We've been using reverse trials at Supademo to showcase our highest-tier features for a while, and I can confirm that it's been effective at increasing conversions.
The examples of showing the value/differences between plans are great—we will be incorporating them into our onboarding process!
Is Dropbox still just charging on one dimension (storage?). If you're moving from somewhere else with your 9TB of data, great–and sticky. But if you're just starting slowly (as I imagine most are) there's no need for so much storage, and might not be for quite some time–hurting conversion rate in the short run. Wonder if some other dimension–or, bundling other products like Sign– could drive higher short term conversion
Elena, can this model be used for fraud by the user? I understand that if I give access to the premium model as soon as they register, when the period ends, the user could create a new account and continue using the premium model, right? Do you have any suggestions on how to prevent this? Thanks.
I think Freemium plays a somewhat different role and people get tied in knots when they confuse freemium with free trial. I agree that Reverse Trial is often the best way to structure a trial. For me Freemium serves a different purpose. There are cases where a community of engaged free users creates great value for a smaller (generally much smaller, 2-3%) group of paying users. This model is heightened with in the current data hungry AI environment.
Other than Canva, have you seen anyone offer more than one type of trial?
Could it be based on profiling that you would get different trials (without knowing)?
Have you tried offering different trials? Is it worth it?
With PLG we usually optimise for team/account level, so would offering more than 1 type of trial be more relevant for a product that has a large audience for individual usecase?
Love this! Excellent breakdown from the one who actually coined the term "reverse trial" 👸
Here is what I hated about Canva reverse trial experience last time I tried it:
1. I hated that Canva (& Notion) asks for your cc upfront.
2. I was targeted for their reverse trial campaign (email) with the rest of my Amplitude colleagues (but I never even used Canva), why would I do it now as the growth marketer?
3. When I clicked on the CTA in that email "Activate my trial", it took me to product, but I noticed it didn't actually activate the trial, I had to go into the pricing page and do it on my own (without any tips or clues).
With Notion, I loved their personalized onboarding and profiling (different experience depending on who you're) ✨
I was waiting for it! 💜 Thanks for collecting examples from favourite products — now have I even more have stuff to read over weekends 🤓
I’m a total fan of this model both as a user and a marketer. If people love the product, FOMO can be a powerful motivator to keep them on a paid plan.
I am imagining if this is also be working for Substack/Ghost/<insert other platform here> publications and/or creator subscriptions in general.
Thanks for the post!
We've been using reverse trials at Supademo to showcase our highest-tier features for a while, and I can confirm that it's been effective at increasing conversions.
The examples of showing the value/differences between plans are great—we will be incorporating them into our onboarding process!
Is Dropbox still just charging on one dimension (storage?). If you're moving from somewhere else with your 9TB of data, great–and sticky. But if you're just starting slowly (as I imagine most are) there's no need for so much storage, and might not be for quite some time–hurting conversion rate in the short run. Wonder if some other dimension–or, bundling other products like Sign– could drive higher short term conversion
What does the downgrade experience have too look like for a reverse trial to work?
Elena, can this model be used for fraud by the user? I understand that if I give access to the premium model as soon as they register, when the period ends, the user could create a new account and continue using the premium model, right? Do you have any suggestions on how to prevent this? Thanks.
I think Freemium plays a somewhat different role and people get tied in knots when they confuse freemium with free trial. I agree that Reverse Trial is often the best way to structure a trial. For me Freemium serves a different purpose. There are cases where a community of engaged free users creates great value for a smaller (generally much smaller, 2-3%) group of paying users. This model is heightened with in the current data hungry AI environment.
An AI example is the Hugging Face community.
Thanks for sharing Elena.
Other than Canva, have you seen anyone offer more than one type of trial?
Could it be based on profiling that you would get different trials (without knowing)?
Have you tried offering different trials? Is it worth it?
With PLG we usually optimise for team/account level, so would offering more than 1 type of trial be more relevant for a product that has a large audience for individual usecase?
Love this! Excellent breakdown from the one who actually coined the term "reverse trial" 👸
Here is what I hated about Canva reverse trial experience last time I tried it:
1. I hated that Canva (& Notion) asks for your cc upfront.
2. I was targeted for their reverse trial campaign (email) with the rest of my Amplitude colleagues (but I never even used Canva), why would I do it now as the growth marketer?
3. When I clicked on the CTA in that email "Activate my trial", it took me to product, but I noticed it didn't actually activate the trial, I had to go into the pricing page and do it on my own (without any tips or clues).
With Notion, I loved their personalized onboarding and profiling (different experience depending on who you're) ✨