The free trial model in SaaS has gradually been growing in popularity as companies are catching up on how valuable it can be.
SaaS free trial emails play an essential role in spreading the word about this model and can introduce a service to a user, boost interest, and make your job somewhat easier by converting free trial users into paying ones after the trial period expires.
Also, if designed particularly well, the emails can help you detect and fix the problems in your user journey.
So, how do you go about creating SaaS free trial emails that convert? We cover it all in the text below!
What is a free trial email in SaaS?
Free trial emails in SaaS are messages sent in the initial stages of onboarding email campaigns that aim to improve free trial conversions and welcome new users with educational content about a service.
The recipients of these emails are individuals who provided their email or created an account on a SaaS platform to see its offerings in action.
When spread over a timely email sequence, free trial emails can nudge non-paying users to progress further in their user journey. And the more they engage with your service and see how it fits their needs, the more likely they are to upgrade their plan and become a paying user.
Why should you care about SaaS free trial emails?
According to Sixteen Ventures, B2B companies average a free trial conversion rate of around 25%. Looking at this number, you might think that free trial emails are not worth the time and effort. However, with the right email marketing strategy consisting of intent-driven email sequences and free trial emails, you can create a solid number of long-term paying users for your service, which is much more valuable than many short-term non-paying users.
As mentioned earlier, free trial emails support the user journey. On top of that, they also help people reach their “aha!” moment faster.
Still, it’s important to make sure your free trial emails are not just sitting in inboxes with tons more sent from other companies by taking the proper approach when creating them.
How to create successful SaaS free trial emails?
For your SaaS free trial email sequence to be successful, you need to understand one thing – your email list is made up of humans, not computers. So, what you will need to do is start personalizing your emails by, for example, including the user’s name in the subject line.
Then, you need to create an intent-driven free trial email sequence by tailoring your emails based on the users’ pain points or the actions they have/haven’t taken so far in their journey.
So, in a nutshell, it is best to approach the SaaS free trial email creation process with the intent to communicate and connect with users, as well as show them that you care about their problems and that your service can solve those problems in the easiest way possible.
5 types of emails used in SaaS free trial email sequences
1. Welcome emails
Welcome emails help you greet trial users and thank them for signing up. These emails are your first contact with trial users, so within them, it is also important to give an overview of your product, show what is to come in your onboarding email series, and encourage users to take action.
Frase’s welcome email is friendly and shows that they are happy to help you if you have any issues. And even though the email does not have a strong CTA, it works well as a welcome email because it presents the opportunity to get a personal walkthrough and interact with someone from the Frase team.
2. Feature highlight emails
Feature highlight emails are a necessity in the free trial period, as there is no better way to activate your users than by highlighting a feature they’ll love and use frequently.
The key to mastering this type of email is to limit the number of features you highlight in a single email. As a rule of thumb, try to send one email for each feature.
Arranging feature highlight emails in a sequence based on a user’s use case or tasks you expect them to perform is also a smart move.
Trello takes this approach and nails it, as is evident in the example below.
3. Special offer emails
When it comes to special offer emails, their aim is to get the user hooked. And the best way to do that is through offering a discount, a free upgrade with all exclusive features included for a limited time, or something else that might be interesting to your audience.
Adding urgency to your special offers is also a good practice as it further pushes email recipients to take it.
Zapier’s special offer email has it all:
- Urgency
- 3-month discount
- Exclusive features
4. Feedback emails
Feedback emails are one of the best tools to gauge the interest in your service as well as spot potential problem areas that you might have overlooked during the development process.
You can send this type of email specifically to trial users who did not convert into paying ones after their trial period ended to see what could be improved.
CXL’s feedback email is sent during the trial period and uses a super friendly tone. The email is about “your experience”, so the focus is fully on the user and their perception of your service.
5. Free trial abandonment emails
Although it can be tough to see, users unsubscribe from free trials all the time. Thankfully, free trial abandonment emails are here to save the day!
Free trial abandonment emails are powerful in keeping someone on the user journey and can be based on the stage a user decided to walk away, such as completing the setup, finishing the onboarding checklists, and so on.
So, for example, if a user sets up their profile but does not link their email address, you can send an email prompting them to do so.
Monday.com’s trial abandonment email is short and sweet, with a clear CTA reminding the user to continue their free trial.
The five email types listed above will hopefully give you a better idea of what messages can make up your SaaS free trial email sequence, as well as increase your active user number after the initial trial period by engaging potential users throughout your sales funnel.
Real-life SaaS free trial email examples
Most of us have received a SaaS free trial email at least once since we created our email account(s). But, for those of you that can’t recall what it looks like or don’t feel like digging through your inbox to find one, we’ll now go over some examples from famous SaaS companies.
1. Zendesk
Zendesk’s free trial email has a clear CTA and a body with just enough information to excite the customer to see the product in action and not think too long about Zendesk’s pros and cons. Simple, yet effective!
2. Dropbox
Dropbox’s email is a great example of a message intended to convince customers to upgrade their plans and enter their credit card information. It attempts to do this by listing what a user will be missing out on by not adding said information.
3. Vultr
It doesn’t hurt to ask potential users to activate their accounts once they’ve signed up for a free trial. Life is fast, and it is very likely that they forgot about it.
Vultr handles this task using the good old method of giving incentives. Easy, right?
Wrapping things up
If you are a SaaS business owner who has been engaged in various SaaS content marketing efforts for your brand and products, offering free trials and promoting them through well-thought-out emails will be key to more sign-ups, more conversions, and potentially more profit.
Hopefully, this article provided you with enough information and examples to get you intrigued about the topic. For content that is a bit more in-depth, be sure to check out our detailed article on email marketing for SaaS.