Post-Sale Management

But only 37% of customers were using workflow automation despite being trained on it. The rest either didn't know it existed, didn't understand how to use it, or didn't see the value.

They ran a targeted feature adoption campaign. Identified customers not using the feature, segmented by use case (which workflows they could automate), sent personalized emails with specific examples, hosted "Automation Week" webinar series, got CSMs proactively demoing for high-value accounts, and added in-app prompts when users did tasks that could be automated.

Results after 60 days:

Feature adoption increased from 37% to 64%
Retention for newly-adopting customers jumped to 89%
Expansion rate increased (automated workflows led to additional use cases)

The lesson: not all features are created equal. Strategic adoption of high-value features drives retention and expansion more than broad, shallow usage.

Feature Prioritization: Which Features to Push

You can't drive adoption of every feature. Some matter way more than others for your business outcomes.

Value-Driving Features

These are the features that directly improve customer business outcomes. Think automation that saves time, reporting that improves decision-making, integrations that eliminate manual work, workflow tools that increase efficiency.

They're worth prioritizing because they directly tie to value realization. When customers use these features, they see ROI. That strengthens your renewal case and generates case study material.

How do you spot them? Listen for customer feedback like "This feature transformed our process." Look at usage correlation - customers using this feature consistently show better outcomes. Check if the feature usage ties to measured KPIs.

Sticky Features

These are features whose usage strongly correlates with retention. Collaboration features create network effects - more users means more value. Data analytics becomes more valuable the more data a customer accumulates. Workflow integrations increase switching costs. Customization means customers invest effort, which increases stickiness.

Why prioritize these? They directly predict retention. They create switching costs and build dependency. Customers develop habits around these features, which increases lifetime value.

Finding sticky features requires retention analysis by feature usage. Compare cohorts - users vs non-users of specific features. Talk to churned customers about what features they used (or didn't use).

Expansion Features

Some features naturally enable or drive upsells and cross-sells. Advanced tier features create an upgrade path. Usage-based features mean more usage equals higher revenue. Add-on products become natural cross-sells from using the core product. Multi-seat features drive license expansion.

These directly drive revenue growth and make expansion feel natural rather than forced. They increase account value and create visibility into upgrade paths.

To identify expansion features, analyze which features correlate with upgrades. Map your product tiers to see what differentiates them. Ask sales what features customers request after they start using the product.

Differentiation Features

These are your unique capabilities that competitors don't have - superior performance, innovative approaches to old problems, strategic features that align with market trends.

They create a competitive moat (harder to leave for a competitor), fuel marketing differentiation (win more deals), and turn customers into evangelists who champion your unique capabilities.

Find them through competitive analysis. What do you have that others don't? Run win/loss analysis to see which features close deals. Ask customers directly in interviews why they chose your product.

Creating Your Feature Adoption Priority Matrix

Build a simple matrix with two dimensions: Business Impact (value, retention, expansion) and Current Adoption Rate. Each can be High, Medium, or Low.

High Impact + Low Adoption equals your top priority. These are valuable features not being used - your biggest opportunity for improvement. That workflow automation example with high retention impact but only 37% adoption? Perfect candidate.

High Impact + High Adoption means maintain what you're doing. These are already working well. Continue supporting them but don't need campaign focus.

Low Impact + Low Adoption means deprioritize. Nice-to-have features not driving business outcomes. Don't invest resources driving adoption here. Consider deprecating if they're causing support burden.

Low Impact + High Adoption means monitor. Widely used but not driving key outcomes. They may be gateways to higher-value features. Like basic dashboards that get used heavily but don't predict retention.

Feature Adoption Campaign Planning

Systematic campaigns beat random feature promotion every time.

Campaign Goals and Success Metrics

Here's what a good campaign goal looks like: "Increase workflow automation feature adoption from 37% to 60% among customers who have at least one manual workflow within 90 days."

Track your primary metric (feature adoption rate - percentage of target segment using the feature), secondary metric (usage frequency - how often they use it), and business metric (retention impact - do adopters retain better?).

Make your goals SMART. Specific means defining which feature, which segment, which action. Measurable means a numeric target like 37% to 60%. Achievable means based on historical performance. Relevant means tied to business outcomes like retention. Time-bound means a clear campaign window like 90 days.

Target Audience Identification

Don't target everyone. Target customers who would benefit from the feature (use case fit), haven't adopted yet (opportunity), and are likely to adopt (engaged, not dormant).

For that workflow automation campaign, you'd target customers using the product weekly (engaged), NOT using automation (opportunity), who have repetitive workflows in product (use case fit), been customers over 30 days (past initial onboarding), and work in industries with high automation ROI like finance or ops.

You'd exclude customers already using automation (no need), dormant accounts with less than 2 logins per month (won't respond), and brand new customers under 30 days old (should focus on basics first).

Messaging and Value Proposition

Generic messaging is weak. "Check out our workflow automation feature! It can save you time." Nobody cares.

Targeted messaging works. "[Customer Name], I noticed your finance team manually approves 40-50 invoices per week in [Product]. Our workflow automation feature can cut approval time from 3 days to 3 hours. Here's how [Similar Customer] saved 12 hours/week using it."

See the difference? You've got a specific problem (manual invoice approvals), quantified impact (3 days to 3 hours), social proof (similar customer success), and relevance (their actual workflow, not generic examples).

Tailor messaging by role. Admin users want to "save your team 15 hours/week and reduce errors with automated workflows." End users want to "spend less time on repetitive tasks, more time on strategic work." Executives want to "increase operational efficiency 40% and improve process consistency."

Multi-Channel Campaign Design

One channel doesn't work. You need coordinated multi-channel campaigns.

Week 1 builds awareness. Send an email with subject line "The Feature You're Not Using (But Should Be)." Add in-app notifications highlighting automation opportunities. Publish a blog post on "5 Workflows You Should Automate."

Week 2 focuses on education. Host a webinar on "Mastering Workflow Automation." Release a video series of "3-Minute Automation Tutorials." Feature automation guides in your help center.

Week 3 drives activation. Get CSMs reaching out to high-value accounts with personalized demos. Trigger in-app prompts asking "Automate this workflow?" when users take manual actions. Email a template library for common automations.

Week 4 provides reinforcement. Share success stories like "How [Customer] Saved 20 Hours/Week." Hold office hours for automation Q&A. Send follow-up emails on adoption progress and next steps.

Timeline and Milestones

A 90-day campaign might look like this.

Phase 1 (Weeks 1-2) is your launch. Send kickoff emails and announcements. Release initial training and education content. Make sure CSMs are enabled and trained.

Phase 2 (Weeks 3-6) is intensive activation. Heavy outreach and support. Run webinars and office hours. Deploy in-app prompts and guidance. Aim for 30% adoption by the end of this phase.

Phase 3 (Weeks 7-10) is optimization. Address barriers you discovered in Phase 2. Feature success stories from early adopters. Run targeted outreach to non-adopters. Hit 50% adoption.

Phase 4 (Weeks 11-13) sustains momentum. Provide ongoing education for late adopters. Measure and analyze results. Make a final push to laggards. Reach your 60% adoption goal.

New Feature Launch Adoption

Launching features without an adoption strategy wastes product investment.

Pre-Launch Education and Awareness

Start 4-6 weeks before launch with a beta program. Recruit 10-20 customers for early access. Gather feedback and document use cases. Build success stories for launch. Refine the feature based on what you learn.

Two weeks before launch, send pre-launch teasers. Email series with subject lines like "Coming Soon: [Feature Name]." Share sneak peek demos or screenshots. Explain the value proposition and use cases. Build anticipation.

Get your documentation and training ready. Have help center articles written and reviewed before launch day. Film and edit video tutorials. Schedule training webinars. Complete CSM enablement.

Launch Communication Strategy

Launch day needs multiple channels firing at once.

Send an announcement email to all active customers. Subject line: "Introducing [Feature]: [Value Proposition]." Explain what it is, why it matters, how to get started. Clear CTA to watch demo, try it now, or attend launch webinar.

Add in-app notifications. Banner or modal highlighting the new feature. Direct link to try it or learn more. Make it dismissible but persistent - show it three times.

Publish a blog post with screenshots and use cases. Post on social media. Consider a press release if it's a significant feature.

Get CSMs reaching out proactively to high-value accounts with personalized messages. "Here's how [Feature] helps your specific use case." Offer to demo or answer questions.

Early Adopter Program

Early adopters matter because they provide feedback for improvement, generate success stories and testimonials, become advocates and champions, and test the viability of your adoption campaigns.

Recruit enthusiastic customers - past beta participants, power users. Give them priority support and access to the product team. Gather feedback systematically. Document their success and ROI. Feature them in case studies and marketing.

Give early adopters real benefits. Let them influence product direction. They solve their problem before competitors. Give them recognition and visibility. Build a closer relationship with them.

Measuring Launch Success

Week 1, track awareness metrics like email open rate and in-app notification views. Look at trial - percentage of users who tried the feature. Check activation - percentage who completed their first meaningful action.

Week 4, measure adoption rate (percentage of target segment using regularly), usage frequency (how often they use it), and satisfaction (NPS/CSAT for the feature).

Month 3, look at sustained usage. Are early adopters still using it? Has the feature driven upsells or cross-sells? Has it improved retention or value metrics?

Increasing Existing Feature Adoption

Many valuable features sit underutilized. You need to drive adoption proactively.

Usage Gap Analysis

Start by identifying the gap. If 35% of customers use a feature but retention analysis shows 70% should, you've got a 35 percentage point gap.

Segment that gap. Who's not using it? What's their customer profile, segment, role? Why might they not be using it? What barriers exist? What's the opportunity if they adopted? What's the value potential?

Barrier Identification

There are three types of barriers.

Awareness barrier means "I didn't know this feature existed." Symptoms include the feature never being mentioned and zero usage attempts. Fix it by increasing visibility through email, in-app prompts, and training.

Understanding barrier means "I don't know how to use this." Symptoms include viewing the feature but not using it, or using it incorrectly. Fix it with education - tutorials, guides, demos.

Motivation barrier means "I don't see why I should use this." Symptoms include knowing about the feature but ignoring it, no perceived value. Fix it with value messaging - use cases, ROI examples, success stories.

Diagnose barriers through product analytics (do they view the feature page?), surveys ("Why haven't you used [Feature]?"), customer interviews, and support ticket analysis for common questions or confusion.

Targeted Education Campaigns

Design your campaign based on the barrier you identified.

For awareness barriers, send emails with subject "The [Feature] You're Missing Out On." Highlight the feature in navigation, add a badge. Mention it in all onboarding sessions.

For understanding barriers, create a video on "How to Use [Feature] in 3 Minutes." Host a webinar workshop on "Mastering [Feature]." Provide pre-built templates they can copy.

For motivation barriers, publish case studies on "How [Customer] Achieved [Outcome] with [Feature]." Build an ROI calculator showing "See How Much Time You'd Save." Create before-and-after comparisons.

Customer-to-customer learning is powerful. Run webinars where customers present their use case, share results and ROI, answer audience questions, and then you provide tactical how-to afterward.

Write case studies structured around challenge (what problem did customer face?), solution (how did feature solve it?), results (quantified outcomes and ROI), and lesson (what advice do they have for others?).

Build community sharing through dedicated forum threads on "Share Your [Feature] Use Cases." Do monthly showcases featuring creative or effective uses. Let customers create content and write tips.

Incentives and Recognition

Use incentives for launch campaigns for new features, competitions to drive adoption goals, and recognition programs for power users.

Extrinsic incentives include swag or gifts for feature adoption, contest prizes for creative usage, discounts or credits for expansion.

Intrinsic incentives work better long-term. Recognition in customer newsletter, speaking opportunities at user conferences, exclusive access to product roadmap, "Power User" badges or certifications.

Best practice: use sparingly. Incentives work short-term but don't create sustainable adoption. Focus on value, not prizes.

Segment-Specific Approaches

Different customer segments need different strategies.

High-Touch Accounts (Enterprise)

Go personalized with CSM-led feature introduction. CSM schedules a 1:1 demo tailored to the customer's use case. Provides hands-on configuration support. Does follow-up check-ins to ensure successful usage. Shows feature ROI in executive business reviews.

This works because high-value accounts justify the CSM time investment. Complex features benefit from human guidance. The relationship drives adoption through trust in the CSM.

Mid-Touch Accounts

Blend campaigns, resources, and light CSM support. Run automated email campaigns with education content. Host webinars and office hours for Q&A. Have CSMs mention the feature in check-ins if relevant. Provide self-serve resources like videos and guides.

This scales across many accounts while customers maintain independence. You get a balance of automation and human touch.

Low-Touch Accounts (SMB, PLG)

Go fully automated and self-serve. Use in-app prompts triggered by behavior. Send email drip campaigns with tutorials. Build out help center and video library. Leverage community for peer support.

This scales infinitely without CSM involvement. Customers expect self-serve experience in this segment. Low-touch economics require automation.

Role-Specific Strategies

Admins need system-level features, configuration, and management capabilities. Reach them through in-depth training, documentation, and admin community. Their motivation is making their job easier and empowering their team.

End users want daily workflow features, time-savers, and ease of use. Give them quick tips, short videos, and in-app guidance. Their motivation is saving time, reducing frustration, and getting work done.

Executives care about strategic insights, reporting, and business outcomes. Communicate through business reviews, executive briefings, and ROI analysis. Their motivation is business impact, competitive advantage, and innovation.

Measuring Feature Adoption Success

Adoption Rate by Feature

Calculate the percentage of target customers using the feature at least once in a time period. Take users who used the feature in the last 30 days and divide by total users in your target segment.

Set targets based on feature type. Core features should hit 70-90% adoption. Advanced features should reach 30-50%. Specialty features with specific use cases might only need 10-30%.

Feature Usage Frequency

Track how often adopters use the feature. Daily usage suggests a power feature in core workflow. Weekly means regular feature in periodic workflow. Monthly indicates occasional feature for specific tasks.

Analyze whether users are using the feature as frequently as expected. Is usage increasing or declining over time? What predicts high versus low frequency?

Feature Usage Depth

Measure how comprehensively the feature is used - basic versus advanced capabilities.

Take a reporting feature. Basic usage means pre-built reports only (40% depth). Intermediate means customized reports (60% depth). Advanced means custom dashboards, scheduled reports, and API access (90% depth).

Your goal is moving users from basic to advanced over time.

Correlation with Outcomes

Analyze whether feature adoption actually drives business outcomes.

Check retention - do feature adopters retain better? Look at expansion - do adopters expand more? Measure support impact - do adopters create fewer tickets? Track satisfaction - do adopters have higher NPS?

Like that workflow automation example. Adopters showed 94% retention and 35% expansion rate. Non-adopters had 68% retention and 12% expansion rate. Clear conclusion: the feature drives significant business impact, so prioritize adoption.

The Bottom Line

Feature adoption isn't about getting customers to use every feature. It's about strategically driving usage of the features that matter most for value realization, retention, and expansion.

Teams that implement strategic feature adoption achieve 20-40% higher adoption of priority features, 15-25 percentage point retention improvement for feature adopters, 2-3x expansion rates (features unlock additional value), and clearer product ROI and value demonstration.

Teams that take a scattershot "use more features" approach experience low adoption of high-value features, support burden from confused users trying irrelevant features, no clear link between feature usage and business outcomes, and missed opportunities for retention and expansion.

The feature adoption strategy is clear. Prioritize features by business impact (value, retention, expansion, differentiation). Build targeted campaigns for priority features. Segment customers and personalize messaging. Use multi-channel approaches (email, in-app, CSM, webinars). Measure adoption and business impact. Optimize campaigns based on data.

Drive adoption of the right features, not all features. Your retention and expansion depend on it.

Ready to build your feature adoption strategy? Explore adoption fundamentals, product adoption framework, and adoption campaigns.

Learn more:

Tara Minh

Operation Enthusiast