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Whether your SaaS business thrives or flatlines can come down to two moments: how well you handle your free trials and paywalls, as well as what happens when it's time to upgrade.
Learn proven SaaS growth hacks using A/B test insights from Headspace, Uber, and Blinkist to optimize free trials, paywalls, and upgrade flows.
Key Takeaways
- Reframe trial copy to evoke positive emotions rather than obligation to increase signups.
- Use progressive disclosure to reduce cognitive load and fear of the unknown during free trials.
- Small wording changes can yield double-digit percentage increases in conversions.
- Make the best subscription plan more attractive by adding unique perks or clearer benefits.
- Previewing the experience and providing certainty (e.g., fixed pricing) improves user trust and upgrades.
What the video covers
- The video focuses on two critical moments for SaaS growth: handling free trials/paywalls and the upgrade process.
- Real A/B test results from apps like Headspace, Uber, and Blinkist demonstrate effective growth strategies.
- Blinkist improved signups by visually explaining their 7-day free trial with a step-by-step breakdown.
- Progressive disclosure reduces user fear of commitment by clarifying what happens during the trial.
- Headspace reframed their trial offer by renaming it a '30-day guest pass' to reduce obligation and increase signups.
- Small copy changes, like word choice, can significantly impact conversion rates by tapping into user psychology.
- Uber increased usage by replacing pricing ranges with a single estimated price, improving certainty for users.
- Offering preview experiences and making the best subscription plan stand out can drive higher conversions.
- Psychological principles like the framing effect and scarcity are leveraged to boost upgrades and paid conversions.
- The video encourages SaaS businesses to rethink trial and paywall flows and offers free design strategy sessions.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction: Key Moments for SaaS Growth
- 00:38Overview of A/B Test Results from Top Apps
- 01:17Importance of Free Trial and Paywall Flow
- 01:55Blinkist’s Visual 7-Day Trial Breakdown
- 02:31Psychology of Progressive Disclosure
- 03:10Trial as a Guided Walk to Reduce Fear
- 03:36Results: 23% Increase in Trial Signups
- 04:16Making the Trial Feel Special to Boost Signups
- 05:16Headspace’s 30-Day Guest Pass Reframe
- 06:34Framing Effect and Psychological Impact
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
moments by breaking down real AB test results that have driven serious growth for apps like Headspace, Uber, and Blinkist. Now, before we jump to the impressive gains unlocked by some of these upgrade and subscription tricks, let's start with the first and most
Speaker A
So, in this video, we'll learn how to supercharge those two moments by breaking down real A/B test results that have driven serious growth for apps like Headspace, Uber, and Blinkist.
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step-by-step breakdown. They anchored it in reality. And this taps into the psychology of progressive disclosure, which shows us that people don't fear commitment as much as they fear the unknown. And in this case, when users know exactly what happens each day, the
Speaker A
Now, before we jump to the impressive gains unlocked by some of these upgrade and subscription tricks, let's start with the first and most pivotal lever: how you handle your free trial and paywall flow.
Speaker A
7-day itinerary. With that said though, making something clearer is one thing, but what if you can add thousands or even millions of signups yearly by making it feel special instead? That's exactly what Headspace did. And before we break it down, just a quick note
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Take Blinkist as an example. They didn't overhaul their offer. They simply made it easier to say yes to it by visually explaining the 7-day free trial using a simple step-by-step breakdown.
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if there are any spots left this month. Now, back to Headspace. They completely reframed their trial offer. Instead of using the word trial, which is a word loaded with obligation, they called it a 30-day guest pass. And that's not just a
Speaker A
They anchored it in reality. And this taps into the psychology of progressive disclosure, which shows us that people don't fear commitment as much as they fear the unknown.
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in new signups from a tiny word change. So the actionable advice here is reframe copy to match the emotion you want users to feel. Don't just automatically resort to the word trial or any other word standard for that matter. Now changing
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And in this case, when users know exactly what happens each day, the trial feels less like a leap and more like a guided walk.
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They flew through the freaking roof. By removing the trial from the monthly option entirely, the annual subscription suddenly felt like the smarter purchase.
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And the result of this particular guided walk was a 23% increase in trial signups.
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in revenue per 100 installs. That's a lot of ROI. So, don't just add new plans. Try making your best plan harder to ignore by giving it something no other option has. Now, of course, none of this really matters if users never
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So, don't just offer the experience, let users preview it. Let them see it like it's a 7-day itinerary.
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idea of reducing cognitive load, which basically says that the more effort someone exerts up front, the less likely they'll commit. And as we know in SAS, friction at the wrong moment is fatal.
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With that said though, making something clearer is one thing, but what if you can add thousands or even millions of signups yearly by making it feel special instead?
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because if you just add a tiny little bit of psychology to the length of the trial, things get even more interesting.
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That's exactly what Headspace did. And before we break it down, just a quick note here.
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price, they compare benefits. A longer trial feels like a better deal, even if the value isn't really tangible. And the result was an insane double-digit increase in conversions. So the lesson here is try using softer perks like longer trials to make your high value
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If upgrading your trial or paywall experience sounds like something that's valuable but time-consuming, at SIPAP, we run free design strategy sessions focused entirely on flows like this.
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at how Mobin increased conversions significantly by adding a tiny little batch. First though, it's my obligation to remind you if you're looking to grow your business with design tweaks like this, or if you need to build an entire website,
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So, if you're curious, there is a link down below that you can use to see if there are any spots left this month.
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We'd love to chat with you. Now, what Mobin did is quite interesting because they didn't launch new paywalt features.
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Now, back to Headspace. They completely reframed their trial offer. Instead of using the word trial, which is a word loaded with obligation, they called it a 30-day guest pass.
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human tendency to avoid losing something more than we desire gaining something new. So when users saw what they couldn't really touch that drove that impulse to upgrade and as a result mobbing got a 35% increase in freeto paid conversions. So remember highlight
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And that's not just a word shift. That's pure psychology. And more specifically, they were using what's called the framing effect.
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Free users could only learn one language. If they wanted to start a second, they had to upgrade. And here's an important detail. This wasn't limiting for casual users, but it was devastating for power users, which makes it a super clever use of scarcity,
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While trial feels transactional, guest pass feels kind of like an invitation. It's exclusive, feels temporary, and it's respectful.
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intersects with higher user intent or do like Uber double down on certainty. You see Uber used to only display a pricing range in their UI and they did this for a very long time but after testing a single estimated price usage increased
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The result was a 7% increase in new signups from a tiny word change.
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And in Uber's case, people didn't want to guess what the ride would cost. They wanted to know for sure. And this change resulted in an insane doubledigit increase in rides per user, which at Uber scale is huge. But even if you're
Speaker A
So the actionable advice here is reframe copy to match the emotion you want users to feel. Don't just automatically resort to the word trial or any other word standard for that matter.
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Now, if you found this video helpful, chances are you could also use some of my best tips for increasing SAS website conversions. Check the video somewhere around here. And again, if you want to chat more about any of this really,
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Now, changing the words isn't the only thing you can do in this case. You can also change the options.
Topics:SaaS growthfree trial optimizationpaywall strategiesA/B testingconversion rate optimizationsubscription upgradesuser psychologyprogressive disclosureframing effectHeadspace Uber Blinkist
