Ever wonder whether your investment into release notes is well spent?
Or maybe, the changelog process feels like shouting into the void?
Well, these are the questions we help you answer today.
Want to turn guesswork into greatness?
Power of analytics comes to our rescue. Identifying whether the release notes or changelogs are effective, is the first step.
But why measure impact of the release notes?
Release notes are akin to having conversations with your users.
You would definitely want to know if there is active listening at the other end.
That’s where analytics come in.
Analytics help you understand your audience, improve your communication, justify the time spent on documentation, and guide future decisions. It’s like having a superpower for your changelogs!
Key metrics to track effectiveness of the release notes
We do not need a PhD in mathematics to get around this. These are just a handful of simple numbers you want to keep track of.
- Page views – Simplest of all. This metric indicates how many eyeballs your changelog documents are attracting. In the end, this talks about the effectiveness of your release notes distribution.
- Time on page – How long are readers sticking around on the product update document? or is the bounce rate faster than a rubber ball? If you read beyond the lines, this is release notes engagement we are talking about.
- Scroll depth – A proxy to measure another aspect of changelog engagement, scroll depth help you understand where your readers are giving up.
- Click-through rates – Also known as CTR, this number indicates the percentage of clicks links in your product updates receive. As a release notes best practice, pointing readers to more details can help. This will tell you whether people are following your links to learn more.
- Feedback sentiment – If you encourage feedback & reactions on your release notes, measuring their sentiment is possible. For example, are your changelogs generating more thumbs up than eye rolls?
This list is not exhaustive, but helps you take the first steps in measuring effectiveness of release notes. Further reading – top Go-to-market (GTM) metrics to measure success of your efforts.
Tools to measure effectiveness of changelogs
You don’t need any fancy stuff to get started.
Google Analytics is the Swiss Army knife of web analytics – it’s free and powerful! Standalone Release pages such as the ones available from our app Automated Release Notes & Reports for Jira support adding the GA code for easy tracking of key metrics.
If you are feeling a bit more motivated, you can look at turning on reactions on your in-app release notes widgets as well.
There are tools out there that show you heat maps & recordings of how user interacts with your content. One can even go into much more depth by tracking specific user actions & events.
But don’t forget the simple surveys in a flood of all these sophisticated tools. Sometimes, just asking your users works wonders.
Keep in mind though, you don’t need to use all of these at once. Start small and build up as you get comfortable.
Making sense of the numbers
Now that you’re filled to the brim with data, what do you do with it all?
Look for patterns – are certain types of updates more popular? Which feature announcements have garnered most likes or comments? Which release note has led to maximum subscriptions? & so on.
Compare over time to see if engagement is improving month to month.
Set benchmarks based on your best-performing notes.
And, don’t be afraid to experiment with different formats to see what works best.
Turning insights into action
Here comes the fun part – using what you’ve learned to level up your release notes.
Tailor your content to focus on what your audience care about most.
Optimize your format; maybe release notes presentations work better than emails?
Find out when your audience is most likely to read and time your communication accordingly. And don’t forget to spread the word using popular channels for promotion.
The secret is to keep iterating. Treat your release notes like a living document that evolves with your users’ needs.
Avoiding common pitfalls
Even data wizards make mistakes.
Watch out for data overload – don’t get lost in a sea of numbers. Focus on what matters.
Don’t ignore qualitative feedback; sometimes a simple comment is worth a thousand clicks.
Remember the human element behind every statistic.
Embrace the analytics adventure
Measuring the impact of your release notes doesn’t have to be a chore.
With the right tools and mindset, it can be an exciting journey of discovery.
So go forth, gather that data, and start writing changelogs that pack a punch!
Remember, the goal isn’t just to boost your numbers – it’s to create better communication between your product and its users.
