Mail lists can be a deceptive signal. They may validate but it costs nothing to say "yes, of course, here's my email." Especially if they know you and there is some credit of trust you won't abuse said email.
Let's assume you validated that you built for an existing problem space. You've observed other people struggle with this problem, and not just yourself. At the very least you can find search results and reddit posts screaming "DAE struggle with X?!"
Tons of visits, people using the free tier, zero conversions to paid.
Now is a good time to run a series of in-depth conversations in exchange for 100% discount.
What to focus on
– How was their experience (keep it an open-ended question without "good/bad" qualifiers)
– Do they encounter this problem in their life at all? When they do, what happens? (gives insight into whether your solution was designed to address the problem)
– What did they get out of the free tier? If they got their question answered, there's no reason to pay.
– They used the discount, would they pay for the product with their own hard-earned money? Why not? Was it the price point? Or that the value of the product is just not that compelling?
You'll learn extremely informative things. It's important to treat this as research and absolutely not a sales/converting conversation. Do not under any circumstances promote or dispute what they say even if you think they are wrong. Now is not the time for this. They will give you the most valuable gift of all: honesty.
It's up to you what you do with it.
(My product is pinned to my bio, not trying to promote)
Sitting on a mail list with zero conversions? What to do next
byu/SuccessfulTonight391 inEntrepreneur
Posted by SuccessfulTonight391
2 Comments
Actually decent framework – the free discount interview approach cuts through all the bs people tell themselves about why their product isn’t converting
This is a strong take, especially the point that a mailing list often validates interest much more than willingness to pay. One thing I would add is that zero conversion is not always a pricing problem. Sometimes it means the free tier already delivers the full job, and sometimes it means the pain is real but not frequent or expensive enough for people to pay to remove it. So the interviews in exchange for a 100% discount are a great idea.
Also completely agree on keeping it out of sales mode. The fastest way to ruin those conversations is to start defending the product instead of listening.