Show HN: NextStep – Product to help SaaS companies improve conversion rates(nextstephq.com)
nextstephq.com
Show HN: NextStep – Product to help SaaS companies improve conversion rates
http://nextstephq.com
31 comments
I understand that fashion is a pure coordination game, so you would expect every website to look the same, but man, this style of illustration that is absolutely everywhere gets annoying very quickly. (Or is it just me?)
Absolutely not just you, this is the same style abused by a comical number of different service websites nowadays because it happens to be the latest fashion fad:
* Plaid — https://plaid.com
* Airtable — https://airtable.com
* Blogsend — http://blogsend.io
* Twist — https://twist.com
* Humaaans ("dopey cartoon people" as a design product) — https://www.humaaans.com/
* Personas ("dopey cartoon people" as an avatar) — https://personas.draftbit.com/
* Pastel (recently refreshed their site) — https://web.archive.org/web/20180203192541/https://usepastel.com/
* User Testing (recently refreshed their site) — http://web.archive.org/web/20190201001118/https://www.usertesting.com/
Won't blame you, we are not designers by trade, and just purchased illustrations :)
Hi All, One of the founders here.
We Just opened up NextStep for anyone to try.
NextStep is a tool built to help SaaS companies improve their conversion rates. This is achieved by allowing companies to show targeted call to actions on the site itself. These CTAs can be used to nudge users to signup for a trial or promote content, webinars or mailing lists. More importantly, they can even be used to help the user through the funnel. Have a user who has only read blogs but never gone to your pricing page or sign-up page? Take them to a case study to help them make a decision. Have someone who has been to the pricing page multiple times? Ask them to signup for a personalized demo or offer them a discount. The use cases are endless, the more content you have the more nudges you can build.
We have deep integrations with tools like Calendly, MailChimp, etc planned so that you can provide your users with the best experience.
Looking for Beta users and feedback
(Edits - Fixed Typos)
We Just opened up NextStep for anyone to try.
NextStep is a tool built to help SaaS companies improve their conversion rates. This is achieved by allowing companies to show targeted call to actions on the site itself. These CTAs can be used to nudge users to signup for a trial or promote content, webinars or mailing lists. More importantly, they can even be used to help the user through the funnel. Have a user who has only read blogs but never gone to your pricing page or sign-up page? Take them to a case study to help them make a decision. Have someone who has been to the pricing page multiple times? Ask them to signup for a personalized demo or offer them a discount. The use cases are endless, the more content you have the more nudges you can build.
We have deep integrations with tools like Calendly, MailChimp, etc planned so that you can provide your users with the best experience.
Looking for Beta users and feedback
(Edits - Fixed Typos)
I assume the "call to action" on the linked website itself is an example of this feature?
So, as a user wanting to find out what your product is about, I go to your website to find out more. As I'm reading, it pops up a message saying "Please visit our blog to know more about NextStep" – which is exactly what I was trying to do when it interrupted my efforts.
(So the website doesn't let me know more about the product then, since you're telling me to visit the blog instead?)
To be clear, my feedback as a user of the website:
1. Don't interrupt me as I'm reading.
2. I don't want to be put into a funnel. Just give me the information without tricks.
So, as a user wanting to find out what your product is about, I go to your website to find out more. As I'm reading, it pops up a message saying "Please visit our blog to know more about NextStep" – which is exactly what I was trying to do when it interrupted my efforts.
(So the website doesn't let me know more about the product then, since you're telling me to visit the blog instead?)
To be clear, my feedback as a user of the website:
1. Don't interrupt me as I'm reading.
2. I don't want to be put into a funnel. Just give me the information without tricks.
I take your feedback, we will look to make our CTAs smaller.
Also I did end up pasusing a bunch of campaigns which we used to demo the feaure itself.
Also I did end up pasusing a bunch of campaigns which we used to demo the feaure itself.
(no snark intended)
Are you aware of, or did you consider the historical context behind this name? (the operating system, NeXTSTEP)
Are you aware of, or did you consider the historical context behind this name? (the operating system, NeXTSTEP)
My first thought too. Wouldn’t Apple still own a trademark of some kind for this word?
And it does include the actual 'NextStep' trademark with the OP's product name 'NextStep' which is the exact same style:
> The absence of a product or service name or logo from this list does not constitute a waiver of NeXT’s trademark or other intellectual property rights concerning that name or logo.
If I were the OP, I would think of another name than to pay Apple for usage of the trademark and have to place 'NextStep is a trademark of Apple Inc.' like how Apple is paying for iOS with Cisco owning the IOS trademark.
> The absence of a product or service name or logo from this list does not constitute a waiver of NeXT’s trademark or other intellectual property rights concerning that name or logo.
If I were the OP, I would think of another name than to pay Apple for usage of the trademark and have to place 'NextStep is a trademark of Apple Inc.' like how Apple is paying for iOS with Cisco owning the IOS trademark.
"Next Step" is a common phrase. Multiple companies currently have a live trademark for "NextStep."
Folks, Thanks for you feedback on the Name, we will look to change it in the future.
Our logic was helping the user to the next step of the buyer journey, which is where the name came from.
Yes we know Apple has/had a product, We also know TCS has something called the NextStep program, but we beleive they are all in different spaces.
Our logic was helping the user to the next step of the buyer journey, which is where the name came from.
Yes we know Apple has/had a product, We also know TCS has something called the NextStep program, but we beleive they are all in different spaces.
Trademark name search is a software-supported service now. Buy a name research report before launching a brand.
Except don't use Corporation Service Company. They bought my company (NameProtect) and then fired almost everyone that built the software support, for no readily apparent reason.
Except don't use Corporation Service Company. They bought my company (NameProtect) and then fired almost everyone that built the software support, for no readily apparent reason.
Im becoming more and more tired of companies feeling compelled to nudge me in the direction they want when browsing the web (or doing anything at all, really). Please stop making these products.
Just don’t go there if you don’t like it. The net is huge. If there is no demand for something it will disappear eventually. There is no need to demand “stop making” ... just because someone feels “tired”.
Don’t go where? Any website that decides to “nudge” me like this? How can I know which sites to avoid?
Furthermore, just because there is demand for software doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. There are some things we should shy away from doing, even if we can make a buck. I’d venture to say that finding even more subtle ways to squeeze a buck out of someone who doesn’t want your product is an obvious candidate for that list.
Furthermore, just because there is demand for software doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. There are some things we should shy away from doing, even if we can make a buck. I’d venture to say that finding even more subtle ways to squeeze a buck out of someone who doesn’t want your product is an obvious candidate for that list.
While I understand where you are coming from, I beleive there is a need for tools that allow you to nudge the right users with targeting, in the targeted fashion, else what we will end up with is a place where tools will spam users and the only way to deliver ROI will be taking over entire screens and ruining the user experience. As we prove out targeted CTAs, we could actully make our Nudges more smaller, as the effectiveness will depending on copy and targeting rather than the size of the CTA
With a derivative name and derivative marketing/design, this just blends in easily with the crowd. This desperately needs a brand refresh to have any chance of leaving a lasting impression on potential customers.
Change name, not only is confusing, but you might end up being forced to change it if Apple decide to go after you.
And the logomark is almost identical to Apple News.
So, never thought about that, Infact since it is not available where I am, never saw the logo before. How we came about it is via the font Plaster (https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Plaster , check the S)
Can I suggest a different name?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXTSTEP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXTSTEP
Is it just me or are there increasingly more 'ProductHunt'-ish sites on the frontpage?
Last week we had Burnout.so, which was questionable, now this. I'll leave this here :
Registrar URL: http://www.namecheap.com Updated Date: 2019-06-02T10:26:14Z Creation Date: 2019-06-02T10:26:10Z Registry Expiry Date: 2020-06-02T10:26:10Z
Last week we had Burnout.so, which was questionable, now this. I'll leave this here :
Registrar URL: http://www.namecheap.com Updated Date: 2019-06-02T10:26:14Z Creation Date: 2019-06-02T10:26:10Z Registry Expiry Date: 2020-06-02T10:26:10Z
Not sure what a 'ProductHunt'-ish site is, but we have a fully functional product, working on our site, and a few early beta testers. Also, this post generated enough traffic where I acually could optimise the copy for my CTAs and see a higher CTR.