Take a premium feature of your product and give access to free-tier users for a short period.
This strategy does two things: it offers a free test drive, piquing interest, and it also creates a sense of ownership in the user.
Two psychological effects come into play here: loss aversion and the endowment effect:
Loss aversion–the idea that it hurts more to lose something we have than to gain something we don’t.
The endowment effect–the principle that once we own something (even temporarily), we value it more than we did before we owned it.
When the trial period ends and the feature is once again locked, users tangibly feel a loss. They’ve seen the benefits, they’ve gotten used to the extended features, and they feel a sense of loss at the thought of giving them what they’ve gained.
This can be a powerful motivator to upgrade.
Of course, as with any strategy, it’s important to use this responsibly and ensure we’re truly adding value to our users, not just pushing for upgrades.
Have you paid for a premium version after getting to use it in a trial? I’ve loved my free experiences with products like Trello and Notion.