In-product guided walkthrough in a free trial: 2x conversions
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsAdding step-by-step in-product guidance to the GoToWebinar free trial doubled the conversion rate (+100%) and lifted product usage by 40%.
Citrix ran this A/B test on its 30-day trial using the WalkMe guidance platform, and it was published as a MarketingSherpa case study.
Trial users in the treatment group also reached key setup steps more often.
- Conversion rate: +100% for trial users with the guidance.
- Product usage: +40% versus the control group.
- Reached the audio setup page 61% more often, and clicked to save audio settings 41% more.
- Reached the poll creation page 39% more often, and saved a poll 28% more.
The change
The variant adds guided pop-ups and a progress toolbar inside the trial.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
A 30-day GoToWebinar free trial with no in-product guidance. Users found features and help pages on their own.
Variant
The same trial with a guidance layer: step-by-step pop-ups, notes on key selling points such as included audio, and a toolbar showing progress. Links in the welcome email opened the walkthrough for each feature.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- People who use a trial product in the first few days are the most likely to buy, and guidance gets them to that first use faster.
- The walkthrough was built from calls with trial users, so it targeted the actual places people got stuck.
- It pointed out audio being included, a selling point over competitors that users might have missed.
- Linking the welcome email straight into a guided feature removed the hunt for help pages.
Caveats: Sample size, test length and significance were not shared, and the test date is not given (published in 2016). The guidance combined pop-ups, selling points, a progress toolbar and email links, so the lift can't be credited to one part.
Who ran it
Citrix ran this test and published the results (MarketingSherpa case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Citrix →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we guide trial users step by step through the key setup tasks, then more of them will convert to paid because they reach the product's value early in the trial.
- Primary metric
- Trial-to-paid conversion rate
- Guardrails
- Completion of key activation steps
- Support tickets per trial user
- Walkthrough dismissal rate
- Who should test it
- SaaS products with a self-serve free trial and a few setup steps that predict buying. It matters less if your product is simple enough to use without help, or if most deals close through sales calls.
Questions
Do product walkthroughs improve free trial conversion?
They can. In this Citrix test, trial users who got in-product guidance converted at twice the rate of those who didn't.
What should a trial walkthrough cover?
Focus on the steps that predict buying and the features that set you apart.
Citrix talked to trial users first, then guided people to audio setup and polls.
How do you measure if onboarding guidance works?
Split trial users so only some see the guidance, then compare paid conversion and completion of key setup steps.
MarketingExperiments