Why customer onboarding is key to your startup success

Investing in optimizing user onboarding and activation is essential for your business.

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Your company may need onboarding optimization in two stages: launch and retention - in other words, pretty much always.

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There are specific times when it is crucial to invest in onboarding and activation optimization. These times include when a company launches a new product, when the product is experiencing low user engagement, or when there is a high churn rate.

When a company launches a new product, it is essential to provide a smooth onboarding process. Users need to understand how to use the product and its features, and they need to do so quickly. The first few minutes or hours after a user signs up for a new product are crucial in determining whether they will continue to use the product or abandon it.

Similarly, when a product is experiencing low user engagement, it is essential to invest in optimizing the onboarding process. Users may not be using the product because they do not understand how to use it or because they are not motivated to do so. By improving the onboarding process, businesses can motivate users to engage with the product and increase user retention.

Finally, when there is a high churn rate, optimizing the onboarding process can help reduce it. Users may be churning because they do not understand how to use the product or because they do not see the value in it. By providing a clear onboarding process, businesses can help users understand the value of the product and reduce the churn rate.

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Here are five good practices that successful companies use to optimize their onboarding process:

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1. Identify and prioritize the key actions for new users:
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   Companies need to identify the most important actions that users should take to get the most value out of their product. Once these actions are identified, they should be prioritized in the onboarding process. For example, Dropbox prioritizes the user's first file upload as a key action in their onboarding process.
   
   
2. Provide clear guidance and tutorials:
   
   Companies should provide clear guidance and tutorials to help users understand how to use the product. These tutorials can be in the form of videos, step-by-step guides, or interactive walkthroughs. Slack, for example, provides a step-by-step guide to setting up a new team and inviting members to it.
   
   
3. Use progressive onboarding:
   
   ‍Progressive onboarding is a process where users are introduced to new features gradually over time. This helps prevent users from feeling overwhelmed and allows them to learn at their own pace. Airbnb uses progressive onboarding to introduce new users to its platform, gradually showing them how to search for listings, book a reservation, and leave a review.
   
   
4. Personalize the onboarding experience:
   
   Companies should tailor the onboarding experience to each user's specific needs and preferences. This can be done by collecting information about the user during the sign-up process and using that information to provide relevant content and suggestions. Spotify personalizes its onboarding process by asking users about their music preferences and creating personalized playlists based on their responses.
   
   
5. Measure and iterate:
   
   Finally, companies should continually measure the effectiveness of their onboarding process and iterate to improve it. This can be done by tracking user engagement, conducting user surveys, and analyzing user feedback. HubSpot, for example, continually updates its onboarding process based on user feedback and data analysis.

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Designing your own step-by-step onboarding? Consider including:

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1. Welcome message:
   
   Start by welcoming the user to your product and providing an overview of what they can expect.
   
   
2. Registration:
   
   Ask the user to create an account and provide any necessary information.
   
   
3. Orientation:
   
   Provide a tour of the product, highlighting the key features and functionality.
   
   
4. Key actions:
   
   Prioritize and guide the user through the key actions they need to take to get the most value out of the product.
   
   
5. Tutorials:
   
   Provide clear guidance and tutorials to help users understand how to use the product.
   
   
6. Personalization:
   
   Tailor the onboarding experience to each user's specific needs and preferences.
   
   
7. Progressive onboarding:
   
   Introduce new features gradually over time to prevent users from feeling overwhelmed.
   
   
8. Engagement:
   
   Encourage users to engage with the product by providing incentives, such as free trials or discounts.
   
   
9. Feedback:
   
   Collect feedback from users to continually improve the onboarding process.

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By following these good practices and providing a step-by-step onboarding process, you can optimize your company onboarding and increase user engagement and retention.

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In conclusion, the onboarding process is a critical component of customer success. By investing in optimizing user onboarding and activation, businesses can ensure that users understand how to use the product and see its value. This can lead to increased user engagement, retention, and ultimately, customer success.

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Ready to create a product and activate your users using techniques like these? Get in touch with our team to see how we work.