How I increased Senja's free sign-up to paying customer conversion rate by 17.7%
THE BACKGROUND
Senja is a B2B SaaS product that makes it really easy for businesses to collect and share social proof.
When I pitched Google Ads to the team, they hadn't run a meaningful amount of activity before. This meant we were essentially starting from scratch, with no historical conversion data to guide our strategy. We began with a fresh approach, implementing:
- A new marketing strategy
- Comprehensive tracking
- Brand new campaigns
The goal was to optimize the conversion rate from free sign-ups to paying customers for this new SaaS product.
THE PROBLEM
The main challenges we faced were:
1. Lack of historical data: With no previous campaign performance to analyze, we had to build our strategy from the ground up.
2. Identifying high-intent keywords: We needed to find the right keywords that would attract users most likely to convert from free trials to paid subscriptions.
3. Tracking accuracy: It was crucial to set up a system that could accurately track user behavior from initial contact to paid conversion.
4. Optimization strategy: We needed to determine the best approach for optimizing campaigns with limited initial data.
THE SOLUTION
Our approach to solving these problems involved several key steps:
1. Comprehensive Keyword Research:
- Utilized various keyword research tools
- Conducted competitor research
- Brainstormed with the team
- Leveraged AI suggestions
- Analyzed "People Also Ask" queries
2. Precise Tracking Implementation:
- Set up offline conversion tracking
- Tracked attributes related to user behavior, including when, where, and how users interacted with the site
3. Initial Campaign Setup:
- Launched campaigns targeting high-intent, narrow keywords
- Initially included both free trials and paid upgrades in the conversion column to gather initial data
4. Data-Driven Optimization:
- As customer acquisition volume increased month-over-month, we accumulated substantial conversion data
- Implemented target CPA (tCPA) bidding strategy after getting enough conversion volume in the account
5. Experimental Approach:
- Control campaign: tCPA optimized for both sign-ups and paid subscriptions
- Experiment campaign: tCPA optimized only for paid subscriptions
6. Result Analysis and Implementation:
- After exiting the learning period and achieving statistical significance, the experiment campaign outperformed the control
- Converted the experiment to the primary campaign
The result of this strategic approach was a 17.7% increase in the free sign-up to paying customer conversion rate.
Key Takeaway: Tracking the right conversion actions and feeding clean, accurate data to Google's algorithms can have a significant impact on bottom-line revenue. Even small adjustments in tracking and optimization strategies can lead to substantial improvements in business outcomes.
“The level of detail and insight that Mitch shared was mind-blowing. He's extremely knowledgeable and responsive.Went from feeling completely confused and wasting money, to having an immediate and clear plan of action."
Olly, Co-Founder, Senja
