An Inside Look into WSC Sports’ Product Marketing Journey
In a nutshell: I joined WSC Sports as (the first) Product Marketing 8 months ago when the company had basically no user communications. Since then, we’ve got to know our users better and got them to know us better. If you’re facing the same challenges, you might benefit from the story of our journey.
It’s been 8 months since I joined WSC Sports as its first Product Marketing Manager. If you’re not yet familiar, WSC is a B2B company that specializes in sports video automation. Do I like sports you ask? Not particularly 😉 but I do like technology, explaining, and adding value — exactly what I’ll try to do in this post.
Growing Pains
Over the years WSC Sports has grown its customer base, joining forces with big names, such as Turner Sports, NBA, MLS, FIBA, Cricket Australia, and PGA Tour. And with each new customer, joined many new users. Soon, this became a challenge — how can WSC Sports keep in touch with all of its users? That’s where I come in 👋. When I joined in March it was pretty clear WSC needed to find ways to communicate new features to its users. But looking at the bigger picture I had two main goals for 2018: get to know our users better and get them to know us better.
Who Are You, Users?
As a starting point, I wanted to know what do our users value? What do they think about us? What are their likes and dislikes? Who is their favorite Backstreet Boy? So we set out to conduct user interviews, asking about their day-to-day routines, pain points, and what they care about. The interviews were eye-opening, so if you haven’t yet, I urge you — go talk to your users.
We got a better sense of who those people are: how they think, what they value, even how they speak. All of which we used for setting our tone-of-voice, design, and even how we prioritize features. During the calls, it struck me that users don’t necessarily know about all of our existing features. When Inna Belenkey, our Head of Design, asked users to “Wave a magic wand and get your dream features,” some users described abilities that we already offer.
“If I gave you a magic wand that can add or change our platform in any way you’d like, what would you do to make the platform of your dreams?”
Let Me Introduce Ourselves
Now it was clear that we needed to make our move. And it wasn’t just about telling users about new features (which was pretty clear from the get-go), it was also about educating them on existing capabilities. So I’ll talk about what I did next, imagine it all happening simultaneously in a startup mindset and from an enthusiastic state of mind.
I started working with the Intercom in-app messaging tool that enables me to present users with messages about new features exactly when the time is right:
New feature update + Active user in our platform = Score ⚽!
Intercom messages are brief and concise, so to convey longer messages I started sending out a monthly newsletter, talking about brand new and existing features alike. If you’re considering user communications, from my experience that’s a good place to start.
To complete the picture I set out to build a resource center where users can learn about our platform, seek answers, and get updates. If up until now we were working in ‘Push,’ this was a ‘Pull’ type of resource. At that point, Gadi Berqowitz our Head of R&D, introduced me to Moodle, a powerful open source LMS. We partnered up with Academy Smart that helped us develop and bring to life our vision of the WSC Academy, that we launched exactly a month ago!
FYI there are many LMSs out there. Since we didn’t find the right one for us, we set out to develop it, but it might not be the best solution for everyone.
Data 💖
I’m a sucker for data for two reasons, first because it’s a great way to get to know your users. Second, because it helps me assess how I’m doing. The data I collect (and think you should too) is a mix of analytical data and user feedback, which is not so easy to find. So, do what you can to encourage your users to share their feedback: give them a direct way of reaching out to you, use your real name and talk like a real person. You might start off by users thinking you’re a bot (yes, that happened), but when they acknowledge you’re a person and send you feedback like this one, it all feels so worthwhile :
Thanks Maya! These are great updates that make the product a lot better, appreciate you letting me know!
This is the story of WSC Sports first Product Marketing steps. If your company is already doing Product Marketing, I hope our story can give you some inspiration. If you find yourself struggling with the same issues, maybe it’s your time to start your Product Marketing journey.
Reach out to me at barakmaya@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments, or feedback. I AM NOT A BOT 🤖
