We wanted to explain why at Upskyld, we chose to build our product with our community and our future users. If this strategy doesn't ring a bell, it's called public build-in and some startups have been using it for some time, such as Lemlist. Well, they explain it in this podcast. Sorry it’s in French, but a lot of good content on this site for those who would like to jump in >> https://www.buildinpublicpodcast.com/
Why? Consumers today want authenticity. More than just a trend, they are in search of truth and transparency and that's good, it's precisely our values at Upskyld. A more sincere and committed communication that requires a profound transformation of marketing strategy.
#1 What is "Public Build-in"?
This consists of staging a story linked to your brand in order to convey emotions and values specific to the brand. The concept is simple, we want to tell the story (the real one, with both failures and successes!) of our app AND our brand! The goal is to tell a story more than to sell a product.
For this, it is necessary to exchange, share and involve the community in the decisions, and this as often as possible. Of course, we are not going to ask for the colour to put on the walls of the office, but to collect everyone's feedback, then to prioritise the feedback.
#2 What's the point?
The “public build-in” model removes a significant problem of storytelling: the lack of authenticity. Indeed, by dint of telling stories, we very quickly become suspicious in the eyes of our target and this can be felt at the slightest deviation.
In my product training (thanks Product School by the way), we are taught that it is necessary to iterate as much as possible in the MVP and Beta phase in order to find a coherent and solid PMF for the users.
A method that works
Telling the story live by directly transcribing the choices and current events allows us to prove our words by our actions, it makes the story 100% authentic. We want to be closer to our users and in view of the success stories of those who have used this method, this is the best way to get there.
Collecting feedback
It is our interactions on social networks and our proximity to the Upskyld community that will allow us to obtain a large amount of feedback. Moreover, with the team we are super happy to see the enthusiasm received and the number of people who have registered for the beta - pressure is on!! Obviously, we take all the feedback, good and bad - that's how we will move forward to build a great product, which can help professionals as much as possible in their objective to remain relevant in their market.
This will also allow us to project ourselves more effectively in our projects and our developments, both in terms of the product and the direction of the company.
Dynamic traffic on social networks
Social networks, and more particularly LinkedIn (not yet the time to attack full time on the others for the moment), are for us the ideal gateway to exchange with the community. This is also why you see our co-founders posting regularly! Because with this strategy, the more active you are, the more the community will be on the lookout for new things. I
We’re going to have to double the dose, we hope you're ready...
#3 How to set up "Build in public"
This is where the difficulty lies! Importantly, you have to build a community to involve and that is the hardest part. This is why word of mouth and mentions and recommendations are essential for Upskyld.
Even if the public beta version is not ready yet (please don't cry…), we want to stay close to our future users and not lose the momentum. We still have work to do on our content strategy, but we're working hard on it, there's a lot to come!
We also have to find a fairly active rhythm of sharing, so that our community can follow our evolution. Here too, we are still in the launch phase so a little patience and soon we will have more privileged content appointments.
