5 killing facts for importance of user onboarding process in SaaS.

In our previous article, we’ve compared onboarding experiences in Finnish SaaS companies. Now the question is, why onboarding is so important? Maybe it’s easier just to let users inside the product and leave them on their own? Let’s find out ⬇

SaaS companies are the first ones who should focus on developing onboarding strategies. Why? Well, when your software is constantly updating do you expect users to follow their nose when exploring it?

If so, half of the features the development pushes might not even see the real use from customers.

💡 Zendesk says:

The goal of customer onboarding is to deliver value to your users as early as possible so they continue coming back to your product and quickly adopt it as part of their daily work routine.

There are plenty benefits of onboarding. The most tangible for SaaS companies:

‍

1. Get users love your product by using it

Onboarding is a way to let your users know why your product is the best, how can it help them to solve their challenges. Also, to educate them about using your product in the best way.

After Effects onboarding gives a scope of instructions for first-time users. If you do not have enough experience to create videos, Adobe doesn’t leave you alone! The video tutorials are integrated into the app to ease the learning process ⬇

See example on the gif below.

Onboarding in another Adobe product - Animate is structured as a product tour, however, users are presented with videos of the real interface. They are free to close and come back to the tutorial at any time.

It means they can implement their knowledge without leaving product to the support pages. Even users with 0 experience can create a simple animation right away. That makes people love Adobe and use it again. See another example from Animate ⬇

Canva is onboarding new users by giving simple tasks to perform within the first seconds of using the app. Quite convenient to learn the features that you will interact with on a regular basis. See a gif with example.

‍

2. Know your customers better

Imagine, you are using some software for quite a while, you know the features and how the functionality works. Each time when you log in the software recommends the same features and support. Would it be helpful for a professional user?

Of course not, and that’s why onboarding must be personalized for unique customer groups. The right level of educational materials for the right audience and at the right time is the winning strategy. Exciting ✨ So how do we get there?

Don’t recreate a wheel ⭕ Just ask your users how much experience with the tool they have and what are they using the product for.

Atlassian asks information about user role and key tasks that users perform daily.

Multiple choice gives the ability to select several options and adjust the app for user's preferences.

Looks like Adobe really cares about their user experience, here is another example from their onboarding.

They ask about user preferences on the first screen to provide the right level of education.

They also gather information on the case that users are using the software for, since they have plenty of tutorials for each of them, no one will be left behind.

Notion asks for how many people you intend to use the software.

Is it upselling hook? Yes. Does it also help them to adjust the software for your preferences? Exactly!

‍

3. Loyal customers - paying customers

In 2020, loyalty raised by onboarding sequences reached 86%. Amount of software on the market grows exponentially each year and users remember brands who build connection with them.

Entering a new product nowadays is like being invited to a party where you don’t know anyone. Then, there is one person who introduces you to the people around and it’s not so scary after all 😉

Brands who choose the role of “guide” are those who users will remember. Ask them about their preferences, welcome them with email sequences that resonate and simply listen to their opinion on any channel.

💡 This is how you create onboarding that people will use.

💡 This is how brands build a user-product relationships that bring loyalty.

Over 90% of users feel that the onboarding wasn’t enough for them. Our brain is built the way to find the easiest path to any challenge. When it comes to using software, with little or zero support, the easiest way to solve confusion is to quit the app.

It’s crucial to be in that 10% of brands who do onboarding extensively and listen to users to adapt onboarding strategies.

‍

4. Nail your retention with a simple hack

Companies increased retention by 82% by using welcoming emails, and a good onboarding structure.  When users feel validated, it drives them back to your product over and over again.

One of the most powerful retention tools is feature update. When there are new updates coming to your software, let users know about them! Directly from a product and by emails as well, so everyone is captured. It drives attention to new features even from users who haven’t used the software for a while.

At MarbleFlows we use flows to update users with new features. We send feature updates monthly by email, also, announce them on the feedback roadmap and social media to keep users up to date.

‍

5. Reduce churn

In 2020, more than a half of people said they’ve returned a product because they didn’t fully understand how to use it.

Even with simplest products, users neeeeeed onboarding! It’s not only about teaching them how to use the product, but also building a connection with them to stop your customers from choosing other brands over yours. Even the software with less features but better onboarding can keep more users inside the app.

‍

Soooo, is it important?

Of course!

• Great onboarding keeps your customers inside the product - high usage
• Great onboarding updates your users about the features - retention and upselling
• Great onboarding builds trust with your users - loyal customers
• Great onboarding shows you who your customers are - better marketing, better product development.

It’s simply essential for any company to build not just a good but amazing onboarding experience in 2022. Especially in SaaS world where features and products are coming nonstop.

That’s why we are here. Check out automated onboarding use cases for your brand and start to engage with users on a different level with Marbleflows.

‍