SaaS engagement is an important metric for businesses because it tracks how many users actively use a product over a span of time. It is an indicator of overall product health, and changes in engagement levels can make or shake the product growth. To put it simply, you can boost your Saas engagement rates when you help your users get value from your product over time.

Here are some tips and tricks for boosting habitual product usage at every turn. 

1.Time-sensitive features to Initiate a Sense of Urgency

A sense of urgency keeps your target audience on their toes and ready to take action fast. Saas businesses must built-in a sense of urgency to improve user engagement with time-sensitive features that require certain action within a certain amount of time. For example, set tasks or have messages expire to encourage faster action. With the fear of missing out, users are likely to take more action. Flash deals and time sensitive content are the best examples of things you can do to boost engagement. 

2. Automatically Triggered Messaging Based on In-app Behavior

Use event milestones to trigger a timely message to your users. These messages can be used to reinforce guidance or prompt users to take some action. For example, activation/sign-up emails are the  perfect opportunity to introduce the brand and to start building a personal connection with users. Some businesses also like to set one-off emails for specific events which offer more detailed explanations about certain features that the customer is already using—without interrupting their work at the moment.

With data, it’s possible to send relevant triggered messaging to your audience. Using insights from customer behavior SaaS businesses can automatically deliver a personalized experience.

3. In-app Chat Functionality

Only SaaS aficionados can learn to use new products in the market within minutes, for the rest of us laymen who do not breathe SaaS, there is a need for on-going assistance especially when trying out new products. 

In-app chat assistance makes a customer feel valued and showcases a human-angle beyond the product. It is an effective medium to provide one-on-one help to your customers. With certain in-app chat platforms or chat-bots you can segment users, identify key behaviors hindering customers and foster full product adoption. 

4. Video Tutorials

The value of continuous learning is unparalleled when it comes to innovative products like softwares. With new features and updates being pushed out on an everyday basis, you can keep your customers informed and empower them to use it in the best possible way. This helps with boosting engagement and eventually shoots customer retention.

While blogs, e-books and guides all are useful forms of content distribution, video content stands out for being the most engaging kind. They are visually stimulating and communicate the message faster.

Just think of things your users may want to learn. Talk to your customer success team to match your video content with your user’s pain points

5. Qualitative Feedback for More Targeted Future Growth 

When it comes to finding what works and what doesn’t, take it from the horse’s mouth. Buy ten minutes or more of your user’s time to collect qualitative data via various tools like chatbots, surveys, NPS or even session recordings. This can be a storehouse of critical insights that help you engage your users better while they interact with the product. 

Not only can this approach reveal bugs in the SaaS product, if any but also guide you how to scale and MVP into a holistic solution for the target user. If you happen to come across any data trends during the feedback process, the need for improvement becomes evident and pressing. 

6. Level Up Your Game

Making customers stick with you through games is not path-breaking but an age old practice in the world of business. SaaS businesses can also entice customers into engagement through occasional seasonal contests.

Modern tech promises a lot of variation when it comes to implementation of gamification and improved engagement rates. It is probably the best way to counter short attention spans. For example, the right kind of games can force the users to keep using the product for longer. Interactive content and games fall under the category of dynamic content that boosts engagement creatively, by assisting businesses in training employees. 

Fun elements like loyalty badges can encourage content sharing. Free credit rewards extended towards future purchases also add to the fun of using a product. 

7. Offer Incentives Based on Engagement

Smart SaaS professionals introduce just the right amount of incentivization to drive engagement favourably. Let your incentives be aligned with the goals of your company. Stay away from pseudo promises and think about what would interest your target audience, that’s where the gold lies. 

It's in the interest of the business to incentive activities that initiate product use and lets them get used to it.

1. For example, some SaaS products invite a select few for an opportunity to beta test their offering, not only it makes the participants feel valued but the feeling of exclusivity also prompts engagement levels.
2. You can also create a facebook group or a reddit thread to share tips and ask questions that concern your target set of audience. Since these tips and tricks are of high value to user users, they stick around and take interest in your product.

8. Go Chop! Chop! On Features Users Don't Engage With

If there is anything just as important in providing a user-targeted experience, it's shelving out the things that hamper a seamless experience. Most businesses stay averse from the minimalistic route given the huge monetary cost and time spent on developing the features in questions. But, if the data shows how redundant some features of your product are to your users, you should take a hint.

Step one, ask users why they are not using the feature in question and devote more time in improving it to meet the user’s needs. Step two, if your users don't feel the need to use that feature, it's best to chop it off altogether.

Removing distractions like unused or less popular features can redirect the focus of a user to the most important functionalities of your product. It helps them find the core value of your product quickly.

In the End

Like every SaaS product, every user tends to be different. To find the best ways to keep users engaged you may have to go through your fair share of trial and tribulations before you narrow down on something concrete. 

As easy it is to lose a customer to your competitor, the opportunities to spike SaaS engagement can be varied. Right from video tutorials, triggered messaging, in-app support to incentives; everything you do to improve the UX and head towards sustainable growth contributes to better engagement.