12% higher conversion rate - the Followerwonk Case Study

In 2017 Followerwonk was all but left for dead. The Twitter analytics tool that was once the shiny new addition to Moz, had been placed on the shelf waiting to be sold. But in December of 2017, Marc Mims, the current owner and CEO of Followerwonk, acquired the company and was tasked with reviving the tool.

Marc has a deep understanding of the tool because he’s been around since it’s beginning, more than 8 years ago. Despite all of Marc’s knowledge about Followerwonk, he didn’t feel equipped to market the tool to the masses.

The Challenge

Marc is a developer that would much rather spend his time on the technical issues and growing the company. Knowing his strengths, weaknesses, and preferences Marc knew immediately that he was going to need help with marketing. Specifically, email marketing.

Much of what was left of the tool had Moz’s branding and name all over it. Marc knew that Moz’s onboarding emails for Followerwonk needed to be completely redone to better represent Followerwonk as a stand-alone tool.

When Marc began his search for someone to lead his marketing efforts he had a few criteria in mind. He needed someone who had an understanding of the complexity of Followerwonk’s current situation, someone who could relate to the technical difficulties of running a SaaS company, and most importantly- someone he could trust.

The Search

He began his search by reading Christoph’s book “SaaS Email Marketing Handbook”, and didn’t have to look any further. He knew that Christoph had the expertise to market Followerwonk. Christoph met all of Marc’s criteria.

As a successful solo founder who sold his business in 2017, Christoph intimately understands the unique difficulties of growing a SaaS company. Additionally, Marc knows Christoph from back in 2013 when they worked together at Moz, and he trusts him to make the best decisions to grow Followerwonk.

The Solution

Christoph has used one particular type of email for his clients and always sees an increase in conversions and revenue. He says, “it’s crazy that everyone isn’t doing this. It works every time.” Every one of his clients has seen at least a 10%-15% increase in sign-ups after implementing this sequence. The fool-proof and simple email is, as Christoph calls it, a sign-up abandonment email sequence.

Christoph has seen such great successes with the sign-up abandonment email sequence with his other clients that he was confident Followerwonk would see the same amazing results.

Why it works

A sign-up abandonment email sequence is an important part of the onboarding process. This email sequence is doing the customer a favor and considers the buyer journey. It allows customers to show interest while understanding that life is hectic and there are always distractions that prevent customers from finishing the sign-up process.

By sending a reminder, it keeps customers from taking the extra step of returning back to the site and beginning the signup process all over again.

Without a signup abandonment email sequence, customers are forced to do all the work. With the email, you’re meeting them where they are, helping them out, and letting them know that you want their business. This is the opportunity to reach out and help customers while increasing revenue.

The Sign-Up Abandonment Email Sequence

There are three steps to set up a successful abandoned cart sequence. When a user starts the registration process, start a workflow/timer in your email marketing tool. If the registration process does not complete after 2-3 hours, send them an email reminder (the actual sign-up abandonment email) When the registration completes, remove the user from the workflow

Here’s the workflow Chris used to increase Followerwonk’s signups by 12%.

The workflow begins by tagging the people who were in the checkout process but did not complete it. There were 503 interested and potential customers that were moments away from completing their transaction but found a reason not to.

For this campaign, Chris waited two hours before sending the potential customers this email.

In the sign-up abandonment email, Christoph addressed the security and safety of providing a credit card number while registering. Their research showed that some users were unsure about providing a credit card number, so addressing this concern was a high priority in gaining user’s trust and having them complete the sign-up process.

This email serves two purposes. One, it reminds the customer to complete the transaction they began. Two, it assures them that their credit card information will be secure and that Followerwonk never stores credit card numbers

The Results

This sign-up abandonment email resulted in 62 people returning to Followerwonk to complete their transaction becoming customers. That’s a 12% increase in sign-up conversions from one simple email.

Marc is very satisfied with Christoph’s work and Followerwonk continues to grow in users and revenue. Marc has this to say about Christoph:

I’m glad I have Christoph’s expert help. He’s great at identifying problems and developing solutions. Christoph has a background in development and marketing, so he speaks my language and brings valuable new insights.
Our first engagement resulted in a 500% ROI in just 6 months.”

If you’d like more actionable ways to create an email marketing strategy be sure to check out the SaaS Email Marketing Handbook.