DECISION (SOURCE).

REVIEWS INFLUENCE THE PURCHASING DECISION

ANALYZING THE DATA FROM ONE OF THE TOP 25 INTERNET RETAILERS IN THE US BAZZAR VOICE FOR INSTANCE ESTABLISHED WHAT EFFECT INCREASING THE NUMBER OF REVIEWS FROM ONE TO 15 AND REVIEW RATING FROM 3.5 TO 4.5 STARS WILL HAVE ON THE NUMBER OF ORDERS ACROSS VARIOUS INDUSTRIES:

A JOINT RESEARCH BETWEEN ZENDESK AND DIMENSIONAL RESEARCH PROVED SIMILAR RESULTS. ACCORDING TO THEIR FINDINGS, 90% OF RESPONDENTS ADMITTED THAT READING POSITIVE REVIEWS INFLUENCED THEIR BUYING DECISION.

„ 63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase  from a site that has user reviews

- iPerceptions(source)

WHAT ABOUT SAAS AND SOFTWARE REVIEWS?

IN A SERIES OF STUDIES, RESEARCHERS FROM THE DEPT. OF BUSINESS, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT FROM UNIVERSITY OF COLOGNE AND BIRKBECK COLLEGE IN LONDON DEVELOPED A RESEARCH MODEL FOR SOFTWARE PURCHASING PROCESS

THE RESULTS OF THEIR STUDIES WERE CONCLUSIVE, WHEN PURCHASING SOFTWARE; CUSTOMER REFERENCES AND EXPERT NETWORK RECOMMENDATIONS DO AFFECT THE SOFTWARE BUYING DECISIONS.

„When purchasing software; customer re fe rences and exper t ne twork recommendations do affect the software buying decisions

- Business Management University of Cologne

BUT HOW DO USERS COME TO MAKING THAT DECISION?

IN THIS POST DAVID SKOK OUTLINES A TYPICAL SAAS CUSTOMER’S BUYING CYCLE:

SAAS CUSTOMER’S BUYING CYCLE

➤ It starts with the Awareness stage, an initial point in which a customer comes in contact with your app. The person has realized their problem and began search for a possible solution. Although he or she wasn’t specifically looking for you, they may have come in contact with your product.

➤ The process then moves to Consideration stage in which a user begins to consider whether to actually purchase a specific solution and then, researches what would be the best alternative.

NOTE HOW SOCIAL PROOF (INCL. REVIEWS) IS THE LAST CRUCIAL STEP A PERSON TAKES BEFORE THE CONVERSION.

„[…] when others offer their opinions about the quality of a product, the opinions have the most potential to influence a consumer who has tried the p r o d u c t w h e n t h e o p i n i o n s a r e considered.”

- David Wooten

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE HOW WELL REVIEWS WORK

THE VOLUME OF REVIEWSThe more reviews you have, the trust-worthier your product seems to be.

JUST TAKE A LOOK AT THOSE TWO ALMOST IDENTICAL PRODUCTS. BOTH HAVE SIMILAR RATING AND PRICE

HOW MANY REVIEWS IS ENOUGH? IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THE MORE REVIEWS YOU HAVE THE BETTER.

IN FACT, ACCORDING TO BRIGHTLOCAL, 85% CUSTOMERS READ UP TO 10 REVIEWS BEFORE MAKING A DECISION.

TURNS OUT THAT HAVING BAD REVIEWS ISN’T ACTUALLY THAT BAD. IN FACT, HAVING NEGATIVE REVIEWS COULD INCREASE CONVERSIONS BY UP TO 67% (SOURCE). DON’T SEE ANYTHING NEGATIVE AT ALL” (SOURCE).

„68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores, while 30% suspect censorship or faked reviews.

- Reevo

HOW CAN YOU GET MORE REVIEWS FOR YOUR APP?

T H E R E A R E T Y P I C A L LY 2 W AY S BUSINESSES GO ABOUT COLLECTING REVIEWS.

➤ In the first one, they simply leave it entirely to chance, hoping that a customer enjoys their product or service and will go to a review site to leave feedback.

➤ Some of those businesses develop basic strategies to inspire customers to leave reviews:

➤ They display in-store signage asking for feedback,

➤ Train their staff to ask for reviews and so on.

BUT THEY DON’T ALWAYS GUARANTEE RESULTS.

➤ The second type is where a business actively seeks and entices specific customers to leave reviews.

➤ At its core, this method looks quite similar to the first one. However, there is a difference.

➤ These businesses leave nothing to chance. Instead of displaying review requests they actively seek out those customers who could give them positive reviews and help increase their perception on the marketplace.

LIST YOUR APP ON REVIEWS SITES

52% OF BUSINESSES THAT CARE ABOUT GETTING REVIEWS PREFER TO GET THEM ON REVIEW SITES RELATING TO THEIR INDUSTRY.

AND IT COMES AS NO SURPRISE. SITES SAASGENIUS OR G2CROWD PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN B2B BUYING PROCESS. NOT ONLY THEY ALLOW COLLECTING REVIEWS THAT ARE AUTHENTICATED, MEANING THAT CUSTOMERS KNOW THAT THE PERSON LEAVING THE REVIEW HAS ACTUALLY USED YOUR PRODUCT.

SURVEY EXISTING USERS

S e n d y o u r e x i s t i n g customers a satisfaction survey. Then follow up with those who provided positive opinions directing them to your app’s profile on review sites, asking to leave feedback.

USE REVIEWS PROMPTS

ANOTHER GREAT WAY IS TO INCLUDE REVIEW PROMPTS IN YOUR APP AND MARKETING

➤ Display review widgets within the app pointing customers to specific review sites.

➤ Include link to review site profile in emails.

➤ Include review request at the end of a support interaction and so on.

➤ However, the aim for these isn’t only to collect reviews but to communicate the idea that you’re open to feedback.

EMAIL EVERY NEW USER 2-3 WEEKS AFTER SINGING UP

NEW USERS ARE OFTEN THE BEST SOURCE OF POSITIVE REVIEWS.

For one, they still consider your app a novelty and are excited about using it. Providing that they benefit from doing so, they should have no problem leaving a positive review. Monitor new user’s activity and email everyone using it regularly 2-3 weeks after they’ve signed up asking to complete a satisfaction survey. Then select those who left the most positive feedback and direct them to the review site, asking for comments.

GET REVIEWS FROM YOUR SITE

THE BENEFIT OF USING THIS TYPE OF FEEDBACK IS THAT YOU CAN STRUCTURE THE INFORMATION YOU’D LIKE TO RECEIVE FROM USERS. YOU COULD, FOR INSTANCE, CONDUCT QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH ASKING VISITORS TO FILL IN A MULTIPLE-CHOICE SURVEY:

AND FINALLY

Collect reviews and user feedback from your site too. Tools like Feedbacklite make it easy to create and d e p l o y u s e r f e e d b a c k widgets and collect reviews.

CONCLUSIONCrucial to focus on collecting positive reviews, ideally on review sites to increase the number of your app’s social proof points.Do you own a SaaS company and already use reviews to promote it? We want to hear your story!