Who Is The Power User in SaaS + 4 Steps to Creating More of Them

What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the words 'power' and 'user' together? 

Something like, super-engaged users? 

Or, maybe casual users? Average users?

Are they the users that you depend on?

Users that support you? Make you feel proud of your business? 

Well, the answer is quite the combination of all the above. 

Power users are indeed your best users. And with this article, we will be uncovering their precise profile description, why it's important to have them in your business, how to identify them within your product with the help of proper user research, and the ways to create more of them; while consequently growing your audience size as well. 

Let's get started. 

Who is a Power User in SaaS?

A power user, put in the simplest form, is an active user; it is someone who has been interacting with your product or services for quite some time and has become highly involved in the process, as well as increasing their familiarity with all the features, advantages, disadvantages, flaws, and benefits of your product.

Your power users are usually your biggest fans, and supporters, and like a truly honest life-long friend, they don't think twice when it comes to pointing out your flaws, issues with the product, or anything of that sort.

These people are the people who don't hesitate to write long and detailed reviews and posts on numerous forums explaining complex and technical issues experienced in common areas, send bug reports, in-depth feedback to your staff, and talk about your product and recommend it to everyone they meet.

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What a dream, am I right?

They are basically the engine, the driving force that pushes your business forward. So now that we're on the same page about the precise profile description of power users, let's take a closer look into the benefits and importance of these users to your business.

Why is it important to have power users?

Ah, where should I begin?

Let me put it this way:

• They are great at increasing Average Customer Value. (ACV)

Retention is a key metric for SaaS businesses, and reducing churn is the ultimate goal since this business model works on subscriptions. Put simply; this means that the longer you keep a customer, the more you get paid. And for that exact reason, power users boost your ACV since they are stable, highly reliable, long-term users of your service. 

• They reduce Customer Acquisition Costs. (CAC)

Since power users are enthusiasts, extroverts, supporters, and cheerleaders of your product, they're highly likely to write positive reviews about you here and there, talk about you to a friend, spread the word about you, and so on—all for free.

These efforts of theirs enable you to have a marketing and selling environment completely on its own, up and running without needing you to do anything at all. And consequently, these actions make your customer acquisition process more effective than ever, reducing the CAC. 

• They increase your Net Promoter Score. (NPS)

Power users often broadcast your services and talk about how well your business manages to meet expectations. This attitude helps increase your NPS, which draws in new users and helps you grow accordingly. 

• They are a naturally developed customer success team.

The main reason why power users act as a customer success team for your business is that they provide answers to questions coming from regular users. They make posts on forums host chat rooms, offer constant feedback, let you know about the bug reports, and are always here to give you constructive criticism, telling you what they wish to see in upcoming updates and innovations. 

• They might uncover some surprises.

Power users are phenomenal when it comes to uncovering use cases and identifying new sources of value that you might have missed for some reason; they show you the way that leads to future developments which will speak to a broader audience's needs and requirements.

How do I find Power Users of my product?

Now that you know the influence of power users and how using them can benefit your company and take your business game to the next level, the second necessary step would be to understand how to pick these power users out from your general active user base. In this part, I will be talking about the key activities of power users, what characteristics to look for while searching for them and how to turn this knowledge into creating average user personas around their needs. 

• They’re constant users with highly active product usage.

Power users, above anything else, are your constant users; they use your products and services on a daily or weekly basis. What they usually do is buy at least one copy of each product you offer, even if they don't need it; they simply wish to experience and have detailed opinions on your product and provide constructive reviews for other potential users. 

• They're extremely loud when it comes to sharing constant feedback.

Honestly, it's a little bit hard not to be aware of a regular power user.

Why do I say this?

Well, I have my reasons. 

First of all, power users rarely -very- let more than a couple of weeks go by without providing some sort of feedback. They may use social media channels emails, submit bug reports, or provide in-depth reviews on your product review pages. 

They are known to be very quick with their opinions, praise, suggestions, and reviews. Once you launch a new update, power users are highly likely to be the first to reply with a bunch of comments or praise.

No matter how they choose to get in touch with you, you will eventually become familiar with their username and interact with them somehow. 

• They are usually early adopters. 

How do power users know a lot about your product?

The reason they are highly knowledgeable about your product is that they have either been with you since the very beginning or they have instantly adopted your product after they have heard about it or used it. 

And this characteristic is relevant whether your company is new or has been around for quite some time; whatever the case is, these power users have been using what you have to odder since day one, and as a result, they have a great deal of experience that they cannot wait to share. 

Primarily for software people, the audience who initially participate in your beta-tests for your services often become power users shortly after. If your company has existed for more than a couple of years, you can think of the presence of powers users as a reassurance. Therefore, remind yourself that whatever small mistakes you make, you still have many devoted users who are here to stick by your reputation and products no matter what.

• They have a strong influence on others.

As a natural result of all the characteristics mentioned above, power users greatly impact others. They usually have their way of communicating with your other users, and they are highly skillful when it comes to gaining new users. 

As long as you have a forum, a chat room, a discussion board, or a review section for users to gather around, brainstorm ideas. Share opinions on your products, it's highly likely that you'll come across these power users as the moderators of such discussion environments and the top-rated answer owners to the FAQs. 

Considering the time, money, and energy these power users invest in your business, other users usually pay great attention to what power users have to say and highly respect their opinions. 

4 Ways to Create More Power Users

Now that you have officially left behind the definition & the importance of power users, I feel like it's high time you learned how to get more of these ✨amazing✨ creatures that can help your business's overall success and growth. 

Let's look at the 4 essential steps to create more power users.

1- Make sure you provide sufficient support through in-app training.

The best way to remove friction and offer excellent support just when it's needed the most is with in-app training.

When you choose to use in-app training, make sure that your process for use case and audience size & segment is neatly planned, is distinct, and not connected to any other training. You could also supplement your pre-programmed onboarding processes with other indicators such as help documents,  knowledge base, FAQs, and other easier materials for users to understand and absorb when they desperately need them. 

It would also be great if you could make it optional, specialized, contextual, and interactive. And, last but not least, you should keep in mind that you shouldn't repeat training if you observe that it has been taken on board. 

2- Make it easier for users to integrate your application into their workflows.

To achieve overall value, you should be dealing with activating users, which means getting them over the primary problem of making them engage with your product.

This is the point where most SaaS companies choose to go with pre-made templates; to help their users get started easily and overcome the infinite & empty ''white page'' nightmare.

This is a particular problem that needs to be focused on at every stage of the process. And, yes, I mentioned that power users are your most knowledgable users, but this doesn't mean you can automatically assume that will be able to apply all their knowledge to brand new or improved features without any assistance. 

One of the key indicators of power users is that your app is deeply embedded in their workspaces and practices. They constantly use it in addition to other tools to reach success. And this is why if you wish to create more power users, you should pay great attention to your integration skills with other tools.

To give an example, here's how a majority of regular Twitter users turned into power users via the miracles of the integration process. 

3- Educate your teams.

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It's correct that after reading the article, you'll be exposed to much critical information about power users and their creation process. However, it's not enough to educate yourself on this matter, I'm afraid, your various teams - including product, customer success, support, developers, marketers - need to know as much as you do about power users, and they must be aware of the process of them achieving value. 

This kind of attitude will enable power users to receive an excellent user experience via in-app and other features, and you'll be ensured to get positive referrals as a result; what a win-win!

4- Don't hesitate to put in more effort.

I think you'll agree with me when I say this.

I believe power users truly deserve some well-managed, highly personalized, and closely examined experiences, don't you?

Well, of course, they do. 

And this is why, once you are done with identifying who your power users are, it's time for you to closely study what they do, individually. What are they doing in your app that other users don't? In what ways they're showing interest? How are they engaging? How can you implement these actions for a broader audience?

To get answers to these critical questions, you can use a miracle tool or what we call ''screen session recordings''. There are numerous tools out there that you can use, but Fullstory is rather an exceptional one. It's great for identifying and managing the majority of users. Give it a try!

With the help of these recordings, you will be able to track all the features your users use and where exactly they have a problem along the way; as a result, you will always stay ahead of any issues or frictions and keep your users satisfied for the long run.