Not crazy about the new ClickFunnels-esque 'Upgrade' buttons...

[bgolden126 28]

Just saying... not only off-putting but rather distracting. Definitely not a motivator to turn around and pay a company.

Why not focus on creating value-added features/services/business collaborations or better position premium features so that their value is communicated, in order to attract users to paying for the platform rather than pushing them with 40% Off pop-ups or these bright yellow buttons?

As a long-time user, I would be happy to pay for Evernote, but aggressive marketing isn't going to win me over (nor would paywalling core functionality, FYI... both are brand killers).

[bgolden126 28]

On 11/5/2021 at 9:42 AM, bgolden126 said:

Why not advertise/highlight things like that to non-paying users? Advertising what you want (Upgrading) instead of what the customer wants won't work in any business.

I've never even seen what the edit history feature looks like, so why would I pay for it? Is it as good as Google Docs edit history, or is it garbage like Microsoft Office's shared files?

The new pop-up offering to customize your Home page then allowing users to preview the new Home page is absolute marketing brilliance! That's exactly what I mean by showing users how they stand to benefit from paid features. So long as the pop-ups are not overly frequent or repetitive, they provide actual value to the user that they may find more than worth paying for.

As a marketer, I guarantee this pop-up and gated preview has provided an immediate revenue boost. These are app-wide wins, rather than one-off sales. I love to see it, because I'm always rooting for Evernote and would love to see them succeed and continue growing.

[PinkElephant 8,066]

In fact I don't care as long as I am on the right plan for MY use cases.

When I NEED something from a more expensive plan, it will practically pay for itself. And what i don't NEED, I don't buy (except for that fancy stuff for which you find excuses for yourself).

So anybody on Free: As long as it serves you (and you don't need support, the note history, an OCRed pdf, sending yourself emails etc.), just stay on.

[gazumped 11,652]

1 hour ago, bgolden126 said:

As a long-time user, I would be happy to pay for Evernote, but aggressive marketing isn't going to win me over

I kinda think that is the point.  Long-time users of free products are just a drain on resources...  

[bgolden126 28]

On 11/3/2021 at 8:02 AM, bgolden126 said:

As a long-time user, I would be happy to pay for Evernote, but aggressive marketing isn't going to win me over (nor would paywalling core functionality, FYI... both are brand killers).

I say that from a business owner point of view, not a user.

For example, the premium features I would value as a user would be the edit history, using Evernote on more devices, and making notes accessible without an internet connection.

Why not advertise/highlight things like that to non-paying users? Advertising what you want (Upgrading) instead of what the customer wants won't work in any business.

I've never even seen what the edit history feature looks like, so why would I pay for it? Is it as good as Google Docs edit history, or is it garbage like Microsoft Office's shared files?

I think that's a huge missed opportunity for Evernote's marketing, and I'm a marketer (...would actually love to work on Evernote's customer acquisition).

[gazumped 11,652]

1 hour ago, bgolden126 said:

I've never even seen what the edit history feature looks like, so why would I pay for it? Is it as good as Google Docs edit history, or is it garbage like Microsoft Office's shared files?

Note history will give you a list of dates on which the content of a note changed,  and the ability to download the note as it was on each of those dates.  Invaluable for the occasional and unintended accidental batch deletion of content that can't be reversed with 'undo' commands.  

-And I rather think you're still missing the point. Free access was given at a time when Evernote pioneered the freemium approach and successfully generated over 200M users,  regularly connecting to Evernote's servers and theoretically entitled to an eye-watering amount of free storage in perpetuity (I worked out 2 zettabytes but I think my calculator froze on 9 zeroes...).

Some wouldn't use the software for a while (or at all) but of those who did start,  I'd imagine (because Evernote don't release their figures) that most who are going to subscribe do so quite quickly.  Long term users seem mainly happy to use their limited access with no real intention of ever supporting the resource allocation and development that goes into the service,  despite the succession of "if only you had <insert specialist feature here> I'd be more than happy to pay" posts we see here.

Evernote is now into damage limitation.  Free users are a total drain on storage and development resources,  and in hindsight (and MHO) it would have been far more sensible to go the "14 days free trial" route and close unsubscribed accounts down after that.  But the company is currently sticking by its customers - just limiting their access to 'encourage' them to make a decision. 

I don't think they have the time or the inclination to play nice - the note taking market is heating up and they're getting plenty of attention from new generations of GTD and productivity devotees: hence the new format and rapid development.

I initially subscribed (a dozen years or so ago) because I generally think it's a dumb idea to rely on free software if you're actually using an app.  I wasn't using the full service then either - but at least I didn't have to constantly check my usage,  and I had access to priority support and the other subscription bells & whistles if and when necessary.

I just lost access to another Windows app because I'd been trying it out in a free trial period and didn't think it did enough to warrant paying for (Think Evernote Personal levels of subscription.)  I had a nice little "your trial period has expired" message and the window left me a handy 'subscribe here' link.  Under the circumstances I think Evernote is remarkably generous with continuing free access even if there are limitations. 

Up to the individual whether to subscribe or go find an alternative.

[PinkElephant 8,066]

Personally I don’t think EN should do more or different to „win“ over users on the Free model.

We have a number of posts here in the forum of Free users complaining about „nagging“. I don’t think more nagging will change peoples minds. I think this holds true even if the nagging would be smarter than today. EN users are in general smart, and outsmarting smart people rarely is a good idea.

Currently either one is happy and stays on Free. Or somebody feels any (!) of the limits of the Free model to be too restrictive - then it is subscription time, and that is it.

EN has for a long time not really enforced the plans limits. They now do, we will see where it goes.

Personally I would give every fellow human on the planet 5 years of Free usage - enough to go with EN through any university course, or other economically difficult time. At the end I would offer 2 options: Download it all, and close the account, or subscribe. 

This would IMHO be fair enough, even if applied to existing accounts as well.

[bgolden126 28]

As a ~10 year Evernote user, I still haven't found a reason to subscribe. In fact, I didn't even know the benefits of subscribing except for the research I did for my previous post in this thread.
 

From this, I can surmise 2 things:
1. I'm not meant to subscribe. The features of the paid subscription are for more advanced users. (I edit between 1-10 notes per day on 2 devices, all of which are for personal use.)

2. There aren't features of the paid version that are useful enough to subscribe.

Therefore, it's simple to ascertain that either the benefits of a subscription need to be communicated more effectively but not aggressively (the marketing needs improvement), or the paid features need to be more valuable (the features need improvement).

For example, why not cooperate with other note-taking apps rather than compete? One such case is how I copy/paste notes I'd like to share to a Google Doc. I edit and collaborate on that note in Google Docs and sometimes (but not usually) copy/paste the changes back into Evernote. Otherwise, the original note In Evernote essentially dies. Why not integrate with Google Docs so you can create a Google Doc share link directly from Evernote and even update your Google Doc from Evernote 🤯... definitely something worth paying for and it means users working more in Evernote than off-platform.

Even as a free user, I'm fighting for EN. It's an integral part of my life, so I have nothing but goodwill towards  it and the team. But businesses aren't built on sympathy, and I don't think a they'll-upgrade-just-because-they-use-it strategy is even remotely legitimate. I want to see EN succeed and even flourish. I share these views as an attempt to support EN and help them succeed (because I would want nothing more), and I think helping them make changes that create wins app-wide have a significantly greater effect on the company than $7.99/month.

[gazumped 11,652]

1 hour ago, bgolden126 said:

I think helping them make changes that create wins app-wide have a significantly greater effect on the company than $7.99/month.

All due respect,  but nothing is a stronger recommendation for a service than "I'm a subscriber".  I started using Evernote more than 10 years ago,  but subscribed after a year because it seems unwise to me to depend in any way on free software that might go away at any moment.  Subscribing means the company has the funds to keep going.  Free models are all very well,  but they require a ton of development work and very substantial administration all of which has to be funded from somewhere.  The more freebies there are,  the more expensive a subscription becomes.  I'd be very happy for a lower subscription - of course they'd have to close down free account to fund that and give everyone (say) 30 days to either subscribe or extract their data... but it would be a very convincing conversion tactic...  

[Boot17 1,439]

 

4 hours ago, bgolden126 said:

From this, I can surmise 2 things:
1. I'm not meant to subscribe. The features of the paid subscription are for more advanced users. (I edit between 1-10 notes per day on 2 devices, all of which are for personal use.)

2. There aren't features of the paid version that are useful enough to subscribe.

Therefore, it's simple to ascertain that either the benefits of a subscription need to be communicated more effectively but not aggressively (the marketing needs improvement), or the paid features need to be more valuable (the features need improvement).

For me -- your #2 was the exact reason that I upgraded from Plus to Personal. The features of the paid version were useful enough to subscribe (initially to Plus and then to upgrade to Personal). And as a very small side benefit -- no adverts to upgrade.

[scojjac 61]

Yes, generic upgrade prompts are annoying especially to people who are already paying. I do like the simple indicators for specific upgrade features, though. For example on Personal: adding a second scratchpad or assigning tasks to someone have clear indicators. If I start seeing one of them a lot I can consider upgrading. Otherwise, I don’t like being reminded that I’m not on the most expensive plan.