Betterment treated the location of a sign-up click (top, middle, or bottom of the page) as a proxy for user intent. This allowed them to tailor the onboarding flow—from direct funding for high-intent users to research-focused experiences for skeptical ones—leading to a double-digit increase in fund rate.
Related Insights
Despite lower volume, leads from high-intent forms like 'demo request' converted at double the rate of product trials. They also resulted in deals that were twice as large, highlighting a massively undervalued pipeline source that was being ignored in favor of high-volume, low-quality trials.
While the goal is often a frictionless experience, some friction can be a positive filter. Descript found that users willing to download a desktop app were more invested and more likely to stick around. Don't be afraid of early steps that test a user's commitment.
As users conduct research via LLMs without visiting websites, traffic volume declines. The key indicator of top-of-funnel success shifts from page views to direct sign-ups. Marketers must optimize for frictionless conversion points like free trials to capture users who arrive on-site with high intent after off-site research.
Before implementing a chatbot or complex tech to drive user action, first analyze the user flow. A simple change, like reordering a dashboard to present a single, clear next step instead of five options, can dramatically increase conversion with minimal engineering effort.
Rephrase call-to-action buttons from a brand command (e.g., "Donate Now") to a user's first-person statement (e.g., "Yes, I want to help"). This simple change in perspective makes the user an active participant, significantly increasing engagement and click-through rates on emails, landing pages, and social media posts.
Effective user onboarding focuses on helping users achieve small, tangible victories that lead to the product's core value. Instead of generic feature tours, use in-app messages triggered by specific user behaviors (or lack thereof) to guide them to the next "micro-yes," like sending their first Zap in Zapier.
Marketers often save commands for the end of the funnel (e.g., 'Buy Now'). A more effective strategy is to use small, directive CTAs like 'Read this' or 'Screenshot this' at the beginning of the user journey. This captures and guides attention early, increasing the likelihood users reach the final conversion step.
Instead of automatically disqualifying leads with generic email addresses, track their behavior. A user with a Gmail address who clicks a link about "what to look for when hiring" is showing strong buying signals, making them a qualified lead worth a salesperson's time.
Conventional marketing funnels place the main call-to-action (e.g., 'Buy Now') at the very end. A more effective strategy is to use smaller, engagement-focused CTAs like 'Save This' or 'Read This' at the beginning of the user journey. This gets more people engaged early, increasing the likelihood they will reach the final conversion step.
A startup with a sales-driven pipeline leveraged intent data to identify accounts actively researching their solution category. By targeting these accounts with relevant content and webinars, the marketing team transformed the pipeline to be 56% marketing-driven within a single quarter.
