![\"distracted](\"https:\/\/announcekit.app\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/distracted-saas-onboarding-best-practices.gif\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThey get distracted by the proverbial \u201csquirrel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Tik Tok<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Slack notification<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Love Island on Netflix<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
It sounds silly, but it ain\u2019t a joke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An <\/strong>article on Medium<\/strong><\/a> describes how every additional step you add to your onboarding flow can cost you up to 20% of new users.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just one additional step\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of this, you need to be incredibly thoughtful about your SaaS onboarding strategy and execution to convert as many folks as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Table of Contents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- What is SaaS Onboarding?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- SaaS Customer Onboarding: Why It\u2019s So Essential<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- SaaS Onboarding Hack Most Businesses Don\u2019t Consider<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- SaaS Onboarding Strategy in 5 Critical Steps<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- SaaS Onboarding Best Practices: 13 Things to Consider<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- SaaS Onboarding Checklist: General Template That You Can Edit<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/announcekit.app\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nQuick Setup, Easy to Use, and Many Integrations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Manage your product announcements from a single place and easily distribute them
across multiple channels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\nTRY IT FOR FREE NOW<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nGo to Website<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
What is SaaS Onboarding?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
SaaS onboarding is the process of acquainting a new user with your products\u2019 tools, and educating them to have the necessary skills to effectively use those tools, to ultimately allow the user to have success using your product.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
While this seems obvious, it\u2019s actually not. I spoke with the CEO of a fintech startup recently who called their website application process \u201conboarding\u201d instead of actually calling it an \u201capplication process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the standard flow of a new user acquisition:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Submits a form\/application \u2192 sets up payment and agrees to terms \u2192 becomes a paying user!!!!! \u2192 goes through an onboarding process<\/em><\/strong> \u2192 becomes a long-time user (hopefully).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While every step of the process is important, we\u2019re only going to be discussing SaaS onboarding best practices in this guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SaaS Customer Onboarding: Why It\u2019s So Essential<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The onboarding process is the first interaction with your product.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if your user is looking like this as they try to go through it\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"saas](\"https:\/\/announcekit.app\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/saas-onboarding-best-practices-confusing.gif\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\u2026then you\u2019re in big trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SaaS onboarding is essential because it solidifies the gap between a potential customer\u2019s expectations and a paying customer\u2019s reality.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
My father-in-law gave me the best advice I\u2019ve ever gotten. He said <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
\u201cEverything in life\u2026 relationships, business, friendships\u2026 it\u2019s all about expectation management\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
What he means by that, as it relates to SaaS onboarding is that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- If your marketing materials say that \u201cthis product will help you edit video content and make it look professional\u201d then your user expects that the onboarding process will explain your product and teach them the skills to produce professional video\n
- \n
- And if your onboarding doesn\u2019t do that? Then they\u2019re disappointed, frustrated, and let down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
SaaS Onboarding Hack Most Businesses Don\u2019t Consider<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Many businesses just LOVE reinventing the wheel. And when they do, it ends up looking like this\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n
\n![\"saas](\"https:\/\/announcekit.app\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/saas-onboarding-hack.gif\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nYikes\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So the SaaS onboarding hack is quite simple. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- List out 3 similar products to yours\n
- \n
- These do NOT have to be competitors. Let\u2019s say you\u2019re creating a consumer hiking SaaS product. You could choose other hiking apps but you might also choose a fitness app<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Go through their onboarding process and take screenshots of EVERY step.\n
- \n
- Yep, we mean every. single. step. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Model your onboarding flow off of theirs, tweaking where necessary<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
There is an issue with this strategy!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may not see the user segmentation strategies that the companies used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s also likely that you won\u2019t have the time or energy to become an active user on 3 different SaaS products for months, tracking delayed onboarding strategies that they implement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, this hack can likely get you 60% of the way there!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
SaaS Onboarding Strategy in 5 Critical Steps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
If you didn\u2019t read the last section and expect to create a killer Saas onboarding strategy, then stop right now. Go read the last section!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SaaS Onboarding Strategy Step 1: Define a User\u2019s End Goal<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Start with the finish line. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ask yourself questions like\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- What problem is our product solving for the user?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How will our product make the user\u2019s life better?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ll be able to create a better onboarding flow if you understand what the user wants and how the user\u2019s life will be better as a result of your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SaaS Onboarding Strategy Step 2: What Are The User\u2019s Expectations?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If a user goes to your website, watches your YouTube ads, or scrolls through your case studies, what are they expecting as a result of buying your product?<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Write them all down!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the user expecting X, Y, and Z from your product, but you don\u2019t acknowledge X, Y, or Z in your onboarding process, then you\u2019re setting the user up for failure.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
SaaS Onboarding Strategy Step 3: What Are The Steps to Take the User to Their Desired Goals?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the thing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your initial onboarding process doesn\u2019t have to give the user EVERYTHING they need to be successful. Depending on how robust your SaaS product is, that would potentially be impossible!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, it\u2019s still important to understand this flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s say your product is an AB testing tool<\/a> that helps users split-test their landing page. Then, for a user to successfully split test their landing pages, they might need to understand the following things:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- List out 3 similar products to yours\n
- And if your onboarding doesn\u2019t do that? Then they\u2019re disappointed, frustrated, and let down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
- SaaS Customer Onboarding: Why It\u2019s So Essential<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- What is SaaS Onboarding?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n