Looking for a feature release example that will get your users to discover and engage with your new feature?

Imagine your product team is working day in and day out to launch new features and enhance the value of your product.

But once launched, nothing happens.

Sounds familiar?

In this article, we’ll briefly cover different ways to leverage feature releases and look at some great examples of how other SaaS businesses announce new features.

Summary of feature release example

• New feature release announcements are how you communicate and announce what’s new in your product
• They are great to introduce changes to your existing active users, bringing back churned users, or attracting new potential customers to try your product
• Announcing new features help with driving feature discovery, attracting new potential users, and re-engaging with churned users
• To communicate your feature and product launches use a combination of channels and mediums: in-app messaging announcements (modals, tooltips, slideouts), email announcements, blogs, social media posts, product listing&discovery platforms (Product Hunt)
• Use modals for important announcements of primary features or complete redesigns
• Slideouts are the toned-down version of modals and you should use them for secondary feature announcements
• To announce feature enhancements or smaller updates use tooltips
• Pair modals and slideouts to announce the new features and a webinar meant to onboard users to it
• Use emails to re-engage with lost customers by letting them know about the changes in the product, when you launch features they wish your product offered
• Blog posts and social media posts can help you attract and engage new audiences with your feature announcement and drive new trial signups
• Product Hunt can work great for multiple feature releases that bring your product to the next level
• Want to build in-app modals, slideouts, and tooltips to announce what’s new in your product and drive engagement? Get a Userpilot Demo.

What is a feature release announcement in SaaS?

New feature release announcements are how you communicate and announce what’s new in your product.

They are great to introduce changes to your existing active users, bringing back churned users, or attracting new potential customers to try your product.

Why are feature release announcements important?

There are three main reasons it’s important to use product and feature release notes.

Drive feature discovery

This is important especially if you have a complex product UI. Every time you launch a new feature you risk users not even knowing it’s there.

Using different channels to announce it and point users to it will ensure increased feature discovery and reduce the chances of users leaving due to missing functionalities in your product.

You can use a churn survey to direct users to contact you if they are leaving due to a missing feature but surely the best way is to make sure they discover features before deciding to leave.

Attract new potential users

When you continuously speak about your product and its new features on public channels not only do you drive brand awareness but the new feature you just launched might be exactly what someone scrolling through social media was looking for.

Talking about what is new in your product will attract new users while showing existing users that your product is continuously evolving.

Re-engaged with churned users

Let’s look back for a second on the churn survey example above on how Leadpages tells their users that the feature they are missing and it’s causing them to cancel their account might actually be there.

Now, the feature is either there but wasn’t properly announced so users didn’t discover an engaged with it or the feature is in fact missing.

If it’s the latter, there’s nothing you can do except take note and consider adding it if it aligns with your product vision and roadmap. And when you do, sending an email to those churned users might bring them back to your product.

What are the channels you should use for feature releases?

Here are the four main channels that you can use for feature release announcements of your product:

• In-app messaging: in product announcements to your existing customers (using modals, tooltips, slideouts, etc)
• Email announcements: to re-engage churned users and to send product release notes to existing customers
• Other channels announcements: blog articles, social media posts, press releases, product listing &discovery platforms (Product Hunt)

9 great examples of feature release announcements

Whether you’re launching a new feature or an update or enhancement to an existing one, you can use multiple channels for your new feature announcement, as we’ve discussed above.

So here is a collection of the best release notes and announcements we’ve seen, separated into in-app announcements and external channel announcements.

Feature release examples using in-app messaging

#1 – In-app feature announcements using modals

Modals are a great way to share newly launched features with your existing users. Especially for major product updates.

These large UI patterns do a good job at drawing the user’s attention as they show directly in the middle of the screen blurring the rest of the UI.

Since these can a bit intrusive, consider using them only for important announcements and product release notes.

Here’s an example of how Moz used one for an important feature enhancement release.

#2 – In-app feature announcements using slideouts

Slideouts are the toned-down version of modals. They’re less intrusive as they slide out on a corner of your screen instead of popping up in the middle and interrupting your activity.

You can use them for:

• reminding users about a new feature release after they’ve seen a modal
• communicate your product release notes for secondary features or features enhancement

Here’s how Postfity used one to announce to existing users about the availability of the new feature. Adding a micro-video attracts the user’s attention and a simple CTA prompts them to take action now- driving feature discovery.

#3 – In-app feature announcement using tooltips

While modal and slideouts are great to introduce new features to your audience when they start using the product, tooltips are great to remind them about how certain features can help them.

Also, a small tooltip might be all you need for announcing smaller features, especially if the release is about an enhancement to an existing feature.

Here’s a great example from Slack.

#4 – Feature release announcements using webinars

Best way to create awareness about product features and attract new customers? Always be combining multiple channels and message types.

When Userpilot launched a new feature, we decided to launch a webinar to make the users aware of these new features and how to use them.

And of course, we had to use Userpilot to do it.

We first used a modal for the new feature launch announcement…

..then added a slideout to invite users to the webinar, after they engaged with the modal.

#5 – In-app feature release notes example

Product release notes are a great way to remind users about product changes and bug fixes.

And who says you can’t share your release notes right there, inside the app, where the user is.

You don’t have to share all your release notes info.

It’s enough to use a short message either using a modal, slideout, or even a tooltip outlining the changes and add a relevant CTA sending the user to read the full release notes.

Feature release examples using other channels

#6 – New feature announcement using email

Emails are not only for blasting messages to your entire user base. You can also use them to bring back churned users.

A churned user stops using the product immediately after they realize the functionality they have been looking for doesn’t exist in your product. Sending new feature announcements using email to them helps you reconnect with your churned users and reengage them.

Make sure to implement a churn survey to understand why your users are leaving.

Then email them when you have an announcement that’s relevant to them.

Smart move, isn’t it?

#7 – New feature announcements on the blog

If you want to reach out to new customers and drive engagement, introducing your feature release on social media platforms is a great way to do it.

Yes, social media platforms are one of the simplest ways to drive engagement to your product and introduce the new features that you launched.

When using social media to announce new feature releases, follow these best practices:

• Use images, screenshots, gifs, and videos to guide your customers
• Make sure your social media copy follows a pattern-announcement intro, benefit for customers, call to action.

Take a look at this LinkedIn announcement that Asana used to attract new customers.

They have used a punky beginning in their social media copy to introduced the new feature, what this new feature has for the new customers.

They make their announcement quirkier by adding the call-to-action to use the feature along with a video that shows the customers how they can leverage this new feature.

#8 – Feature release on social media

If you want to reach out to new customers and drive engagement, introducing your feature release on social media platforms is a great way to do it.

Yes, social media platforms are one of the simplest ways to drive engagement to your product and introduce the new features that you launched.

When using social media to announce new feature releases, follow these best practices:

• Use images, screenshots, gifs, and videos to guide your customers
• Make sure your social media copy follows a pattern-announcement intro, benefit for customers, call to action.

Take a look at this LinkedIn announcement that Asana used to attract new customers.

They have used a punky beginning in their social media copy to introduced the new feature, what this new feature has for the new customers.

They make their announcement quirkier by adding the call-to-action to use the feature along with a video that shows the customers how they can leverage this new feature.

#9 – Feature release announcements using product hunt

Product discovery platforms like Product Hunt are great places where for your product launch.

Use this channel when you are launching a new product or a major update in your product.

While getting discovered on Product Hunt is a great strategy to expand your customer base, you need to educate the users about the new changes you made in your product by writing an effective product description.

Poptin has done this well on Product Hunt by doing two things:

• embedding a Youtube video showcasing how their new feature update works
• listing down the new features and updates together and grabbing the attention by using a rocket emoji to retain the attention span of customers

Conclusion

There you have it. I hope these examples inspire you and the next time you need to share release notes with your users you’ll know the exact channel to use.

Want to announce your new feature release in-app without having to code? Get a Userpilot Demo and see how you can create personalized in-app messages for your next launch.