In-app announcements, even though relatively a modern offering, have taken the SaaS world by storm. In fact, it would not even be an exaggeration to say that in-app announcements also contribute majorly to Product Adoption and User Onboarding.
Feature updates are primarily done to provide smooth User Experience (UX) and to increase User Engagement. Product or app updating is not a big deal, but knowing when and how to announce are the biggest challenges.
Many SaaS companies face these challenges and trying to find an optimal solution. Rather than going for traditional methods like providing a video tutorial or conducting exhausting Onboarding sessions, companies can leverage “In-app announcements”.
What is an In-app Announcement?
In-app announcements are messages or pop-ups that are sent to the end-users within the application.
Used properly, In-app announcements make your end-users excited about what’s next and help them to identify what they’re looking for.
Research shows, companies that use In-app announcements see around a 30% increase in uptake of app launches and also 4 times increase in application retention.
Note: Improper usage of In-app announcements might make your users stop using the application.
The three main purpose of In-app announcements:
- To Increase Product Life Time Value (LTV)
- To Onboard New Hires
- To Reduce Complexity and Confusion
What are the benefits of In-app announcements?
- Increased satisfaction level
- Direct Communication with users about the product update
- Increased Product usage & User retention
- Improved Product Engagement
And lots more.
To get a deeper understanding of how you can leverage in-app announcements to your benefit, let’s take a look at the following:
- How to announce a new feature
- How to announce a new product release
- How to drive feature adoption with In-app announcements
- What are the best practices for In-app announcements
- How In-app announcements help in User Onboarding
How do you announce a new feature and a new product release?
Come out of the outdated and traditional methods (Emails, classroom sessions, videos, etc) of announcing a feature that are time-consuming and less effective.
The most effective way to inform users about the new feature update or product release is to use In-app announcements.
Many SaaS companies started leveraging In-app announcements, which excites and engages your end-users.
What are the best practices for In-app announcements?
In-app announcements best practices to notify what’s new:
- Create visually appealing & compelling message
- Keep end-user in mind and design accordingly
- Provide the most important information (avoid unnecessary content)
- Set milestones and celebrate short-term accomplishments
- Get feedback and resolve them at the earliest
- Create a vibrant Call to Action (CTA)
- Do A/B testing
How to drive feature adoption with In-app announcements?
The following are the steps involved to drive feature adoption with In-app announcements:
- Identify your Target group
- Make users feel excited
- Offer Features tour with walkthroughs
- Measure the outcomes
- Optimize the process
1. Who is your target group?
To foster feature adoption, you must identify your target group. Even though your new feature announcement benefits most of your user base, some updates will resonate with only certain personas.
For example, a new feature announcement on tracking user performance. The target group in this case: Managers, Leaders, Department heads.
For identifying the target group, ask yourself the following questions:
- Who is the new feature announcement targeted at?
- Is the announcement for power users or beginners?
- Is it for everyone or focused on certain personas?
By answering these questions, you might be able to identify the target group.
The next step is to communicate the message to them.
2. Make users feel excited
You must communicate in such a way that it must excite your users. There is a high chance that the information you provide might overwhelm them and discourage them from using the application.
Make your In-app announcements crisp and clear. Don’t try to dump all the information at one go. Give some breathing time and show them only what they need to know.
A few things that you must follow to create excitement:
- Clear, visually appealing and compelling In-app announcements
- Add eye-catching headlines and try to put in some images
- Provide only the most important information in your In-app announcements
In-app walkthroughs might sound new, but this is the best way for SaaS companies to achieve a smooth & effective product adoption.
3. Offer features tour with walkthroughs
The strategy of using only textual information on In-app announcements have fallen flat. Also, too much text content might force users to skip reading which results in improper messaging.
So, use some innovative techniques and try to show them what’s new. Some techniques divert your users outside of the application which kills product engagement and User Experience.
Instead, you want your users to stay within the application and get the most out of it. The solution is leveraging Software Walkthroughs, the game-changer in feature adoption.
In-app announcements with Software Walkthroughs can significantly improve your Product Adoption and User Onboarding by making your application easier to use. It is like an experienced guide sitting next to the end-users and showing them how to use your application.
Benefits of providing a feature tour:
- Increased engagement with the application
- In-app announcements with walkthroughs allow them to see the new features in action
- Users not only look at the new feature but also understand how to use it
- Provides tailored User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI)
A Digital Adoption Platform is a versatile tool that you can leverage to provide In-app announcements with walkthroughs, create customized tooltips, identify pain points, and do much more.
Wondering how? Stay tuned. More on this later!!
4. Measure the outcomes
What you don’t measure, you cannot improve. In-app announcements about new feature releases must be measured to get desired outcomes. Many applications don’t have scaling unit focussing on feature updates or product adoption, you must leverage some additional tools to perform these tasks.
You must know:
- How many users took the initiative to try the new features?
- How many have used all the new feature release?
- What is the user engagement level on the new feature?
- Where are they getting stuck and need assistance?
To know answers for these questions, you must have a tool that scales your In-app announcements.
Once you have the data, you can work on the metrics that are poor and resolve your user pain points.
5. Optimize the process
By following these strategies, you will ace your new feature announcements.
It is not about achieving success once; you must reap consistent benefits. For that, you must optimize the process of your In-app announcements.
Optimizing the In-app announcements process helps in:
- Reduced Churn rate
- Improved UX and UI
- Boost productivity
- Faster Product Adoption
- Smooth Onboarding
Optimizing the process might sound simple but in reality, many SaaS companies find it difficult to achieve. The reason is that not all users have the same skill sets. Each of them being unique, it is hard to get consistent success.
There are a lot many tools out there in the market to make In-app announcements, but investing in the right one determines your company’s success.
Spending thousands of dollars on tools that provide creative In-app announcements is not a big deal, the tool must possess a lot of other capabilities that foster your business goals.
A Digital Adoption Platform is one such investment.
As discussed earlier, In-app announcements provided by Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) like Apty fosters not only Product Adoption but also helps in User Onboarding.
This answers the question of How In-app announcements help in User Onboarding?
Digital Adoption Platform like Apty helps you get the most out of your In-app announcement. It is the one-stop solution for:
- Product Adoption
- User Onboarding
- Product Training
- Product Tour
- Business Continuity
- Change Management
- Remote Onboarding and Training
And much more.
By now, you must have understood the importance of In-app announcements and how it can drive feature or product adoption.
If you wish to make an effective In-app announcement that fosters Product adoption & User Onboarding, then you must consider a Digital Adoption Platform like Apty.
