Why Transparent Product Updates Matter in the iGaming Industry
The software development cycle does not cease within the iGaming industry. New regulations come into existence. Users demand more from the industry’s software providers. Industry operators search for ways to improve their platforms.
Behind every successful platform is a cycle of product development. However, introducing new features is not the only part of the process. The company must also take time to communicate the changes.
Transparent product updates allow publishers, operators, and affiliate marketers to understand how the new features will benefit their business. With this knowledge, they will be more likely to adopt the new features.
Organizations that take time to communicate the improvements to their products will experience better customer relationships and fewer support tickets.
Product Updates Are More Than Just Software Updates
When most organizations think of product updates, they think of software updates. However, software updates present an opportunity for the company to:
Improve the customer experience
Increase operational efficiency
Improve platform performance
Solve customer pain points
Increase the trust customers have in the company
Customers will embrace new features if they understand why the company made these changes.
Transparency and the Building of Trust
Customers rely on the software to perform essential business operations. The publishers rely on accurate reporting, traffic routing, commission systems, and performance analytics for the affiliate programs they manage. The operators rely on the software to manage their gaming campaigns, acquire new players, and track their compliance with gaming regulations.
By keeping customers informed about the improvements to their platforms, the company demonstrates professionalism and a commitment to the customer experience.
Explain the Problem Before the Solution
The best product update communications do not start with describing the solution to the problem.
Instead, they explain the problem and the impact of implementing the new features.
For example, instead of writing a product update that says, “We have added a new filter to the analytics dashboard,” the company can say, “Users have requested a faster way to compare the performance of multiple gaming campaigns. The new filter will allow users to reduce the amount of time they spend on reporting and will allow analytics reports to be generated in real time.”
Categorize Your Product Updates
Creating well-structured product release notes benefits the customer experience. Include categories such as:
New Features
These are new capabilities that the company has added to the software.
Examples may include:
A new reporting dashboard
Improved traffic quality scoring
A smart traffic routing system
Compliance dashboards
Improvements
These are enhancements to existing product features.
Examples may include:
Faster loading speeds for reports
Better search filtering capabilities
A more user-friendly interface
Improved workflows
Bug Fixes
These are solutions to technical issues that could impede the customer experience.
Examples may include:
Tracking fixes
Redirect fixes
Calculations on the dashboards
Mobile interface improvements
Grouping the product updates into these categories makes it easier for the customers to find the information they need.
Highlight the Benefits to the Business
Customers care more about the business benefits than the product’s technical improvements. Therefore, rather than highlighting the technical improvements of the product, show customers how the product will improve:
Revenue
Productivity
Reporting capabilities
Automation features
Regulatory compliance
User experience
Keep the Update Notes Easy to Read
Long documents detailing the product updates will lose the customers’ interest. However, focusing on creating easy-to-read product update notes will allow customers to quickly understand the changes and the benefits they will receive from the product. Busy affiliate managers and operators should be able to read the update and understand the new features in less than five minutes.
Celebrate the Feedback from Customers
Some of the best product improvements come from customers suggesting features that the company can add. Including a line such as “Requested by affiliate partners” or “Based on customer feedback” will encourage customers to continue sharing their feedback with the company.
Maintain a Release Schedule for Your Product
Creating a schedule for your product updates will allow your customers to stay informed about your company’s product.
Regular product updates will show customers that your company is always looking to improve its industry platform.
Keeping in touch with your customers through regular product updates will make them more likely to invest their time in your software.
Educate Your Customers on the Features
Adding a feature to your industry software does not mean that your customers will adopt the new feature. You can provide content to inform and educate your customers on the features and how to use them to their advantage.
Track the Adoption of Your Features
A great product team will track the adoption of the new features they create for their customers.
Examples of the data that can be tracked include:
The number of users adopting a particular feature
The adoption rate of the product
Customer feedback on the feature
Support tickets regarding the feature
The number of users who can complete a certain workflow on the platform
Reducing the number of support tickets will ultimately save your customers and your company time.
Transparency Benefits Your Internal Teams
The product update notes benefit more than just your customers. Other departments within the company, such as sales, customer success, marketing, affiliate management, and technical support, all rely on your product and must have access to the information regarding product updates.
Well-documented product updates will improve the communication between these departments.
Artificial Intelligence and Product Updates
Artificial intelligence will play a more prominent role in the management of the product and the communications around the product updates. Currently, some platforms use AI to generate summaries of the product updates, notify users that a new update is available, and provide recommendations for using the software’s features.
In the future, AI will help customers by providing them with personalized software update notifications that will tailor to their use of the software.
Best Practices for Product Updates
When crafting your product updates, ask yourself the following questions:
What changes have been made to the product?
Why was the product built?
Who will benefit from the product improvements?
How will the product improve the customers’ workflows?
What should the customers do as a result of the product updates?
Answering these questions will allow your company to create a more effective communication channel with your customers.
Looking Ahead
The iGaming industry is likely to feature even more sophisticated platforms in the future. With such a large amount of money involved in the industry, platforms will have to be able to handle a variety of data and provide detailed reports on the data.
Future product update communications will likely focus on personalization and AI to enhance the customer experience and allow customers to adopt the software’s features.
Final Thoughts
Product updates are more than just software updates. They provide customers with an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the customers of the software and the companies that developed the product.
By providing customers with a clear communication channel for the updates to the products, the companies will ultimately allow the customers to understand in what ways the new features will improve their business.
Furthermore, the companies will gain an advantage over their competitors by offering customers exceptional user experiences with their products. Great products deserve great communication channels with the users who enjoy using their software.