# Iblai Marketing Pricing Strategy

> When the user wants help with pricing decisions, packaging, or monetization strategy. Also use when the user mentions 'pricing,' 'pricing tiers,' 'freemium,' 'free trial,' 'packaging,' 'price increase,' 'value metric,' 'Van Westendorp,' 'willingness to pay,' 'monetization,' 'how much should I charge,' 'my pricing is wrong,' 'pricing page,' 'annual vs monthly,' 'per seat pricing,' or 'should I offer a free plan.' Use this whenever someone is figuring out what to charge or how to structure their plans. For in-app upgrade screens, see iblai-marketing-paywall-upgrade-cro.

- Skill: `iblai/iblai-marketing-pricing-strategy` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 4 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add iblai/iblai-marketing-pricing-strategy`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/iblai/iblai-marketing-pricing-strategy/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: iblai (https://skillmd.com/u/iblai)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/iblai/iblai-marketing-pricing-strategy

---


# /iblai-marketing-pricing-strategy

Design pricing that captures value, drives growth, and aligns with
customer willingness to pay.

## Step 0: Context Check

Read `.agents/product-marketing-context.md` (or `.claude/product-marketing-context.md`
on older setups) first. Only ask for what isn't there.

Pull this context:

### 1. Business Context
- Product type (SaaS, marketplace, e-commerce, service)
- Current pricing (if any)
- Target market (SMB, mid-market, enterprise)
- GTM motion (self-serve, sales-led, hybrid)

### 2. Value & Competition
- Primary value you deliver
- Alternatives customers consider
- How competitors price

### 3. Current Performance
- Current conversion rate
- ARPU and churn rate
- Customer/prospect feedback on pricing

### 4. Goals
- Optimizing for growth, revenue, or profitability?
- Moving upmarket or expanding downmarket?

---

## Pricing Fundamentals

### The Three Pricing Axes

**1. Packaging** — what's included at each tier?
- Features, limits, support level
- How tiers differ from each other

**2. Pricing Metric** — what do you charge for?
- Per user, per usage, flat fee
- How price scales with value

**3. Price Point** — how much do you charge?
- Actual dollar amounts
- Perceived value vs. cost

### Value-Based Pricing

Price on value delivered, not cost to serve:

- **Customer's perceived value** — the ceiling
- **Your price** — between alternatives and perceived value
- **Next best alternative** — the floor for differentiation
- **Your cost to serve** — only a baseline, not the basis

**Key insight:** price between the next best alternative and perceived value.

---

## Value Metrics

### What is a Value Metric?

What you charge for. It should scale with the value customers receive.

**Good value metrics:**
- Align price with value delivered
- Easy to understand
- Scale as the customer grows
- Hard to game

### Common Value Metrics

| Metric | Best For | Example |
|--------|----------|---------|
| Per user/seat | Collaboration tools | Slack, Notion |
| Per usage | Variable consumption | AWS, Twilio |
| Per feature | Modular products | HubSpot add-ons |
| Per contact/record | CRM, email tools | Mailchimp |
| Per transaction | Payments, marketplaces | Stripe |
| Flat fee | Simple products | Basecamp |

### Choosing Your Value Metric

Ask: "As a customer uses more of [metric], do they get more value?"
- If yes → good value metric
- If no → price doesn't align with value

---

## Tier Structure Overview

### Good-Better-Best

**Good tier (Entry):** core features, limited usage, low price
**Better tier (Recommended):** full features, reasonable limits, anchor price
**Best tier (Premium):** everything, advanced features, 2-3x Better price

### Tier Differentiation

- **Feature gating** — basic vs. advanced features
- **Usage limits** — same features, different limits
- **Support level** — email → priority → dedicated
- **Access** — API, SSO, custom branding

Tier structures and persona-based packaging: [references/tier-structure.md](references/tier-structure.md).

---

## Pricing Research

### Van Westendorp Method

Four questions that identify the acceptable price range:
1. Too expensive (wouldn't consider)
2. Too cheap (question quality)
3. Expensive but might consider
4. A bargain

Analyze intersections to find the optimal pricing zone.

### MaxDiff Analysis

Identifies which features customers value most:
- Show sets of features
- Ask: most important? Least important?
- Results inform tier packaging

Detailed research methods: [references/research-methods.md](references/research-methods.md).

---

## When to Raise Prices

### Signs It's Time

**Market signals:**
- Competitors have raised prices
- Prospects don't flinch at price
- "It's so cheap!" feedback

**Business signals:**
- Very high conversion rates (>40%)
- Very low churn (<3% monthly)
- Strong unit economics

**Product signals:**
- Significant value added since last pricing
- Product is more mature/stable

### Price Increase Strategies

1. **Grandfather existing** — new price for new customers only
2. **Delayed increase** — announce 3-6 months out
3. **Tied to value** — raise price but add features
4. **Plan restructure** — change plans entirely

---

## Pricing Page Best Practices

### Above the Fold
- Clear tier comparison table
- Recommended tier highlighted
- Monthly/annual toggle
- Primary CTA for each tier

### Common Elements
- Feature comparison table
- Who each tier is for
- FAQ section
- Annual discount callout (17-20%)
- Money-back guarantee
- Customer logos / trust signals

### Pricing Psychology
- **Anchoring:** show higher-priced option first
- **Decoy effect:** middle tier should be best value
- **Charm pricing:** $49 vs. $50 (for value-focused)
- **Round pricing:** $50 vs. $49 (for premium)

---

## Pricing Checklist

### Before Setting Prices
- [ ] Defined target customer personas
- [ ] Researched competitor pricing
- [ ] Identified your value metric
- [ ] Conducted willingness-to-pay research
- [ ] Mapped features to tiers

### Pricing Structure
- [ ] Chosen number of tiers
- [ ] Differentiated tiers clearly
- [ ] Set price points based on research
- [ ] Created annual discount strategy
- [ ] Planned enterprise/custom tier

---

## Task-Specific Questions

1. Pricing research done?
2. Current ARPU and conversion rate?
3. Primary value metric?
4. Main pricing personas?
5. Self-serve, sales-led, or hybrid?
6. Pricing changes you're considering?

---

## Related Skills

- **iblai-marketing-churn-prevention**: Cancel flows, save offers, reducing revenue churn
- **iblai-marketing-page-cro**: Pricing page conversion
- **iblai-marketing-copywriting**: Pricing page copy
- **iblai-marketing-psychology**: Pricing psychology principles
- **iblai-marketing-ab-test-setup**: Testing pricing changes
- **iblai-marketing-revops**: Deal desk processes and pipeline pricing
- **iblai-marketing-sales-enablement**: Proposal templates and pricing presentations