Increase product trials with a free online tool

Tactic #22: Increase qualified traffic and product trials with a free online tool

The company: Convert, an A/B testing SaaS tool.
The goal: Increase qualified organic traffic, brand awareness, and product trials.
The tactic: Build a free online tool that relates to the main product.
The result: 39K unique visitors and 500 qualified trials in 1 year.

What's the fast marketing tactic?

During their SEO research, Convert came across a gap in the market for valuable results to informational queries relevant to their target prospects’ ”jobs to be done.” In particular, they spotted a lack of quality online tools to assist businesses in formulating hypotheses for their A/B tests.

They therefore built a free "hypothesis generator" tool, which catered specifically to businesses, based on the most up-to-date hypothesis frameworks in the experimentation space.

They further optimized the tool landing page with an FAQ, as well as links to other relevant content.

Convert’s A/B testing hypothesis generator

What was the result?

The tool landing page currently ranks in the top 2 organic spots for "hypothesis generator" and “hypothesis maker.” Over the past 12 months, this has led to:

39K unique visitors to the landing page (95% organic, 5% from dark social).
3% of visitors submitting a product query via the live chat available on the page (for example, asking about plans, pricing, etc. for the company’s paid tool).
Almost 500 qualified product trials.

Why does it work?

Creating a tool is a great way to provide direct and actionable value to users, helping you rank higher for related information and/or execution queries.
If your core product is a tool or platform, creating an adjacent free tool helps to introduce relevant visitors to your main product.
Once set up, the tool is low maintenance while continuing to drive results.

How to implement this tactic yourself

Identify (a) target keyword(s). The sweet spot is something that sits between information and execution queries, and relates to your target customers’ most common “jobs to be done.”
Develop a tool idea. Found a match? Think about the type of tool that can best deliver against the query and help the user. Examples of tools include calculators, quizzes, automated frameworks, report generators, grading tools, and more.
Determine the unique value you can add. Consider what you can create to bring new and more value than competing tools already in the SERP (search engine result page). For example, Convert rooted their tool in business applications (unlike competing tools, which mostly target students), and added a unique element about ethics in experimentation.
Build an MVP (minimum viable product) to test out your new idea.
Create your landing page. Embed your tool on an education-first landing page. The key here is to deliver immediate value. For example, you can add a FAQ section and interlink the page with other relevant educational content pieces.
Make the connection to your primary product. Introduce users to your paid product in a natural way. For example, you can add a trial for the paid tool on the Thank You page, or offer the option to export the output of the free tool to the paid tool.
Decide whether to gate your tool. You can choose to gate your tool and use it for lead generation goals, or keep it ungated if your priority is to educate and bring value to your audience, in order to build your brand. Convert are also planning to test gating the tool for users who have visited the page multiple times.

Want more ideas on how to create free tools that perform as lead magnets to drive growth? Check out our post on lead magnets.

Meet the specialist behind this tactic

Trina Moitra is the Growth Lead at Convert Experiences, an A/B testing tool committed to bringing enterprise grade experimentation at self-service prices.

Follow Convert on LinkedIn for more experimentation content.

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