From Beta to Thriving Dev Ecosystem

Use Case: Enterprise Expanding to Developers

The mission was clear: transform the beta product into a widely adopted, robust platform for building augmented reality experiences in websites and apps via the SDK. Envisioning a thriving ecosystem of developers creating innovative AR experiences, the path to that vision was full of challenges.

In the early stages, they faced significant hurdles:

1. Developer support was not staffed with agents who understood developers and their unique needs, which led to inefficient problem-solving.
2. Operated without a proper CRM, making tracking and understanding the developer's journey difficult. This blind spot hindered our ability to provide tailored support and identify areas for improvement.
3. The marketing efforts were disjointed, with an agency-ran social media presence and confusing landing pages. This made it challenging to attract developers.
4. While feedback was being collected, it wasn't as actionable as it could be. They recognized trends but struggled to translate them into meaningful improvements in our developer resources and product offerings.

These obstacles impeded growth opportunities and provided risk around a less-than-satisfying developer experience.

Recognizing the need for a strategic overhaul, we implemented a series of targeted initiatives:

1. We implemented support deflection techniques, created a thriving community forum where developers could ask questions and share knowledge, and instituted regular office hours, providing direct access to our technical team for more complex issues.
2. We built a custom CRM to track the developer journey, partnerships, and revenue influenced, allowing us to gather insights on use cases, time-to-meaning use, and other crucial metrics.
3. We overhauled our marketing strategy, created a cohesive social media presence, and redesigned our landing pages to communicate Snap AR's value.
4. We established a robust feedback loop, ensuring developer input directly influenced our resource & experience development and product improvements.
5. We organized industry events and participated in external hackathons to inspire and engage developers while gathering real-world insights.
6. We forged partnerships with major enterprise brands, showcasing practical applications of our technology.

As we implemented these changes, we began to see remarkable results:

1. Our support deflection rate increased dramatically, with 85% of needs resolved through the community forum or office hours. This improved developer satisfaction and allowed our team to focus on more complex issues.
2. The insights from our new CRM allowed us to optimize the developer journey, significantly reducing time-to-meaning-use. They also shed light on other insightful data points, like which campaigns and efforts were driving the greatest results.
3. Our refined marketing efforts led to a surge in new developer sign-ups and increased engagement with our platform.
4. Actionable feedback rapidly improved our documentation, tutorials, and API, making our offering more developer-friendly.
5. The number of approved developers building AR experiences grew exponentially, and innovative use cases rose.
6. Revenue opportunities emerged from our enterprise partnerships, demonstrating the commercial viability of our platform.

These efforts culminated in a successful transition from beta to general access. We had achieved our initial objectives and created a thriving, self-sustaining ecosystem of AR developers. By understanding developer needs, improving our processes, and fostering a vibrant community, we transformed into a powerful platform with an engaged and growing developer user base.

“I wouldn’t have changed a thing—you did exactly what you set out to do!”
- Leadership

This journey from beta to general access was challenging, but it equipped us with valuable insights and strategies. We learned the importance of truly understanding our users, the power of data-driven decision-making, and the impact of a cohesive marketing and support strategy. These lessons continue to guide our growth and can serve as a roadmap for other teams navigating the complex path from beta to successful product launch.

I just wanted to let you know Tessa has done an INCREDIBLE job. She's learned about our client’s business, was inspirational on a panel in front of 100+ devs and marketers, and is really helping sell our AR capabilities to drive greater revenue around ad spend and integrating AR into their mobile app via our SDK.”
- Sales Leader in AR Advertising