Key Activation Events And The Secret For Bloody Brilliant Low-Touch SaaS Onboarding

Cohort analysis is a technique that groups a subset of users that share a common trait over a period of time. You then compare the impact of that shared trait on the desired outcome. A table shows a subset of users in one day who started a trial. The table also shows if they added their company logo to the Website and whether or not they signed up (and started paying) during their trial period.

Make it clear why your user should take action and complete a key activation event. The word 'Because' makes it crystal clear that completing an action gets your user closer to their goal. "because" helps you make a perfectly rational case for why. And it helps your potential customers make the case for you too," says psychologist Robert Cialdini in influence: the psychology of persuasion.

The three stages to activation are (1) pre-signup, (2) first user experience, and (3) post-signup. Think about each for bloody brilliant low-touch onboarding.

With your new understanding of your key activation events, your pre-signup communications need to prime your user. This isn’t to say your users need to be told everything required to go live but if your application needs an integration with a 3rd-party app, or a code snippet needs to be added to their application, let them know about it ASAP.

Onboarding In-App flow should be built around the key activation events. If a key activation event is adding a logo, make this part of the flow. If a key activation event is connecting a social media account, make this part of the flow. 90% of users who add a picture sell their car in 2 weeks.

Emails are great for pulling users back to your application. 7 out of 10 customers check their Inbox more than once a day. Animated Gifs, step-by-step guides and videos are all great ways of delivering the same message (E.G. “add your logo ”) but in a clear and creative way. If users still haven’t Uploaded that elusive logo, (1) remind them they still need to (2) let them know why (Because-Bridge). repeat, repeat,