I’ve been thinking about TwitKit a lot lately. Not just about the software itself - more about how it came to its success. Marketing was a big part of how it gained success so quickly - I’d like to share my actions with you. They’re not really that intuitive, but if you follow them closely, it will improve your overall appearance to end-users.
- Show yourself. No, not a picture of yourself (although that does help). Show that there’s someone behind the product - someone that’s working hard to make the users happy.
- Be a member of your audience. Participate in conversations. If someone blogs about your product, comment on the post. Don’t just leave a quick thank-you with a link to the product’s page.. write a thoughtful and lengthy comment about the post. Try not to be too critical, but show that you read and thought about what the author wrote.
- Watch your community. No, not just casually - watch it like a hawk. Aside from watching for blog posts, track your product’s name on Twitter. (I do this by subscribing to a Twitter Search RSS feed for ‘twitkit’.) You’d be surprised how often people talk about products on Twitter.
- Treat everyone equally. That guy who donated $5 to your project? He should be treated just the same as any other user. You can thank him in some way for donating, yes, but in the end he is just the same as the other users.
- Be open to suggestions. I constantly see people talking (especially on Twitter) about what they don’t like about my product. I keep a list of the common things that are mentioned, and I try to implement them as soon as possible.
- It isn’t about the money. It’s about the users. Many non-free applications treat their users badly - they just want the money. It is all about the users. Listen intently to what they have to say, and you will be graciously repaid.
- Your product isn’t perfect. If you’re watching your community, you will definitely notice that some people don’t like your product. No matter how mean they are, treat it like constructive criticism. Contact them via Twitter, a blog comment, or email (however they originally made the comment) and ask them more about their dislike of the product. This relates to #5 - eventually they will explain exactly why they don’t like the product.
- Use it. The best way to put yourself into the community is to actually use your own product. Who knows, you might discover some bugs or think of new features!
- Be nice. This is the most obvious one, I think - but it still needs to be followed. I’ve seen a few developers who have gotten really angry and/or irrational when their product was insulted. Take this as criticism instead - see #7. Once you establish a presence on the Internets, your product will become a reflection of you. Make it a good one.
So, to sum this up: Make sure your users know you exist. Be part of its community. Take every comment about your product as constructive criticism. Respect your users.
POOF.
(I think I’ll make that my blog post signature from now on. muahaha.)
