It wasnt the next big thing we were expecting when Slack came into the world in late 2013.
Team chat was already everywhere if you wanted it.
HipChat had built a growing business around team chat, as had the Basecamp teams Campfire.
There were chat apps galore on mobile, thanks to Apples iMessage, WhatsApp, and Facebooks Messenger apps.
And for geeks, IRC still worked.
But here came Slack, promising to help you Be less busy.
with an infinite brain for your whole team.
It wasnt just a team chat app.
Slack positioned itself as a new way to work.
Great copy sells
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It has a voice and tone thats all its owna burst of whimsy in the boring workday.
Hi, Slackbot here!
like enjoy Slack responsibly.
What cannot be accomplished on such a splendid day?
Slacks copywriting didnt simply tell you how to use the product or help if you got stuck.
It instead is as crucial to Slack as a script is to a movie.
It sets the stage for your work.
High quality product writing is the packaging,explainedMerci.
Even companies with great traction are always leaving money on the table with unclear writing.
Hire writers who have good design taste.
Usability drives funnel conversion, says Merci.
Constantly improve the product writing and usability of onboarding, invites, and more.
Copy mattersone of the many things Slack got right on its way to becoming a unicorn.
Build something for tech journalists
Want people to write about your product and market it for you?
Build something theyll use and love, and PR might not be so hard after all.
Keep in mind that tech journalists are knowledge workers too, advised Merci when asked aboutunderrated user acquisition methods.
Or, get people journalists follow using your product.
Honestly though… get good at Twitter and drive your own press cycle.
Turned out to be very cost-effective.
Especially when every news outlet seemed to be talking about Slack the next day.
That was thestory for selling Slack to enterprisesaccording to Merci.
Team activation drives retention,saysMerci.
Fail at 9 out of 10 things
How do you build a growth team?
Embrace the fact that 9 out 10 experiments will fail and build a culture out of learning,saysMerci.
That applies to everything: Product, marketing, press, and more.
You dont know what will work; you cant.
But if you try enough, and make smart bets, something is bound to stick.
Stay fresh was a similar tip, when asked foreffective growth strategies.
Be critical of your own work.
It is very difficult to approach Slack with beginners mind.
What should you do?
You should always be good to your customers, says Merci when asked aboutpricing.
Let them go easily this time and they might be more likely to come back next time.
Its a small loss today for a longterm investment in building a friendlier brand.
And that means we cant limit ourselves to tweaking the product; we need to tweak the market too.
It sold better organizations, better teams.
We will be successful to the extent that we create better teams, said Butterfield.
Perhaps thats the best marketing trick of them all.
Because they change things.
