2024 / freshmarketer / growth
Rethinking onboarding
from Features to Value
How we accelerated time-to-value by 74% and
drove a 10x increase in user activation at Freshmarketer
/ about Freshmarketer
Marketing automation platform that helps SMB and Mid-market businesses engage customers through personalized campaigns, behavioral targeting, and omni-channel journeys.
/ PROBLEM
Our users were giving up before experiencing value. 80% dropped off before completing their first meaningful task.
/ Pain Points
What we learned from our research
Users struggled to know where to begin after signup
Onboarding depended heavily on sales and support
Complex workflows surfaced before simple wins
Setup friction delayed meaningful value
Lack of guidance increased uncertainty and drop-offs
/ Why this problem was critical to solve
The existing onboarding model was becoming difficult to scale
Low activation impacted conversion
Users relied heavily on sales and support to get started
Slow time-to-value reduced adoption and retention
We risked losing customers to competitors
/ Hypothesis
If we provide clear, step-by-step guidance right when users start, they will take confident actions, experience early value, and stick around longer.
/ Final design
Interactive prototype