7 Best SaaS Email Trial Period Tactics to Convert More Users (2024)

💬 Automation flows via email can help nurture customers during their free trial period - which is where you can try different angles, messaging, provide helpful resources, and even the likes of testing various offers, to help convert more users from trials to becoming paying users.

Sharing key elements and experiments to test for SaaS trial period emails

💬 Many of these tactics below I've used across different projects/startups and seen good results - there should be some 'quick wins' that you can test for your product.

As part of any core SaaS email strategy, you want to ensure you have ‘free trial’ period reminders of when the trial period is finishing. 

Various opportunities that you can focus on leading up to the trial period ending, including angles/messaging and offers - some experiments to think about: 

• Offer incentives for key ICP segments to encourage them upgrading
• Remind users and reinforce the value of the product offering - share best use case examples, case studies
• Related to the above, incorporate social proof elements such as reviews, videos, etc 
• Provide clear next steps around how they can upgrade

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• I like this example from Programa with the copy for saying goodbye to spreasheets forever, as well as the head image highlighting a feature - also the testimonial at the end is great for social proof

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Something I’ve seen a few SaaS brands do is actually provide an option to extend their trial - which can be an effective tactic for key ICP segments you’re wanting to encourage to upgrade/stick around.

• Just like this example from Shopify - simple and to the point with USPs
• Also like the fact there are two CTAs - primary being extend trial, and a ghost button at the bottom for comparing plans

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As you may have seen across a few of these growth marketing checklists I’ve created, I mention/talk about social proof quite a bit and finding ways to incorporate social proof elements across various marketing initiatives, whether that’s campaigns, channels, etc. 

And that’s the case with free trial email sequences as well. 

It helps accelerate the trust-building process, and assists in reminding/reinforcing the value that users are seeing from the product. 

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• Love this social proof email example from Ghost (CMS) - nice reminder prompt, backed with screenshots from X/Twitter users syaing good thing about the platform
• Screenshots like this a great as they're authentic (and users recognise the UI)

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This is a larger strategic consideration for SaaS startups/businesses to think about - rather than just simply sending an automated email. 

If you do have a paid/premium feature strategy in place during free trial periods, then let users know they had access and will lose it when they go back to freemium. 

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• Simple prompt reference here from Zapier is good to include as part of your flows to those finishing/finished their trial periods

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• Another example is from Lingo - reminding users that they can't do certain additions that they had access to during the trial

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I like this experiment (based on the example from Kajabi), where you can combine an opportunity to bundle upsell product features - which can help increase ARPU. 

• Of course, this isn't applicable to all types of SaaS available, but it’s certainly a good way to package an offer.
• Good use of scarcity copy ("only a few hours left") and deadline time/date

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An experiment as part of your ‘“winback” email strategy to inactive or churned users is highlighting key feature updates, and/or sharing valuable resources (or the likes of use cases like templates) to show what’s possible. 

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• This is a good tactic to remind users of the value of how templates can help with specific use cases across a business/org
• Also like the fact they've included an offer for an extended free trial period - only comment here would be to make it more obvious within the email about this offer

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Experiment with offers to encourage those to come back (reactivate) that have not upgraded (or they previously churned) and are sitting on a freemium plan, aligned with a particular milestone/anniversary. 

A couple of simple tactics could be:

• Sending an email based on knowing a birth date (like the example from Hulu)
• Saying “thank you” for those who joined after a period - for instance, a 1-year anniversary from when they signed up