SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE
The simpler your copy, the better your pages will convert
OVERVIEW
Key conversion rate insights for the SaaS industry
SaaS marketers rely on landing pages to drive demos, free trial signups, gated resource downloads, and webinar signups—they even use landing pages to convert trial users into paying customers. Here’s everything the data is telling us about what works best.
Email is the highest converting channel by a mile
Email traffic converts over 4x better than any other traffic source in SaaS. Optimized email campaigns are a non-negotiable.
Paid traffic from Instagram outperforms Facebook (mostly)
Instagram traffic converts 3x better than Facebook, but the top-performing pages using Facebook ads can still outperform the top-performing pages relying on Instagram ads.
The majority of SaaS landing page visits are on mobile
In SaaS, 79% of all landing page visits happened on mobile devices. If your landing pages aren’t mobile-first, you may be leaving money on the table.
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KEY INSIGHT: INDUSTRY SUBCATEGORIES
SaaS landing pages convert at 3.8%—much lower than the all-industry benchmark of 6.6%
The median conversion rate for SaaS landing pages is 3.8%—42% lower than the 6.6% baseline for all industries. Within the SaaS category, hardware pages convert the best at 4.1%, while data and infrastructure pages convert at just 3.3%.
SaaS is a hard sell
Selling SaaS products comes with a host of challenges, including complex features, multiple pricing tiers, highly-competitive markets, and the need for demos to clearly showcase product benefits. It’s no wonder the SaaS median conversion rate is lagging behind the all industries median.
But where there are challenges, there also lie opportunities. You can simplify your messages, provide case studies, offer free trials, create personalized experiences, and emphasize your unique value propositions. Keep plugging away and your conversion rates will be rising before you know it.
KEY INSIGHT: OVERALL TRAFFIC CHANNELS
Email is the clear winner at a 16.9% conversion rate, over 4x higher than the next-best channel
In truth, the battle for the top-performing-SaaS-channel crown isn’t even a contest. Email is far outpacing paid traffic at a median conversion rate of 16.9%. Underneath email, paid search (4.1%) is outperforming paid social (2.9%) in the battle for second best.
Prioritize your email campaigns to maximize conversions
Assuming resources aren’t unlimited, it makes the most sense to prioritize optimizing your email marketing engine before shifting your focus elsewhere. If your paid campaigns are perfectly optimized but your email drip sequences are non-existent, you’ll likely struggle to drive consistent (and cost-effective) conversions.
Don’t rely on display ad traffic for conversions
Display ads can be an effective way to reach more eyeballs, but you shouldn’t be banking on many (if any) conversions directly resulting from your display ads. In SaaS, the median conversion rate for visits from display ads is just 0.3%—meaning you’ll need to bring in over 300 unique visitors before you even see a single conversion.
KEY INSIGHT: PAID SEARCH TRAFFIC CHANNELS
Google search ads convert over 2.5x better than Bing ads in SaaS
Within the paid search bucket, Google is unsurprisingly still the leader by a wide margin. The median conversion rate for Google search ads in SaaS is 5.1%, while Bing ads convert at just 1.9%.
Paid search ads convert worse in SaaS than the all-industries baseline
While Google ads are leading the way in SaaS, the 5.1% median conversion rate is still less than half as good as the 11.3% Google ads average conversion rate across all industries.
KEY INSIGHT: SOCIAL TRAFFIC CHANNELS
Instagram is the highest converting paid social channel in SaaS at 9.2%
In fact, Instagram (9.2%) is converting almost 3x better than the next best channel, Facebook (3.5%), when looking at median conversion rates.
While the median conversion rate for Facebook is low, the top-performing pages are actually outpacing Instagram
The average Facebook ad campaign is performing far worse than the average Instagram ad campaign—but the best Facebook ad campaigns are arguably outperforming the best Instagram ad campaigns. The Facebook ad conversion rate range for the top performing pages is between 11% and 24%, indicating there’s potential for high returns if your campaign is well-targeted and optimized.
KEY INSIGHT: MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
Mobile and desktop conversions rates are virtually the same in SaaS, but mobile drives more traffic
The average conversion rates for mobile (6.4%) and desktop (6.2%) traffic are basically on par, which isn’t the case across most industries we analyzed.
The conversion rates may be similar, but mobile is driving 79% of the traffic
The average conversion rates may be nearly identical between mobile and desktop, but the majority of traffic reaching SaaS landing pages is on mobile. This is why it makes sense to prioritize the mobile versions of your landing pages first and foremost.
KEY INSIGHT: READABILITY
Easy does it: Simplicity wins in SaaS
In the SaaS world, less really is more. Simplifying your language and keeping your message clear and direct can dramatically improve conversion rates, making your landing pages far more effective.
Simple copy converts 514% better than overly difficult copy in SaaS
Landing pages with copy written at a 5th to 7th-grade level convert at 12.9%, while pages written with professional-level copy convert at just 2.1%. The trend here is easy to spot—the more difficult your copy is to read, the worse your page will convert.
The ideal word count to aim for in SaaS is between 250-725 words
Our analysis found that landing pages with between 250-725 words of copy convert the best with a median conversion rate of 3.8%. Beyond the raw number of words, the pages that convert the best also only use between 50-140 difficult words (defined as words with three syllables or more).
Simple should be the standard with your landing page copy
Copy that’s easy to understand consistently outperforms more complex copy. Try to use simple words and short sentences instead of complex, confusing words and long, run-on sentences.
If you’re not comfortable simplifying or editing copy, no problem—just use the “Summarize” feature in our AI copywriting tool Smart Copy.
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