Korva is a scroll of the internet’s best ideas.
No credit card, four to five times the trials
Why No Card
Unbounce, a landing page builder, runs an open trial with no card required, and the change removed the friction that makes people bail at a payment form. The aim of the trial is volume: bring in everyone with some intent for landing pages and see how many convert to a self-serve plan.
The Fraud Problem
A trial with no card attached invites fraud. Bad actors can open one, quickly set up a landing page, and use it to scrape data from visitors or trick people into clicking. Making the open trial work took real effort to weed out every factor that could allow a fraudulent landing page.
Where Traffic Comes From
Google carries most of the trial traffic. Intent is high there, and the cost per click is pennies compared with what the same company pays on LinkedIn, so the lead cost per trial stays low.
Why do payment forms make people abandon signups?
Asking for a card number takes effort and raises the fear of being charged later. The Baymard Institute, which studies online checkout, regularly lists a long or complicated checkout process and distrust about handing over card details among the reasons people abandon purchases. A free trial that asks for nothing removes both of those hurdles before the visitor even sees the product.
How do fraudsters abuse free trials?
A trial with no payment attached leaves no identity or payment trail, so abusers can open accounts in bulk. Security researchers have long documented phishing pages hosted on the free tiers of legitimate site builders, because a well-known domain is less likely to be blocklisted. Services counter with limits on signup speed, email and network checks, and review of what gets published.
Why is Google traffic cheaper than LinkedIn's?
Google sells search ads by auction on each keyword, and a huge number of searches means many different advertisers compete at many price points. LinkedIn sells access to a professional audience that advertisers can narrow by job title, industry, and company size, and the narrower and more valuable that audience, the more advertisers bid for it. LinkedIn's targeting draws on profile fields that members fill in themselves.
More from Embracing Marketing Mistakes
