Only 2% of freemium users ever convert to paying customers. That means for every 100 people trying your SaaS product for free, 98% walk away without ever opening their wallets. For most SaaS founders and growth teams, this is alarming.
To make all the difference, there’s a need to personalize the onboarding flow. Every step should be designed to guide, engage, and convert potential customers. Although an intuitive SaaS website design may help reduce bounce rates and guide users to sign up, the real challenge begins after they have signed up.
In this article, we’ll show you how to optimize your onboarding flow to bridge that gap and turn more free users into loyal, paying customers.
Converting Freemium Users to Paid Users
When selling a SaaS product, free trials can bring in new customers, resulting in a larger user base and positive revenue growth. Now, to convert these users to actual paying customers, you must:
1. Design an Onboarding Flow That Gets Users Hooked
Onboarding is the make-or-break stage where your product should deliver a clear “Aha!” moment. A thoughtful flow can activate curiosity, boost engagement, and set the stage for a paid conversion.
Use interactive walkthroughs, contextual tooltips, and in-app checklists to walk users through what matters the most. A frictionless onboarding flow inspires confidence in your product and reduces time-to-value. That emotional lift is exactly what nudges users to stick around and eventually upgrade.
2. Use Email to Build Momentum from Scratch
If your onboarding email sequence stops at “kindly confirm your email,” you won’t create early traction. Your freemium users signed up with a specific goal in mind, and now’s your chance to reinforce that choice with value-driven messaging.
Personalization matters here. If your product has many use cases, segment your onboarding emails so that each user gets content that speaks directly to their needs. At the end of the day, you are trying to shift them from sign-ups and free trials to meaningful usage.
3. Identify Early Champions of Your Product
Champions are essentially free users who have consistently demonstrated high engagement levels. These people clearly love your product and will upgrade with the right prompt.
To track these users, you’ll need to dig into your product analytics to track engagement and other important data about individual users. After identifying these users on the free plan, you must segment them and provide relevant offers that will help them experience the value of your product.
4. Create a Sense of Urgency and Exclusivity
Free users become relaxed, especially if there’s no compelling reason to upgrade. Tap into the fear of missing out (FOMO) by introducing limited-time offers like “40% off your first year” or “Upgrade by Tuesday for bonus features”.
Exclusivity also makes users feel like they’re part of something special. Consider rolling out premium beta features to your most engaged freemium users, or giving them early access with a personal invite. Ultimately, urgency pulls users forward while exclusivity makes them feel chosen.
5. Prioritize Great UX
Even when it’s not obvious, great UX translates to higher conversions. The user experience plays a huge role in shaping whether users see enough value to pay for it.
If a user can’t get what they need, gets overwhelmed, or hits dead ends, even your best feature won’t matter. But, when onboarding and UX work together, you create a flow that builds trust and that trust eventually becomes the willingness to invest.
From Free to Forever Customers
Getting free trial sign-ups may be enough for you, especially if you’re only building a customer base. However, it will never yield the highest conversion rates. The goal here isn’t to force upgrades, but to make the value of upgrading clear and compelling.
Ready to turn free users into paying customers?
- Prioritize user activation,
- Identify your champion users early, and
- Remember that an intuitive SaaS website design will reduce bounce rates and guide users into your onboarding flow
