Hotjar equips product teams with Product Experience Insights, showing them how users behave and what they feel strongly about, so those teams can deliver real value. Discover product opportunities, consolidate qual and quant, and communicate user needs. Our team works on the compelling challenges that come with large-scale web traffic and analytics, on a product that has a real impact on the thousands of users we support around the world. We work in an agile environment, 100% remotely, and actively encourage both personal and professional growth; always be learning is one of our core values. Headquartered on the beautiful island of Malta, in the ‘heart’ of the Mediterranean, Hotjar is a successful start-up that operates on a fully remote basis, and with a key emphasis on personal development. Spread throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, our team casts a wide net across a multitude of locations, lifestyles, and backgrounds. It’s our differences that make us interesting, and our shared belief in Hotjar’s core values that bind us together. Hotjar's culture is driven by respect, transparency, collaboration, and direct feedback. We have no room on our team for disrespect, office politics, or discrimination of any kind. We're obsessed with communicating with our users as well as within the team. We hate bureaucracy and slow-moving organizations – but we're suckers for well-defined processes. We love lean, iterative improvements, and success is measured by the value we create for our users. Find out more about our product on our company site (www.hotjar.com) and product roadmap (http://htjr.io/roadmap). Learn more about our company culture and what it's like to work at Hotjar on our careers site (careers.hotjar.com) and company blog (www.hotjar.com/blog).

Hotjar

hotjar

Learn how David and the Hotjar team utilized other people’s email lists to fuel their initial growth, going from $0 to $19 million ARR in just 4 years. Note from Davis Baer : This interview is a little different than most of the previous founder interviews. Rather than a text interview, David and I decided to hop on a video call. Hope you enjoy it! is a SaaS that reveals the online behavior and voice of users through tools like heatmaps and visitor recordings. Hotjar David’s recommended books: The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing Making Websites Win This interview is brought to you by , a tool to schedule and automatically repeat your posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google My Business OneUp

Founder Interviews: David Darmanin of Hotjar

Knowing just what you want is not enough. What your customers are looking for and what attracts them the most is the game-changer for your business. You might not be able to boost your conversion rates with just any strategy. You must know how and where your customers interact with your business. Customer analytics tools could be the most helpful for the same. Let us help you out by suggesting the best customer analytics tools for your business and helping it thrive. Here is a list of 10 Customer analytics Tools for Every Business Size. But first, let us start with the basics. What Is A Customer Analytics Tool? A customer analytics tool helps you understand the interactions that visitors make with your business and what strategies are bringing the best results. Numerous online tools help you do so. It collects, analyses, and suggests any changes required in your current customer acquisition strategies. Why Do You Need Customer Analytics Tools? of customers stay loyal to brands that “get them.” You can achieve this by using customer analytics tools. 56% Through customer analytics tools, you understand your customers' needs and form better strategies if the current ones are not effective. It could help you make strategies suitable for particular groups of customers to keep them loyal to your business. Here are some more reasons that customer analytics tools are important for your business- Increase Response Rates Knowing what your customer wants can help you offer them exactly what they want. Customer analytics tools help you understand this and deliver customers what they wish for, which will increase the response rates of your business. Reduce Costs By knowing what a group of users want, you can offer that particular thing to them where it is more likely to be noticed and then purchased. Doing so will help you cut costs on users who would just ignore your offers because they are not interested. By reducing these unnecessary expenses, more can be allocated towards a more precise . marketing budget Keep Track of Your Strategy Success With customer analytics tools, you will be able to keep track of how your marketing strategies are working and what needs more effort. Through these tools, you will be able to identify market trends and determine what is helping with customer acquisition and what’s not helping. Understand Whom And When To Target Knowing what and where your visitors are losing interest and why it is happening could help you make better strategies and work as per the needs of that specific group of users. You could use to read emails and categorize customer groups as per their interests. intent detection Increase Brand Awareness With customer analytics, you can understand who and how many people are interested in your brand, and then you could offer your services to them through ads, pop-ups, etc. 10 Customer Analytics Tools & Software for Every Business By now, you know what customer analytics tools are and how they are helpful. But I had to find common ground for businesses of all sizes, so here is a list of 10 Customer analytics Tools & Software for Every Business. These will help you build customer analytics techniques. 1. Google Analytics Google Analytics helps you track and analyze your website traffic. With this tool, you can gather lots of information about your customers, such as their age, gender, residence, and where they reached your website. This helps you keep track of your target audience, whether a specific group, a gender, an age group, or a locality. You can start with this platform even as a beginner, as no coding knowledge is required. Plans $0/year Free Version: $150, 000/year Paid Version: 2. Hotjar.com Source: Hotjar.com This platform helps you collect qualitative data about your customers. Hotjar offers heatmaps to show where your users interact the most, where they come from, and where they scroll down. Also, you can get a recording of their visit to help you understand their needs. that help you understand what you are missing out on and where you need to work as you have a direct connection with your users and imply customer analytics tools. Hotjar helps you put feedback boxes Plans $0/month Basic: $31/month Plus: $79/month Business: 3. Baremetrics.com Baremetrics.com, as its name suggests, offers you metrics or, say, graphs of your websites and strategies performances. This platform helps you cut the churn rate by telling you where and why your users left the page. Through this platform, you can understand your customers' needs by asking for feedback and working on what they specifically want to keep them coming back to your business. You can also compare the growth or decline through the months and create new strategies. Plans $129/month Base Features: $198/month With Recover: $258/month With Cancellation Insights: $327/month With Everything: 4. Woorise.com Woorise.com is a platform that will help you create eye-catching and viral giveaways. This platform lets you take surveys, quizzes, feedback, landing pages, and more to keep your users interested. This platform helps you gather more customers and get more of them to subscribe to you and stay connected and hopefully buy from your business. You could begin with a conversion-optimizer, a mobile-responsive template. Plans $0/month Free: $23/month Basic: $39/month Grow: $79/month Pro: 5. Zonkafeedback.com Source: Zonkafeedback.com This platform helps you create direct contact with your customers and understand their needs so that you can work on them. With Zonkafeedback, you can run surveys, quizzes, and polls and learn about what your best product is and who wants it. This will help you categorize customers and offer them the specific services they are interested in. Here, you can measure NPS, CES, and CSAT. Plans $79/month Professional: $129/month Growth: $429/month Enterprise: 6. Outgrow.co Outgrow quiz maker is a tool that will help you make the best out of customer interactions. This platform enables you to understand your customers' interests, and all the other tasks on this platform can be done without any coding knowledge required. This platform helps you communicate through chatbots, polls, recommendations, giveaways, calculators, etc. You can create content that is more customer interactive on Outgrow. Plans $25/month Freelancer: $95/month Essentials: $600/month Business: 7. Powr.io Powr.io is a tool that will help you create maximum interactions with your customers through pop-ups, quizzes, and landing pages. You can develop applications, buttons such as Paypal, and more on this platform. This platform is suitable as it requires no coding knowledge, and you get templates for all the things you want to add to your website. Plans $0/month Free: $4.94/month Starter: $12.14/month Pro: $80.99/month Business: 8. EmailAnalytics.com Source: Emailanalytics.com If you plan to grow your business through email campaigning, Emailanalytics.com could be the tool for you. This platform helps you create email campaigns with templates and offers you email analytics. You can measure the response rate, how a specific email template is working and what changes you want to make to get better results. The visuals are pleasing and easy to understand to get the right idea of what and how to go about your emails. Plans $5/month Individual: $10/month Pro: $15/month Enterprise: 9. Systeme.io This platform saves you a lot of money, and it provides numerous services in one place. You can create websites, analyze and understand your customers and their needs and work accordingly. Most of the services required to run a successful website with customer analysis are free on this platform, and the dashboard is minimalistic to help you get the best out of it at small prices. Plans $0/month Free: $27/month Startup: $47/month Webinar: $97/month Unlimited: 10. Mixpanel Mixpanel helps you analyze your website and check where it is doing the best and worst. It also categorizes users as per their needs, residents, age, etc. You can send in only the ads they want. You can check where your users lose interest in this platform, work on that area, and increase conversion rates. Plans $0/month Free: $25/month Growth: Now You Know What Your Customers Want! With customer analytics and research, you can measure your customers' interests and where they lose them, which will help you create better content and strategies. In this article, I have included customer analytics tools that will help you best with your customer analytics tasks. I hope the article was helpful and you’re in a better position to deliver your customers what they want to meet your goals of higher sales and interaction rates.

Customer Analytics Tools for Every Business Size

Welcome to this guide on testing analytics events! In today's digital landscape, understanding user behavior is paramount for optimizing application performance and user experience. This article will explore effective approaches to testing analytics events, ensuring accurate data collection, and enhancing application functionality. Popular analytics systems for tracking user behavior: Google Analytics - for tracking website traffic and user behavior. Amplitude - for analyzing user behavior in mobile and web applications. Mixpanel - provides event analytics to track user interaction with applications. Adobe Analytics - for traffic and user behavior analysis, offers advanced marketing research features. Heap Analytics - offers user experience and behavior analysis tools for applications. Hotjar - tracks heatmaps, user session recordings, and website surveys. Segment - provides infrastructure for collecting and transferring data between analytics systems. MyTracker - tracks user activity in mobile apps, offering event tracking and funnel analysis. AppMetrica - a mobile app analytics platform by Yandex, tracks user activity and marketing campaign effectiveness. An essential aspect of our application lies in its analytics system. It would be erroneous to assume that if users don't interact with it directly, it's not vital and doesn't require testing. Through analytics, we gain insights into which features of our application resonate with users and which ones fall short. For instance, consider a scenario where we showcase a promo banner "Send a money transfer by phone number." Out of 100 users who viewed it, 60 clicked for more information, but only 5 completed the action. This data prompts us to contemplate potential improvements, such as addressing any bugs hindering user completion or refining the user flow. However, today we'll delve into testing analytics events from a QA specialist's perspective. How do we go about it? Firstly, I recommend creating a table in Excel or Google Sheets listing events and their parameters. We'll create two columns for Android and iOS (if we're testing web/desktop concurrently, we'd add those too, but I'll focus on mobile applications). Once we have our table set up, we review all events to ensure clarity on when they should be triggered. For instance, should an event be retriggered when users navigate away and return to the current screen? It's crucial to clarify these aspects with an analyst, manager, or designer—the individual responsible for analyzing our events. Now, let's delve into the technical aspect—connecting to any sniffer. I prefer using Charles. We filter by the name of the analytics system in use (for instance, in our project, we use Amplitude). Then, we execute the action that should trigger a specific event and await the POST request sent to our analytics service. Typically, libraries aggregate events before sending them. Therefore, you'll have to wait until a certain number of events accumulate or the timer expires. Alternatively, you can also minimize the application (most likely, at this moment, all accumulated events will be sent). Afterward, we inspect the request contents, ensuring the desired event is sent and no extraneous data is transmitted. Once verified, we mark it off on our table and proceed to the next event. For ease of analyzing the transmitted information, it's convenient to use any formatter, which you can find online. After formatting the JSON, search the page for the event that was supposed to be sent and examine the parameters with which it was sent, as well as the number of times. JSON After verifying events through , we access the analytics system to ensure that all events have been captured accurately and that the quantities correspond to our testing activities. Charles So, the main points we consider during testing are as follows: The event is triggered at the correct moment. The event is not duplicated without cause. Unnecessary events are not sent arbitrarily. We verify spelling consistency: it should match the documentation, and event names across different platforms should be consistent (including case sensitivity). When sending data like country or city names, ensure uniformity across platforms (for instance, consistently using "UK" instead of variations like "Great Britain" in some instances). After the release, testers can also monitor the analytics system. They should examine the events related to new features or modified functionality. Have all the events been received? Are any of the old ones malfunctioning? If any irregularities are observed, the tester should first inspect the production build of the application. Our main goal is to ensure that our application works in production. Does the functionality work? If the functionality works, then see if the events are beIf it is, then check if the events are being triggered. Analyzing these aspects will aid in identifying latent application issues. , thorough testing of analytics events is essential for maintaining the integrity of data-driven decision-making in application development. By following the methodology outlined in this guide, testers can ensure the reliability and accuracy of analytics data, ultimately leading to improved user engagement and satisfaction. In conclusion

Testing Analytics Events: A Guide for QA Engineers

I started my career as a marketing project manager before transitioning into building upskilling programs to help adults kickstart their careers in marketing. Currently, I'm with a British startup that specializes in micro-learning for frontline workers — deskless employees, eg. construction workers, hotel personnel, restaurant managers, and taxi drivers. While working in product teams, I've had a chance to witness how marketing and product roles effectively operate both independently and together. One constant remains unchanged: marketing skills are beneficial for product managers and essential for their success in the role. Recently, , blending it into the role of a product marketing manager. This decision has caused a reasonable debate. In today's tech market, the merging of marketing and skills is becoming one of the key areas in career growth. Airbnb transformed its product management function product management This article explores how marketing skills can help build a successful career in product management and how active collaboration with marketing teams can help product leaders create great products. What determines the level of marketing involvement in the product? Growth strategy/model of the company The degree to which an organization prioritizes marketing efforts against product development depends on its . type of growth strategy focuses on leveraging the product itself to drive user acquisition and growth, relying on its quality and user experience. Marketing supports by enhancing product visibility but does not lead the growth initiative. Product-led growth focuses on traditional marketing methods like advertising, campaigns, and branding to acquire customers and boost product growth. Business investments primarily focus on marketing the product. Marketing-led growth concentrates on direct sales through a dedicated team that drives revenue growth. Marketing supports by providing assets and messaging, and generating inbound leads. The goal is to create a seamless customer acquisition and conversion process. Popular in technical B2B products. Sales-led growth In product-led and marketing-led organizations, marketing skills are critical for product managers. In sales-led companies, these skills are less crucial as the focus shifts towards direct sales that are driving revenue. Size and maturity of the organization For startups, is crucial for gaining an initial customer base and building brand awareness. This is due to their limited market presence and the urgent need to establish a name in the field. performance marketing In established corporations, the focus often shifts from performance marketing to . brand marketing This shift is evident in tech giants like and , which highlight brand strength over performance marketing metrics. Apple Google In big companies, the role of product marketing managers becomes vital. They bring product and marketing together, translate technical features into compelling use cases and value propositions for end users, and make sure that the product aligns with the market's needs and expectations. 💡 This shift and the introduction of PMM roles highlight a wider trend in the IT market: as companies grow and their products become more sophisticated, a strategic product marketing approach is needed. How to get the most out of your marketing team as a product manager ✅ Work with Product Positioning and Adapt It Based on Marketing Insights Product positioning is about highlighting how a product can address the needs of a specific audience segment. Marketers often face limitations in advertising a product — whether it's character limits in ads or banners, fighting for audience attention is a constant battle. Product managers have a great understanding of the market and user demands. They can that might catch potential prospect’s attention. support marketers in identifying the most impactful areas of the product In response, marketing can , that their team has been doing, with the product team. Product managers can learn something new about what specifically attracts users to try the product. This allows them to refactor existing features to cover more prospects’ needs and expand the lead pipeline. share analytics from various positioning or messaging experiments 💡 Example: A new brand specializing in eco-friendly clothing initially positioned itself around the environmental advantages of its products. However, conducting user interviews with the non-paying audience revealed a significant interest in fashion and style. The team has tweaked the product positioning to highlight both eco-features and a trendy design. As a result, the product managed to grow its sales and revenue. ✅ Perform User Segmentation Generally, products that suit everyone don't exist, making segmentation critical for both marketing and the product itself. Actively analyzing product data is crucial for understanding how different user segments use the product. It helps that inspire hypotheses for further product development. identify usage behavior patterns Additionally, having a close relationship with the marketing department helps in exchanging data insights. The marketing team can share which positioning of product features works most effectively or which user segment it is the most interested in. Example: A fitness app faced low user engagement. By segmenting their users by activity levels and interests, they found that advanced users exercising 4+ times a week left due to a lack of new and exciting content. The product introduced a new set of advanced workout programs and adapted the user interface to display content based on each user's fitness level. This increased product retention across a few segments. ✅ Test Product Hypotheses with Marketing Product development is expensive. It's critical to move to product or feature development only after validating the hypothesis about the feature's necessity. Marketing is an excellent tool for the product discovery process, i.e., research. In B2C products, you can test product hypotheses regarding the need for a product or feature through quick marketing tests. 💡 Example: An online plant store tested hypotheses about which plant types were most popular in different seasons. They launched targeted marketing campaigns on various plant types on social media and tracked sales. The data collected during these campaigns gave ideas for inventory decisions and marketing strategy, and resulted in increased sales and customer satisfaction. ✅ Sync User Expectations Between the Marketing Image and Product At the same time, it's crucial to remember that attracting users is only at the top of the funnel. Even if marketing draws in hundreds of users, once they land on the product, users already have formed expectations from their interactions with marketing. The product must match these expectations. It’s a common practice to start advertising product capabilities that aren't yet built — simply to test the demand and interest. However, it's vital to avoid setting misleading expectations that the current product cannot fulfill. When users don't find the promised features, they will likely leave. They might even leave you a poor review, and they won’t come back. It’s essential to balance between testing market demand for a hypothetical feature and ensuring that the actual product aligns with what is advertised. Aside from that, knowing the marketing channel that the user came from could be used to personalize their first experience with the product. By identifying the user's segment or acquisition channel, the product can show a custom in-product walkthrough, highlighting the features that are most relevant to that particular user. This customized onboarding helps guide users to their 'aha' moment. ✅ Understand the Role of Paid and Organic Traffic Any product's goal is to learn to grow and develop organically, removing the need for paid traffic. However, as a product evolves, the importance and performance of various marketing channels will change. Knowing the difference between different user acquisition approaches and how to interpret their results, you can make more informed decisions about your product health. In the example of product-led growth organizations, investments in product improvements might show higher ROI than investments in paid traffic. This is because improving the product and satisfying existing users can lead to natural audience growth without additional advertising costs. and what the product can do to drive stickiness and NPS. Try getting actionable insights into what prevents your product from growing organically Example: Slack's growth strategy heavily relied on organic growth through word-of-mouth and user satisfaction rather than on paid traffic. Their investments in product development and enhancing user experience, as well as the right monetization strategy (eg. limited features in a free plan) led to a natural increase in their user base. ✅ Collaborate with Marketing on Returning or Paying Users Building upon the previous point, it's important to clarify that often a marketer's main metric is attracting paying users. With users who are already paying, the story changes — retaining the customer to prevent churn and further developing them to spend more within the product is crucial. A good product never remains stagnant; it continuously adds features and new value for the user. Having marketing skills provides a good context for creating in-product marketing and the ability to educate users about the product. Essentially, , market new features, and new use cases, and demonstrate how innovations in the product can improve their work. you need to sell your product to users in each session Implement in-product notifications, email marketing, or updates about new features to keep users engaged and invested in your product. Example: A personal finance app noticed low user activity post-initial registration. They added personalized in-app messages and email marketing to users who hadn't completed a key action within 3 days, highlighting primary and lesser-known features and tips. This approach re-engaged users, leading to an increase in subscriptions. ✅ Analyse User Sessions A frequent marketing team’s task is to monitor a product's website activity, identify weak points, and adapt it to generate the most interest from users and conversions. Just as marketers use heatmaps to understand how users navigate websites, . Analyzing what users do after entering the product helps make decisions, such as optimizing onboarding or highlighting unsuccessful UI decisions causing user confusion on a page. product managers can use tools like Hotjar to analyze user sessions Example: A graphic design online tool, through analysis of user sessions, noticed many users abandoning the tool midway through creating designs. They identified usability issues and introduced a product tutorial and simpler design templates. This reduced dropout rates and increased the fraction of completed projects. ✅ Calculate CAC and Unit Economics One of the product manager's tasks is to be responsible for product and business metrics. Depending on the product, these business metrics may include revenue, profit, or additional sales of product parts (upsell). It's essential to have a deep understanding of how marketing metrics correlate with product metrics. This involves understanding the relationship between CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and LTV (Customer Lifetime Value) as well as the ability to calculate unit economics. Unit economics helps grasp and establish product pricing considering the cost of acquiring a customer and market trends. Marketing experiments might lead to different CACs and product managers can use these insights to experiment with product pricing. Example: A food delivery startup initially struggled with high customer acquisition costs. After analyzing their unit economics, they realized that focusing on high-quality locally sourced ingredients increased the customer LTV by 2x. They adjusted their marketing strategy to highlight these premium ingredients, which improved the LTV-to-CAC ratio. Establish Trust with Marketing Managers Tensions between marketing and product teams are not uncommon. This tension often stems from differing goals. Marketers aim to attract paying users, but what if the users are unwilling to pay for the product? Is it the fault of marketers for attracting the wrong type of users or the product team for creating a product that doesn't align with users' needs? In reality, it's no one's fault. Rather than working separately, both teams should seek collaboration and mutual improvement, eg. work together to find the right segment and messaging to drive overall product growth. Communicating effectively is crucial. Conclusion The intersection of marketing and product management roles is critical in today's rapidly evolving tech world. The merge of marketing and product expertise is more than just a trend; it's a strategic approach to ensuring that products not only meet market demands but also resonate with users at a deeper level. By leveraging the strengths of both roles, businesses can create products that exceed customer expectations, leading to long-term success. Editor: Tanya Kamenskaya Design: Stas Yudin

Elevating Product Management with Marketing Insights

বিপণন অন্তর্দৃষ্টি সঙ্গে পণ্য ব্যবস্থাপনা উন্নত

Verbesserung des Produktmanagements mit Marketing-Einblicken

Mejorando la gestión de productos con conocimientos de marketing

Améliorer la gestion des produits grâce aux informations marketing

मार्केटिंग अंतर्दृष्टि के साथ उत्पाद प्रबंधन को उन्नत बनाना

マーケティング洞察による製品管理の向上

마케팅 통찰력으로 제품 관리 향상

Elevando o gerenciamento de produtos com insights de marketing

Улучшение управления продуктами с помощью маркетинговой информации

Pazarlama İçgörüleriyle Ürün Yönetimini Yükseltme

Nâng cao quản lý sản phẩm với những hiểu biết sâu sắc về tiếp thị

通过营销洞察提升产品管理

In a nutshell Software is the main engine of revenue and growth for most companies. It is also done at a scale that makes it impossible to micromanage everything top-down. Thus, being just a code monkey won't cut it. Professional developers are expected to contribute to the company's overall success: provide a competitive advantage, fuel sustainable growth, ensure adaptability to changing market conditions. In this article, I'll take a deeper look at what makes companies successful and what skills you need as a developer to help achieve this success. The evolution of software development (too critical to neglect, too complex to micromanage) As Marc Andreessen famously said in 2011, software is eating the world. Modern companies depend on software as never before. Even if they don't sell it directly as a product, software is still fundamental to driving their operations and growth. It's critical for their customers, employees, suppliers, and partners. It's the engine that runs the business - and the network that connects it with other businesses. It's the cornerstone of the company's success. At the same time, the software got bigger. Much bigger. And the software development process got incomparably more complex: Huge teams. The whole portfolio of products. A vast network of interconnected APIs. Complex distributed architectures. Tens or even hundreds of external vendors. Constant progress at a crazy pace. Cutthroat competition and continuously changing user tastes. No manager, analyst, or architect is able to micromanage it all. The responsibility has to be distributed. And this completely changes the game for us . developers Raising the bar for software developers (the new definition of a "code monkey") A " " isn't a new term. Developers who just churn out code without looking at a broader context were frowned upon from the early days of programming. However, for a long time, this "broader context" just meant more conceptual work like code design or architecture. But it doesn't cut it anymore. code monkey Nowadays, I'd define a code monkey differently: . A code monkey is a developer who contributes only to building software, not to the holistic company's success Yes, this is why we, developers, are hired. To generate business value. To make companies grow and thrive. And this requires . a different mindset and a different, broader set of skills But, first of all, you need to understand what makes companies successful - and where fit into this puzzle. you The 4 key elements of the company's success (and how you can influence them as a dev) The recipe for a company's success, while insanely hard to achieve, is, at its core, very simple. First of all, a company needs to have a competitive advantage. It needs to be better than the competition (or at least differentiate itself enough) in one or more of these aspects: have a better product, be more innovative technologically, build new products faster, or be cheaper. Then, when the company becomes successful, it naturally starts to grow. Rapid growth is hard to manage and - if the company is not skillful at it - can destroy its competitive advantage. Next, to be truly successful, a company needs to sustain its competitive advantage over time. It needs to cut enough corners to win now - but not as many as to die the "death of a thousand cuts" later. Finally, the world never stands still. To not lose its edge, a company needs to continuously evolve to adapt to the ever-changing user tastes, competition, and market. Let's now take a look at these four ingredients in more detail. Competitive advantage: Product Building a better product is the most obvious competitive advantage. If users like and buy your product more than the other ones - you win. But what convinces them to do so? It all boils down to two things: addressing users' needs and providing a great user experience. So, how can you, as a developer, influence these two areas? Improve your communication skills to collaborate effectively across functions with designers, product managers, business stakeholders, and users. Especially learning how to talk to non-programmers (explain technical concepts simply, abstain from jargon, be patient with less tech-savvy people, etc.). Learn the principles of experimentally discovering what users want: Agile, empiricism, iterative development, Lean Startup, and product discovery. Get good at working in short iterations, building small MVPs (Minimal Viable Products), and rapid prototyping to help product managers validate ideas faster. Understand how to rapidly test ideas without coding (fake door, Wizard of Oz, concierge, and similar techniques). Learn the fundamentals of the product metrics and get a good overview of various analytics approaches (page views tracking, event tracking, backend API requests tracking, heatmaps, etc.) and the analytics tooling ecosystem (Google Analytics, Pendo, Segment, HotJar, and so on). Don't push to always solve everything by writing new code. Get comfortable with solving problems through 3rd party integrations and no-code solutions. Learn the basics of usability and user experience (UX). Competitive advantage: Technology Developing more advanced technology is another competitive edge. This is a bit different from just creating a better product. Of course, you still need to solve real user problems, but your winning strategy is not making the product more fine-tuned and polished but making it capable of things no one else is capable of. Imagine invoicing software. Making re-typing the content of paper invoices into the system by hand smoother, faster, and done in fewer steps is one thing, but being able to import them automatically, without typing anything, through advanced text recognition and extraction would be at a completely different level, even if the interface is not that polished. It doesn't have to happen at such a dramatic scale, though. Even small technical advancements can provide a competitive edge: make processes faster for the user, reduce their costs, and make the product more capable. But how can a regular developer help their company gain a technological advantage? Get a good overview of the existing ecosystem, both open source and commercial: languages, frameworks, libraries, cloud and SaaS platforms, APIs, tooling, and so on. Often, the advanced capability you need is already out there, available as a 3rd party library or service - you just need to know it exists and understand how it can be used. Stay up to date with the newest trends and technological advancements (especially the upcoming, not yet widely adopted ones) to be able to notice and exploit opportunities to gain a technical advantage. Learn about your company's business domain, its product, and its competition so you can propose the most innovative technical solutions to the business problem at hand. Stay up to date with what's happening also outside your company's domain. Track what other popular apps are doing - what's the current state of the art in the broader industry - and "steal" and adapt the best ideas to your company's needs. Experiment with new stuff regularly (just enough to get a good grasp of what it is about and be able to quickly learn more about it when needed). Get good at researching, quickly learning new tech when needed, and doing small prototypes and proofs-of-concept. Competitive advantage: Process The next way of gaining a competitive advantage is through better processes. In other words, the ability to build stuff faster than the competition without sacrificing quality. In the short term, it will give your company the first-to-market advantage. In the long term, it will allow you to experiment more rapidly, which will also impact the first two advantages: better product and technical innovation. An important part of a good process is also the ability to continuously refine the process itself to stay ahead of the competition in the long run. Processes - especially related to efficient delivery - are something developers have a lot of influence over. Become a fast, efficient coder. Learn . Get good at debugging. Use tools that speed you up: auto-formatters, code generators, code intelligence, hot reloading, etc. Understand how to organize the codebase to navigate around faster. your IDE in-depth Learn how application architecture impacts not only scalability and performance but also efficient teamwork, code navigation, and debugging. Build a robust toolbox of techniques to minimize the number of bugs (and to fix them more efficiently): unit testing, error handling, application monitoring, and logging. Understand technical debt and how to strike the right balance between cutting too many corners and over-engineering. Become good at making the right compromises between delivering business value and maintaining necessary non-functional features (reliability, performance, security, scalability, maintainability, and quality). Understand modern delivery processes: CI/CD, Git branching strategies, feature flag-based development, and so on. Learn at least the basics of the most popular software development processes (Scrum, Kanban). Get accustomed to process improvement techniques (retrospectives, project post-mortems, root-cause analysis, etc.). Be open to experimenting and trying new processes and techniques. Be proactive in proposing and championing improvement ideas. But also know how to balance implementing improvements with generating business value. Competitive advantage: Operations The last type of competitive advantage is more efficient operations. Depending on your company's profile, you may have different teams involved in acquiring, onboarding, and supporting users: sales, call center, customer success, customer support, implementation, operations, invoicing, and so on. Making these teams faster, cheaper, and more user-friendly is another way to win over the competition. How can you help with this as a developer? Learn how your various "operations" teams work: what they do day-to-day, what metrics they use to measure their success, what makes them efficient and what slows them down, and how they interact with customers. Get a good overview of the tools to rapidly build internal tools faster: automatic admin panel generators, CMS frameworks, UI component libraries, and so on. Understand the trade-offs of buying vs. building vs. integrating internal tools (admin panels, invoicing systems, CRM platforms, inventory management, order tracking systems, etc.). Know how to most efficiently keep your customer-facing teams updated about the status and expected completion time of your work (for example, bug fixes) so they can easily obtain and pass this information to customers. Understand personal data privacy and security issues: how to make your "operations" teams more efficient by providing them tools like user-impersonation or giving them access to user data for tech support purposes without compromising user privacy. Growth To become successful, companies need to constantly grow their revenue. It almost always means also growing the team. This, in turn, means more recruitment effort (including onboarding and mentoring), a bigger codebase, more complicated architecture, and increased complexity of organizational structure. It also makes communication, teamwork, and management more challenging - usually to the point where top-down micro-management doesn't cut it anymore. This sounds like a management problem. But even as a "regular" developer, you can help much more than you think. Learn how to modularize the so multiple teams can collaborate without collisions. Familiarize yourself with domain-driven design, micro-services, micro-frontends, API design principles, git repository topologies, and similar. Understand how to evolve the architecture over time to accommodate the growing size of the platform and the growing number of teams without over-engineering it early on. codebase and architecture Learn how to make code easy to read, understand, debug, navigate, and modify for other people. Understand the concept of cognitive load. Get a good grasp of clean code principles. Understand what makes the whole engineering organization go faster (design systems, component libraries, coding conventions, UI guidelines, and so on). Understand compromises between what to standardize and what can be different per team. Learn how to communicate well (clearly, understandably, concisely, and on-point), both verbally and in writing. Learn how to effectively brainstorm, make decisions together, and navigate disagreement or conflict. Understand how to effectively sync and collaborate with the other teams. Find opportunities to help with recruitment, if not by directly participating in the interviews, then by reviewing CVs, preparing and evaluating coding and system design challenges, and promoting your company (through blogging, social media, conferences, or by directly recommending your colleagues). Make onboarding easier. Understand and use industry-wide standards to lower the entry point for new hires. Know how to document and explain architecture and logic. Be responsive, non-condescending, and open to answering all questions. Help with mentoring. Understand what tasks to assign to someone new or more junior and how frequently to sync with them to not overwhelm them but also not leave them hanging. Be supportive and patient. Take ownership of various projects, initiatives, and modules to reduce the burden on management - so they don't have to micro-manage everything. Sustainability Companies are long-living entities. Gaining a competitive advantage and achieving initial success is only the start of the game. A company needs to sustain its success over decades. But when a company is under constant pressure, fighting off new challengers and chasing ever-changing market conditions, it's often necessary to cut corners, which may put the company at risk further down the road. To thrive over a long time, a company needs to strike a fine balance between aggressive and sustainable. How can you help maintain this balance? Get a good understanding of the concept of technical debt and the ways of managing it. Develop a keen eye for both under and over-engineering. Learn the patterns and principles of code maintainability and evolving complex legacy codebases over time. Be aware of the short- and long-term trade-offs between the development speed and the concerns like reliability, performance, scalability, security, privacy, usability, or maintainability. Understand short- and long-term implications of various architectural decisions (monolith vs. microservices, native vs. hybrid mobile, REST vs. GraphQL, single-page app vs. server-side rendering, mono repo vs. multiple reports, and so on). Know how to evaluate new technologies not only by the "cool" factor but also by the learning curve, maintenance cost, ease of recruitment, vendor lock-in, long-term support, and similar. Be aware of the build vs. buy vs. use open source trade-offs. Understand how technology choices impact business and UX capabilities and how they broaden or narrow down what the company will be able to solve for its users. Don't just passively follow business requests. Participate in setting technical vision and direction and provide guidance and counsel to the rest of the organization. Learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and avoid burnout. Adaptability Sustainability alone is not enough to stay successful for a long time. Companies also have to continuously adapt (or even reinvent themselves). A company has to adapt to the macro-scale events (changing market conditions, changing customer tastes, new technologies, economic situations, fashion, and social trends) and to the micro-scale events (finishing and starting projects, people leaving and joining, reorganizing teams or departments, adopting new methodologies and processes). It may, again, seem like something out of the scope of a software developer. But with the right attitude, you can help much more than you think. Understand the core principles of empiricism, experimentation, and Agile. Be able to quickly pivot and adapt to new trends, tech, and methodologies. Become an eager learner. Know how to learn fast, how to research, and how to efficiently find information. Understand how to architect systems to make it easy to gradually migrate parts of them to new tech in the future. Learn how to effectively carry out such migrations. Most people dislike and avoid change. Make yourself open to it and comfortable with it. Train yourself to thrive in such an environment. Become good at adapting to new projects, teams, and roles. Learn how to quickly build rapport with new people. Be open to new points of view and for updating yours in the face of sound evidence. Bottom line One purpose of a developer is to make the product and company successful. That's why we're hired. That's why we exist. And modern software is so complex that this process can't be micromanaged. We must proactively contribute to the company's success. . Become the experts on the topic If you understand the holistic view - what makes companies successful, how the software fits into this puzzle, and how you can influence it as a developer - you'll be invaluable. (And it also opens the door to a future leadership career.) Plus, it's much more satisfying to understand the whole picture than to just blindly follow what you're told. Also published . here

Are You a Code Monkey or a Real Professional Developer?

Crack Long-Form Blogs: Complete Guide & Experts' Insights 

The growth of ecommerce over the last decade has been nothing short of spectacular. The market is expected to be worth by 2026, and Shopify is set to account for a significant chunk of that. With some customers, it’s the top choice for entrepreneurs looking to quickly set up an online store. over $8.1 trillion 6.4 million With so many players, online merchants need to come up with new ways to stay competitive in their industries. SEO is an excellent, cost-effective way to achieve this. It can help you boost organic traffic sustainably without having to buy your way into search results. Here’s how to go about improving SEO on Shopify. Why SEO Matters With Shopify SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of optimizing your website so that it’s more visible on search engines for relevant queries. Organic results also tend to get more traction than paid results. Consider that the average CTR on the first organic result is , whereas that on paid results is 2%. 28.5% SEO is particularly important in the context of Shopify given the massive competition both on the platform and in ecommerce more broadly. What’s more, SEO on Shopify is a to execute than on other non-proprietary platforms. bit trickier If you’re able to get it right, this gives you a significant competitive edge over your rivals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQTAf-9s4oQ&embedable=true Understanding Shopify SEO Basics With the right technical knowhow, you can absolutely your Shopify SEO and accelerate sales. level up It’s worth noting that Shopify itself provides you a lot of options to boost website performance. It has a flourishing that you can bank on to optimize your store. This includes: app ecosystem : Review apps help you showcase customer reviews for your products. This improves visitor experience on your site and is a trust indicator for search engines, improving your chances of ranking higher. Review Apps : These help you do everything from adding alt text to images to creating meta tags and fixing broken links. SEO Apps : Improving email campaign management should be a focus for any ecommerce brand. Coalition client was able to increase email revenue by 277% using email optimization strategies. Email Marketing Apps Koyal Wholesale : These help provide customized payment processing options for your buyers. Payment Apps : You can boost page load speeds to improve user experience on your site. Page Speed Optimization Apps : These help with image compression and SEO optimization to improve page load speeds. Image Optimization Apps : These are integrations to boost on-site conversion and product promotion. Promotion Conversion Apps Outside of third-party , the core platform also provides you a number of features for store optimization, such as: Shopify apps Automated XML sitemap Control over Robots.txt Option to hide pages for search engines using Noindex tag Native Google Analytics 4 integration to track ecommerce revenue Ability to optimize URLs Manage canonical tags Mobile-friendly build for stores You can also take steps for off-page optimization by ensuring relevant and authoritative third-party websites link to your store and products. This is called backlinking and helps drive link equity to your site. This is essentially an indication to search engines that your website is worthy of consideration. A systematic backlinking campaign can help boost your site’s Domain Authority (DA) and its search ranking. Implementing SEO SEO is a precise science made up of a host of different actions you can take both on your website and off it to improve your store’s . search ranking On-Page Shopify Optimization On-page optimization includes all the actions you can take on your store to make it more competitive and convert-worthy. Keywords are a big part of this. Your prospects use keywords (search queries) on search engines to find relevant results. If you aim to figure in those results, you should have those keywords embedded throughout your content. This includes your product and category pages, blogs, as well as your meta elements. Meta elements include your title tags and meta description, which is the brief information snippet users will see next to your site link in search result pages. Crucially, all your content should be relevant and original. The results of a focused content strategy can be eye-opening. Coalition client , for instance, was able to boost organic sessions by 84% and nearly double organic revenue through a revamped content and SEO strategy. Color Cord Other aspects of on-page optimization include improving navigation, which in turn, boosts user experience. This is a key metric for search engines when allocating search rankings. A seamless user experience improves on-page dwell time and reduces bounce rates, which is the percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing just one page. User-friendly URL design can also help with improving navigation. Users are more likely to remember easy-to-read web addresses and directly navigate to those pages if they’re interested. Effective interlinking, where you link relevant site pages to one another, is another important on-page activity. This drives good semantic and link equity value to your internal pages, helping search engines understand them better. Finally, the value of high-quality images cannot be overemphasized in the context of ecommerce. People buy with their eyes and without high-definition, varied product imagery, you’ll be falling behind your competitors. Technical SEO for Shopify Technical improvements to your site, particularly those targeting website speed and mobile responsiveness are key to improving SEO performance. Users simply won’t waste time on a website that loads slowly or isn’t optimized for the device they’re using. This, in turn, increases your bounce rate and affects search ranking. , another CT client, was able to increase organic sessions by 371% and monthly organic revenue by 339% through a concerted approach of optimizing product images and on-site technical optimization. Rainbow Symphony It’s also worth looking into aspects like structured data and schema markups (such as Google FAQ Schema). These are a standardized way of structuring your content at the backend so that search engines quickly pick it up. Ensure your site features an XML sitemap, which is a file that helps search engines better understand and log your site structure. Submit this sitemap to search engines, including the Google Search Console, to help them crawl your site quicker and successfully. Tracking SEO Performance You can’t measure the results of your optimization if you’re not tracking site performance all the way through. The most important of these are and Google Search Console. Google Analytics The former gives you comprehensive, granular information on how your web pages are performing across multiple fronts, such as organic sessions, number of users, channels, bounce rate, dwell time, and click-through rate among others. Google Search Console helps you ensure web pages are crawled, fix indexing issues, understand your site’s search performance, and more. You can use these in combination with other tools SEMRush, Ahrefs, Copy Scape, and Hotjar to further improve SEO and on-page conversion.

The Ultimate Guide to Shopify SEO for Ecommerce Stores

Yes, and no. Well, as with everything, it depends. In this post, I'll try to illustrate my experience with testing as a developer, then as a startup founder. About me Hi! I'm Simone, a full-stack developer, and CTO with 15 years of experience coding in various industries, including web agency, e-commerce, adult, and enterprise software. In this blog post, I'd like to share insights on software testing and how to determine appropriate methods for different business needs and stages. I'm the CTO and Co-founder of Bugpilot, a bug monitoring tool that helps SaaS teams catch bugs that slipped through the development, testing, and QA processes. Introduction Different kinds of testing In the software development world, many testing practices have long been regarded as essential for ensuring the reliability and quality of software products. However, it is important to recognize that while these methodologies have their merits, they are not without their drawbacks. This blog post aims to spark a conversation and shed light on the potential harm that TDD and QA can inflict on software teams. By acknowledging that there is no one-size-fits-all approach and that different businesses and stages require appropriate methods, we can begin to navigate the complexities of software development more effectively. I acknowledge many different methodologies, common practices, and recommendations around software testing; in this post, I focused mostly on Test-driven development and Quality Assurance. Here's an overview, in case you're not familiar with the terms: TDD Test-driven development (TDD) is a software development method that involves writing automated tests before writing code. This helps catch issues early in the development cycle, ensuring that the code is thoroughly tested and meets business requirements. Developers first define the expected behavior of a new feature with a test, then write the code to pass the test, and finally optimize the code through refactoring. QA Quality Assurance (QA) ensures software meets quality standards before release. Typically a manual process carried out by a QA Engineer, identifies and fixes defects through manual and automated testing, such as verifying functional requirements and checking performance. This ensures reliable, stable software that meets business and end-user needs. A couple of questions for you! I can't stress enough that I strongly believe that tests are needed in many cases. Think of medical appliances, aircraft software, control systems, banking, and much more, software in use by billions of people where the color of one button makes a significant profit difference. My goal with this post is to spark a conversation. Software development requires a balance between structure and flexibility, and blindly following testing principles without considering the context can lead to suboptimal outcomes - code libraries probably benefit from 99% coverage. But does your software need 99% coverage as well? I prepared a couple of questions. Try to answer yes or no — why is that? Do you need to test your UI components? really Do you need E2E testing for that “update profile picture” functionality? Do you fail QA and delay a release if there's a minor inconsistency between Figma designs and actual UI? What's the boundary? Should I fire John for refusing to write tests? Chapter 1. My case against Test-Driven-Development Challenging the dogma Test-driven development (TDD) has gained an almost-religious following. and it is often accompanied by the dogmatic belief that it is the only path to success. This chapter aims to explore the drawbacks of TDD and shed light on the . Some claim it helps with mental health, rigidity trap, time constraints, and false sense of security As a CTO, I have encountered colleagues who staunchly insisted on TDD for even the most trivial functions. The prevailing dogma seemed to be, This unwavering belief in TDD as the only acceptable approach often made me question my own judgment and competence. I distinctly recall incidents when I was being laughed at for refusing to write tests for a simple 2-line function to filter an array. "You must do TDD, or you're an idiot!" This personal experience highlighted one of the key pitfalls of TDD— The dogmatic adherence to writing tests first can sometimes lead to rigid processes, which may, in turn, impact a company's time-to-market and competitor advantage. the rigidity trap. Is it really worth the time? A significant challenge posed by TDD is the time constraint it imposes on the development process. Writing comprehensive tests for every piece of code can be time-consuming, especially for trivial functions that have minimal impact on the overall system. In fast-paced environments where quick iterations and timely delivery are crucial, the additional overhead of TDD can slow down the development cycle and hinder agility. and there are scenarios where a more streamlined testing approach may be more appropriate, allowing for faster iterations and quicker responses to market demands. I find it unreasonable to always go with the “I need 99% coverage” approach. Balancing thoroughness and efficiency is essential, Moreover, the complexity and imperfection of writing tests that involve interactions with external dependencies or complex systems can further compound the time constraints of TDD. As a developer, I might even say I enjoy writing tests, but… find a CEO who's happy their team spent 80% of their time writing tests for code that will eventually be deleted. Developers often need to create mock objects or stubs to simulate the behavior of these dependencies during testing. While mocks can be valuable tools for isolating code and reducing dependencies, they can also introduce additional overhead and complexity. The reliance on mocks may lead to an imperfect representation of real-world interactions, as it can be challenging to replicate the behavior of external systems or third-party components accurately. This can introduce a level of uncertainty into the testing process, potentially resulting in false positives or false negatives. Tests are passing; I can have a good night's sleep, right? Right? Tests are passing; I can sleep safe and sound! There's an inherent but often overlooked danger of relying solely on tests— While testing is undoubtedly essential for identifying and preventing defects, it is not a foolproof solution. a false sense of security. “Did we test on every device?” One such factor is the diversity of end-user devices, including different screen sizes, resolutions, operating systems, and browsers. Each combination presents a unique set of challenges that can affect how the software functions and appears to users. It's also difficult to test all the possible cases. Especially in the realm of web development, there is a multitude of factors that can impact the user experience. Consider the vast array of devices and configurations: smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops, running on iOS, Android, Windows, or macOS, using various versions of browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, or Internet Explorer.  Each device, operating system, and browser combination may render web content differently, and user interactions may vary as well. It is virtually impossible to anticipate and account for every possible device and configuration, making it challenging for tests to provide complete coverage. “Did I test this UI as if I were my grandma?” Your software may target a diverse audience with different preferences, behaviors, and . Testing can help uncover issues that arise in typical scenarios, but it may miss edge cases or specific user interactions that deviate from the norm. User personas and profiles add another layer of complexity. accessibility needs For example, users with visual impairments who rely on assistive technologies may encounter usability challenges that are difficult to capture through automated tests alone. In addition to the technical variations, user context and real-world scenarios play a crucial role in shaping the user experience. Factors such as network conditions, bandwidth limitations, or concurrent usage can impact the performance and reliability of the software. While tests can provide a controlled environment, they may not accurately simulate the diverse network conditions and usage patterns that users encounter in their daily lives. If tests cannot ensure your software works well, are they worth it at the end of the day? Chapter 2. QA & The need for speed I've witnessed firsthand the challenges posed by “strict” Quality Assurance practices, particularly when it comes to smaller companies that must move swiftly to stay on top of their competitors. I believe this is especially true for early-stage startups; you're somehow likely to throw away the whole feature soon if your customers are not using it. So, was that one whole week of testing and refining the unit tests worth it? Let me share my personal experiences and shed light on the dangers of getting caught up in perfectionism, especially when minor visual or presentational aspects become the focus of QA efforts. In my previous role at a startup, we faced a constant battle between delivering features quickly and ensuring impeccable quality. There were instances when our release cycle was unnecessarily delayed due to minute issues such as a misaligned CSS margin, an incorrect font choice, or a missing line break. While attention to detail is important, I began to question the impact of obsessing over these cosmetic imperfections on our ability to stay ahead in the market. One of the risks of excessive QA is the In our pursuit of flawlessness, we often found ourselves investing significant time and resources into fixing minuscule visual glitches. prioritization of perfection over practicality. Isn't this the enemy of productivity? While it's essential to maintain high standards, I started to realize that dedicating extensive effort to these minute details might be counterproductive, diverting our focus away from core functionality and user experience improvements that truly mattered to our customers. The danger became apparent as we observed the consequences of an overly cautious QA approach. Our team began to exhibit risk-averse behavior, opting for a slow and meticulous release process. While the intention was to deliver a near-flawless product, we inadvertently stifled innovation and hindered our ability to respond quickly to customer demands. As a small (30 employees) company, However, excessive QA practices resulted in a widespread fear of “bugs” which was holding us back. we relied on our agility to iterate rapidly and outmaneuver larger competitors. Shouldn't we accept bugs exist? (Sorry - football quote) Anyone who works makes mistakes; if you don't work, you never make mistakes. Chapter 4. Customers might be the best testers The financial implications of prolonged-release cycles became evident. Missed market windows, delayed revenue generation, and potential customer churn began to take a toll. We couldn't afford to dawdle as a small company with limited resources. We needed to leverage our agility and speed to seize opportunities and maintain a competitive edge. The time spent on perfecting minor details needed to be balanced against the need for rapid iteration and market responsiveness. Postpone, postpone, and postpone every release until we are “more certain” that everything works; shipping on Tuesdays became the preferred option. Why ship on Monday if we can take one more day to test everything? While testing helps identify and prevent defects, it is equally important to embrace user feedback as a valuable source of information. We can create a user-centric product that meets their expectations by fostering a feedback loop with users, actively listening to their needs, and Users' experiences, preferences, and suggestions can provide insights that go beyond what testing alone can uncover. incorporating their input into the development process. Rather than relying solely on extensive internal testing, involving users in the testing process can be highly beneficial. Early user testing, such as beta testing or usability studies, allows for real-world scenarios and user interactions to be observed. This user-centric approach helps identify pain points, usability issues, and unanticipated problems that may not be caught through internal testing alone. Incorporating this feedback early on can greatly enhance the user experience and satisfaction. Unfortunately, I personally witnessed a strong “unbalance” in many software teams. Here's a question for you: Should QA fail for a UI inconsistency? How often should QA fail? Chapter 5. “Users will leave if they encounter a bug!” Research consistently highlights the negative impact of broken functionality on user retention. We have been told many studies show that users are less likely to continue using a product if they encounter frequent bugs, crashes, or errors that disrupt their experience. , 88% of users will abandon an app after just one or two instances of poor performance. These findings emphasize the critical role that functional stability plays in retaining users and building long-term engagement. According to a survey by Qualitest When users encounter broken functionality, it erodes their trust in the product and the development team behind it. Even if the issues are eventually resolved, users may develop a negative perception and be reluctant to return. Users may lose trust in a website or app if they repeatedly experience functional errors or glitches. But… is this still true in 2023? Bugs are everywhere, and we all know . bug-free software may never exist Users may encounter bugs from time to time, and it is important to distinguish between minor bugs and critical functionality issues. Users may be nowadays more forgiving of minor bugs that do not significantly impact their overall experience. In our view, users have learned to accept bugs as inevitable in software development; bugs are part of our daily lives. However, when it comes to that hinders their ability to use the software as intended, users are likely to be less forgiving and may seek alternatives. broken core functionality B2B bugs are more painful (or not?) In B2B scenarios, broken functionality can have severe consequences for users and their businesses. It can result in delayed project timelines, missed deadlines, and even . a $440 million financial loss As for consumer software, business users might become frustrated and angry when encountering bugs preventing them from accomplishing their work. Their loyalty to a software product is closely tied to its reliability and ability to help them succeed in their professional responsibilities. Low reliability should equal higher churn. However, I have learned that's not always the case. Once a whole organization adopts a technology, is it that easy to make the whole company switch to a competitor solution? Unlikely. E-commerce has (more) loyalty challenges. In e-commerce, users have numerous alternatives readily available at their fingertips. As a user, your job-to-be-done is very clear. You need to buy a vacuum cleaner. If the Amazon app crashes, how long before you try the next app in your drawer? Broken functionality or bugs can lead to quickly abandoned shopping carts, permanently decreased customer satisfaction, and lost business opportunities. Chapter 6. Are TDD & QA the only solution? Obviously, no. While tests play a crucial role in identifying and preventing some defects, there are additional measures that can be taken to minimize the impact of bugs on users. Here are a few approaches I have studied: Monitoring and Error Tracking Implementing systems allows for proactive identification and resolution of issues. Real-time monitoring can help detect anomalies, performance issues, and errors, allowing for prompt remediation before they Error tracking enables the capture of error details and helps prioritize bug fixes based on their impact on users. robust monitoring and error tracking impact multiple users. Tools such as , , Bugsnag, and help teams automatically detect coding errors and problematic UX sessions, so teams can Sentry Rollbar Bugpilot proactively address issues. User Feedback and Support provides valuable insights into usability issues, bugs, and areas for improvement. Promptly addressing user-reported issues and providing support demonstrates a commitment to resolving problems and maintaining a positive user experience. Actively encouraging and collecting user feedback Tools such as , , and help teams easily collect feedback from their users. Canny Hotjar Bugpilot Documentation and User Education Clear and comprehensive documentation and user education materials can help users navigate the software effectively and minimize the risk of user-induced errors. Providing resources that explain common issues and troubleshooting steps empowers users to resolve minor problems independently. At Bugpilot, we use a Notion page to keep all our documentation. Easy and free. Conclusion Testing acts as a crucial preventive measure by identifying issues early in the development process. Thorough testing, including unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests, helps - to some extent - catch bugs and ensure the stability and functionality of the software. But over-testing and too strict processes are very likely to damage the company in the long run. However, Therefore, it is equally important to have mitigation strategies in place. By implementing mitigation solutions, software teams can quickly detect and address errors, minimizing their impact on users and swiftly resolving any issues that arise. errors may occasionally slip through the testing net despite our best efforts. Recognizing that , creating an environment that encourages user feedback and provides effective customer support is essential. By actively listening to user reports and promptly addressing their concerns, software teams can maintain a positive relationship with their users and foster trust and loyalty. no software might ever be entirely bug-free tl;dr Don't overtest. You probably don't need 99% unit test coverage. Ship fast. Also published . here

Is Software Testing Really Worth It?

¿Realmente vale la pena probar el software?

Les tests logiciels en valent-ils vraiment la peine ?

क्या सॉफ्टवेयर परीक्षण वास्तव में इसके लायक है?

ソフトウェアテストには本当に価値があるのでしょうか?

O teste de software realmente vale a pena?

Kiểm thử phần mềm có thực sự đáng giá?

软件测试真的值得吗？

Welcome to HackerNoon’s interview series. This section is curated by our Editorial team to spotlight bold and disruptive startups across the globe. If you’ve been nominated, and answer these questions Startups-Of-The-Year create a brand profile here. Hey Hackers, UXWizz has been nominated in HackerNoon's annual Startup of the Year awards in Craiova, Romania. Please vote for us here: . https://hackernoon.com/startups/europe/europe-craiova-dolj-county-romania Read more about us below to understand why we deserve your vote. Meet UXWizz UXWizz is a self-hosted website analytics platform that helps you improve all your websites without sharing your data or your visitors’ data with any 3rd party. UXWizz can be a complete, private, replacement for multiple platforms like Google Analytics, Hotjar, Google Optimize, or Fullstory. My Role I am the founder and lead developer of UXWizz. I make sure the platform is always up-to-date and taking advantage of the latest technology improvements and browser features to provide a responsive, easy-to-use analytics dashboard. How We're Disrupting/Improving the Website Analytics Industry In the last few years, the new privacy laws have been a huge talking point across industries, and any company that owns a website or digital asset had to look into it. The main problem that those laws try to solve is to reduce or stop the sharing of user private data between companies. UXWizz aims to solve this issue by providing a platform that is entirely in your control, where no data is sent to an external 3rd party analytics platform. Standing Out from The Crowd UXWizz is, as far as we know, the only premium analytics platform that is self-hosted-first and that has as the main goal the popularization of the self-hosted ecosystem and reducing external services and subscriptions being used. Our Predictions/Thoughts on the Website Analytics Industry in 2023 As more and more privacy laws are being issued and regulations are getting stricter, our prediction is that most companies that care about data privacy and respecting the laws will start moving away from 3rd party analytics to self-hosted analytics, where all the data remains in their control. Because of this, we predict that the self-hosted ecosystem will grow considerably in 2023 and 2024. What word defines the state of Website Analytics in 2023? Change. This is not a prediction; change it’s already happening. Google Analytics has just enforced its new GA4 tracking method, which very few of its users seem to be willing to adapt to. More and more “privacy-friendly” analytics platforms are released that do not use cookies and don’t store any private user information. There is not a clear monopoly in the website analytics space anymore since people are moving away from the consecrated Google Analytics. Now is the time for a new era of website analytics to begin. Why we decided to participate in HackerNoon's Startup of the Year awards Awards are a simple way in which customers can decide whether a product is worthy of trying out. By winning an award, UXWizz will establish itself as a top product in the website analytics space, one for which customers should at least consider checking out the . 100% free trial Final Thoughts We are ready to change the website analytics ecosystem in 2023 and lead the way in the switch to a cheaper, more private, and independent way of running all the services a digital business needs. Vote for us today! . https://hackernoon.com/startups/europe/europe-craiova-dolj-county-romania Also published here

Startups of the Year 2023: UXWizz - The Self-Hosted Website Analytics Platform  

The Ultimate Checklist for B2B SaaS Business Development

La lista de verificación definitiva para el desarrollo empresarial B2B SaaS

La liste de contrôle ultime pour le développement commercial B2B SaaS

B2B SaaS व्यवसाय विकास के लिए अंतिम चेकलिस्ट

B2B SaaS ビジネス開発のための究極のチェックリスト

A lista de verificação definitiva para o desenvolvimento de negócios B2B SaaS

Danh sách kiểm tra cuối cùng để phát triển kinh doanh B2B SaaS

B2B SaaS 业务开发的终极清单

One of the biggest contact form mistakes you can make is sending leads to a basic form at the bottom of your demo or contact page. Even though someone fills it: It won't reinforce why they should work with you. It won’t handle any possible objections they have from working with you. It doesn’t add to the user experience or let them see your personality. After you’ve captured your lead’s attention, your next step should be building trust & credibility with them. They should already trust you before they apply for a demo, sign up for a resource, or book a call. In this article, I’m not talking about common contact form mistakes like making your form , , or too long non-mobile friendly sending traffic to a faulty form. I’m revealing how you can use micro-conversions and copywriting techniques to build trust with prospects from your form. Then, I’ll show you how to optimize your contact form to convert more leads. Grab your fave drink, and let’s get into this. What Are Micro-Conversions, And Why Should You Use Them? When I started my copywriting business, I thought that these four basic fields were all you needed to convert more leads: Name: Your email: Your company: Your message: As my conversion copywriting skills grew, I discovered a hidden problem that kills conversions on contact pages. The basic 4 fields I showed you earlier do to show your customer that you care about them or understand the problem they’re going through. nothing There are no custom, personalized questions to make your One Reader feel like you’re reading their mind. There are no brand-accurate questions or placeholders to reflect your brand voice and tone. It’s also terrible for collecting quality VOC data because your prospects won’t give specific answers about their current situation. So if you’re a Saas trying to get more results from your contact form like: More users filling out your demo form, and More users inquiring to work with you, Your form should answer the question, “What’s in it for me?“ for your perfect prospect. What do they learn about you from filling out the form? What will they get from filling out the form? Why should they fill it in now? That’s where come in. micro-conversions Think of micro-conversions as transactions. They are small steps that your site users take that indicate that they’ll convert ( ). Each time, you ask for something slightly bigger…or something that takes slightly more effort than the last request. Hotjar These are just a few ways you can use them: Someone downloads your free guide, and at the end of the resource, you invite them to book a call. Someone subscribes to your newsletter, and in your welcome email, you ask them to pick topics they’re interested in. Someone signs up for a demo, and then you pitch them your solution at the end. How Should Visitors Feel When They Fill Out Your Form? As they answer questions and tick boxes, your One Reader should understand that: You understand the problem that they have. Your solution is the right fit for them. Your solution is easily accessible (not that they have to hop on three separate calls before requesting a demo!) Unfortunately, that’s where most contact forms just fall flat. Why Many Saas Contact Forms Are Set Up To Fail The issue is that many Saas forms don’t reinforce why their site visitors should continue filling out the form, much less work with them. Additionally, if your form has too many fields, it's intimidating and stressful to fill out. Let’s see how form fields and CTA can impact responses below. Form fields won’t convert well if they don’t: Reinforce the benefits they’ll get from your demo. Tell the prospect why they should want your demo and when they should expect to see results. Lower the risk of taking action – for example, telling them when they’ll get a response. Build trust – no social proof or recommendations to show your expertise. Calls to action can also reduce your conversions when they can't communicate the value of taking an action. CTAs like or are overused, and they don’t reinforce how: “Click here" “Get started“ Signing up for your demo can help them know why they need your software to track email replies. Starting a free trial with all the premium features can get them closer to that “AHA” moment. Working with you can help them scale to $20k months faster. See what I’m saying? We’re going to see how you can close your contact forms better so that your leads understand why they should take action now, and anticipate the end result you promised them. Let's see how this copywriting framework works. Reinforce What They Get From Your Service – The Short Close Method From the start, your leads should know what outcome or transformation they get from your solution. Unlike e-commerce businesses, your Saas is an intangible solution. Your leads can’t see or touch it, so you’ll need to focus on the transformation they get from using it. For example, you can’t touch Google, but a quick Google search gives you access to millions of websites and resources for free. How Do You Summarize Everything They Get From You? Firstly, identify your and . propellants repellents Propellants are forces that make your prospects want to say yes. Some examples of propellants are: “What do I get?”: A 40-minute demo of XXX solution to see how you can save $5k every quarter on XXX fees. “Why do I need this now?”: If you keep DIY’ing you’ll lose at least $5k every quarter, and pay the wrong people to fix problems that don’t exist. Repellents are forces that make your prospects want to say no. They include: “Why should I trust you?”: We’ve worked with over 100 fintech companies and helped them save a total of $983,200 on XXX fees every quarter. “What objections can you help me overcome?”: If you’re too busy for a demo, we’ll send you the recording and a customized report for you to implement immediately These are the backbone of the Short Close Method. This strategy reminds the visitor about what they get from working with you and tackles objections/hesitations about using your solution. When you can use The Short Close Method: If your demo page has a form at the bottom. If you want to move your visitor to another page, e.g., your product page. What this looks like: Propellant reinforcing crosshead Body text that emphasized propellants or handles objections (repellents) Button copy (if needed) Click-trigger copy to reduce repellents, e.g., "Get a free intensive when you apply now." A good example of this is the close for InfusionSoft’s form⬇️ Here's What I Would Suggest Improving: There are many e-mail marketing software for small businesses. How is their software different? What can it help their ideal customers conserve or increase? Benefit-centric headline: If there was a benefit in the headline, the button copy could reinforce it and make it more enticing to click, e.g., or The button: "I want to 2x my engagement" "Show me how to get more revenue" It doesn't say whether prospects should book the demo or if they'll get it immediately. Remember, be clear about what your visitor gets after they click that CTA! Clarity: The body copy isn't specific about how they helped their customers. Did they improve deliverability? When paired with the social proof (125k customers served), it increases their credibility. Be more specific: TL;DR Contact forms aren’t just plain boxes to fill, they’re a great opportunity to build trust, show off your brand voice & tone, and collect quality voice-of-customer (VOC) data! Don’t make your form stressful to fill out or use a faulty form. You can use the Short Close Method to reinforce what they get from filling out the form, and get more quality leads who understand your offer’s value. Use propellants and repellents to handle objections, and drive your visitor to take action immediately. Let me know what you think in the comments, and feel free to ask any questions you have! Like this article? Please share it on LinkedIn or Twitter☀️ This article was originally posted here.

How to Attract Better Leads For Your SaaS

আপনার SaaS এর জন্য কীভাবে আরও ভাল লিড আকর্ষণ করবেন

So gewinnen Sie bessere Leads für Ihr SaaS

Cómo atraer mejores clientes potenciales para su SaaS

Comment attirer de meilleurs prospects pour votre SaaS

अपने सास के लिए बेहतर लीड कैसे आकर्षित करें

SaaS のより良いリードを引き付ける方法

SaaS에 대해 더 나은 리드를 유치하는 방법

Como atrair melhores leads para o seu SaaS

SaaS'ınız için Daha İyi Potansiyel Müşteriler Nasıl Çekilir?

Cách thu hút khách hàng tiềm năng tốt hơn cho SaaS của bạn

如何为您的 SaaS 吸引更好的潜在客户

Conversion rate (CR) and conversion rate optimization (CRO) are terms commonly used in e-commerce and digital marketing. By understanding what CRO is and how it works, you can start taking steps to improve the performance of your business. What is a conversion? A conversion is an action taken by a visitor that is a desired goal usually associated with selling products, and services or collecting leads. An example a conversion could be: clicking on a specific button (e.g., "download"), filling out a form, leaving contact information, signing up for a newsletter, watching a video, adding a product to a shopping cart, making a phone call to schedule an appointment, viewing a specific subpage, and finally buying a product. In other words, conversion is a goal we set that takes into account user behavior and that serves to grow our business. Conversions are often measured in online marketing, during advertising campaigns, in newsletters, or on landing pages. It's important to note that conversions and events occurring on a website are not the same thing. For example, watching a video or visiting a page might be an event, but they are not conversions. Conversions are usually a part of the sales funnel or sometimes a standalone event designed to support a sales goal. There may be many other events happening on a website, but not all of them are conversions. Conversion optimization Now that we know what a conversion is, it is easy to deduce that conversion rate optimization involves activities aimed at improving the performance of achieving set goals. This is usually associated with an increase in revenue and profits for our company. To increase conversions, you need analytics data to understand what's happening on your site. Conversion optimization itself, however, is a long-term effort that needs to be carried out on an ongoing basis when managing an online store or website. To measure and improve conversions, you might need to add something called a code. This code is sometimes called a conversion pixel or just a pixel. To find out how many conversions there are and the conversion rate on a website or online shop, you need to put the code in the right place before you start the campaign and measure how well things are going. conversion tracking The best place to put tracking codes is usually in the <head> section of a website. This is because the script can measure user behavior more accurately when it is placed higher up. One common tool for implementing tracking codes is . It is important to add the conversion tracking code correctly so that we can collect analytical data on the progress of the marketing campaign and daily events on the site. Google Tag Manager We can classify conversions into two basic groups: micro-conversions, macro-conversions. Micro-conversions Micro-conversions are often a step towards achieving a main goal. It’s rather rare to see a customer which clicks “buy now” just after visiting for the first time an online store. Usually, it takes a little more than that, and that’s where micro-conversions come into play. Examples of micro-conversions include signing up for a newsletter, visiting a specific subpage that describes a particular product, or any other step that’s closer to the end of the customer journey and marketing funnel (Below-of-the-Funnel a.k.a. BoFo) - adding a product to a shopping cart. Measuring these actions can help assess user engagement and identify bottlenecks where users abandon further interaction with the website. Micro-conversions can help define the sales funnel by representing certain milestones in achieving the final target conversion. By breaking down and detailing the next steps leading to a sale or other goal, as well as analyzing the customer journeys, you can optimize the conversion rate more effectively. There are two basic types of micro-conversions: Milestone micro-conversion An action leading directly to MWR (Most Wanted Response). It could be adding a product to the shopping cart or leaving a contact in the callback service. These are usually events that directly support the purchase process, collecting leads, or any other main goal of the given application. All auxiliary and secondary activities that increase consumer awareness and engagement, contribute to macro-conversion in an indirect way, e.g. adding a product to a wish list, leaving a comment under a blog post, or downloading a freebie. They often help to attract potential customers and increase sales indirectly. Supportive micro-conversion Why micro conversions are important in conversion rate optimization Micro-conversion analysis, as mentioned earlier, helps identify, among other things, the weaknesses of a website. For instance, it helps in identifying breakpoints where people leave your site without the desired action. In a case where 8 out of 10 visitors left the site after visiting a subpage of a product category, it is possible that it needs a closer look and optimization. The reasons behind visitors leaving it could be: the page loading speed, a big popup that can’t be closed a script error that makes it impossible to make a purchase. Analysis of statistical data is not the only source of information. When running an online store it is also worth including customer service in conversion optimization. For example, collecting feedback and insights from customers on different stages of their journey could help identify problems and areas for improvement. Consumers may encounter various technical problems or it may not be obvious to them what to do next. For instance, a low conversion rate may be caused by poor usability of the website for the viewer due to the site's unreadable design, UI, or poor technical optimization. In general, that stands for user experience (UX) on any website or application. Encourage them to initiate contact or leave feedback. Micro-conversions also help in assessing the performance of different channels. Collecting insights about high-converting actions can help you improve sales funnels. Macro-conversions As already mentioned a macro-conversion is defined as a main desired action that is relevant to our business. It is the goal we want to achieve with our application, such as purchasing a product, making an inquiry through a form, and/or making a reservation. A macro-conversion is what we consider to be the most valuable action a user makes on our site or off-site. Indeed, there can be off-site actions like phone calls or visiting the physical venue of our business. Why do we measure conversions? Conversions are measurement indicators for assessing the effectiveness of our activities. We can track successes and identify what brings the most value to our business. We can use conversions to verify  introduced changes. Did the changes help in achieving our goals? By seeing positive marks and increased sales, we can better assess performed actions. Measuring and analyzing conversions can also provide valuable information about potential customers, and possible directions of business development. As a result, measuring conversions can help with increasing company profits, and achieving set goals. When analyzing marketing efforts, there are two terms that we definitely stumble upon: CTR, or click-through rate, CR, or conversion rate. These two metrics are different but both play important role in measuring the effectiveness of digital marketing actions. What is CTR? Click-Through-Rate (CTR) is the ratio of clicks to views expressed as a percent in a given range of time. This ratio tells us, what percentage of people clicked on our ad, a link in an email, a link to a page in organic search results (SERPs), or a button on a specific sub-page. CTR can tell us how well content is tailored (or not) to a given audience. Writing the right copy for our email can improve CTR significantly. However, optimizing CTR shouldn’t just be a goal on its own. We should have in mind an increase in conversion rate as a final objective. That being said it’s worth noting that misleading or clickbaity call-to-action that increased our CTR, could have a poor effect on conversion. The same applies when we target the wrong audience (e.g. we advertise an expensive, premium product for customers looking for cheap or free options). We can have high CTR metrics, but a poor conversion rate. How to calculate the CTR? We calculate CTR using the following formula: CTR (Click Through Rate) = clicks / impressions * 100(%) Conversion rate The CR conversion rate is the percentage of visits (sessions) that ended with the desired action in a specific period of time. We can determine many conversion rates on our site. As was mentioned before, the conversion could be: product sales, the submission of personal information and a completed application form, installation of an app, sending an inquiry via a contact form, signing up for a newsletter, downloading a file. Knowing that, we can calculate the conversion rate and increase in conversion rate conversions for each of these events if we have the right data, e.g.: 20 sessions/visits out of 1000 were finalized with a single transaction - we have 20 sales, the conversion rate is 2%. Notice that we take into account visits or sessions not users. How to calculate CR? We calculate the conversion, or more precisely its coefficient, using the following formula: d CR (Conversion Rate) = conversions (achieved goals) / traffic (number of visits) * 100(%) Tools, techniques for conversion rate optimization Optimizing conversion rate requires using different methods and techniques to help understand users, and their behavior and to identify problems and areas for improvement. It would be difficult to achieve without complex tools that help to gather and visualize data. Call to Action Call to Action (CTA) is a method aimed at improving conversion rates by getting the user to take an action (activity). Most often, it is a marketing solicitation that encourages a specific action like contacting, setting up a trial account, or buying a product. A CTA can appear, for example, in the form of a banner or a button. Example of use: Clear communication of benefits and incentives to visitors on the product page that support sales. Soft CTA to encourage reading more related articles for undecided visitors on a landing page. Chatbots A chatbot is a program for automated conversation based on artificial intelligence. Chatbots enable users to get quick responses, so they are often used to automate customer service on websites. Chatbots are interactive tools that increase consumer engagement and enable direct communication with customers, helping in making a final decision about a purchase. It also helps to save staff time by answering general, repetitive questions. For customers, benefits are not less important. They can quickly get answers about products and services. Example of use: The customer easily gets an answer about the store's return policy before making a purchase decision. The customer informs about a problem with online payment and can be directly contacted by customer service. A/B tests A/B testing (also known as "split testing") is a conversion optimization technique, which involves splitting the audience into two groups. Conducting A/B tests involves serving half of the users one version and the other half another, an alternative version. The two groups are then subjected to analysis, which helps to assess which version had better performance. Example of use: Comparison of two sales copies on a product page. Comparison of the best placement of the CTA button. Heatmaps Heatmaps like hotjar are among popular tools for optimizing conversions using visual data representation. That type of tool can help analyze user behavior and monitor areas of main focus points by capturing mouse movement. Mustered data are displayed in the form of a heatmap, where colors depend on the intensity of mouse movement. Example of use: Determine the best placement for CTA. Find pages that are not engaging for users. Analytics tools Any application analytics is usually an advanced web tool, that allows you to better understand your consumers and website visitors, which then allows you to take action to improve your conversion rates. Google Analytics is one of the most notable ones. However, there are other alternatives or tools that we can use as complementary. Matomo and Bing Analytics are widely used alternatives to GA. Example of use: Measure and count conversions. Check user behavior and bottlenecks in sales funnels. Final thoughts CR refers to the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. CRO involves analyzing user behavior and making changes to a website to increase the likelihood of visitors converting. Knowing the terms and understanding them can help businesses improve their performance.

Understanding Conversion Rate (CR) and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

Each day, numerous new startups emerge globally. Unfortunately, statistics reveal that 90% of them fail to survive beyond their first year of existence due to various reasons such as a weak team, inability to find Product-Market-Fit (PMF), insufficient expertise of the founders to establish a business, and limited budgets. To shed light on these aspects, I interviewed a and marketing specialist, Julia Doronina, who has over four years of experience in leading marketing and growth positions in international startups. She graciously shared her insights with me. startup Can you introduce yourself and give a brief overview of your marketing experience, particularly with startups? I am a graduate of the Faculty of Advertising and Public Relations and I always knew that I would pursue a career in this field after university. My journey took a slight detour from advertising to marketing, primarily because I wanted to take on a broader range of responsibilities and channels beyond advertising platforms. I have always been interested in being closer to business processes, and marketing presented an excellent opportunity to achieve that. Doronina: Like most advertising graduates, I began my career in advertising agencies. I worked in two large-scale agencies, Grey Group and Ogilvy, which are part of the WWP international network. It was a tremendous experience because I was not working with small customers, but instead, with renowned brands such as Hugo Boss, Gucci, Ford, Volvo, and IBM. The agency experience provided me with opportunities to try myself in completely different business sectors. However, I started to feel limited at some point, and the tasks I performed were strictly dictated by customer needs and brand managers. Essentially, in an agency, you are just an executor. I wanted more, so I decided to switch to the client's side to be closer to the business itself and observe the direct impact of my actions on business indicators. This led me to one of the hotels in the Marriott Inc. (Renaissance by Marriott), where I worked on not only standard advertising channels but also the organization of events, partnership marketing, customer loyalty, and many other aspects that were previously unavailable in an agency. After some time, I realized that working for such a cool client had its drawbacks, such as guidelines, restrictions, and supervision from the leadership and global office. I wanted more freedom to test marketing channels. This is how I started my journey in startups, where I have been working for over four years, building my career from an SMM manager to the position of Director of Marketing and Growth. During my career, I have worked on several projects, including a travel-tech project, an entertaining mobile application, and currently, an IT startup in the field of information security. What inspired you to pursue a career in marketing for startups? Marketing in startups involves constant testing of hypotheses. It provides an opportunity to generate new ideas every day that can be explored without limitations, unlike working with large clients. offers freedom of thought as you can experiment with diverse ideas. However, marketing in startups presents a significant challenge. It is a challenge to oneself since you will have to handle a considerable amount of work in the initial stages, and it is also a challenge regarding the limited budget available. Doronina: Marketing in startups Can you describe your understanding of the unique challenges that startups face in terms of marketing? Time, budget, and lack of employees for implementation are the three main difficulties that I would highlight for marketing in startups. Let me explain why. Firstly, an Early-Stage Startup is always comprised of a small team of founder-experimenters who believe in the idea and are willing to do anything to grow the product. However, at the initial stage, they usually lack extra funds to hire workers to delegate tasks. If the idea is truly exciting, people might agree to work for free for some time out of interest or for experience, but this is not a sustainable solution. Doronina: Therefore, with the fact that each member of the core team is responsible for a wide range of tasks, and this can cause delays in implementation. Startups need to move quickly, so it is important to constantly look for optimization paths (for example, ). Another challenge is the budget. At an early stage, most startups have either no funds or only minimal personal savings. Therefore, for a marketer, it can be a significant challenge to achieve great marketing results with minimal investments. startups often struggle using ChatGPT, which I recently wrote an article about Well-established companies are mostly characterized by using traditional marketing channels such as radio, television, print advertising, contextual advertising, targeted ads, social networks, and more. However, these traditional channels are often expensive and challenging to scale effectively, which makes them difficult for startups. As I previously mentioned, startups rely on hypotheses. They try various methods, such as viral videos, guerrilla marketing, collaborations with influencers, guest publications, and more, to see what works. How do you approach marketing for a startup that is just getting off the ground compared to a more established company? Doronina: What role do you see marketing playing in a startup's success? For a , I believe that marketing accounts for 80-90% of its success. It is essential to recognize that this not only involves standard channels but also encompasses competitor analysis, market research, consumer behavior study, target audience analysis, conducting CustDev, personal sales, and many other aspects necessary for the startup's growth. Doronina: startup at the initial stage Can you describe your approach to developing a marketing strategy for a startup? Our startup is quite complex and designed for a sophisticated B2B target audience, meaning it's sold to other companies rather than end-users. The B2B transaction cycle can be lengthy, taking up to 1.5 years. For instance, I recently spoke with a French startup about participating in a major event, and they shared that a lead they received at a past event only converted to a purchase after almost 2.5 years. Doronina: Therefore, must devise both long-term strategies to support deals and short-term strategies for finding new leads. Currently, we're building our marketing strategy by conducting in-depth research on our potential audience. We identify relevant users and conduct interviews with them, then use their feedback to improve the product to meet their needs. Additionally, I'm focusing on several key areas in our startup: content marketing, SEO optimization, launching an Early Adopter Program, guest publications, and email marketing. Furthermore, we're constantly testing different sites to increase traffic, including Indie Hackers, HackerNews, G2, and launching on Product Hunt (where we've already been featured three times and made it into the top 5 products of the day). B2B startups How do you balance short-term and long-term marketing goals for a startup? In terms of short-term goals, I focus on testing hypotheses. For each hypothesis, I allocate 3-5 days to determine if it works or not. For instance, if I decide to launch an email distribution for a particular audience, I assess the outcome. If it's not effective, I try another audience. I continually experiment with different texts, headings, and approaches to determine the optimal ones. Doronina: Regarding long-term strategies, I prioritize the development of our blog and enhancing our search engine rankings through proper SEO implementation. For example, it took us around five months for one of our articles to begin driving significant traffic to our website. It's worth noting that keyword optimization takes around six months to show real results. Therefore, I allocate a separate timeframe to focus on this direction, knowing that after some time, this channel will work for us. What tactics have you found to be particularly effective for marketing a startup on a limited budget? I focus on both standard marketing channels as well as all possible start-up platforms. Firstly, I prioritize the following: development and continuous updating of the site, ensuring its usability; content marketing and SEO; email marketing; social network development; holding free events (webinars); cross-promotion. These are all free channels that a marketer can independently work on in a project without incurring marketing costs. I am implementing all of these in my project. Doronina: Regarding the second direction, I would recommend that start-ups first create profiles on all the top start-up sites, such as Crunchbase, Angel.co, and F6S. Additionally, I have placed our product on Betalist. Next, consider sites such as Product Hunt or AppSumo, and choose the one that best suits your business goals. Can you walk me through a recent marketing campaign you worked on for a startup? One of our major was the launch of Product Hunt, mentioned earlier. This campaign involved developing product positioning for the launch, creating creatives and texts, and expanding the community through personal communication and announcements on various sites (such as Reddit). I began preparing for the launch about 1.5 months in advance to have enough time to improve both the product itself and its non-technical aspects, which later helped us on the day of the launch at Product Hunt. As a result, after the launch, we received more than 5,000 visits to the site, 1,400 leads that subscribed to the product for a trial, and a request from a major Fortune 500 customer. (I am not 100% certain that this customer was from Product Hunt, but we did receive the request on the same day as the launch, which was a pleasant coincidence :) Doronina: advertising campaigns for a startup How did you ensure that the campaign was delivered within a limited budget? The most important point to note is that launching on Product Hunt does not require any financial investment from you unless you choose to create a high-quality video, hire a producer, or invest in other production-related costs. I can confirm that the only expenses we incurred were for purchasing a few stock pictures and videos that we used in our short video. Doronina: What challenges did you face in executing the campaign for a startup, and how did you overcome them? The main challenge when launching on Product Hunt is to prepare the product correctly for the launch. As I mentioned, our product belongs to the B2B category, but for Product Hunt, we adapted it for the B2C category so that people could also test our technology. This required additional time for inventing and optimizing the system, but it was worth the effort. Doronina: How do you approach branding for a startup? The positioning of a startup should be memorable because it is essential to accomplish two crucial tasks: increasing the number of users and finding investors. In order to achieve both objectives, the startup needs to be noticeable so that people remember it and associate it with something unique. For example, I have friends whose brand has a corporate color of purple. They always wear purple sweatshirts to all events, which makes them stand out in a crowd. In our case, we also have a distinctive corporate color - orange. We incorporate it into all our materials to make our startup memorable. Doronina: How do you use data and analytics to inform your marketing decisions for a startup? The use of various analytics systems is essential for a marketer, and in my case, I use several platforms to track different indicators. First and foremost, I use Google Analytics. Additionally, for SEO optimization, I use Semrush and Ahrefs. To track user actions and their activities, I regularly check the notes through Hotjar and use Amplitude. There are also analytics tools for email newsletters, and I enjoy working with Apollo. The most important aspect is that all of these systems are either free or reasonably priced, which is crucial for a beginner startup that aims to use the marketing budget efficiently. Doronina: You know so much about the systems and nuances of working with startups. Do you share your insights with other marketing specialists? Yes, definitely. I believe that a marketer should be able to collaborate and exchange ideas. For instance, I regularly schedule meetings with various other marketers from startups to discuss the tools they use and share their effectiveness. This helps me discover new ideas for testing. Doronina: Moreover, I enjoy sharing my developed methods and perspectives. So, recently, I started conducting mentoring sessions for other beginner startups. For example, I hold a marketing session on the ADPlist platform about once a week. Additionally, I am currently a mentor for the Women in Tech international program. I am particularly proud of this participation because I think more and more girls should join the IT sphere. I am presently mentoring three startups with whom I have been working on developing their projects together for over three months. For me, this is an engaging experience since I can view the products of the teams from an outside perspective and offer them fresh ideas. I am even thinking of finding a mentor who can provide us with an unbiased viewpoint on our project. Is there anything else you would like to add about your marketing experience with startups or your approach to marketing for startups? During my work with startups, I have realized that it is a completely different world with its own laws compared to the corporate world. It is a field for creativity but also involves risks. If you decide to become a marketer in a startup or start your project, it is essential to weigh the pros and cons. Here are some pieces of advice for : Doronina: startup marketers From the very beginning, build a network with other projects in the startup world. This will be your source of new ideas, and maybe even one of them will bring you to a future investor. Constantly explore market trends and try to incorporate them into your business. No one knows which hypothesis will work. For example, when ChatGPT gained popularity a couple of months ago, in my experience, many projects did not even try to figure out what it was. I started testing it almost from the first day, and now this tool is consistently optimizing my work. Study the approaches of others from the point of view of budget but effective methods. Make a list of your competitors and a list of projects that simply inspire you, and monitor their activity, analyzing it in relation to your startup. Do not be afraid to offer the CEO of the project new ideas. Even if he or she seems conservative, always try, but be sure to prepare a justification before presenting the idea, preferably supported by facts and numbers. Startups are also about personal development. Therefore, while working in them, try to strengthen your diverse qualities as much as possible. This is a field for self-expression. If you suddenly like numbers, you can easily ask to be involved in the fundraising process. If you like the technical side, ask to be deeply involved in the development process.

Scaling Your Startup with Effective Marketing: Advice from a Startup Specialist

Once upon a time, there was a Product Manager I have a killer product idea! It will be the “most awesomest” product out there. It will have this cool feature and this shiny interface, and blockchain, and and a gravity gun, and blackjack, and... you know... AI, Should my team go build it? Or should I first test if someone cares enough to buy it? The case for demand validation Ok, the books say I must validate the demand first, so let's be the diligent Senior Product Managers we should be and test if people want it before we build it. We need to make sure that: there is a real pain in the market that my cool product is a solution to. the market is aware of the pain and cares enough to solve it. my cool product can solve that pain point. my cool product is a substantially better solution than the alternatives in the eyes of the market. I can communicate the value of my cool product in such a way as to motivate the market to choose it over the alternatives. with my intended pricing it will be competitive and attractive. Oof, that's a lot of work! I'd rather just go build it, but fine. Techniques for demand validation What options for demand testing techniques do I have? Well, there are and methods, and . qualitative quantitative I need both method is relatively straightforward - I just need to interview enough people from the target market to dig into their jobs to be done, struggles, and needs. They can also tell me about the they currently use to get their jobs done. The qualitative alternative solutions method, on the other hand, is a bit tricky. I can always do a landing page test, but there are a few challenges with it: The quantitative Driving traffic to such a page is , especially in a competitive market. difficult and expensive It's as much of a test for my ad, as it is for my product, and , considering its small size, is quite difficult and is a distraction. getting the ad right But most importantly - I won't know how my solution can be compared to the available alternatives. There is for the results I will get. no benchmark I have an idea though... The listicles (list articles) You know these "Top N something something" kind of articles? Like: 5 best GPS vehicle trackers The 14 hair growth products that actually work Top 10 Best CRM Software Tools in 2023 They are often referred to as " " - articles presented in the form of a list. listicles They basically help you of possible solutions to a problem and present you with the best solutions to choose from. They also aim to offer , rather than giving you a sales pitch designed to overstate benefits and downplay the drawbacks. bypass doing your own research objective impartial analysis I love them - they make picking a new phone, a movie to watch, and an app to install much easier. I also use them at work all the time while looking for solutions to everyday challenges. So what if we use one of them to ? benchmark our product against the best available alternatives Plan of action Ok, here's my plan: I will available to solve the pain point my cool product is designed to solve. research alternatives I will , where my cool product is one of those solutions. write a "Top 5 solutions to {pain X}" article I will make sure my article is an . I will not overstate my cool product's benefits and downplay its drawbacks. I will also be equally honest about the alternatives. objective impartial analysis I will to the benefits I think my audience cares about the most, like price, ease of use, feature set and documentation. compare all solutions I will host this article on a (not on my product's website) but make sure I have access to the analytics. neutral domain I will this article using ads. It should be way easier and cheaper than promoting a specific solution as people generally don't like being sold to. promote I will - what they do once on the page, which links they click, and which text they select. I might even do screen recordings of their actions (like HotJar) to understand how they behave on the page. track the visitor behavior I will it is to to this page. If people don't click it, it might mean that the pain point I am solving is not that important to my target market. test how easy drive traffic I will my solution is . test how popular compared to the alternatives I will on my value proposition until I am happy with how often users pick my solution. iterate Disciplining your thinking I already see the benefits of disciplining my thinking just from writing this article. It forces me to clearly I am solving. understand the problem I have to to the problem. research the best available solutions I have no choice other than to think about very early. differentiation Possible outcomes Once I have this listicle up and getting traffic, here are possible outcomes: It is possible I to the page. Since my market is established and not super-niche, that must mean that the market doesn't care enough about the problem. won't be able to drive significant traffic Most obviously, over mine. I pretty much expect that in the first iteration. From this point, I can A/B test various versions of my product's value prop to get a good performance. visitors can prefer the alternatives I can get to a point where I have a good number of visitors and a for my cool product This will give me the confidence to build the product and expect demand for it. good conversion rate compared to the alternatives. Summary I believe have a huge potential for testing demand hypotheses. listicles Writing one can , forcing you to think through the problem, alternative solutions, and differentiation at an early stage. discipline your thinking They are easier to promote, making demand validation more accessible. They by showing you early if people don't care enough to read it. validate the problem They give you a of your value proposition . benchmark against the best alternatives Have you tried using listicles for your demand validation? If so - let us know in the comments how this worked for you. Also published here.

Listicles – a Simple but Effective Technique for Demand Validation

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This past year, I joined in on presentations and discussions on how to find product market fit (PMF) with successful startups and scaleups at a product market fit academy. The ever-elusive “product-market fit” is the key to unlocking rapid growth, and this article walks you through a real and actionable case study. I’ve summarized the key takeaways for rapid growth that you can start today alongside my perspective from heading growth at prior scaleups and startups. Spoiler alert: These actions are centered around product research as the core pillar for growth. One particular PMF session I was intrigued by was with an ed-tech scaleup that had and I learned firsthand how this happened. three-year revenue growth of 334.6% and an annual bookings rate of $45M+, For context, this ed-tech scaleup was founded in 2013 and features self-paced online courses for tech careers like coding, data, design, cybersecurity, etc. They are a project-based course in a flipped classroom model with 1-1 mentorship and a job guarantee. But first, what is product market fit? According to Marc Anderseen, the legendary entrepreneur, co-founder of the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz and creator of the once-dominant web browser Netscape: “Product/market fit means being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.” In my experience, when you have it -- you will know because sales will skyrocket. It will feel like there is an organic pull from the demand versus pushing against resistance to sell a product. ran growth in the early days of , , and other startups and found a indicator: just ask users, “how would you feel if you could no longer use the product?” and measure the percent who answer “very disappointed.” Sean Ellis Dropbox Eventbrite leading He benchmarked nearly a hundred startups with his survey and found that companies that struggled to find growth almost always had less than 40% of users respond “very disappointed,” and companies with strong traction almost always exceeded that threshold.** ** So now that we are on the same page, let’s dive into how this scaleup found product market fit (PMF) and, thus, rapid growth: 1️⃣ Start with research, and after launch, make it a “BAU.” Throughout their journey to PMF and growth, this ed-tech scaleup made sure that research was at the center of what they built. In the beginning, before finding product market fit, this meant using: Interviews and surveys to understand user pain points User Research: With potential employers that would use their platform to better understand their needs. They learned some key questions like: What does their ideal candidate look like? Are they open to hiring from non-degree programs? Relevant Stakeholder Research/Feasibility Analysis: What they found was that many coding boot camps but no job-guaranteed Data Science boot camps existed in 2016 Competitive Research: Many unicorn startups began building their products by talking to their customer first, as did with fast-growing scaleups. They took the learnings from customer needs, pain points, and market gaps and applied it to the product they ultimately built and kept iterating on their product even after launch. Even after finding PMF, they continued to make product research a business, as usual, “BAU.” Working with many startups and scaleups, I noticed that there is a tendency to wait for a decline in numbers to justify the research. Waiting for retention to decline or sales to plummet before you start is a big risk as the landscape changes quickly, and you leave a lot of money on the table, as it can be the catalyst for growth. 2️⃣ Make research BAU by integrating research into your product The GM told me that they integrated research at different and critical parts of their customer journey. By integrating feedback inside the actual product, it was easier to address the evolving needs of their customer without much work. They essentially built a system to keep uncovering unmet needs, which is fundamental to driving continuous growth. In my experience working with startups with research integrated into the product, we need to be mindful to also watch how this may affect conversion numbers. Typically every additional step or interaction will create some drop-off, so it’s finding a balance between conversions and learning to be strategic in the placement of research within the customer journey. The ed-tech scaleup built proprietary tools to capture customer research through their product. There are existing plug-ins to also do this. For example, you can deploy quick and short surveys from tools like , which also serve to give you valuable insights into how to optimize your website with heatmaps and recordings of actual customer journeys. Hotjar 3️⃣ It’s not just about asking the right questions but asking the right questions in the RIGHT way Though they didn’t talk about this explicitly, what I’ve personally found through my own experience is that it isn’t just the research but that gets the results. It may not sound hard to talk to customers or throw up a survey, but research is both an art and a science. doing research the right way Identifying the problem space, who to talk to, asking the right questions, AND in the right way all have massive implications on what you will do next, so make sure you’re working with someone who knows how to do this or follow free blogs and/or take her courses! PM guru Teresa Torres For example, if you own a gym and ask a research participant if they exercise -- chances are they will say yes. But if you ask them when they last exercised, maybe they might answer 12 months ago, which will radically change your understanding of this person. Furthermore, asking them to tell you about the last time they exercised or to tell you a moment in which they had challenges while exercising will enable them to tell you a story that can enrich your understanding of the opportunity space. These types of questions are best for user interviews vs. a survey. Knowing which format to leverage and when is also part of the equation for good research. 4️⃣ It’s not just about the data When I heard the data that came from the ed-tech scaleups’ interviews and surveys, I realized that the interpretation of the insights is what drives the successful outcomes of the data. They had a brilliant product manager who wasn’t just good at data but also had good intuition. These days, the buzz is around a large data set, but the value is largely dependent on the person’s ability to interpret that data. Good intuition is rooted in a deep understanding of your users. It is the blend of both the data and intuition that drives the biggest insights. And that is how startups like this one built and iterated on a product that works and scales. 5️⃣ Even if you’ve reached millions in revenue, product market fit is an ongoing exercise. The ed-tech scaleup currently helps address the skills gap in the market with tailored educational content but started as a search engine for careers. This immense pivot was based on good user research! Early on, finding product market fit might require significant pivots. Later, it may require big updates to the current product to find your next phase of growth. Growth leaders continuously look for ways to adapt to the ever-changing landscape and their user needs. Constantly look to the future and how to evolve your product even after you find product market fit. It will be interesting to see how they evolve their product further to continue their 300+% growth! Final Thoughts So now take a quick look at your own company. Does it currently see product research as “BAU’’ or a one-off “when it’s needed”? Are you doing the right research and in the right way? It may be the very defining difference between slow and rapid growth and whether your startup finds the elusive product-market fit.

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Over the past few years, I've consistently seen companies actively looking for people specializing in growth marketing or growth hacking. It is often presented as exclusive expertise and unattainable knowledge. It seemed to me something unique until I understood that growth marketing is just a logical approach when you use all available tools and treat the user not as a lead for sales but as a customer who should make a repeat purchase and become loyal to the brand. With this article, I convey my perspective on growth marketing and dispel the myth that it is unique. Also, I want to urge marketers to stop chasing lead generation and finally start creating real value for customers. I'll start with a short story. A few years ago, I applied for the position of Product Marketing Manager in an international IT company. The vacancy involved performing a test task using growth hacking techniques and data analytics. I did deep research, built hypotheses, calculated potential LTV and volumes of TAM, SAM and SOM, and thought about positioning and creative communication based on positioning. I created one email marketing concept and proposed alternative tools for collecting data about users using Account Based Marketing and Big Data. I was worried a little because I did not understand whether my approach was too banal or whether it deserved to be categorized as growth marketing. To my surprise, the CMO of the organization told me that my test assignment was the best and they were ready to make me an offer and that very instant. Moreover, it turned out that in 1.5 days of working on the task, I came up with product and marketing hypotheses that their teams took much longer to reach. I just created the usual marketing and communication strategy as I did for previous brands and products in my experience, and it turned out to be a good growth marketing approach. I didn’t start working with that company. I needed a team that would give me more expertise than I had and opportunities to develop as a manager and team lead. However, that experience made me understand that: We are often critical of our own knowledge and skills. And everyone understands and interprets the concept of growth marketing in their own way. What is growth marketing, and why do I find the term confusing? The term “growth marketing” surfaced more than ten years ago. It’s no longer a niche segment and connects the dots between design, engineering, product development and branding. Growth marketing is a holistic approach to product promotion, where several directions are combined - traditional marketing and product marketing, brand strategy, digital marketing, PR, community management, use of modern technologies and everything else that can improve product interaction and the user. The concept of growth marketing sounds a little confusing to me because if you think logically, marketing activities are carried out for the company or product to grow. If marketing doesn’t bring growth (revenues, recognition, loyal customers, new markets) and is only an expense item in the company's budget, it is not marketing. So, formulating "growth marketing," says that there is another marketing that doesn't make growth. Isn't that strange? It turns out that any marketer who: knows how to build a strategy that is not detached from business goals but one that will strengthen the business model conducts interviews with users and uses the Jobs To Be Done approach builds Customer Journey Map and funnels creates Value Proposition and highlights the essence of a product conducts A/B testing of hypotheses knows how branding works and knows how to manage the process of its creation knows how to set a task for a designer or developer knows how to use Paid Advertising, SEO and SERM understands how PR works uses analytical tools such as Google Analytics, Similar Web or Hotjar knows and implements Big Data, AI or blockchain tools in practice …can be considered a growth marketer or growth hacker. I have never positioned myself as a growth marketer; however, as a brand marketer and product marketer I combine all these functions in my work. This is a usual thorough approach to working on a project, and there is nothing revolutionary in this. It's "healthy marketing" or "good marketing," if you can call it that. What personal qualities should a good marketer possess? According to Zach Boyette, the co-founder and Managing Partner of Galactic Fed, opined in an article on the following skills that a growth marketer should have: Forbes Solution-Focused Data Analysis Creative/Visual Design Product Management Experimental Critical Thinking Multi-Disciplinary Marketer I believe this is a necessary set of personal qualities that a person responsible for promoting a product or company should have. It's impossible for a modern marketer or brand strategist not to have these qualities and not have, for example, critical thinking or not know how to analyze data. Moreover, I want to add the following qualities and skills for becoming a good marketer: Broad outlook and knowledge from various fields. Deep understanding of the industry where the company operates. For example, I don't believe in the success of web3 marketers who have never used cryptocurrency or AI instruments, don’t visit events in the metaverse, don't have a decentralized wallet, and don't understand web3 memes and slang. Without knowing user cases, you cannot build and implement a strategy. Understanding the cultural context and social narratives of the market you sell your product to. Empathy and understanding of the user. This appears based on the previous three points. Summary Summing up, I want to emphasize that growth marketing is an effective and logical way to promote products. But it's a standard integrated approach to marketing, and it's not just about wording; it's about positioning and formulating requirements for marketers. I want to urge founders to reconsider their approach to hiring and evaluating people not based on the highly specialized use of marketing tools but to look at candidates' logic and way of thinking. A growth marketer or person responsible for promoting your product should think about how to communicate its value first and then — which instruments to use. If you liked my article, share it on your social media and follow me on or , Twitter YouTube . LinkedIn

Every Good Marketer is a Growth Marketer

Without a doubt, Microsoft, a US-based technology company, is a leading international software company that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services. Founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975, Microsoft has been committed to providing the best technology worldwide. They are always looking for ways to improve their products and make them more user-friendly. After a series of Microsoft acquisitions, such as Activision Blizzard Inc, a big game-holding firm, Mojang, Hotmail, and GitHub, Microsoft has recently forayed into DIY designing. In a recent report by , the American technology company is prepared to leverage the power of Artificial Intelligence for easy designing. Is this another competition for a SaaS startup such as Canva? Let's see. Tech Crunch Microsoft Bundling: A Killer Business Strategy? Over the years, Microsoft has been known to bundle services in a suite of products at a lesser price. For example, "Office" software is a suite of other software such as Excel, Access, and PowerPoint. This business strategy is known as "bundling." Bundling is the practice of combining multiple products or services into one offering. It is a strategy that can help you increase sales, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. The idea behind bundling is that the customer will be more likely to buy something if they can get multiple things at a discount, even if they don't need or want them. Notably, Microsoft has been into this for decades. For instance, according to a in 1998, when Microsoft bundled its Internet Explorer with its Operating System Windows, the market share of Netscape Navigator decreased by 8.9% to 52.2%, while the market share of Internet Explorer increased by 9.6% to 45.6 percent. Notably, Netscape Navigator was one of the first web browsers for personal computers. It was released in December 1994 by Netscape Communications Corporation and became known as the best-known browser until Internet Explorer's release in 1995. New York Times report Bundling, for years, has been known to be a good business strategy. Besides simplifying the customer experience and decreasing marketing costs, bundling has also been known to be an agent of growth for average order value. For instance, a tech giant like Amazon uses an algorithm that bundles complementary items together in one listing. For example, when you want to buy a luxury shaving brush and a shave cream or oil, they get bundled in a shaving kit. See the picture below: Source: Amazon.com This strategy works best when the buyer is attracted to all of the products offered in the bundle but doesn't want to buy each individually. Large companies like Microsoft understand that the key to making bundling work is knowing their audience and understanding what types of bundles will appeal to them. Is Microsoft A Threat To PLG Startups? Over the years, Microsoft has been creating products that give others a run for their money, especially PLG startups. Product Led Growth (PLG) has been a popular topic in the marketing world recently. In fact, the reason is not far-fetched. The idea of focusing on your product or service to grow your business is rooted in the PLG philosophy. PLG has been the focal point of mission for most SaaS products. Equally important, the products' mission is to drive business growth through solution-based offers. This is why PLG products prioritize user experience because the failure or the success of a PLG product lies in the real value the end user gets. These products include Zoom, Dropbox, Calendly, Evernote, Figma, Loom, Slack, Shopify, Okta, Cloudfare, Webflow, Twilio, and others. Notably, because PLG SaaS products promote an experience of democracy, instant, and value, they have been the real deal in today's adoption of products. In fact, their market capitalization has, over the years, increased astronomically.  Below is a bar chart showing the growth of PLG companies over the years. Source: bvp.com Irrespective of the growth of PLG SaaS companies, Microsoft, a tech giant, has been giving some of them a challenge. For instance, Slack has been an indispensable member of the PLG class. Slack, an app that lets you communicate with your team in an efficient and organized way, was the fastest startup to grow from $1M to $100m over three years before Wiz broke the record in 18 months. Despite this unprecedented growth by Slack, Microsoft launched Teams, an app that does things similar to Slack, in 2017 to rival Slack. Teams' number of daily active users(DAUs) increased from 145 million users in 2021 to 270 million in 2022, according to . On the other hand, Slack, the pioneer in offering the services it now shares with Teams, boasts over 10 million daily active users. In fact, according to , Slack is projected to have 75 million monthly active users by 2025—a figure far from what Microsoft's Teams presently records. Statista Statista Further, Microsoft launched Microsoft Clarity, an analytics app that helps publishers analyze data and gain insights into users' interactions on their websites. Microsoft Clarity was launched in 2020, while Hotjar, another user behavior analytics app, started in 2014. With the momentum Microsoft Clarity is getting, it's become a challenge for Hotjar, which had been in business before the advent of its competitor. A tweet showing tweeps comparing Hotjar and Microsoft Clarity. Now, it appears to be Canva's time to share the brunt of the competition. For years, Canva, a drag-and-drop design tool that allows users to easily create great-looking designs without needing design skills, has been the deal for DIY designing. However, it appears Microsoft is ready to give it a challenge as it launches Designer, a design app that "represents an alternative to Canva," according to a report. Canva was valued at $40 billion as of September 2021, according to , and it presently boasts 100 million monthly active users. CNBC TechCrunch However, while the new Designer app by Microsoft appears to be a competition for Canva, Canva has, on the other hand, been a competitor for Microsoft Office. From introducing to edit documents to offering free presentation slides to compete with PowerPoint, it's been an atmosphere of competition between the two. Without a doubt, a bundling of Designer to the Office suite could lead to a potential decrease in Canva subscriptions. With integration with DALL-E, an AI software that turns texts into pictures, Designer is looking to leverage Artificial Intelligence in the competitive market it's set to join. Canva Docs Growth Marketing Strategies To Learn From Microsoft Bundling There are growth marketing strategies you can learn from Microsoft bundling as a business strategy. Here are some of them: Cross-Channel Marketing Cross-channel marketing is a growth marketing strategy where you sell your product or service in multiple channels. Cross-channel marketing can be incredibly effective because it makes it easier for customers to get several things they need in one purchase rather than making them go through the trouble of buying each thing separately. With Microsoft bundling, growth marketing enthusiasts can leverage the power of cross-channel marketing to increase marketing campaigns and profitability. Disruptive Marketing Disruptive marketing is a growth marketing strategy that takes a different approach to the old methods by initiating new ones. It's not about having a huge advertising budget or spending a lot of money on ads; it's about thinking creatively and creating something original that stands out from the competition. Bundling can be used in disruptive marketing by offering something new and different—something people didn't even know they wanted or needed. Indeed, bundling is an essential component of disruptive marketing because it allows you to offer your product at a lower cost while still making money. Conversion Rate Optimization Conversion rate optimization is a growth marketing strategy that ensures that people who arrive at your website can convert into customers. When it comes to conversion rate optimization, there's a lot you can do. If you're looking to improve your conversion rate, one of the best ways is through bundling. Bundling helps with this both by giving users more information about what you're offering and by allowing them to make a decision quickly, which makes it easier for them to move on if they don't find what they're looking for. Conclusion Ultimately, it's important to note that competition is a natural phenomenon in markets, and Microsoft, a tech giant always hungry for more success. Microsoft is indeed a worthy competitor from which strategies to thrive in business can be learned. Competition is a crucial component of quality markets. Without a doubt, when there's no competition, it becomes a limitation.

Microsoft: A Worthy Competitor Or A Killer Of Startups?

Stories, News & Mentions about HOTJAR

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