Getting sign ups, but no one is actually using the app
At the end of March, I soft launched a beta for PageFactory, a no/low code tool to help people generate content for programmatic SEO.
Since then I've had 71 people sign up for the waitlist to try the beta. Which, I think is pretty good considering I've only promoted it here and there on twitter.
I've set 67 of these people up with an account, directed them to documentation, and made myself as available as possible for feedback and questions. Yet, only a handful of people have actually tried out the application. And I'm trying to figure out what this means.
As I see it now, it could only mean two things:
- The application is too complicated to get started with. People don't know how to use it to solve their problem.
- The problem PageFactory solves isn't that important to them. They're signing up via impulse, but by the time I've let them into the beta, they've lost interest.
I followed up with people this week to see if I could get some answers but haven't got much of a response.
What do you guys think?
Would it be best to try to improve my onboarding, maybe some UI/UX improvements or add more features? Or is this a sign that the problem isn't worth pursuing?
Two possible thoughts which are similar to yours:
If I were you I'd try to get some of the next batch of people on calls and do onboarding/demos that way. Also a great way to do customer development. I did this with Pegasus and it was really useful in the early days to help me understand how confusing my messaging/onboarding were. Also always a great opportunity to talk to customers.
p.s. am I one of the 4 you haven't let in? ;)
Great points, thanks Cory! Yeah I agree, I think on-boarding people in person is the way to go. Also I've been noticing feedback that suggests the "drive-by" effect is the result for some of the sign ups. Very interesting, I would have never thought that was a thing!
Hey Allison, I've been in completely the same situation. Decent number of emails from waitlist, then only 8% sign up, then 2% return for the second time, then product dies.
That's why now I'm a strong believer that waitlists are worth nothing and sales are worth everything. If people paid $20-$80 for your product - they'd treat it differently. Also you'd have a much better picture of who you should be targeting in your message.
Ideally, you want your product to be super simple so even no-coders like me can just pay, click, and get value.
Direct sales are the fastest way to get the product to traction, cause you quickly get a picture who needs it, why, when, and how much they need it. Can help you with these and getting it to traction, just DM me on Twitter.
Thanks Denis! Yeah I've been thinking about putting a price on it and seeing if I still get signups. I was hoping to get feedback first and then try to charge though. At the very least, I might make it so that you have to add your credit card information for the beta, but it won't charge you until it officially launches.
Building on feedback from people who pay nothing - kills startups :)
I think you could improve two things relatively easy:
It would be great if users didn't have to type {{ variable }} in the template, but they could use a UI to choose the variables from the sheet. Similar to MailChimp's or ConvertKit's personalization.
Your intro video is great and informative. However, I think it's a bit too long. A short, 60 seconds video can do the job, and often it makes the impression of "wow, that seemed pretty cool!"
Hi @allison, I would say mostly due to (2). I would get rid of the join waiting list and just say join or join Beta.
71 >> 67 >> less than 5 - still a result.
I can't see pricing. It's good to be upfront.
By the way, if you can afford a £30/month subscription, get a few volunteers from https://skilledup.life to help you with user acquisition, conversion and support. All the best.
PS: we now have 5,300 Volunteers
I think that is normal. Based on my experience and what I read, less than 10% people will be actually interested to login and try. To make the waitlist quality better, you can add some friction and ask for more information.
I am working on Flezr that supports Programmatic SEO along with a lot of other features too. So far I have 60 people on wait list and 1 paying customer. But as mentioned earlier, the reply rate and conversion rate is going to be way too low usually.
Hi Allison, I had the same problem with my first side project (an aggregator website for everything you read or would like to share), and I'm thinking of taking the project up again. Do you think programmatic SEO would be useful?
Just like regular SEO, it depends on your users. You'll have to do some keyword research to see if people are searching for things relevant to your product.