Users don't know about features you shipped months ago
Instead of one big announcement, drip-feed feature announcements to individual users based on what they haven't used yet.
When to use
You have shipped features that users aren't discovering. You can track feature usage per user.
Hypothesis template
If we send targeted in-app messages about [unused features] to users who haven't tried them, feature adoption will increase by [target]% and churn will decrease.
Method
The problem: You ship features every week but most users never discover them. Your changelog goes unread.
What works: Track which features each user has and hasn't used. When they log in, show a subtle notification about one feature they're missing — not a popup, just a gentle nudge.
The result: Targeted feature announcements get 5-10x higher engagement than broadcast announcements because they're relevant to each user.
How to do it:
- List all features and track which ones each user has used
- For each feature, write a one-sentence benefit: "Did you know? You can X to save Y time"
- Show one announcement per session, max — never stack them
- Only announce features relevant to the user's use case
- Include a one-click way to try it (deep link, not "learn more")
- Stop showing after they've tried it or dismissed it 3 times
Key insight: "New feature!" announcements fail because they're broadcast. "You haven't tried X yet, and it could help with Y" works because it's personal.
Success metrics
- •Feature adoption rate after announcement
- •Announcement click-through rate
- •Dismiss rate
- •Churn rate of users who adopt announced features
Prerequisites
- Feature usage tracking per user
- In-app notification system
- Feature-level analytics
Common pitfalls
- •Announcing too many features at once
- •Showing popups instead of subtle nudges
- •Announcing features irrelevant to the user
- •Not tracking whether the announcement actually drove adoption
Source: Common retention pattern. Targeted feature announcements outperform broadcast changelogs.
Suggested ICE scores
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