Understanding user engagement

Understanding user engagement is vital for any SaaS company, but having a strong engagement strategy will help you boost your business. Last month, we discussed user engagement, and what it means for SaaS, and now we are going to review various user engagement strategies that you can easily implement that will create meaningful engagement with your users, creating a long, loyal relationship that will keep your users engaged and coming back for more. ​

Before we dive into the various user engagement strategies, it is vital that you have a clear understanding of what your  business objectives are. This will help you lay the foundation for a successful user engagement strategy, while allowing you to set goals and milestones to keep you on track. Having your objectives top of mind will keep you on a strong path to success. Ready to improve your user engagement strategy? Here are five simple strategies that you can implement with ease that will result in growth and success for your SaaS business.

1.   Start off on the right foot
Most SaaS companies lose their trial users after a single session. This is the evidence you need to understand how your onboarding process can have an effect on the entire customer journey. During onboarding, user motivation is usually high, so it is a good time to deliver meaningful actions and motivate the user to engage and move further through your offering. For example: offering a guided tour upon initial sign up, or providing hints throughout the onboarding process can increase the value of the user experience, helping users find your product's value proposition faster, and creating that want to return to the platform.

2.   Provide Helpful Messaging
The copy and alerts that you use throughout your product will determine the success of your meaningful user engagement strategy. It is important to ensure that the copy in the form of a call to action (CTA), form descriptions, and modal prompts, can give a boost to the users  engagement level. Try using everyday language to engage with the user, and this can encourage them to take actions and continue interacting on platform. You can also add personalised actions to boost engagement. For example, when you add a personalized welcome message such as a “Welcome Nick” or “We haven’t heard from you in awhile” can nudge a user to take an action. If you have done this well on the free tier, you will likely drive your users towards an upgrade, pushing them to the paid tier which ultimately increases your revenue.

3.   Add New and Helpful Features
Notify users when you make changes to the platform or service. Let them know when you have updated current features, or if you have added new ones. These updates will help your users feel valued, while also inviting them to experience the new updates. A simple and effective way to do this is through emails, blog posts and even push notifications on the platform, creating a meaningful connection with your users that will keep them coming back. The more you do to make your users feel valued, the more that they will provide feedback  that can help you make changes and modifications in the future. 

4.   Add   Trigger Automations
User engagement extends beyond your platform or product. You can engage with your users by setting certain events or actions to trigger an email, to reinforce that connection. Examples of this include:

• Sign up emails - a great way to introduce your product or brand, and personalize it, further building that connection. 
• Information Emails- emails announcing the launch of a new product or feature, or congratulating the user on reaching a new milestone. This is a great way to teach your users about new products and the benefits. This is a brilliant way to move users through the paid tier journey, all while increasing their value. 
• Customer Feedback- Users love to be heard, so invite them to  complete  a survey and share feedback. When you do this, you are not only improving your product, but you are also making your user feel seen and heard, deepening the relationship and creating loyalty.  You can do this through chat bots, surveys, and feedback forms.  

5. Understand What  is Working, and Where You Can Make Improvements 
It is always important to put the needs and wants of your users first, but do you know what they don’t need? You could be overloading your users with new features that are steering users away from your value proposition, creating confusion or leading them to abandon your product or experience all together. Remind user’s why they signed up in the first place. Using your analytics will help you determine which features are working, and which features are not being utilized to their full extent. This is a great opportunity to ask your customers why they are not using a specific feature, getting their feedback could help you make the right improvements that work best for your users. 

Every product and every user is different, and there is not one solution for creating meaningful user engagement. However, if you take the time to understand your users, you will be able to experiment with different strategies, and find the engagement strategy that works best for your business. Remember, your objectives will help determine the route of meaningful user engagement, and every engagement strategy you introduce is an improvement, and something that you can build on. 

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