This Flow State Case Study dives into how Segment are converting users to a complicated product with sign up flows.
A masterclass from Segment.
Segment is a customer data platform (CDP) that looks after data governance, data integration, and audience management all in one platform. Yes, I re-read that sentence too.
As a complicated product that can solve a lot of problems for many different departments, their complexity is a source of friction for new or potential users. How can they effectively communicate their value quickly to their target audiences?
When a potential customer uses search or lands at their page, how are they to know their problem can be solved by Segment. This potential customer could be from the marketing, product or engineering team, all of whom would need different messaging and value propositions. So how do they accommodate a user who doesn’t immediately understand the complexity of what Segment can offer? Let’s take a look:
My latest episode of Flow State shows this journey from 2:40 onwards
When I search Segment into Google, I can see the brand is the first listed result. I also want to highlight the Sitelinks in the Google search results.
As we know Sitelinks are automated from the Google algorithm. We don’t know if Segment have worked to influence their search in Google (through SEO strategy), but I found it very interesting that one of their Sitelinks is “An introduction to Segment”.
This page contains a lot of detailed information about who Segment is and how they serve each of their potential clients. This shows the complexity of the brand that is Segment and what they offer to their range of customers.
Throughout this page, it is interesting to notice the promotion of “Segment University”, which of course requires a sign up to access. Segment University looks like an educational space where users can learn more about how to use Segment as a product.
The conclusion we can draw from the keyword search on Google is of course, your Google search matters. The Sitelinks of each Google search matters. The “Introduction into Segment” shows me how complex the product is, but how willing the brand is to explain it to me. To help with resources and then of course, encourage me to sign up so I can be directed to a call from the sales team.
To describe the landing page of Segment, we can safely say that it is “simple”. The ‘leading Customer Data Platform’, have a variety of customers to address but don’t spend a huge amount of time going into the complexity of who they serve and how.
From saying this, when evaluating their landing page, I can see they are clear with what type of team they want to work with, be that marketing, product or engineering teams.
The assumption I can make from this landing page is, filling it with loads of information on what Segments do and how they can help customers might involve a very extensive and complicated landing page. Rather than the short and sharp one they have delivered.
What Segments does very well is allows each target audience to explore what area they will be best served. Once expanded on the area you need assistance with, you will find a more detailed explanation on how Segments helps, but as I mention and as you can see in my Flow State video, the information isn’t too detailed.
Starts at 4:10
The conclusion I have drawn from Segment, is they are looking to increase their conversions by connecting each customer with their sales team.
But what if people don’t know enough about them to go to the next step? Well, try describing what Segment do in a sentence that is easy to digest… that is why I think they are encouraging the call from the sales team – it is quite a challenge! They’re trying to convert more users to this complex product through a demo experience, where the individual user will have a tailored experience of the product.
Extra observation: The use of light and dark colouring of the page to address the right audience was something I really enjoyed! When you scroll through the landing page, you will see marketing and product is a lighter design where the engineering is a darker background! I feel this is very customised to the type of industry each works in!
As I scroll through the landing page, of course, you can see they have two very clear call to actions at the top of the landing page.
The first is the “sticky” call to action in the navigation bar that follows me as I continue to scroll through and then there is a standard call to action at the top of the page.
What is the difference between the two? Not much, well nothing in fact. One prepopulates your email while the other prompts you to fill it out once you hit the sign up flow. I did expect a different flow and also maybe a prepopulation of my name from the one flow that captured my email. But as I can assume, the personalisation comes with the sales call stated in the sign up process.
To best analyse the Sign Up Flow on the Segment Landing Page, I chose the generic Call To Action, to limit their ability to funnel me as a particular type of user. Choosing one of the CTAs in their personas sections (Product, Marketing, Engineering) would likely tag me within their CRM.
After landing, one particular aspect that drew my attention was the phone number field. A field normally associated with quite a bit of friction. This step should be made as easy as possible, and having to select the country code from an alphabetised list, and not being informed that it was a mandatory step was more friction than needed.
This flow is designed to ensure that you are connected with a Segment expert as soon as possible, to better onboard you into the product. The complexity of the product is solved by a signup flow geared towards a demo experience.
After having completed the primary flow to enter you into their sales pipeline, you have the option to sign up with a Segment account. This flow is distinctly different to the one before. The new design and colour seem disconnected and raise concerns that the cost of acquisition must be high, given the need to push the customers to sales demos.
This flow then requests a strong password, but no specifications are provided. This is a moment of friction that will really make an impact on users, because there is an additional 30 seconds where they aren’t seeing value. When asked later for the mobile number again, there is no specific country code, which could lead to errors. This friction is quite alarming when their goal is to demonstrate the value through a sales call.
In stark contrast, the email verification system was incredible, really quick, and that’s likely due to Twilio (the cloud communications platform that acquired them for 3.2 billion dollars). The flow then prompts you, with a single focused onboarding request to start using the product. Using a single focused onboarding flow is a growing trend, really ensuring the users are taken through the whole flow, limiting options, thereby limiting drop off.
When taken further through the flow, I was asked a funneling question as to my customer persona (marketer, executive, product manager, analyst). This is likely to direct the sales team when the demo experience is set up.
Arriving into the workspace was a little overwhelming. The workspace itself is already quite specific and concentrated into the Segment product with the prompt to connect a source and add a destination. I’m aware of the details that surround this workspace, but a newer marketer may not really understand what’s happening. This depth is further reinforced when looking at the source input, with “popular” apps being highlighted. The apps in question would be foreign to someone newer in the marketing space. This really highlights the real need for personal onboarding for new users of Segment.
When trying to initiate a flow from one of the persona sections of the website (product/marketer) I had anticipated that there would be specific flows married up to each persona, but there wasn’t. The method that Segment is utilising is consistent through all CTAs.
This approach to sign up flows is demonstrative of a strong understanding of their product, and how their product is introduced to new users. They highlight the strong need for onboarding with the Introduction to Segment, and it’s University too. The Landing Page doesn’t assault you with plenty of copy and explanations of the various features the product has. The drive and focus of this marketing experience is to drive you to the experience of value, through an onboarding or demo experience.
If you’re interested in building out a real strategy for your landing page through it’s sign up, then Upflowy can help you solve that problem. We help you build tailored sign up flows with your no-code product. Increase conversions by informing your customers, correctly funneling them, and collecting all the data available with our step-by-step data gathering. Learn more at upflowy.com
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