{"id":1820,"date":"2015-12-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-22T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwneu.strehle.de\/tim\/weblog\/archives\/2015\/12\/23\/1580-2\/"},"modified":"2015-12-23T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-12-22T23:00:00","slug":"1580-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.strehle.de\/tim\/weblog\/archives\/2015\/12\/23\/1580-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What DAM software release notes should look like"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you can see on Planet DAM<\/a>, many DAM software vendors have a blog. Some of them use it to inform their customers about new product versions<\/strong> \u2013 software developers are calling this \u201crelease notes\u201d or a \u201cChangeLog\u201d. For existing customers, this is extremely important information. They need to know about the availability of a new version of their DAM software, about new features, changes in existing features, and bug fixes.<\/p>\n

I assume all of you DAM vendors are providing your customers with release notes for new versions, with most of you distributing them by e-mail, not making them publicly available<\/strong>. Probably because you\u2019re afraid that competitors will steal your features, and that the inevitable list of bug fixes will drive prospects away. I\u2019d like to encourage you to rethink this decision: Publicly available release notes get you free and highly relevant \u201ccontent marketing\u201d, i.e. less need for making up pseudo-educational blog posts (that\u2019s not you, of course). They\u2019re great for your customer experience, helping you reach the \u201cend users\u201d who don\u2019t receive your lovingly-crafted e-mail. And you\u2019ll show prospective customers that you care and make constant progress, giving them a glimpse into your \u201csupport and maintenance\u201d practices. (You do have great customer service<\/a>, I\u2019m sure!)<\/p>\n

Regardless of how you\u2019re distributing your release notes, you should make sure they\u2019re concise, complete, and well-illustrated<\/strong>. They should not just list changes, but also explain the business reasoning behind major changes. As a bonus, you might want to add an outlook on what\u2019s planned for the next releases.<\/p>\n

Screenshots \u2013 or even better, screencasts (video) \u2013 are an indispensable part of your release notes. It\u2019s pretty stupid if we in the DAM industry talk about the importance of visual content and video<\/strong> in our marketing material all the time (it\u2019s our raison d’\u00eatre, after all), yet fail to embrace it when it comes to informing and educating our customers.<\/p>\n

Please check out:<\/p>\n