July 2023
Beta: In Podia's first-ever beta, we ran a cohorted beta of the new Podia Email platform, starting with our most active and loyal users and then opening applications to additional users who wanted to participate. I coordinated with Data and Dev to identify and feature flag each cohort.
User feedback: We collected user feedback via a variety of methods (in-app surveys, 1-to-1 emails, user interviews, Hotjar recordings) and presented these to both Support and Dev to inform documentation and feature adjustments before launch. We also collected and prioritized feature requests for the post-launch roadmap.
Messaging: The launch of Podia Email involved a change to pricing and packaging, so messaging was carefully developed in conjunction with leadership. We tested this messaging throughout the beta and worked with Support to prepare macros for their team.
Affiliates: As we prepared for the public launch, we prepared screenshots, copy, and videos for affiliates to use in their promotion and ran a limited-time pay-per-lead campaign as an incentive.
I worked closely with the VP of Marketing and Content Marketer to develop a robust Product Marketing program at Podia. This included:
✨ A weekly email cadence of 2-3 emails per week highlighting new and existing product features, customer examples, and business insights.
✨ Announcements within the Podia community.
✨ In-app product announcements, including snippets, pop-ups, and a standalone changelog.
✨ Sponsored YouTube videos to highlight specific features for both reach and search.
✨ Working with Dev & Support to prioritize bugs and feature requests.
February 2024
Beta: Building on the success of the Podia Email beta, we structured the Blogging beta much the same way. Because this launch wasn't as technically complex, we needed fewer cohorts but used this process to build excitement for the coming release.
Affiliates: In addition to an affiliate campaign for the launch of Podia Blogging, we also ran a sponsorship campaign, contracting several YouTubers to create reviews of the Podia Blogging feature.
Support and Leadership were aware that legitimate users were getting caught in a fraud detection check and working on a long-term solution.
However, in the course of a user research project I designed and conducted around activation, it became clear that this was a much larger issue than anyone thought. I was able to collect feedback, including the percentage of users impacted and the specific fraud criteria they were triggering, and present it to leadership.
This resulted in an immediate change to the fraud detection approach to remove the overzealous criteria as well as a long-term plan for building a more careful program that would only conduct the check during high-risk activities.
Within a week, we saw a 85%+ drop in false positives!
Co-Founder at Clean Commit
"Mandi is incredibly vigilant in keeping an eye on the things that fall under her umbrella of responsibility — and even a bunch of stuff that isn't. There were plenty of times she caught potential issues before they became problems, and it's reflective of the thought she puts into everything."