How Beehiiv Onboards New Users

Ah, newsletters! The latest goldmine where everyone from your tech-savvy aunt to that college roommate who still owes you $20 is looking to cash in.

And you, dear reader, have decided to join the hive with Beehiiv. Why? Because their user-centric design and flashy features are as irresistible as honey to Winnie the Pooh.

So, you're hyped and you're ready to take the plunge into the Beehiiv ecosystem. Let's break down this user journey, shall we?

The Website

Ever heard of the ‘above-the-fold’ mantra? That's UX 101, folks. The Beehiiv homepage prioritizes “growth” – a newsletter founder's Achilles heel. Everyone wants to amass followers faster than a hipster cafe fills up during brunch.

Comparatively, Substack, you might want to take some notes (Substack has two CTAs that may sound a bit obscure and not so clear to the final user “Get the app” and “Create your Substack”).

Morning Brew's endorsement? Talk about leveraging authority in design! And the cheeky copy? Straight out of the Morning Brew playbook. It's like a wink across the bar from someone you've been eyeing all night.

Here’s a twist: Beehiiv opts for the 'less is more' approach. Instead of parading the product, they flex with words.

For Beehiiv, not showcasing the product immediately makes sense. After all, most people understand how newsletters function, so there isn't much need for explanation. To be frank, there's also little demand for yet another newsletter tool.

Therefore, establishing a robust brand identity is vital for standing out and gaining attention. Effective copywriting plays a crucial role in crafting a company with a unique tone of voice.

See what they write for their most popular features.

And some more…

Another essential component in building a strong brand? Testimonials that resonate with your target audience and align with your brand's ethos.

Shaan's testimonial? More compelling than a cliffhanger in a telenovela.
How many users have converted solely due to Shaan’s testimonial? It's worth noting that this isn't just a generic "the product is good" testimonial.

Examine the copy closely. What stands out? It narrates a concise yet impactful success story in just 5 lines, complete with tangible metrics.

The Signup

Alright, it's time to sign up. Let's get started!f

I may not be familiar with GannonBreslin.eth, but featuring a Twitter testimonial is a clever touch—it adds color and personality to the page.

What's noteworthy is their choice of a tweet with only a handful of likes and comments. It comes across as genuine rather than feeling like a sponsored post.

The standout feature here is the page's readability. It greets visitors with a warm "Welcome", followed by more friendly content.

Most crucially, they lay out the onboarding process transparently, letting me know it's just a three-step journey.

Ok, so I’ve completed the three steps, I am ready to lift off🚀. Let’s go…

Oh wait…

Suddenly, we’re plunged into the depths of Beehiiv. Question upon question. It's like a date with an overly curious aunt. But hey, there’s a friendly face for solace.

When I reply to the first question, the progress bar at the top moves on, basically to half its length. This makes me assume this whole form will just be…two questions long…?

So now I just need to add the name of my newsletter and it will be done!

Oh no, the progress bar hardly budged. It seems this might take some time.

Still, I recognize that I'm in the midst of setting up for my newsletter launch.

One more thing about this screen: it would have been helpful to clarify whether the domain name I'm selecting can be altered later on.

I'm aware I can change it down the road, but I'm left wondering: if I commit to it now, is it set in stone? Many people, even as they sign up, might not have a firm name in mind yet. They might simply want to get the initial setup out of the way and finalize the name later.

Some analytics on this page would be intriguing. I suspect some users might abandon the process here, hesitating over a name under the impression it's a permanent choice.

Alright, let's proceed…It seems there a few more steps.
Now I am asked to add some tags.

Probably a simple search bar could be useful. This wall of tags is not super friendly.

I choose three tags and move on.

Only to find that…

The progress bar has barely moved again… 😅

No worries, though. I'm in the process of building my newsletter, and I love that I can already customize it with my own logo.

Finally, I have the option to select my colors.

Personally, I'd rework this screen to visually demonstrate what primary, secondary, and tertiary colors represent. While there's a description for the primary color, the explanation for the secondary color “Accent color that complements the primary color” is somewhat ambiguous.

Let's take a moment to reflect: What's going on with all these steps? Setting up a newsletter isn't the most complex task, but as you'll soon realize, there are several tedious steps involved.

The clever team at Beehiiv has structured the setup process in such a way that by customizing a few elements early on, users are more inclined to complete the entire setup. This approach taps into the 'IKEA effect'.

Last step: we are shown Beehiiv’s pricing plans.

You aren't explicitly given a choice; however, from the content provided, it's evident that I've already been enrolled in a free trial (not a free plan, a free trial). While it's not entirely clear, I assume I've been placed on the 'Scale' plan.

Going on, I land on the dashboard where Beehiiv prompts me to verify my email account. Unfortunately, the screenshot I captured doesn't display the notification in the top bar.

When you confirm your email, you are actually taken the profile page, which despite being a very quick section to fill-out it’s also not the reason I am here.

Ok, let me go back to the dashboard.

The App

There's a primary call to action on the page, accompanied by what should be a more subdued secondary button – however, it's a tad too attention-grabbing. Its purpose? To assist you in crafting your first draft.

But there's more to explore. There's an intuitive to-do list present, a strategic tool for guiding users. Interestingly, 'Write your first draft' is positioned as the final step.

The advantage of such lists is their straightforward, step-by-step guidance.

On the flip side, they primarily serve as quick links to various sections within the app. This layout might make it slightly challenging for users to recall the location of specific features.

For now, let's embark on our first task: customizing my theme

The initial step involves customizing my theme. However, I'm initially uncertain about what exactly a 'theme' encompasses. Website theme? Homepage theme?

Okay, I'm starting to get it now: it's basically how the newsletter's gonna look when it pops up in someone's inbox.

A visual hint might be a valuable addition at this juncture. Picture a dynamic GIF showcasing newsletters with diverse designs and styles.

And I find myself within the builder, and for a moment, I'm not really sure of where I am.

Ah, I realize I'm inside the newsletter itself.

A straightforward method to guide users would be to replace the placeholder 'Lorem Ipsum' text with something more instructive and self-explanatory text.

The cool thing is that there are actually a lot of possible options to customize your newsletter and this is one of Beehiiv’s main features.

Okay, before we go on, there's this thing I noticed. Down in the bottom-left corner, there are a few options. But honestly? I'm scratching my head trying to figure out the difference between a landing page, an upgrade page, and the homepage.

Anyway, let’s pretend I have designed my theme and saved my custom design.

As you can see the navigation has changed so I can only click on “Exit” to get out of this page.

The thing is…When I click on exit to get back to the dashboard I am actually taken to the “Profile” page, which is not what I was expecting.

So, here's where it gets a bit funky. There's no clear sign pointing me to the dashboard.

I mean, I guess I'll click on that back arrow, but its placement is kinda odd, right next to the “Settings” label. Makes me feel like I'm heading back into Settings, which is, ya know, where I already am.

Well, whatever. I clicked, and boom, I'm back on the dashboard. Let's roll with it!

It’s nice to see the checkmark on the last step I’ve completed.

Now I have to customize my website…So I guess I will be taken to the same screen I’ve seen before, after all I’ve read Homepage, Landing page, Upgrade page.

But apparently….It’s a different kind of customization.

So I am setting the colors and the layout and then I go back to the dashboard.

But wait a second. Let’s say you are in the dashboard and want to make some more customization.

Looking at this sidebar, where would you go to customize your design?

Okay, so here's a twist. All those customization pages?

Tucked under the “Settings” page. I mean, c'mon, designing my newsletter is a big deal!

I get that most of us set it and forget it, but still, I was kinda hoping to find those customizations in their own special spot. Not chilling next to my profile, notifications, and password settings. A little odd, right?

But hey, no biggie. Let's keep the ball rolling. Time to gather my epic follower squad!

Let’s read the copy “Getting subscribers is easy, just share your new website with your friends, family and social media following”. So I am going to get an URL, right?

No, I am actually taken to the website. Now, the obvious thing to do here is simply to go on the URL bar in your browser, select and copy the URL so you can share it with your first circle of friends.

However a little bit more hint from Beehiiv would not have hurt.

A simple window where I can share the URL with multiple options could be useful.

It’s a pretty common path and you can find it it many applications but Loom does it perfectly…

And now, it’s finally time to write my first draft!

The post page is super clean. At the same time there are bunch of things that could be improved.

To make everything easier to understand, some dummy could be useful, maybe Beehiiv should steal this from Medium.

That being said, the cool part about Beehiiv? All the extras you can throw in.

Okay, here's another hiccup.

Over in the right drawer? Those toggles seem to be chatting about email stuff, but hold up – aren't we in the 'Post' tab? Why's it acting like we're in the 'Email' tab?

Anyway, not a major a problem, I am writing my first draft.

Okay, moving on. So I'm itching to get this post out into the world, right? But what's up with the default option being to schedule the post instead of just letting it fly? I mean, I see that little "Recommended" tag, but it's a tad cryptic. Kinda makes you scratch your head and think, 'Am I missing some insider secret here?

So I simply decided to publish the post immediately and luckily Beehiiv gives you an overview of what’s going to happen.

And that’s all folks!

Beehiiv raised over $12M in July 2023, so they are clearly building a great product. The latest news report they have 7,500 active newsletters that collectively have 35 million unique readers and see 350 million monthly impressions.

So while I may have been extra picky, they are clearly doing a lot of things right!

This is newsletter is written by AlwaysBeta, the design studio for SaaS companies.
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