Comments on: Mandatory sign up for the free trial ? http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/2010/03/31/mandatory-sign-up-for-the-free-trial/ Software Marketing, Adwords, SEO, Email Marketing, A/B Split testing Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:33:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Alwin http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/2010/03/31/mandatory-sign-up-for-the-free-trial/comment-page-1/#comment-1770 Alwin Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:18:08 +0000 http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/?p=1327#comment-1770 Marketing Mac vs Windows software would indeed be interesting topic for a blog post. Thanks for the idea! Marketing Mac vs Windows software would indeed be interesting topic for a blog post.
Thanks for the idea!

]]> By: Michael http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/2010/03/31/mandatory-sign-up-for-the-free-trial/comment-page-1/#comment-1769 Michael Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:32:09 +0000 http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/?p=1327#comment-1769 I agree. We offer a license key retrieval that is sent to the email address. However, you are a Pro and most probably are aware as well that customers also forget which email they have used. ;-) By the way, as you are here, it would be great if you would post about marketing to Mac vs. Win. How do the customers differ? Are Win users more tech savvy? Do Mac users require more support than Win users? Does the conversion rate differ? Have you experienced anything surprising or noteworthy? I agree. We offer a license key retrieval that is sent to the email address. However, you are a Pro and most probably are aware as well that customers also forget which email they have used. ;-)

By the way, as you are here, it would be great if you would post about marketing to Mac vs. Win. How do the customers differ? Are Win users more tech savvy? Do Mac users require more support than Win users? Does the conversion rate differ? Have you experienced anything surprising or noteworthy?

]]> By: Alwin http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/2010/03/31/mandatory-sign-up-for-the-free-trial/comment-page-1/#comment-1768 Alwin Tue, 06 Apr 2010 09:12:48 +0000 http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/?p=1327#comment-1768 Hi Michael, We have found that existing customers looking to re-download their software tend to have lost their license information too :-) So that is why we opted for the authorization by email address. As for showing Win/Mac detection by User Agent: we have done that for screenshots for a while. Currently we are showing both side by side. But I like the "opposite version as a side dish" idea. Hi Michael,
We have found that existing customers looking to re-download their software tend to have lost their license information too :-)
So that is why we opted for the authorization by email address.

As for showing Win/Mac detection by User Agent: we have done that for screenshots for a while. Currently we are showing both side by side. But I like the “opposite version as a side dish” idea.

]]> By: Michael http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/2010/03/31/mandatory-sign-up-for-the-free-trial/comment-page-1/#comment-1767 Michael Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:26:20 +0000 http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/?p=1327#comment-1767 Nice posting, thank you! As for returning customers, why not let them download by license key authorization like this: http://full.phraseexpress.com On this form we deliver the suitable product version and variation based on the license key. As a side note I would recommend to offer the Mac/Win version depending on the UserAgent. You can still offer the opposite version as a side dish but for the vast majority the suggested OS version may fit fine. I use both OS and I always appreciate to find the suitable version offered prominently. Again, thanks for sharing your experiences. Nice posting, thank you!

As for returning customers, why not let them download by license key authorization like this: http://full.phraseexpress.com

On this form we deliver the suitable product version and variation based on the license key.

As a side note I would recommend to offer the Mac/Win version depending on the UserAgent. You can still offer the opposite version as a side dish but for the vast majority the suggested OS version may fit fine.

I use both OS and I always appreciate to find the suitable version offered prominently.

Again, thanks for sharing your experiences.

]]> By: Alwin http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/2010/03/31/mandatory-sign-up-for-the-free-trial/comment-page-1/#comment-1703 Alwin Sat, 03 Apr 2010 16:59:03 +0000 http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/?p=1327#comment-1703 Hi Edwin, good to see you here. Our software does not use a trial period. The trial editions are limited in the number of records in the database (e.g. 50 DVDs for Movie Collector). Some users run into this limit the first day (can be within an hour). Which is a good thing because it encourages impulse purchases. Overall, most of our users buy the first day or 2nd day. The AR follow-up sequence helps to convert people on later days (who may have forgotten about downloading it). Hi Edwin, good to see you here.
Our software does not use a trial period. The trial editions are limited in the number of records in the database (e.g. 50 DVDs for Movie Collector). Some users run into this limit the first day (can be within an hour). Which is a good thing because it encourages impulse purchases.

Overall, most of our users buy the first day or 2nd day. The AR follow-up sequence helps to convert people on later days (who may have forgotten about downloading it).

]]> By: Edwin http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/2010/03/31/mandatory-sign-up-for-the-free-trial/comment-page-1/#comment-1700 Edwin Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:34:50 +0000 http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/?p=1327#comment-1700 Thanks for sharing your experiences, this is very interesting. I have a few questions: How long is the evaluation period of your software and does your software have a hardstop? Do you know when trail users are converting their product (so how many days into their trail period)? In most cases you see sales immediately after installing the software (that would explain the drop in sales you saw in Case B, because you had 1/3 less downloads) and you see a huge bump in sales when the evaluation period expires and the product stops working. If your products do have a hardstop, it would be interesting to do this analysis again after let's say 45 days after you started the A/B test. Thanks for sharing your experiences, this is very interesting. I have a few questions: How long is the evaluation period of your software and does your software have a hardstop? Do you know when trail users are converting their product (so how many days into their trail period)? In most cases you see sales immediately after installing the software (that would explain the drop in sales you saw in Case B, because you had 1/3 less downloads) and you see a huge bump in sales when the evaluation period expires and the product stops working. If your products do have a hardstop, it would be interesting to do this analysis again after let’s say 45 days after you started the A/B test.

]]> By: Alwin http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/2010/03/31/mandatory-sign-up-for-the-free-trial/comment-page-1/#comment-1692 Alwin Sat, 03 Apr 2010 08:42:56 +0000 http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/?p=1327#comment-1692 Very good point. I was indeed planning to bring both to version 7 with the next major upgrade. In fact, we're working on the first version of Comic Collector for Mac OS X, and I am planning to call it 4.0 :-) Very good point. I was indeed planning to bring both to version 7 with the next major upgrade. In fact, we’re working on the first version of Comic Collector for Mac OS X, and I am planning to call it 4.0 :-)

]]> By: Andy Brice http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/2010/03/31/mandatory-sign-up-for-the-free-trial/comment-page-1/#comment-1691 Andy Brice Sat, 03 Apr 2010 07:04:06 +0000 http://www.alwinhoogerdijk.com/?p=1327#comment-1691 I see your mac version is at v3 and your windows version is at v6. Don't you think that might be off-putting for Mac users, sending the subliminal message that the Mac version isn't as good as the Windows one? Can't you harmonize the version numbers? I see your mac version is at v3 and your windows version is at v6. Don’t you think that might be off-putting for Mac users, sending the subliminal message that the Mac version isn’t as good as the Windows one? Can’t you harmonize the version numbers?

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