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The B2B software customer journey is often lengthy and complex, particularly for anything beyond basic, low-cost products. B2B SaaS buyers typically want to see the product before investing, so free trials, freemium models, and demos can be effective.
Many small and mid-market vendors are shifting toward product-led growth (PLG) and product-led marketing (PLM) due to high sales team costs and a growing buyer preference for self-service.
Obility conducted an experiment analyzing over 11,000 paid search ads from January 2023 to August 2024, with a total ad spend of over $20 million. The ads offered either a demo or a free trial.
The findings revealed that while demo calls to action (CTAs) had a higher conversion rate, free trial CTAs generated a higher click-through rate (CTR). Free trials consistently outperformed demos in terms of conversions per impression, especially in non-branded campaigns.
Take a look at the findings:
- A demo CTA generally drew a higher conversion rate, but the free trial call to action drove a higher click-through rate (CTR).
- For non-branded campaigns, a free trial CTA showed nearly twice the CTR of a demo call to action.
- Calculating conversions by 1,000 impressions shows free trials nearly double demos.
- For non-branded campaigns, demos drove fewer conversions than trials per 1,000 impressions.
- For branded campaigns, free trials drove 167% more conversions per impression.
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