Pricing Observer // An ongoing collection of various approaches to pricing strategy, pricing structure and pricing process.
Provided by: www.pricingwire.com
As Twilio states right out of the gate, “No contracts, no setup charges, no shenanigans.” Take a look at how they are communicating their pricing. I have also included the pricing page for Precision Polling, which is built on the Twilio platform.
Today I received an email from my 10 year old daughter, that if anything, demonstrates how products targeted at kids can grow very fast. As you already know, word-of-mouth advertising amongst family and friends is the most powerful means for a business to generate new prospects with the highest probability of becoming paying customers.Below my comments I have included the email from my daughter (which is the first time I have heard of Moshi Monsters) and screenshots from the Moshi Monster website.
Here are a few comments to think about . . . Why Become A Moshi Member? Page
They are taking the Freemium approach and begin listing the reasons why you would want to upgrade to “get exclusive access to all sorts of cool extras”.
Info For Parents - Becoming A Moshi Member Page
- via the "Parents Learn More" link on above page -
Pay careful attention to the value messaging on this page and how they have prioritized what messages they believe will resonate best and create paying customers (Safe, Fun, Educational, Value For Money). Also, note the testimonials on this page (are you using testimonials . . you should) and how they have segmented 3 types of testimonials that would matter to prospects.
Select Your Location Page
- via the "Join Now" link -
Simple. Note they don’t go into any form of explanation, just simply self segment yourself to the geographic location that applies to you. Clicking one of these links takes you to the Select Your Price Package page.
Select Your Price Package Page
- via the "Select Your Location" Page links -
First observation that stuck out to me is that the 6-Months option actually costs more per month than the 1-Month or 12-Months option (I wonder how many times this is being chosen). Second, note how simple they make this step . . . they don’t break down a comparison because they have kept their offering simple . . . either you want to join and get the “exclusive cool extras” or you don’t . . . just choose how you want to pay and “cancel anytime”. Third, take note of the fourth option (in addition to the 3 available month-based options) which is purchasing a Moshi Time Card from a number of retailer locations. Keep in mind, I rarely see this approach getting very good placement in retail stores . . . you would not be banking on this distribution method creating impulse purchases . . . customers would most likely have to find out about this option in some other way, perhaps from friends, family or an email from their child.
If you want to take a proactive approach to your Value Messaging and Pricing Strategy . . . let’s talk and get your business optimized for the best results and best returns. http://www.pricingwire.com
A recent tweet of mine, was kindly replied to by Richard Blackham of Metaconomy (see screenshots).
Turns out, early this month it was announced that Dell was acquiring a company called BOOMI.
Please note their approach to two versions of support under the full edition comparison screenshot. More I could comment on, but not today.
Here is a link directly to their pricing page: http://www.boomi.com/products/editions/pricing
How are you creating interest in the direction your company is going?
How are you communicating this to your prospects and customers?
Here is just one example by Jeep, and they could be leveraging this approach much more effectively.
Contact me if you want to create more powerful connections with your customers and prospects.
Which would you choose?
Note: they display pricing by the week, however they will charge you for the year.
Quick update on Wufoo’s pricing page shows they have increased both the Bona Fide and Ad Hoc plans by $5 per month (appears to be the only changes to the page). Prior post for Wufoo is found here.
To follow up on our previous post around Bantam Live pricing, I have included a screenshot of the pricing page they deemed worthy of their post beta launch.
Bantam Live announced via email today that they will exit public beta on January 26th and provided a preview of the their tentative offerings and pricing. They do not mention extending a perpetually free offering, but do offer an extended 30 day free trial period to those who sign-up for a paid subscription plan when Bantam Live formally distributes their “go-live” pricing plans.
Announcing this, roughly one month in advance, gives them time to assess and evaluate the nature of the responses they receive and make some key business decisions with respect to any possible adjustments or updates to their Offerings and Pricing.
I do not have access to the information they have available to base their decisions on, but I “quickly” put together a possible Pricing Structure they might consider instead. The two suggestions (in color) are quickly provided without the benefits of the information Bantam Live has access to (between my two possibilities, the only difference is the price points). Additionally, there is much more that goes into optimizing a pricing page to best position your value proposition for maximum conversions, which I do not cover here.
- As always, you may click the larger image below to view an even larger image -
So I had another one of my “brilliant” ideas recently and decided I should secure the relevant domain name, of course fully expecting the idea will pan out.
Network Solutions has been around for a long time, in fact if you click the link you will discover . . . . much longer than you may think. I have registered a number of domain names over the years and have also used other providers such as GoDaddy.com and Register.com. If you were to conduct a Google search for “domain name registration” the top three results (as well as top 3 sponsored links) are those three companies; Network Solutions, Register.com, and GoDaddy.com.
Because Network Solutions has been at this for so long, wouldn’t you think they have become really good at optimizing the process and have fine-tuned what content to include, content location, content format and overall design. You decide.
Below I have captured the complete purchase process from the point where I have decided to check-out. Total time was around 5 minutes (I subtracted the time it took me to grab screenshots).
Some brief elements I’d like to point out:
1) Initially, you get the impression that the process is going to take 3 steps, but really each of those first 3 steps are communicating additional offerings (upgrades, add-ons) they want you to consider. Perhaps a bit misleading though, as the user likely is initially thinking the whole process is only 3 steps.
2) To advance through the first 3 steps, the user must scroll down the page, exposing the offers along the way, to find the “continue” button.
3) Next, is the real check out process which is 4 steps. The first step is to decide the registration duration (and thus pricing) for each domain you are purchasing. Note the Slidebar approach, which I have provided a few shots on how sliding the bar changes the price. Five years is the default setting and note the “Did You Know” statement.
4) Throughout the rest of the process there are a number of noteworthy elements (e.g. – suggestions) that I won’t call out here, but take a look, observe and consider. I also included screenshots of what happens if you click on the "feedback" or "follow us on Twitter" links, as well as the email confirmation.
Watch for a future post on PricingWire ( http://www.pricingwire.com ) if you want to know more about the compelling idea I have in mind for The Best Solution Summit.
- - as always, click the larger image to see an even larger image - -
It has been almost seven months since I first posted Producteev’s pricing page on PricingWire back in March, when they were launching public beta.
Producteev is now out of beta and with this recent pricing page update they appear to have gained some insight into what they believe customers are willing to pay (or perhaps they are just giving it a go with little to no data to support their decision).
Across most of their offerings, not only have they changed prices (increased), but they also modified file storage allocation and number of users. They have also de-emphasized the Free offering for non-students, as well as now make mention of a white label version which is an idea I like a lot. Additionally, they have picked up on the best practice of including testimonials.
Overall, they have made some nice improvements and I like that they are attempting to raise prices now that they are out of beta. It is always easier to lower prices than raise them (messaging is critical in both cases). Briefly, a couple areas I’d like to see them address would be the spacing between the different offering boxes . . . it just seems a little off and not uniform. Also, they could use a good once over by a copy editor. For example, this copy at the top of the pricing page just doesn’t sound right, “Try any of those plans for free during 14 days!”.
One more nice touch, is that they include three offerings with sign-up buttons below the fold, at the bottom of each page on their site. It would be interesting to see how many clicks come from these.
I personally still prefer the organization of the beta pricing page (note beta next to logo), but keep in mind what matters is which page performs the best, not personal preference.
- - as always, you can click the larger image to see an even larger version - -
