The fact that activation comes before acquisition is so interesting, but also so obvious to being 'value-first'. We actually rolled out an ungated product: https://www.toption.org/post/ungated-product-saas
The only difference is, we never ask for an email, just because the demand is so high and we didn't want the added friction. So, we collect emails only when they're closer to purchasing. You think that's a bad idea?
Hi Khushi - thanks for sharing your own case with ungated products. In my observation and experience, top AI products (and many SaaS apps) will experiment with where to put the sign up wall, and it largely depend on time to value for a customer. For most consumer and prosumer tools, it's often a good balance to capture a sign up deeper into the first session, but still within the first session, since the return rates on session 2 tend to drop sharply without an account.
If the product can drive repeat intent without needing an account, deferring signup closer to purchase can still work well, especially if signup friction derails the activation value. If you do end up experiment with a sign up wall, I would make sure there is clear value to creating an account, like being able to save, download, access more libraries, build user memory, etc. so that it feels like a natural part of onboarding.
Thank you so much! I have a follow up question. If you had a desktop only app. No web version. What should the first action be? Should it be download the app directly as the core CTA or should it be email collection, create an account, and then download?
It depends - I've run a number of experiments on this for a prosumer SaaS creative tool with a desktop app.
I found that requiring users to sign up with an email before desktop app download did result in a spike in total accounts created, but it did not result in more activated or paying users in the end. Leading with the app download first created some drop off, but the people who took the time to install the app had higher intent, so conversion rates downstream were nearly the same across both flows.
The learning here was that the friction of installing the app first can be a good qualifier if you're mainly targeting high intent users, especially if you're targeting higher intent, business oriented users. The more consumer/prosumer the use case, the more important it will be to capture some user information (like email account sign up) earlier, since install drop-off rates can be substantial.
I’d recommend testing both flows and optimize for downstream outcomes like activation and paid conversion. If both results are the same, then get the information first and opt for more user signal rather than less.
The fact that activation comes before acquisition is so interesting, but also so obvious to being 'value-first'. We actually rolled out an ungated product: https://www.toption.org/post/ungated-product-saas
The only difference is, we never ask for an email, just because the demand is so high and we didn't want the added friction. So, we collect emails only when they're closer to purchasing. You think that's a bad idea?
Hi Khushi - thanks for sharing your own case with ungated products. In my observation and experience, top AI products (and many SaaS apps) will experiment with where to put the sign up wall, and it largely depend on time to value for a customer. For most consumer and prosumer tools, it's often a good balance to capture a sign up deeper into the first session, but still within the first session, since the return rates on session 2 tend to drop sharply without an account.
If the product can drive repeat intent without needing an account, deferring signup closer to purchase can still work well, especially if signup friction derails the activation value. If you do end up experiment with a sign up wall, I would make sure there is clear value to creating an account, like being able to save, download, access more libraries, build user memory, etc. so that it feels like a natural part of onboarding.
Thank you so much! I have a follow up question. If you had a desktop only app. No web version. What should the first action be? Should it be download the app directly as the core CTA or should it be email collection, create an account, and then download?
It depends - I've run a number of experiments on this for a prosumer SaaS creative tool with a desktop app.
I found that requiring users to sign up with an email before desktop app download did result in a spike in total accounts created, but it did not result in more activated or paying users in the end. Leading with the app download first created some drop off, but the people who took the time to install the app had higher intent, so conversion rates downstream were nearly the same across both flows.
The learning here was that the friction of installing the app first can be a good qualifier if you're mainly targeting high intent users, especially if you're targeting higher intent, business oriented users. The more consumer/prosumer the use case, the more important it will be to capture some user information (like email account sign up) earlier, since install drop-off rates can be substantial.
I’d recommend testing both flows and optimize for downstream outcomes like activation and paid conversion. If both results are the same, then get the information first and opt for more user signal rather than less.
Incredible advice. Thank you!