Tools of the Trade: User Onboarding
Welcome to Tools of the Trade, a semi-regular column dedicated to providing our business-minded readers with a range of tools, whether it be software, frameworks, philosophies, or even literal tools, that provide some measure of value to any profession.
This week, we’ll be looking at different tools to help with user onboarding. User onboarding is a critical component of any SaaS product, Steve Jobs said as much in his famous quote:
You’ve got to start with customer experience and work back toward the technology- not the other way around.
That being said, we’ve compiled a list of user onboarding tools for you, in a neat little list below. Down the line, we might do some deep dives on particular tools or segments, but this “master file” should be enough in the meanwhile.
Product Walkthrough
Typically used to demo products, or to provide guided help in the setup of the product. In walkthroughs, you commonly try to sell complex features, ideas, or solutions in layman terms.
Behavioral Analytics & Cohort Analysis
A variety of tools to see how a target audience interacts with your product. Where did the user come from, what did they click on, where in the signup process do I lose them? These tools are primarily used for answering these questions.
Mixpanel
Livechat & Chatbots
Live chat and chatbots are used to provide support in most cases. As a business you run it to provide front line support services, usually in the sales funnel, but also as customer relations on a support for product page.
Chatbots can be anything from a FAQ delivery system, to a user sign up aid or to give you quick access to information and help.
Email Marketing
Tools dedicated to creating, maintaining, and observing results of email based marketing campaigns. This can be anything from users signing up for a newsletter, to trying to sign users up through a targeted promotion.
User authentication/SSO
Think, “Login with Google” or “Sign Up with Facebook”
Authentication / SSO (Single-Sign-On) is used to bypass the standard “create an account” process, by utilizing the users accounts of a different 3rd party. So your app will still get the basics – email, account name – but your App won’t manage the password/login credentials. You simply use Google or a 3rd party to identify the user and provide access to them.
It allows rapidly onboarding a user through the initial signup process.
Nudging
Nudging, in the marketing world, is a process whose end-goal is to convert traffic to user signups. Constant “nudges” drive users to eventually convert by keeping your product at the forefront of their minds.
Data Enrichment
These are tools designed to “get more out of” the data you have, and utilize 3rd party providers to do so where possible.
For example: you sign up using your LinkedIn account. The idea is then to utilize the information you provided – your name, job title – to then search a database that will provide even more information if its available.
So that I can now provide a more personalized service to you, because I have more information on you than what you have provided initially.
And that’s it! Give some of these a try, and let us know your thoughts.
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