User Onboarding Practices

Making the right impression and positioning your product in the consumer’s mind, while introducing a new product in the market, is a significant yet the most challenging task.

User onboarding gets the users to understand the key principles of the product and to show them how it will improve their lives. If the marketer can make the point of the product clear and easy to understand the first time a user tries it, the company will have a better chance of gaining engaged and loyal customers. User onboarding needs to be planned and analyzed for future growth.

Below are six things to consider when setting up your user onboarding plan- keep reading to learn how to set your customers up for success before they even buy your product.

1. Map User Journeys

The first step or say, one of the most important aspects of user onboarding requires a crystal clear image of the users of the product. The needs, goals and motivation, that all account for the user’s characteristics need to be analysed and understood well.

Is cost the most important driver for conversion? Do some users need more education? Will your user be the final decision maker for a purchase? These insights help prioritize messages and establish user flows that best fit a customer’s journey.

Each identity is different, hence, creating multiple landing pages can help capture new traffic and increase conversions by enabling customisations according to the specific needs of the customer. These pages also offer valuable testing opportunities to determine which onboarding elements are most effective.

2. Communicate the Value Proposition

Every customer, before buying a product, needs to understand the basic principles of the product. Without doing so, the usage will be difficult and it will reduce the chances of converting the public into potential users.

Being a seller you need to clearly compel and show the value proposition of the product; a description of all the factors that makes the product unique compared to that of the competitors.

This unique selling proposition/ value proposition should make it easier for the users to understand the product. Potential users should be able to grasp the product’s core advantages at one go.

Those first few seconds are the product’s first and only opportunity to provide users with an “aha!” moment, where the user understands the costs and benefits of the product and wants to know more.

3. Reduce Friction

Onboarding will make no sense, unless the great value proposition is followed up with a good sign-up experience. A good design can enhance the usability and increase successful signups.

Friction is any variable, website quality, or user behavior trend, that slows down or entirely stops the progression of the company’s sales cycle. Some of the reasons users commonly experience friction include:

• The landing pages are too long and complicated.
• There is cognitive dissonance, meaning the marketing messages and the landing pages don’t align.
• The brand fails to communicate trust signals to users

Social login or email signup can significantly reduce the user friction of a signup. Here, it’s important to carefully balance marketing needs with user flow design. Also, consider building trust through testimonials, customer reviews, and seals throughout the process.

4. Tailor the Experience

Every design should be made according to the target customers. The process should provide guidance to make the task easier for the users. The good user experience will benefit the company as it will keep the customers engaged and loyal to the company and its product. The product’s success depends on users establishing comfort with core features.

5. Be a Guide

Every product should have a detailed guide, that will help the user overcome a complex situation during the onboarding process. A complex product will likely have more than one feature which might make things complicated. It can be overcome by using guided interaction that educates and familiarizes users with the core features of the product. Two modern companies doing this with great success are Facebook and Twitter, which use educational roadblocks to inform users of new features, policy changes, and the like. These roadblocks are large and prominent, so they cannot be ignored.

6. Use Email to Educate and Support

Using an email address, to complete the process of onboarding, is the most effective way to convert customers into potential users.

Email is a means of engagement and new customer referral, which simplifies it for the marketers.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when attempting to onboard users via email:

• Email should support a well-defined onboarding process: The welcome or first email should be the first step on the road to conversions. Keep the message clear and eliminate confusion.
• Include a single, clear call-to-action: Each email should be focused on getting the user to do one specific thing.
• Provide a direct link: The single CTA should lead the person directly to the thing he needs to do on the site or app.

A strong email plan can help users grow and help the marketers maintain long term relationships with the customers.

Designing a strong, well customised product and maintaining relationships with the users, will help enhance customer experience and provide the company with immense growth. The uprise of UX makes strategizing your onboarding process more important than ever. Keep it simple, educative and engaging for great results!