Best Practices for Encouraging Feature Discovery in SaaS Products

For any SaaS product, feature discovery is considered the most important aspect. When we say feature discovery, its meaning is not limited to discovering a feature, it also involves encouraging customers to use your specific product feature. That feature could be new or updated.

Feature discovery serves two main purposes: one is informing the users about the feature and the second facilitates the sale of features. Both are essential to drive user engagement and satisfaction.

Undoubtedly, SaaS companies work hard to provide unbeatable quality features to their customers, but there could be chances that some users may be missing out on these. They might be scratching the surface but couldn’t extract the value of the feature.

Therefore, effective implementation of a product discovery strategy is a necessity. However, we’ve listed some common measures to enhance product discovery.

Streamlining Onboarding for Initial Feature Exposure

The user onboarding process is the first interaction between your product and the customer. This significant step determines how your product will be perceived among the users. Therefore, its proper execution is mandatory. To be safe in this game, guide your customers step by step about any complex but valuable feature.

At least, they must have contextual knowledge in hand. Poor execution leads to frustration, which might cost your engagement.

The onboarding process must be simple to understand. Furthermore, educate your users without throwing a bunch of information all at once. The process must be broken into simple and manageable steps.

Reveal features gradually. However, revealing the features after studying customers’ usage patterns, expectations, and preferences will add value. The features must align with their objectives.

However, if you feel a bit confused at any point doing so, you can use professional assistant tools like Userguiding, which will help you create an interactive and user-friendly onboarding experience for your customers.

Using Contextual In-App Messaging to Drive Discovery

Imagine you being done with everything to launch a big new product feature. All your marketing plans are well aligned. The remaining period from launching is running too fast. But something is lagging, it is in-app messaging.

Feature discovery through in-app messaging effectively reduces cognitive load. This measure is effective in driving user engagement. When you send relevant prompts and tips to customers, they try to adopt them.

In-app messaging should be used to guide the customers for specific actions. It should be implemented considering the analytical information so that the messages appear naturally relevant to them.

Ensuring relevance is very important here. Another important factor is the timing of the text. Usually, in-app messaging brings excitement for the new features, this excitement will fall dead if the timing is not appropriate.

Don’t send too many messages which could make them inundated with options. Present the core features gradually, your customer must know what value a particular feature will add.

Leveraging Data to Personalize Feature Recommendations

The main question for any SaaS business is whether your customers are getting the value they were intended to grab or not. The answer to this question is going to determine the long-term growth of the business.

The answer is hidden in feature discovery. You must know whether your customers can find and use the feature that fulfills their specific needs on their own or not. If not, what can be done?

Personalization could be a game-changer. It ensures that customers get the features according to their needs. Personalization requires comprehensive data, which can be used to create feature recommendations. If you have data on customer’s activity, preferences, or goals, it is easier to determine which features are most used and which ones are just avoided. After this, you can suggest any complementary features to your customer.

This approach leads to fruitful adoption. You must do personalization with the dashboard, onboarding process, in-app texts, and emails. These recommendations should be strictly data-driven and continuously refined.

Incorporating Feature Walkthroughs and Tutorials

Now your in-app messaging is done, you are done with your marketing, and fortunately, your customers are aware of your offerings. But are they using it?

It’s not necessary if your customers know about the feature, they will use it as well. Some customers hesitate when they are not sure about how to use it.

To tackle this hesitation, you must essentially provide step-by-step guidance. Your guidance should not only tell how to use the feature, but it should also address its applicability in daily chores. Make sure these tutorials are engaging and easily comprehendible. It must prompt customers to at least give it a try.

Assistance should be available within the application. Customers shouldn’t search for help outside; it has a negative impression. Raise their confidence with all-time available customer support.

Promoting Features Through User Communities and Support

Promoting features through user communities is often referred to as community marketing. There are different segments of customers to target, for which you may need to apply varied marketing strategies. No matter how much you put into marketing, some potential users prefer taking advice from someone with product experience.

To make a loyal customer base, your focus should be building an engaging community. The community provides a platform for active discussion about the product. Such networks allow the user to share their opinions, feedback, and reviews without any restrictions.

The community can be built with social media groups or even real-life meetups.

Emphasize making a vibrant community where customers can have open and uninfluenced communication. Through community, newly onboarded customers can also benefit. They could access tips and tricks from seasoned customers.

Along with this, having an excellent support team has great advantages. The support team must be available to provide real-time assistance through chat, calls, or emails.

Seasoned users must be encouraged to share their own success stories. Their case studies must be provided to newly onboarded customers. Community building can promote your product for free.

Conclusion

To attain successful user engagement, you must have a seminal feature adoption strategy. Your customers shouldn’t get overwhelmed with complex features; ensure they are guided step-by-step. The feature adoption process must be gradual, or it will tense the situation. Therefore, feature adoption requires great strategy from onboarding customers to indulging in their daily routine work. Ensure you don’t lose a customer in between and design your application according to their demands.