Every product manager’s nightmare: the product team spends weeks and months building a shiny, game-changing feature, only to get hit with low feature adoption rates.
There could be many reasons for this: perhaps they didn’t understand how the feature works – or worse, they never knew you could do a certain action on your platform.
As a product manager, your job doesn’t end with creating new features. You need to focus on how you announce new features to wow your customers.
In this article, we’ll dive into how you can introduce a new feature to your customers with strategic marketing campaigns and user onboarding initiatives ⬇️
1. Promote new features with In-App announcements
In-app communication includes messages delivered to users while actively using an app, whether on mobile, desktop, or a browser. Here are some in-app strategies you should consider when planning for your next launch to promote the new feature on your site and your product:
Use in-app notifications, pop-up banners
In-app notifications appear on user screens while actively using your app, allowing users to take specific actions, such as testing a feature or upgrading their subscription.
Some instances where you can use in-app notifications include feature announcements, limited-time promotions, product update notes, and welcome screens to activate new users.
For example, Figma demonstrates how new features work, and their call-to-action leads to release notes or prompts users to engage immediately.
( Image source: Figma )
Release notes
Release notes summarize all your product updates in a neat order, timeline, and accessible location.
These notes inform users about what’s new and how the product has improved since the last release. Below is an example of a release note that cna be created with Product Fruits.
Website announcements (i.e. website banners)
Website banners are your site’s digital billboards, proudly displaying the new feature release. Your site visitors can learn more about new features by clicking on in-app banners.
2. Use emails to call attention to new features
A feature launch announcement email is a great way to send new feature updates and encourage users to engage with your product. It informs users about new updates without cluttering the UI with too many messages. People check emails every day, so when you’re launching a new feature via email make sure to link it back to your platform and create the appropriate onboarding flows.
👀 12 Onboarding email examples to increase trial to conversion in 2024
ClickUp does an excellent job by including a video explaining how to use the feature in the email.
(Image source: ClickUp)
3. Promote your feature on Social media
People today are “chronically online” more than ever, so if you want to grab their attention – social media is the way to go. Here are a few ways you can use social platforms to hype up your new feature release:
Webinars with FAQs, success stories, tutorials
Running webinars to highlight customers’ success stories is one of the best ways to announce your feature updates.
This is because they help announce new features and share the story behind them. You can go over use cases that will benefit most from it, educate users on how it works, and include case studies that demonstrate the importance of the new feature in users’ journeys.
Social media posts
Design eye-catching and scroll-stopping social media posts to attract your target audience who are not your active customers. Experiment with different types of content, like videos, gifs, and popular memes. You can ask everyone in the company to post from their accounts to generate awareness about the launch.
Here’s an example of how Product Fruits announced their new AI-powered onboarding feature:
4. Use Beacons to capture the attention of users
Beacons are small markers that guide users to focus on specific design elements or features. They offer users instant tips and guidance, making it easier for them to navigate without needing as much support.
With beacons, you can:
- Design Hotspots to match your product’s look
- Hide a Hotspot after a user interacts with it
- Connect Hotspots to both static and dynamic UI elements
- Target users based on their behaviors and attributes
Tooltips, hints, and flashing beacons
Tooltips are small pop-ups that help users understand new features as they go through the onboarding process for a new app.
You can design them in a way that highlights the most valuable features and guides users on how to interact with the product, drawing the user’s attention to the next steps and providing contextual help as they navigate the app.
5. Use Guided tours
Guided product tours act like compasses, helping new users learn how to use your product. They are especially important for complex products because they allow users to learn how to use the product more quickly.
Effective product tours help users reach the “aha moment” in three key ways:
- Product tours teach users how to use the most important features based on their roles, simplifying the learning process.
- Instead of just showing features, effective product tours encourage users to take action. This “learning by doing” approach helps users remember how to use the product better.
- Well-designed product tours make it easier for users to start using the product, which increases the chances of them continuing to use it and recognizing its value. This helps keep users interested in the product and using it regularly.
Product tours are essential for helping users learn how to use a product independently. When done well, they help increase users’ use and retention of the product and reduce users’ questions and the need for extra help.
👀 Check out our cheat sheet to build the perfect onboarding flow
6. Use the support team to nourish excitement
Your support team isn’t just there to troubleshoot issues; they also play a crucial role in building excitement around new features. Here are some ways how you can involve your support team in a feature launch:
Inform support team
You can do this by holding training sessions or giving them detailed documents. When your team can confidently discuss the new features and clients feel like they’re receiving insider information, it makes customers feel important!
Create hype about upcoming features to existing customers
Keeping your customer in the loop about your feature upgrades and asking for their feedback goes a long way because it makes them feel like their opinions matter. When discussing upcoming features, your support team can tailor their conversations based on how the new feature is a game changer for their existing business processes.
Make sure all the tutorials, knowledge base, and videos are up to date
Your customers typically defer to your knowledge base when they have questions about the product. Update all your tutorials, articles, and videos to include everything about the new feature and keep customers informed about how they can better use the product after the feature launch.
Just launched? Gather feedback for continuous product growth
Collecting user feedback is crucial for understanding their needs, preferences, and pain points. By monitoring the right metrics, companies can measure success and pinpoint areas where they can optimize for business growth.
Creating a feedback loop, whether through user feedback widgets or NPS surveys, keeps the lines of communication open with customers.
It helps you understand their experiences and proactively adjust to meet their changing needs. Prioritizing user feedback strengthens our product development and builds long-term customer satisfaction and loyalty, paving the way for sustained growth and success in the competitive marketplace.
Check out our feature launch checklist, which gives you an end-to-end breakdown of how to nail your feature launches!
