Project Dolly Dev Diary #0: Copy before Code?!

May 20, 2021 · Comments ProjectsProject Dolly

This is the first in a series of “developer diary” posts that offer a window into the development of my new mobile app, codenamed “Project Dolly.” The app will offer a simple way to keep in touch with friends and family via automated reminders. Sign up to get notified when the app launches for free on iOS and Android.

When I started working on the initial app idea, I first focused on marketing instead of software development.

Listen to this post as a Twitter voice tweet:

Starting a series of developer diary posts covering behind the scenes of my new mobile app’s development.

First up, marketing before software dev?! 😱https://t.co/DKuSDFlns1#BuildInPublic pic.twitter.com/f0eL6OR16h

— Matt Netkow (Ionic Team) (@dotNetkow) May 20, 2021

Writing a Launch Narrative First?

Unlike other app side projects, this time I did not start writing code right away. Instead, I wrote marketing copy - a launch narrative document - instead.

What?! A software developer writing marketing copy first instead of code?

Yep. As for why, we turn to my day job. For the past three years, I’ve been working at Ionic in a bunch of roles: Product Evangelist, Developer Advocate, and Product Marketer. I’m new to working in Marketing in a professional role, but I’m enjoying it since it’s actually highly technical product marketing: using my software development skills and background to market products to software developers. Through the work, I’ve come to appreciate launch narratives - written plans covering all the details of a product and its launch.

They include an announcement overview (What problems are we solving? What’s the business need?), key messages to get across to your audience, an elevator pitch, the critical capabilities that solve customer problems/pain points. By putting them together, you end up with a clear written summary that all teams align on and a head start on the written content you’ll need closer to launch, such as the announcement blog, email blasts, website landing pages, etc.

The main benefit though is clarity: what exactly are we shipping? Writing a narrative forces you to focus and really think through the product’s features, goals, and customer impact.

When I started building hybrid mobile apps years ago, I knew virtually nothing about marketing, product launches, and social media. Several years have passed and I’ve come a long way in those areas, so one of my goals with Dolly is to apply everything I’ve learned about product marketing to the project. Best case, it’ll help the app be more successful, and worst case I’ll hone my marketing skills along the way - trying new things on my own terms.

Launch Narrative Snippets

Here’s some snippets from the Launch Narrative.

Elevator Pitch: “Dolly is the easiest way to keep in touch with those you care about most while managing a busy life.”

Headline Benefits: Rest easy. Stay connected with those you love. Feel better.

What overall problem are we solving? What is the business need?

Everyone wants to maintain healthy, vibrant relationships with their friends, family, and even acquaintances old and new. However, the realities of life make this challenging: work, immediate family, and recently, the global COVID-19 pandemic. Before we know it, it’s been months since we’ve kept in touch, and we feel those relationships suffering/fading away.

Enter Dolly. It makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family through software that tracks the last time you contacted someone and notifies you when it’s time to get in touch again.

Beyond the Narrative

Overall, I’m really happy with my initial version of the narrative and am unsure (but excited to see!) how it’ll evolve over time. I’ll likely keep it as-is through the v1 launch, then reevaluate and make adjustments afterward. Next time, I’ll talk about how I used the launch narrative to create a Dolly app landing page.

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