The Critical Mistake Most HR SaaS Startups Make: Limiting Engagement to Just Demos and Free Trials

(And the Simple Strategy to Fix It)

Noman Shaikh
3 min readJan 29, 2024

Imagine. You’ve managed to attract HR professionals to your website.

Great work!

Now, According to legendary copywriter and marketeer Eugene Schwartz customer awareness level is in either of these 5 stages:
1. Unaware
2. Problem Aware
3. Solution aware
4. Product Aware
5. Most Aware

So, there will be folks who find your product intriguing, but aren’t quite ready to hit the ‘free trial’ or ‘book a demo’ button yet.

What happens with them? Unfortunately, in many cases, they slip away.

This brings us to a major mistake HR SaaS Startups make: failing to provide intermediate engagement options for prospects who are interested, but not yet ready to commit.

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

Major Mistake: Limiting Options to Either Free Trail or Booking Demo

Let’s discuss why this is such a big mistake.

Reason #1: Not All Are Ready

HR professionals aren’t constantly on the lookout for new software. Sometimes, they’re exploring options, anticipating future needs, and comparing solutions.

When you offer only a free trial or a demo call, you risk alienating this group of prospects who are not quite ready for such a step.

Reason #2: Avoiding High-Pressure Interactions

Signing up for a free trial or booking a demo can feel like a commitment. For many, a demo call might also carry the fear of turning into a high-pressure sales pitch.

Prospects at this stage may prefer lower-stakes ways to interact with your product and learn more about it.

Reason #3: Catering to Varied Buyer Journeys

Every prospect is at a different stage of their buyer journey. Some are just getting started, while others are ready to make a decision. Providing only two engagement options doesn’t cater to this diverse spectrum.

The Solution: Give Them Options To Engage With Your HR SaaS

Now, how can we address this? By creating a variety of engagement opportunities that cater to different visitor needs and stages of awareness.

Let’s explore this further:

Step #1: Segment Your Audience

Understanding your audience is crucial. Are you catering to HR managers, CEOs, or CHROs? It’s essential to identify your audience segments and create strategies specifically tailored to their unique needs.

Step #2: Develop Diversified Engagement Options

Next, develop resources that cater to these different audience segments and stages. This could be a variety of content like blogs, webinars, whitepapers, or even a self-guided tour of your product.

The goal is to provide significant value and keep your prospects engaged.

Step #3: Capture The Attention

Create resources that make your prospects willingly signup to your emails. This is possible by delivering value with education. It could be in form of educational email course, ebooks, or checklist.

You have to get their foot in the door.

Step #4: Implement and Analyze

After developing these resources, it’s time to implement them and monitor their success. Track engagement metrics, learn what works best for your audience, and iterate accordingly.

This Will Help You With More Inbound Leads and Improved Conversion Rates

When you expand engagement options, you cast a wider net to capture leads. You also cater better to prospects at different stages, ultimately improving conversion rates.

Moreover, providing diversified engagement options can enhance the user experience, making prospects feel more valued, understood, and connected to your brand.

Pro Tip: One Way to Capture Leads and Prospects is By Using Education Email Course as Opt-in

We need to give a strong incentive in exchange of their emails. With Educational Email Courses, you can capture the leads and nurture them further for free trail or booking a demo.

Using an Educational Email Course, you can target specific segment for your audience, specific problem they have and specific solution to their problem.

When you get specific, you get better conversion rates and your prospects genuinely trust your brand.

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Noman Shaikh

Copywriter & Marketing Consultant | Crazy about psychology and human behaviour | Web: sillycopies.com