Simplifying User Onboarding for Social Media Platforms

When I was head of growth, our team reached 40% activation rates, and onboarded hundreds of thousands of new users. Without knowing it, we discovered a framework. Here are the 6 steps we followed. 1. Define value: Successful onboarding is typically judged by new user activation rates. But what is activation? The moment users receive value. Reaching it should lead to higher retention & conversion to paid plans. First define it. Then get new users there. 2. Deliver value, quickly Revisit your flow and make sure it gets users to the activation moment fast. Remove unnecessary steps, complexity, and distractions along the way. Not sure how to start? Try reducing time (or steps) to activate by 50%. 3. Motivate users to action: Don't settle for simple. Look for sticking points in the user experience you can solve with microcopy, empty states, tours, email flows, etc. Then remind users what to do next with on-demand checklists, progress bars, & milestone celebrations. 4. Customize the experience: Ditch the one-size fits all approach. Learn about your different use cases. Then, create different product "recipes" to help users achieve their specific goals. 5. Start in the middle: Solve for the biggest user pain points stopping users from starting. Lean on customizable templates and pre-made playbooks to help people go 0-1 faster. 6. Build momentum pre-signup: Create ways for website visitors to start interacting with the product - and building momentum, before they fill out any forms. This means that you'll deliver value sooner, and to more people. Keep it simple. Learn what's valuable to users. Then deliver value on their terms.

💬 Last November I had a call with the CEO of an emerging health platform. She sounded very concerned -- "Our growth's hit a wall. We've put so much into this site, but we're running out of money and time. A big makeover isn’t an option, we need smart, quick fixes." Looking at the numbers, I noticed: ✅ Strong interest during initial signups. ❌ Many users gave up after trying it just a few times. ❌ Users reported that the site was too complicated. ❌ Some of the key features weren’t getting used at all. Operating within the startup’s tight constraints of time and budget, we decided on the immediate plan of actions-- 👉 Prioritized impactful features: We spotlighted "the best parts". Pushed secondary features to the backdrop. 👉  Rethought onboarding: Incorporated principles from Fogg's behavioral model: • Highlighted immediate benefits and rewards of using the platform (motivation) • Simplified tasks, breaking down the onboarding into easy steps (ability) • Nudged users with timely prompts to explore key features right off the bat (triggers)    👉 Pushed for community-driven growth: With budget constraints in mind, we prioritized building an organic community hub. Real stories, shared challenges, and peer-to-peer support turned users into brand evangelists, driving word-of-mouth growth. 👉  Started treating feedback as "currency": In a tight budget scenario, user feedback was gold. An iterative approach was adopted where user suggestions were rapidly integrated, amplifying trust and making users feel an important part of the platform's journey. In a few months time, the transformation was evident. The startup, once fighting for user retention, now had a dedicated user base, championing its vision and propelling its growth! 🛠  In the startup world, it's not just about quick fixes, but finding the right ones. ↳ A good UXer can show where to look. #ux #startupux #designforbehaviorchange   

Yesterday we had over 100 people sign up for Trigify.io, out of those 100 we had a 40% user activation. Here's how we re-did our sign-up process.. 1. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗻, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝘁𝘄𝗶𝘀𝘁.. → We asked why they were at Trigify.io & what pain they were looking to fix. → Based on this we then used AI to route them to 1 of 10 different marketing 'onboarding' flows where I've done over 20 different videos focusing on educating & activating the user. 2. 𝗪𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗼 Slack 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺. → We wanted to create a hooked emotional state. → Tracking your own LinkedIn is already going to have a high emotional state as social media has created the dopamine drug there so we wanted to tap into this. → When Trigify runs the sync and pulls in your posts or who evers it then alerts you via Slack & Email bringing you back to the platform. 3. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁 → By placing this in the onboarding flow we at 60% of users connect and then 40% use it. → When you log into Trigify.io you are already 29% completed Seems an odd one but studies have shown that if you are already halfway through doing something you continue doing so. 4. 𝗜𝗻-𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Using Knock we've created a Bell icon that has helped push people through the onboarding flow & create that loop cycle we are after. ----- Watching the session (replays) back was amazing, seeing someone: Connect 3 accounts and pull their engagement, pull 2000 leads, get their email, and export to Smartlead in under 10 minutes - was epic. We've failed a lot at PLG but this seems like a step forward after months and months of steps back & hours spent watching PostHog! With great usage and great feature means awesome results like the below 👎

𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀. Your onboarding is the user’s first impression of your app, and like it or not, it’s 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴. You could have a revolutionary product, but if the onboarding isn’t spot on, you’re practically inviting users to walk away. Here’s what to consider when building your flow: 𝟭. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁? The KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle is key for product onboarding. If your grandma would struggle with your flow, it’s probably too complicated. This doesn’t mean removing all the friction. The goal is to make the process simple enough so users can complete it without bouncing. 𝟮. 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘆? A good onboarding flow guides users through the essentials without boring them. It excites and builds anticipation. A longer flow is sometimes necessary to deliver the app’s “aha” moment, but if it drags or repeats, you risk losing users before they even get started because of boredom or frustration. 𝟯. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹? The era of one-size-fits-all onboarding is over. The purpose of onboarding is to show users that your product is exactly what they need, and personalization is a powerful weapon for that. Tailor the flow based on different data points like how users discover your product and their specific goals. 𝟰. 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸? Users should know why they can’t live without your product 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟯𝟬 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘀. Understand your audience’s problems, identify your product’s top value proposition, and make it front and center during onboarding. 𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙥: 𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙥 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝟱. 𝗜𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘆? A great onboarding flow leads users to the product's "aha!" moment early. Find ways to get users invested quickly: First actions, quick wins, rewards, or anything else that encourages them to return. 𝟲. 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹? Onboarding should be so smooth that users don’t even realize they’re being onboarded. Remember, it is not separate from the product, but an integral part of the overall experience. 𝟳. 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲? The best onboarding flows weren’t built overnight. They’re the result of countless iterations. Keep refining your process as you gather more data, and make sure your onboarding flow can evolve without needing a complete design or code overhaul. Remember, in the end, it's all about getting users to that “holy sh*t” moment as fast as possible. Nail this, and you've won half of the battle. Follow me for more insights on product design, startups, and entrepreneurship!

Want to throw up? 80% of users who sign up for your product never return after the first day. Talk about demoralizing... but we figured out some tactics to fix this👇 — First off — if 80% of your signups never return after the first day, the remaining 20% are super important. So, instead of chasing the 80%, we poured MONTHS of effort trying to figure out how to boost activation rates, speed up time-to-value, and increase onboarding completion within the 20%. We came up with 5 tactics. They helped us: - Increase product onboarding completion rate by nearly 10% - Increase our activation rate by 20% - Decrease the time it took to achieve the “aha! moment” by 39% - Increase our Supademo-per-user based on cohorts Give these tactics a shot & tell me if they work the same for you. 1. Reverse trial directly into our highest-tier plan When users sign up, we enroll them in the highest tier plan to try for 14 days. After their trial is up, they get “downgraded” to the free plan. Our top plan includes powerful features like dynamic variables, trackable links, and conditional demo branching — which gives prospects a taste of our full capabilities up-front. 2. Use social proof everywhere Social proof is super powerful for selling stuff. People just forget that you’re STILL selling during onboarding. So, we sprinkle it throughout. Example: On the “invite your team” step of the onboarding process, we added a customer review describing how effective Supademo has been across the organization. 3. Force users to experience our “aha moment” We knew people would “get it” if they created a Supademo. So, we made creating it semi-mandatory during the onboarding process. Then, we enabled our best features & gave them templates to play with. It lets us corral people into the “aha” faster than they might otherwise find it on their own. 4. Push to invite team members Single-player products are statistically much more prone to churn. So, we encourage folks to invite their team as part of our onboarding process and make invites and approvals one-click. Asking them to do this right at the start is super important; it’s when they’re most inspired and excited, which means they’re most willing to tag in some colleagues. 5. Personalized, action-trigger onboarding emails Our customers get: - A welcome email + personalized demo tour - A series of personal founder emails - Emails triggered at success milestones - Weekly tips Emails are a guide and a covert way to actively pull people back into your product experience. — Every customer matters, but the 20% who stick with you for more than one login are absolute VIPs. What are you guys doing to improve your product onboarding experience? #saas #startups #plg #product