How-to: an effective B2C web onboarding
My framework for B2C activation, engagement, and revenue
It’s been a bit more than a year since I’ve started consulting and I’ve been reflecting on how I helped exactly 17 products grow in 2024 alone.
While trying to reflect and streamline the process going forward, I’ve noticed a pattern that repeats itself—the same steps I take to help product grow. Being systems-oriented (I love me a good process), I created a simple framework for building or auditing an effective B2C (web) onboarding experience. Here it is, in a nutshell.
These are the steps I typically take when working with a client. We sometimes only do a combination of steps, or a whole thing. This is the full list, from attracting the right users to converting them (and beyond).
My Web Onboarding Framework
Imagine, you’re the owner of a B2C app and these are the questions we work through with you together:
Audit & Foundations
We’ll clarify what your product does, why it matters, and what specific problem it solves. We’ll also agree on the main goal of your (web)onboarding—do you need faster activation or user data for product improvements? Then we’ll review any existing assets (app, landing pages, content, traffic sources) to spot gaps and opportunities before proceeding.
Existing Resources & Leverage
Next, we look at what you already have and how we can use it. Do you have the team, time, and budget to execute this? Or is it more efficient to bring in outside support or hire a tool?
User Acquisition Strategy
Onboarding won’t work without the right audience. We identify who you’re targeting and how aware they are of their problem. If they’re brand-new to the solution, we may add a pre-onboarding step to warm them up. Bringing in a qualified audience makes everything else more effective.
Funnel Architecture
This and the next one are the biggest parts.
We structure the journey so new visitors can move smoothly from the very first touchpoint to a fully activated user. It’s based on proven frameworks, but we’ll keep it flexible for testing and improvements. No funnel is perfect from day one.
Narrative & User Psychology
We make sure you speak the language of your users and deliver an “A-ha” moment quickly. That means aligning your messaging, user experience, and interface. It all works together to keep them engaged.
The Paywall
This is where you make or lose revenue. There’s no one-size-fits-all paywall, but there are best practices. Our job is to make it easy for users to pay once they’re convinced. If you’d like help building a high-performing paywall, we can collaborate one-on-one.
Optimization & Experimentation
Once you have steady traffic, we can test every aspect—pricing, user flow, messaging, and paywalls. We’ll track what delivers the highest lifetime value while optimizing your overall growth process and team structure. Onboarding is never truly finished.
That’s the condensed version of my “onboarding building framework.” It’s also part of a new e-book I’m putting together, where I’ll share a deeper dive and insider tips on each step.
If you want a high-res one-pager with this framework, subscribe to my book launch, and I’ll send you the file as a thank you. You can always unsubscribe right after, but so far no one has.
Until next time.
Let’s keep building.