Product development is all the marketing Webflow needs

[uzzer]

Webflow is great and I bet everyone else on this forum absolutely loves it, but I wish improvements could happen faster. There are so many essential features not yet ready and so many things which could be streamlined in the UI.

Webflow has been introducing new things in a consistently well though-out manner, no argument about that, but this does not displace the “need for speed” so to say

Just think about forms, for example. If Webflow directed all their efforts into improving forms, then, so many of the other needed features would remain unaddressed; on the other hand, if other features were heeded to, something so essential like forms would remain inadequate.

My point is, Webflow is quite big already, and even with the best practices so far, speed of development is lagging behind what many of us need for our clients. Maybe something in the product development process should be fundamentally improved?

While I am far for competent to address such a huge question, I’d like to propose one small yet tangible step forward.

I have mentioned this in some forum posts before and I am convinced it deserves considering if nothing else: all the Facebook advertising and blog posts, and things like that are not worth the investment of man hours compared to the effect they could bring.

Webflow does already have initial popularity, it is not uknown among (at least some) developers. My subjective observation is that all the marketing Webflow needs is proper positioning in relation to Wordpress. And that is not to be achieved by more Facebook advertising (gosh, I keep seeing Webflow sponsored posts on my Facebook account and what is the ROI of that, given that I am already “converted”?) or by more blog posts. Rivalry with Wordpress needs only sufficient features (properly implemented), nothing more.

Developers do love to brag if they are using something better than the rest, the IT world has its forums, groups, meetups, etc. Spreading the word is not an issue. The issue is when you say “Webflow rocks” and somebody asks you “But could it do X? No? Then Wordpress can do that.”

And then you have the “staffing channel” so to say. As soon as you start seeking people skilled in Webflow or as soon as you start training people in Webflow, its reputation organically starts to build. No Facebook or blog post could ever achieve such a level of credibility. The question is, does Webflow make it easy and cost-effective to add people to your team plan and is the interface easy enough so as to train new people in shortest terms.

So, to summarize: my view is that the best marketing Webflow could have is faster implementation of new features and improvements and if resources currently invested in initiatives such as online advertising could be redirected towards the former, the speed of implementation could improve at least a bit.

[DFink (Dave)]

As far as I know, everyone who has the skills to be delegated to product development is working their a$$ off to get new features out there. Any team members that focus on marketing are likely doing their job and wouldn’t be able to do development anyway. For the most part a company like this has an advertising budget that their investors expect to be spent adequately. This brings in new users that convert to more revenue. Additionally, their forbes article a while back was seen by a number of my clients and built credibility to the tool I use. Things like that are priceless. Just releasing new features alone doesn’t gain a larger user base like advertising does.

Right now, webflow doesn’t have a ton that it can’t do with the use of custom code. There are users on these forums that are doing incredible things with webflow that most of the team never even thought possible at this stage. I myself will be using webflow to design the entire front end of a 50,000+ SKU e commerce store, a task usually delegated to photoshop. I encourage you to provide examples of things you’d like to do with Webflow that it can’t do right now so maybe the team can better address those features.

Keep in mind, no one has done what Webflow is doing so they are kind of learning as they go and creating a brand new platform as they do. It’s not like this is something where they can go to a forum and see what others did to make a web builder the way we go on this forum to find out how other people figured out design issues with their websites. I know for a fact that the team is working as fast as they can to put out new features but they also are not going to rush them out before they are ready. They care deeply about quality and won’t release anything prematurely. Stay Tuned.

[coolest_vlad (Vlad Radchenko)]

Hey guys,
I actually like that they do all these extra marketing techniques such as blog, ebooks, etc. it just makes Webflow the more personal because now not only am I able to build cool sites they are now helping me manage a business as well and just keep me updated with all that can help me with better management, design, and other things for my business.

So I say keep going at it Webflow. I do appreciate it.

[uzzer]

I do admit that Webflow might have to appease to investors and spend on advertising just for the sake of advertising. But anything besides that just does not stand to reason.

For the most part a company like this has an advertising budget that
their investors expect to be spent adequately. This brings in new users
that convert to more revenue.
…
Just releasing new features alone doesn’t gain a larger user base like advertising does.

My whole point is that online advertising could not bring in new users, as personal recommendations and organic word-of-mouth could. Just as I pointed, as soon as somebody is impressed by Webflow, she would recommend it publicly within her online or offline community.

There’s no advertisement with stronger credibility than this. I have personally converted four people to Webflow and made a few more seriously consider it, completely free of charge At the same time, none of them would have ever paid attention to the Facebook ad or blog post, or ebook.

By “organic word-of-mouth” I mean things such as a studio seeking to hire a Webflow expert/ a client asking for a project to be done on Webflow/ designers developing Webflow themes for sale. This is much stronger than any sponsored Facebook post, as well and the only thing needed to fuel thins kind of organic word-of-mouth is better functionality of the Webflow platform. Nothing more.

I have not heard of or seen any developer to adopt a new platform because of some generic Facebook advertising (Webflow’s Facebook adverts do not even compare it with Wordpress!? What advertising are we talking about!? Is it so hard to realize that developers wordlwide have embraced Wordpress and that their point of reference is Wordpress? Anything which just says “a new visual tool” simply translates to “oh, a web site builder, that’s for kids, ignore”. And note, please, that I am not speculating here. This has been my personal, real life observation, over and over again).

Neither have I heard of or seen any developer to adopt a new platform because of a Forbes article. A Forbes article brings naught credibility to a developer. It might be good for attracting investors, but that’s a whole different end.

Right now, webflow doesn’t have a ton that it can’t do with the use of custom code.

The whole beauty and purpose of Webflow is exactly that it is meant to not have to use custom code

but they also are not going to rush them out before they are ready.

Of course I am not suggesting that they should rush things at the expense of quality. I am suggesting that resources (of all kind) spent on online advertising rather be spared and redirected towards development.