Product-led growth · PushOwl × Brevo

Turn first use into first win.

Simplified onboarding that reduces confusion, ships a first win, and builds trust across email, SMS, and push.

Trial architecture Pricing paths AI bundles Managed services

Order-aware offers

Routed every entry point through order-bucket logic so each store sees the right offer first.

AI creatives for first win

Prefilled copy, images, and guardrails so the first campaign ships with confidence.

Discounted trial fallback

A quiet safety net that appears only after stall signals—never the headline.

Managed setup plan

People-led outcomes with a defined scope, tight SLA, and capped weekly slots.

+35%

Revenue lift

+23%

Top-funnel lift

+15%

Conversion rate

PushOwl trial system collage
Context

Why this work mattered

Trials felt scary (“will I be charged?”), slow (“too many steps”), and the same for every store. I rebuilt them to be clear, fast, and sized to each team.

I anchored on three levers that balance trust with first wins:

  • Fair price entry with a discounted trial fallback that appears only after stall behaviour.
  • AI creatives that manufacture the first campaign and shorten the blank-page moment.
  • Managed setup plan near our upper tier for teams who want outcomes, not knobs.

North stars: start more trials, get to first send sooner, keep trial value per signup steady, and reduce refund anxiety.

Every offer routes through order-bucket logic so a 50-order store never sees the same headline as a 10k-order brand.

Offer system

Three offers, one backbone

AI creatives for a first win

More Day-2 sends with templates
  • Promise: Go from blank page to ad-ready in minutes. We prefill images, text, and settings so your first push/email can ship today. You can edit anything before sending.
  • Where it lives: BFCM tab, onboarding tiles, and “Create” screens with one-click templates tuned to each vertical.
  • UX choices: Prefilled copy blocks, safe defaults, and a preview + “launch now” state to keep momentum.
  • Success signals: More trials shipping a campaign within two days and shorter time-to-first-campaign medians.
  • Experiments: Template granularity, a Day-2 “outcome receipt,” and draft-to-launch nudges when work sits idle.
  • Guardrails: Count only sent campaigns and keep frequency caps locked in by default.
💸

Discounted trial (only if you stall)

Fewer billing questions after copy change
  • Promise: We start with a simple trial. If you pause, we surface a discounted option once so you can try without money stress. No surprise charges. Cancel in two clicks.
  • Where it lives: Topbar “Try free trial” chip after stall signals and a secondary CTA on pricing.
  • Trigger logic: Closed the trial modal, sat in settings without starting, or returned within a couple of days without progress.
  • Success signals: More hesitant stores starting trials while trial value per signup holds steady.
  • Experiments: Surface order, empathetic copy framing, and exposure caps (once per user per month).
  • Guardrails: Cap by order bucket, log every exposure, and roll back if value signals dip.
🤝

Managed setup (people-led outcomes)

Bigger stores booked consults when we showed capacity
  • Promise: Prefer outcomes, not knobs? We’ll set up core automations, ship one campaign, and hand you a two-week plan. Limited slots keep quality high.
  • Where it lives: BFCM tab with a capacity ribbon, pricing page panel, and a post-install banner for large stores.
  • Scope: Core automations, one managed campaign, KPI review, and a clean handover checklist.
  • Success signals: Qualified consults booked, managed starts converting to higher plans, and satisfaction staying high.
  • Experiments: Dynamic capacity ribbons, ROI proof tiles vs calculators, and whether to start with a free review or paid credit.
  • Guardrails: Weekly intake caps, crystal-clear scope, and SLAs that protect both teams.
Trust scaffolding

Make the trial feel safe

Every touchpoint reminds people they stay in control while we chase a first win.

  • Money clarity: Charged only after 14 days through Shopify. You can cancel anytime—link visible on every trial page.
  • Cancel path: Cancel in two clicks with a confirmation stub before billing.
  • Default-safe sending: Caps, guardrails, and “safe send” presets ship with every offer.
  • Inline checklists: “What you’ll launch today” cards keep scope explicit and calm.
  • Migration lane: Brevo users get a guided import so they never rebuild from scratch.
  • Support tags: Billing, setup blocked, migration—tagged to route conversations fast.

Value receipt block:

  • messages sent
  • subscribers captured
  • estimated revenue assisted (clearly labeled)

We ship this by Day-2 so teams see progress without guessing.

Surfaces & nudges

Meet intent when it spikes

Each surface is a gentle nudge layered on top of the trust work—not a pop-up trap.

01

Pick up where you left off

The nav chip shifts between default, “discount available,” and “resume your draft” so stores can jump back in without hunting.

02

Unblock the moment you try

A lightweight modal appears when someone explores AI creatives or automations without starting the trial, clarifying cost and next step.

03

Ship something today (BFCM templates)

A seasonal tab bundles countdown, AI templates, and the managed card with capacity so “I’ll do it later” becomes “I shipped today.”

Cohorts

Increase trial avenues by order bucket

Four cohorts, one system. Each store gets a primary offer and a secondary path tuned to their reality.

01

0–100 orders

Promise: Launch your first campaign today with AI creatives.

Primary: AI Bundle trial with outcome-first language.

Secondary: Fair trial leading to a discounted fallback if you pause.

Watch: First campaign inside two days, unsubscribe safety, support load.

02

101–2,000 orders

Promise: Standard trial first, discounted only if you stall.

Primary: Standard trial path.

Secondary: Discounted trial fallback when hesitation shows.

Watch: Trial value per signup, steady revenue quality.

03

2,001–10,000 orders

Promise: Self-serve plus AI assist; managed teaser after a win.

Primary: Standard trial with AI creatives surfaced inside “Create.”

Secondary: Managed teaser that appears once a first win ships.

Watch: Day-2 ship rate and healthy escalations to managed.

04

10,000+ orders

Promise: People-led setup with a tight SLA.

Primary: Managed setup plan near our upper tier.

Secondary: Self-serve trial stays available but not primary.

Watch: Consult bookings, plan upgrades, and same-day time-to-value.

Measurement & instrumentation

Prove value, guard quality

Instrumentation

Segment trials by order bucket × UTM × offer type (primary, fallback, AI, managed) × surface (modal, topbar, feature, pricing, seasonal).

What moved

Trial starts moved up meaningfully in the two smallest buckets and more trials shipped a campaign within two days.

Quality holds

Trial value per signup held steady while refund questions dropped after money copy changes.

Dashboards

PostHog for experiments, Metabase for revenue cohorts, Intercom for qualitative tags, and Canny for qualitative themes.

What worked / what broke

Keep the wins, own the misses

Worked

  • Fallback as a safety net lifted starts without conditioning every cohort to wait.
  • AI Bundle turned blank-page fear into same-day shipping.
  • Managed lane gave big stores a certainty path with a clear SLA and capacity caps.

Broke / Learned

  • One path for all cohorts created friction—order buckets fixed it.
  • Hiding billing details spiked refunds; explicit copy fixed churn.
  • Auto-enable without safe defaults flooded support; paired guardrails kept trust.
What's next

What I'd ship next

Show what you achieved by Day-2 (subs, sends, est. lift)

  • Turn the value receipt into a live module with clear caveats around assisted revenue.

Turn on a safe starter preset during trial

  • Auto-enable essentials with a single preset so stores feel progress without risking their list.

Adjust which offer you see by season and store type

  • Run an offer matrix that blends seasonality, vertical, and order bucket to keep routing sharp.

Managed “audit to plan” flow: templatize scope, slot scheduling, and follow-through so ops keep pace with demand.

Honesty

Risks I'm owning

  • Discount conditioning: Guarded by exposure caps, trial value monitoring, and LTV deltas.
  • Support load: AI + auto-enable paired with safe defaults and in-product guidance.
  • Seasonality bias: Maintain evergreen templates and adjust measurement windows.
  • Attribution honesty: Show assumptions; no over-claiming trial revenue.
TL;DR

Trials that earn trust and reach value fast

A three-offer system (AI creatives, discounted trial fallback, managed setup) routed by order bucket and activated through lightweight nudges made PushOwl trials feel trustworthy and fast to value—lifting trial starts, first wins, and paid conversion without leaking trust or margin.

See flows & notes

I can share dashboards and redacted notes on a call.