When it comes to revenue growth, acquiring new customers is only half the battle. Real growth comes from expanding the value of a company’s existing customer base—which is where cross-sell and upsell strategies come in. When done right, these motions can significantly boost revenue, increase customer retention, and deepen product engagement, all without the high cost of acquisition.

As email and other traditional channels grow noisier, the most effective way to reach customers with cross-sell and upsell messages is inside the application itself. Embedding these opportunities directly within your software ensures they’re timely, relevant, and seamlessly integrated into the user experience.

The building blocks of an in-app expansion strategy

The key to in-app cross-selling and upselling is to provide contextual information to customers based on how they’re using the product, and then make it as easy as possible to upgrade. Here’s a quick overview of what this looks like:

- Identify the sentiment and behavior trends of recently-upgraded users with NPS and product analytics data
- Segment user feedback by subscription level to see which users are requesting features that exist, but they don’t have access to
- View session replays of users trying to access product areas or features that they don’t currently have
- Use in-app guides to target specific users with upgrade or expansion messaging, based on the signals identified in quantitative and qualitative data

Most importantly, remember to always provide the “why” behind what you’re offering: how will this help these users, and why should they buy it? To help inspire your own strategy, here are five use cases for driving cross-sell and upsell motions inside your software.

1. Solve an immediate problem

Think about how you can include upgrade options within your product that offer an immediate solution to a customer’s problem. For example, if your application requires users to purchase storage space, you can use in-app notifications to notify them when they’re storage is almost out, and provide a direct link to purchase more. You could also create in-app guides to let users know about an upgrade option they might not be aware of—the simple act of moving this communication inside the product can go a long way.

2. Convert trial customers

If you have a subset of trial users, first look to your product usage data to try and uncover any patterns in those that convert to paying customers. Once you’ve identified which features or workflows drive conversions, you can set up in-app walkthroughs to steer users to those particular features or actions in the product. As you get started, set an initial goal (e.g. to increase trial conversion by ten percent) and track your progress over time.

🌎 Real-world example: Citrix used paid search data to build out first-time use messaging based on why a user created their free account. They leveraged Pendo Guides to walk new users through the exact workflow they were searching for—creating a personalized experience right off the bat. As a result, the company saw a 60% increase in free trial conversions.

3. Focus on a single high-value feature

Rather than taking a broad approach to upselling, one effective tactic is to hone in on a specific feature that a portion of your users aren’t currently paying for. Then, create an in-app messaging campaign targeted to this segment of your user base, offering information and examples of how their workflow could be improved with this additional functionality.

You can also use product data to identify two features that many of your users leverage together, and then target customers that only currently have one or the other in their subscription or account.

🌎 Real-world example: LastPass used Pendo Guides to deliver targeted, on-brand messages directly within their product to educate users, highlight key features, and promote upgrades with timely offers. In 2023, the company attributed over $500K in new bookings to Pendo campaigns.

4. Automate a product demo

The ultimate in-app expansion tool is an automated demo that walks customers through the product without any involvement from your sales team. This is particularly effective in exposing customers to additional parts of your product that they might not be currently utilizing.

To make the experience even more personalized, you can tailor any content you provide (videos, customer success stories, etc.) to the user’s role, account type, or use case. You should also make sure any relevant pricing or purchasing information is easily accessible, for example by linking to these resources within the demo.

5. Target a new persona

If you’ve identified a new persona using your product, think about how you can better serve these users with features and functionality they might not be leveraging. By tracking how these customers use the application differently from your existing user base, you can identify opportunities to expand their usage and offer upgrades to meet their specific needs. And by using personalized in-app guides to highlight functionality that will directly impact users’ success, you’re more likely to drive action compared to communicating via email or another channel outside the product.

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Pendo enables teams to combine quantitative, qualitative, sentiment, and visual data and then build targeted in-app cross-sell and upsell motions that drive revenue. Get a demo to see it in action.

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Cross-Selling

5 ways to drive cross-sell and upsell motions inside your software