I run and manage a very large freemium service, and I will tell you that the percentage of users that convert is a highly watched metric that is very important to my business.
I agree with the fact that there will always be consumers out there that will never ever convert, and that is accepted. But I'm always doing A/B tests and feature adds that makes sure that the fraction that does convert tries to increase.
With that in mind, I'll share with you some other lessons learned running a freemium model for many years:
1) free users generate enormous traction for your business
through social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
2) free users today really view the Web with suspicion and will often, instantly accuse you of a bait-and-switch or scam without ever taking the time to read what has been presented to them.
3) the instant you even gently nudge an "upgrade" path, many customers instantly believe that they cannot use the service AT ALL unless they pay for something. In our case, the vast majority of our services are completely free, yet folks will instantly cancel their accounts when they even learn that we have a "premium subscription."
4) customers will times see a premium upgrade landing page and click through and purchase the most expensive subscription, as fast as they can, and then come back and argue it wasn't what they wanted.
I agree with the fact that there will always be consumers out there that will never ever convert, and that is accepted. But I'm always doing A/B tests and feature adds that makes sure that the fraction that does convert tries to increase.
With that in mind, I'll share with you some other lessons learned running a freemium model for many years:
1) free users generate enormous traction for your business through social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.
2) free users today really view the Web with suspicion and will often, instantly accuse you of a bait-and-switch or scam without ever taking the time to read what has been presented to them.
3) the instant you even gently nudge an "upgrade" path, many customers instantly believe that they cannot use the service AT ALL unless they pay for something. In our case, the vast majority of our services are completely free, yet folks will instantly cancel their accounts when they even learn that we have a "premium subscription."
4) customers will times see a premium upgrade landing page and click through and purchase the most expensive subscription, as fast as they can, and then come back and argue it wasn't what they wanted.
I have a zillion other stories to tell.