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470+ Pre-Signups. How do I get them to use my product now it's built?

So for my product Spread I have 470+ users who pre-signed up for the beta. Now I have the beta ready. What do I say in the email to encourage them to come back and actually use it!?

Help!!! This is what I have so far:

"Hey ${contact.Name.First}!

You signed up to be one of the first exclusive users of Spread V.2 (the new automated content repurposing tool).

Here's your opportunity. Click this link to be taken to our homepage for a little refresher as to why you signed up: getspread.io

As soon as you want to start repurposing your own content click "Get Started". Then use your social logins to signup (sign in with twitter if you plan to create twitter threads!)

Any questions, then please reply or DM me here

Cheers 
Lou"

ANY FEEDBACK IS HIGHLY WELCOMED!!!!

  1. 4

    Hey Louis - nice work. We were in a similar boat to you, and made some mistakes along the way. Here's what I would have done differently:

    1. Don't just send out one blast and invite everyone all at once. Instead, pick out the most engaged people on the sign up list, or the people we thought were the most likely to use it and get value. Otherwise you'll spend your early days having people tell you to build a million different features that maybe aren't core to what you are working on.
    2. Related to above - try out different copy and see what works best.
    3. Remind people where they found you (if you have that info) - people are busy, they subscribe to lots of things, it might have been weeks or months ago so do everything you can to help them make that connection. Great that you link them to the website, but try and get all that info into the email.
    4. Create a campaign/series of emails - one email probably will have low conversion, two is good, but make sure you send several until you get a response. Like any other email campaign, conversion rates will vary. 1 beta subscriber != 1 new user.

    Let us know how it goes!

    1. 2

      Mate thank you so much for this response! You have helped a tonne!!!

      I am picking 5 users at a time and emailing them (most engaged first). Sadly I don't know of any automation software to send repeated emails. Anything you can suggest?

      1. 2

        On the back of @mattcrail's response, there was a Startups for the Rest of Us episode describing how they think about sending out a launch sequence for a new product. Some of it echoes his advice. Others has good things to consider: for example, they recommend offering a temporary discount to people on your beta list. I won't steal the post's thunder 😂

        Good luck with your launch!

        1. 1

          temporary discount sounds very intriguing, I may have to copy that one!

          Thank you very much Jake!

      2. 2

        We use Intercom (we are on the startup so about $50 a month) which has a ton of other features as well. So, I had the waiting list in Airtable, everyone I wanted to invite I would tick off, then I would label them to add them to a campaign in Intercom via Zapier.

        Reply.io is another one that has a free trial that I've used and didn't love, and there's also Autopilot (https://www.autopilothq.com/)

        Some other IHers might have better suggestions!

        1. 1

          Autopilot looks to be the one... thank you for this!!!

  2. 3

    Hey Louis,

    It's been a while since we last spoke but, feel free to drop a free call on my calendar if you need some help with this: https://getrhys.com

    Don't worry I won't hard-sell you, I'm fully booked as it is haha.

    1. 1

      Yo Rhys, long time buddy!

      Thanks for the offer, but here's a counter offer. Contentago looks incredible. There's some sort of relationship we could build here between you guys and Spread

      Thoughts?

      1. 2

        For sure, still worth hopping on a call next week?

        1. 2

          Of course, the thing is bro I really don't want to waste your time. I know I don't have the money for a consultant, especially one as good as you.

          1. 1

            Completely up to you :) I’m not expecting to sign you as a client though haha.

            1. 2

              We will talk, but not now bro. I'm too busy with the latest launch. I will jump on a call with you though 100%.

  3. 2

    I would echo what Matt has said about segmenting out your user base. Not all of your users will have the same reason for signing up or respond to the same kind of language.

    From experience I've found that you need to get a quick win straight away. So think about the shortest route to get you customers to be using and seeing value in Spread - once they feel the value and are using the tool you've done a lot of the heavy lifting!

    1. 2

      I couldn't agree more Beth thank you. All-day since posting this I have been researching onboarding methods and they have all said what you have. North star metric optimisation!

      Thank you so much for your input!

  4. 2

    I like it -- short and to the point, if it were me, I'd tweak it as follows:
    --------------------------
    "Hey ${contact.Name.First}!

    You signed up to be one of the first users of Spread, the new automated content repurposing tool.

    Our beta has just launched, so here's your opportunity to see first-hand how easy it can be to generate new content from your existing content!

    Visit our homepage (getspread.io) for a little refresher as to why you signed up.

    Click "Get Started", then use your social login to signup. (Pro-tip: sign in with Twitter if you plan to create Twitter threads!)

    That's it! Any questions, then please reply or DM me here.

    Cheers
    Lou"

    1. 1

      MIKE I'M GONNA COPY THIS RIGHT NOW. YOU ABSOLUTELY LEGEND!!! ahahhaa

      Cheers mate, I'm gonna use that 100% from now on. Thank you :)

      1. 1

        Sweet. Glad you liked it :)

  5. 2

    Congratz! You're far ahead of most startups. I would invite them to try it out and give them a way to share their feedback (something you can with Upvoty.com for example).

    The thing is: you've now built something based on initial thoughts, ideas, or even some feedback, but the next phase will be the actual usage of the product and thus getting feedback and then building your product out based on that real feedback, is crucial imo.

    1. 2

      Thank you so much Zoe. That is some great feedback about feedback! ahhaha

      Did you use upvoty for upvoty? hahaha

      1. 2

        You're welcome! Yeah, guilty, haha! We're using Upvoty to build Upvoty. Eating our own dog food, I guess 😇

        1. 1

          Great stuff, I will check you guys out and hopefully get some great feedback from users!! Cheers

  6. 2

    The template you've drafted is great.

    I'd personally also recommend adding a familiar image or branding that will help the audience remember the product from their initial registration.

    If it's been some time since a lead registered their interest, a visual que can be a helpful reminder of the product itself.

    1. 1

      Thank you very much, I agree. Sadly my branding has done a complete 180 since then hhahahaha.

      Oh well, worth a shot!

      Cheers!

    1. 1

      Thanks for your feedback Andrew!

      Did you gather pre-signups for your newsletters/google sheets tool?

      1. 2

        yeah with mailchimp.

        1. 1

          I'm also going to use mail chimp I think, thank you for your feedback!

  7. 1

    Hi Louis,

    Great work on the prelaunch and the signups. Your email template is great, to further increase conversion, I would change that into

    "
    Hey {firstname},

    This is Louis from Spread. Two weeks ago, you've signed up for early access in [Product Hunt/IndieHackers/or any platform where the lead came from]. [Add one line description about what your product is about, so that it can refresh their memory instead of asking them to visit your site].

    We're glad to inform our product is ready for you to use. Just visit {homepage} and start repurposing your content right away.

    If you've got any questions or need support, feel free to contact me.

    Cheers
    Louis
    "

    Combine your leads into categories based on from where you found them. Eg:

    Product Hunt leads
    Indiehackers leads
    Reddit leads
    Hackernews leads
    Cold email leads.

    Then send a customized email for each category for personalization.

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