Provide a direct means for release notes teams to distribute necessary communications in an environment where marketing and sales teams control the majority of the conversation with users and customers.
Assist in reducing customer churn from dissatisfied customers and converting new website visitors into users by demonstrating the team’s active product improvement and learning how to write release notes.
You will learn how to create and distribute release notes, as well as how to use a few tools that make the process easier, in this guide. Additionally, there are templates for your own product updates.
Developers and product managers communicate brand-new features, significant bug fixes, and product enhancements to users through release notes. In order to make it simple for users to locate all of the most recent updates in a single location, they are typically stored in a feed, page, or blog category.
Why do release notes exist?
A crucial step in the release cycle is the writing of release notes.
The advantages of writing release notes for each major release are as follows:
Enhance the use of the product: When users are aware of new features, they are more likely to try them and keep an eye out for them. They start trying out new features and using your product more frequently as a result.
Reduce absenteeism: If users have been waiting for a new feature, you can avoid user churn by informing them as soon as it becomes available. Release notes help reduce churn by reminding users that your company always has the features they need, even if they aren’t directly waiting for a particular feature or improvement.
You can convert potential new customers by demonstrating that your product is constantly evolving and improving.
Who has responsibility for the release notes?
Depending on the size and complexity of the business, a different position will be in charge of writing and publishing release notes. Article, the release note will have a title and content for the body. The release note’s title should be as brief as possible. You can give it the name of the improvement or feature.
For instance, some of the most recent titles in our own release notes are as follows:
Make sure to explain the significance and meaning of any technical language in your release note if your target audience is not technical.
In our announcements feed, we frequently use the following tags:
To avoid confusing your users, you should limit the number of tags in your monthly summary to two to four.
Connect the user idea submissions You should also link that announcement to the user idea submissions that are relevant. You can link a release note to a relevant idea and actually show users a preview of the idea if you use a tool that has features for ideas, public roadmap all in one place. Or you can include a link to the idea URL in a line of text that reads, “And thanks to the user who submitted this idea, which you can view here.”
By tying the concept to the release note, you demonstrate to your clients that you regularly take their feedback into account and act on it. Naturally, not every release note will incorporate a user suggestion; rather, some of them will be for improvements inside the company. Connect them whenever you can to demonstrate your concern for your customers.
Software makes it simple to publish and share release notes. Using software, you can quickly publish without the approval of the digital marketing or content team. Users must have access to their own channels of communication with the development and product management teams. That can be helped by making use of a tool.
There should be three characteristics in a tool.
The features of different tools vary. Some only permit the publication of product updates, while others include tools for managing a public roadmap and soliciting user feedback.
1.Possibility of linking submissions of user ideas to go along with them. To demonstrate to users that you value their feedback and to explain why you released that update, you will want to be able to link user idea submissions to their associated release notes.
User idea submissions, and public roadmap are all in one place. Choose a tool that lets users talk to each other and provide feedback. In order to openly communicate your roadmap planning to your users, you will require a public roadmap as well as an idea board for collecting feature requests.
Roadmap Additionally, check to see that the software you select allows users to comment and upvote ideas. You can use this to prioritize submitted ideas over others.
Naturally, the ones you shared via email and social media the most frequently will also get the most responses.
Who ought to compose release notes?
Release notes should be written with end users in mind because they are essentially marketing materials for customers. Should not be written by your developers or engineers. Yes, they can write briefs about them; however, your content marketing team must receive these briefs.
Customers should be able to easily understand the tone of voice used in should reflect your brand and be familiar to them. They must be written with the end user experience in mind, just like how the same ideas drive product innovation.
Make sure your product launch team can proofread their work before it goes live and educate your writers about the new features and how they will affect your audience before it goes live.
The following is the most effective method for distributing informing customers about product updates:
Newsletter: Inform your most devoted customers of important product updates immediately.
The First Page of the Website: inform each visitor that there are additional options.
We have you covered if you need to create your product or product features. You can begin writing release notes that enhance your brand and customers’ product experiences with this free template.
Consider how the energy, fun, and, ultimately, results of the engagement strategy can benefit your business. In order to give them a novel spin on the product, they are combining your release notes with theirs.
