Don't blink! That's what a 15-day trial version of a piece of software says. Before the user knows it, it's over. And, before you know it, the user uninstalls it. Was that a trial version or a "mistrial" version?
Trial versions may not be science but common sense and logic do play a part in turning trials into sales. To figure it all out, you've got to start with a definition. What are trial versions?
Trial versions are no-cost versions of your software. Since cost can delay or prevent a user from trying your software, a trial version will appeal to people who otherwise wouldn't use your software.
I say, "trial version", but that's really a misnomer. Promotional version is a better term.
A promotional version might be a fully functional, time-limited version or it might be a version which never expires but has fewer features than other versions or it might be something else. Whatever the case, a promotional version assumes that there is another, non-promotional version, say, a paid version, of the software. Until the kinks are finally worked out for that Open Source Business Model™ that you are always reading about, customers will always have to pay money for something better than what is given away for free.
Promotional versions appeal to people who are willing to use a free, less functional version now but are unwilling to pay you for a more functional version now. Later is a different matter. Different users have different reasons for not paying now. Some may want to try the software first and then buy the fully functional version when they are confident that it suits their needs. Some may be simply curious and will never buy it. Some may need to give a demo to a stern-looking accountant at their company to get approval to purchase it. And, some may work for a corporate zombie who murmurs, "Permission denied!", over and over while he consumes the brains of hapless employees and uses their purchase request forms as a napkin.
Circumstances are unique, sure, but it is convenient to separate every user into one of three groups: people who will pay you now, people who will pay you later and everybody else. For people who will pay you now, you want them to buy the paid version and begin using the paid version now. For people who will pay you later, you want them to use the promotional version now and move to the paid version as soon as possible. Everybody else should use the promotional version. Get it? No? Let me speak a little louder for those who are asleep in the back row. You never want anybody to uninstall and stop using your software, even if they only use the promotional version.
Why? When software is uninstalled, it is gone. Uninstalled software is forgotten. Uninstalled software is back at square one. Installed software, though, is a beachhead. It has a chance to be rediscovered and compete when the user has a use for it later. A user might rediscover it when he reorganizes his Start menu. A conversation might come up related to the software and the user might say, "Yes, I've got a piece of software that relates to that. Hang on, let me give you a demo." Installed but unused software has a small but significant advantage.
| If a user uninstalls any version, nobody else learns about the software. |
How do you prevent the user from uninstalling? One way is not to provide an uninstaller or, even better, package your software as an operating system upgrade. Tee hee, that's a joke; don't do that. But, seriously, you do it not by preventing them but by persuading them not to uninstall.
How do you do that? Well, first, realize that time-limited versions are a poor strategy. If a nag screen is the only feature of a time-expired version of your software, that's not going to work; the software will be uninstalled. Nobody spends 50 megabytes of disk space to look at a nag screen. Time-expired software will have to keep some legitimate features. In fact, it should have at least one extremely valuable, indispensable feature to head off the naturally strong temptation by the user to uninstall the software out of revenge. Nobody likes to be treated like Bob Eucker and be forcibly escorted from the season ticket section to the nose-bleed section. Nobody likes to be bullied into paying for what they once got for free.
The best way for the promotional version of your software to avoid being uninstalled is to encourage the user to actually use it. Promotional versions with at least one genuinely useful feature will provide a compelling reason for the user to uninstall something else. Like that pesky anti-virus software that ships with all PCs and constantly reminds us just how useless it is without paying $40 per year for virus definition updates.
| The promotional version must always have enough value so the user does not uninstall it. |
Enough is a funny word; it means "not too little" but it also implies "not too much". By solving one problem well, the promotional version earns the privilege to remain installed on the user's computer. For people who will pay you later, you want them to use the promotional version now, not forever. You want them to move to the paid version as soon as possible. How do you do that? You've got to raise the bar. The paid version must be clearly superior to the promotional version by doing everything that the promotional version does and then some.
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The paid version must encourage people to upgrade from the promotional version. |
To do that, it is best to provide a second, extremely valuable, indispensable feature. Makes sense? Good.
How will users know what they are missing by using the promotional version instead of the paid version?
As Shakespeare wrote: aye, there's the rub. (Hamlet: Act III, Scene 1, Line 65.)
There is no generic answer here.
Ideally, you should strive to create a clever division between promotional features and paid features wherein promotional features imply the existence of the paid features. For example, computer virus detection software implies the existence of virus removal software. Knowing that you have a computer virus is valuable in itself. But it also prompts the question: "How do I get rid of it?" Using another piece of software, of course.
Less than ideal, you may use the ham-fisted approach of unobtrusively advertising the paid version within the promotional version. Unobtrusive advertising might show up in the status bar, in the About box or as a dialog box that is only shown when the user starts or exits the application.
Far from ideal, you may add nag screens, screen-hogging ads and other negative features to the promotional versions. A negative feature is a feature that the user pays to get rid of rather than to acquire. Unless care is taken, negative features can decrease the perceived value of the promotional version of your software rather than increase the perceived value of the paid version. If the promotional version of your software is lousy or unpleasant, the paid version will often be assumed to be lousy and unpleasant as well.
| The value of the paid version must be obvious in the promotional version. |
No matter what way that you use to show the value of the paid version, it certainly worth mentioning that it should be easy and convenient for the user to upgrade from the promotional version to the paid version.
Now, let me take a moment to restate the essence of what I've been writing about here. The promotional version is a step on the staircase of the user to buy your software. Staircases have steps in order to ease the transition from lower steps to higher steps. Similarly, you have promotional software to ease the transition of the user from being somebody who looks at your web site to being a buyer and user of your software. Where is that step located? Well, look at the two extremes and then plot a position in the middle. Then, adjust that position to make sure that that position is as accessible as possible from both extremes.
Now, you can blink.
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