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I don't think there's anything wrong with viewing the non-paying, ad-consuming users of your product as "users" or "clients"-- it doesn't mean you need to treat

I don't think there's anything wrong with viewing the non-paying, ad-consuming users of your product as "users" or "clients"-- it doesn't mean you need to treat them poorly. But, you should remember who your customers are, and what your business model is. The original poster seemed to think he had "millions of customers". He didn't, and doesn't, and that kind of fuzzy thinking isn't going to bring him any closer to the day when he actually does have millions of customers.

jacquesm 16y ago
Here's my view of the pipeline or the funnel, whichever term you prefer, for a membership / freemium site: - the world - visitors - recurring visitors - members - paying members The transition from being a transient to being a customer to me happens somewhere between the visitors and the recurring visitors stage, the point where people start to invest in the site, maybe store some content there or make some changes to the state. All the people from 'visitors' (inclusive) down I'd label as users, and the visitors themselves I'd label prospects. Fuzzy thinking isn't going to bring him closer, but rigidly defining terms in a way that is not suited to the current model (freemium services), but for instance more suited to selling cars or shoes is also not going to help. The lines are there, but the transition points are not quite as hard as they are in retail. Especially not in a subscription environment, users will deserve and demand to be treated as customers long before they fork over their cash or it isn't going to happen.
- michael_dorfman 16y ago
  All the people from 'visitors' (inclusive) down I'd label as users, and the visitors themselves I'd label prospects. I'd agree. And I'd label the "paying members" as "customers". users will deserve and demand to be treated as customers long before they fork over their cash or it isn't going to happen That's a key point. If you have to treat subscribers as if they were customers when they are not paying (i.e., put significant resources into support, etc.), your CAC is going to be high. That's not necessarily a problem in and of itself, but it's worth paying attention to.

jacquesm 16y ago

Here's my view of the pipeline or the funnel, whichever term you prefer, for a membership / freemium site: - the world - visitors - recurring visitors - members - paying members The transition from being a transient to being a customer to me happens somewhere between the visitors and the recurring visitors stage, the point where people start to invest in the site, maybe store some content there or make some changes to the state. All the people from 'visitors' (inclusive) down I'd label as users, and the visitors themselves I'd label prospects. Fuzzy thinking isn't going to bring him closer, but rigidly defining terms in a way that is not suited to the current model (freemium services), but for instance more suited to selling cars or shoes is also not going to help. The lines are there, but the transition points are not quite as hard as they are in retail. Especially not in a subscription environment, users will deserve and demand to be treated as customers long before they fork over their cash or it isn't going to happen.

michael_dorfman 16y ago
All the people from 'visitors' (inclusive) down I'd label as users, and the visitors themselves I'd label prospects. I'd agree. And I'd label the "paying members" as "customers". users will deserve and demand to be treated as customers long before they fork over their cash or it isn't going to happen That's a key point. If you have to treat subscribers as if they were customers when they are not paying (i.e., put significant resources into support, etc.), your CAC is going to be high. That's not necessarily a problem in and of itself, but it's worth paying attention to.