AnnounceKit

What is AnnounceKit

AnnounceKit is a software platform designed to help companies communicate product updates, news, and release notes to their customers. The core purpose of the tool is to bridge the communication gap between product teams and users, which helps to increase feature adoption, improve user engagement, and build customer trust. It allows businesses to manage all their announcements from a single dashboard and distribute them across various channels, including in-app widgets, standalone public pages, email newsletters, and Slack notifications. Founded by Arif Tufekci, the company provides a centralized solution for managing the entire product communication lifecycle, from collecting feature requests to announcing new launches.

AnnounceKit Features

AnnounceKit offers a range of features to make product announcements effective and engaging.

• Multi-channel Distribution: Publish your announcements across several platforms simultaneously. This includes in-app notification widgets, a public standalone page, email, and integrations with tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
• AI Writing Assistant: Overcome writer's block by using the AI assistant. Provide a few keywords and context, and it will generate a well-structured draft for your product announcement or release notes.
• User Segmentation: Deliver targeted messages to the right audience. You can segment users based on properties like their role, location, or in-app behavior to ensure announcements are relevant.
• Feedback Collection: Gather direct feedback from users on your updates. Users can react with emojis or leave comments, providing valuable insights into how they feel about new features.
• Announcement Boosters: Highlight critical updates that users should not miss. Boosters make important announcements more prominent to grab user attention.
• Customization: Tailor the look and feel of your notification widgets and public changelog page to match your brand's identity, including colors, fonts, and layout.
• Multi-language Support: If you have a global user base, you can publish announcements in multiple languages to provide a fully localized experience.
• Feature Request Management: Centralize all feature requests from your customers in one place. Users can submit ideas and vote on existing ones, helping you prioritize your product roadmap.

AnnounceKit Pricing Plans

AnnounceKit offers several pricing tiers designed to fit businesses of different sizes. While specific prices are not listed here, the plans are structured to provide scaling value.

• Essential Plan: Aimed at startups and small businesses, this plan typically includes core features like the announcement widget, a public page, and a limited number of team members and monthly tracked users.
• Growth Plan: Designed for growing companies, this tier offers everything in the Essential plan plus advanced features like user segmentation, feedback collection, and more integrations. It supports a larger volume of users and more team members.
• Enterprise Plan: Tailored for large organizations, this plan includes all available features, advanced security options like Single Sign-On (SSO), priority support, and custom configurations to meet specific business needs.

AnnounceKit Free Plan

AnnounceKit offers a free plan that is ideal for individuals or very small projects just getting started. The free plan includes basic features, allowing you to create and publish announcements, use the in-app widget, and have a public changelog page. Limitations typically apply to the number of monthly tracked users, team members, and access to advanced features like segmentation and multi-language support. They also offer a free trial for their paid plans, allowing you to test premium features before committing.

How to use AnnounceKit

Getting started with AnnounceKit is a straightforward process.

1. Sign Up: Create an account on the AnnounceKit website. No credit card is required for the free plan or trial.
2. Create a Project: Set up a new project for your application or website. You will receive a unique project ID.
3. Install the Widget: Copy the provided JavaScript snippet and paste it into your website's or application's code. This will enable the in-app notification widget.
4. Customize Appearance: Go to your project settings to customize the widget's colors, placement, and style to align with your brand.
5. Create Your First Announcement: Use the rich editor to write your update. You can add images, videos, GIFs, and calls-to-action. Use the AI Writing Assistant if you need help with content.
6. Publish and Distribute: Publish your announcement. It will appear in your widget and on your public page. You can also configure integrations to send it to email or Slack.
7. Analyze Engagement: Track how users interact with your announcements through the analytics dashboard to understand what content resonates with them.

Pros and Cons of AnnounceKit

Here is a balanced look at the advantages and potential limitations of using AnnounceKit.

Pros:

• Easy to Set Up: The tool is known for its quick and simple installation process.
• Multi-Channel Communication: Effectively reaches users wherever they are, both inside and outside your app.
• User Engagement Features: Feedback collection and boosters help make announcements interactive and impactful.
• AI Assistant: A useful feature that saves time and helps create better announcement copy.
• High Customizability: Offers great flexibility in matching the widgets and pages to your brand.
• Good for All Team Sizes: Founders, product managers, and marketers find it useful.

Cons:

• Advanced Features on Higher Tiers: Key features like user segmentation and SSO are reserved for more expensive plans.
• Free Plan Limitations: The free plan has limits on tracked users, which may be restrictive for growing startups.
• Can Be Overkill for Simple Needs: For teams that only need a very basic public changelog, the feature set might be more than necessary.

AnnounceKit integrations

AnnounceKit integrates with a variety of tools to extend its functionality and fit into your existing workflow.

• Slack and Microsoft Teams integration: Automatically share your product updates with your team or community in designated channels.
• Intercom integration: Display AnnounceKit notifications directly within the Intercom messenger for seamless user communication.
• Segment integration: Send user data to AnnounceKit to enable powerful segmentation for targeted announcements.
• Social Media integration: Automatically post your updates to platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn to reach a wider audience.
• Zapier integration: Connect AnnounceKit to hundreds of other applications to automate workflows, such as creating a new post when an issue is closed in Jira.

AnnounceKit Alternatives

If you are looking for other options, here are some popular alternatives to AnnounceKit.

• Beamer: A direct competitor with a similar feature set, including in-app notifications, a standalone changelog, and user feedback. Beamer is often noted for its visually appealing design and ease of use.
• Headway: A simpler and often more affordable alternative. It provides a clean, public changelog widget and is a great choice for teams that need a straightforward way to announce updates without extensive features.
• LaunchNotes: Focuses on the broader product communication workflow. It offers features for both internal and external communication, making it suitable for coordinating complex product launches with multiple stakeholders.
• GetRelease: Another tool for creating release notes and product updates. It allows teams to create public changelogs and share them with users, focusing on simplicity and clear communication.

AnnounceKit API

Yes, AnnounceKit provides a REST API that allows developers to programmatically interact with their projects. The API can be used to create, retrieve, and manage announcements, categories, and other resources. You can obtain your API key from your project settings within the AnnounceKit dashboard. The API documentation provides detailed information on available endpoints and parameters.

Here is a basic example of how to fetch announcements using the API with cURL:

curl --request GET \
     --url 'https://api.announcekit.app/v1/posts' \
     --header 'Authorization: ApiKey YOUR_API_KEY' \
     --header 'Content-Type: application/json'

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with the key from your project settings.

AnnounceKit Affiliate program

There is no publicly advertised affiliate program for AnnounceKit at this time. However, companies in the SaaS space are often open to partnerships. If you are interested in promoting AnnounceKit, it is recommended to contact their support or sales team directly. You can inquire about potential partner programs, referral commissions, or opportunities to become an influencer for their brand.