Announcing What You Shipped
Turn completed ideas into announcements, so the people who asked hear about it first.
On this page
Customers who asked for a feature are the people most likely to use it, and the most likely to notice when nobody tells them it shipped. This guide covers finding everyone who asked, writing the completion note, coordinating release notes and outreach, handling partial delivery, and measuring what the announcement did.
Why announce to the people who asked
A release note reaches everyone. A completion update reaches the people who asked, and tells them their feedback led somewhere.
The people who asked have the problem the feature solves. Telling them directly gets it used sooner.
A customer who sees their request ship keeps sharing feedback, and shares better feedback.
Accounts waiting on a feature hear about it from you, before a renewal conversation, not during one.
Success and Sales can point to what shipped for each account, with the idea as proof.
What a full announcement includes
- A Completed status update on every idea the release delivers, emailed to supporters. Contributors who captured feedback on the idea are notified too.
- A release note or changelog entry that links back to those ideas.
- A heads-up to the account teams whose customers asked, with a message they can send.
- A check a few weeks later on reactions, comments, and adoption.
Mark an idea Completed when the people who asked can use it. Not when the code merges. During a gradual rollout or a beta, keep the idea at Started, and post Completed when it reaches everyone who asked.
Writing the completion note
The completion note becomes the idea's admin response on the portal and the body of the email. Write it for someone who asked months ago: say it's live, what they can do now, where to find it, and invite a reply. Replace the brackets, and edit each note so it answers that idea's own request.
Shipped as asked
Shipped as part of a larger release
Shipped in part
Shipped differently than asked
Already possible
Find everyone who asked
Supporters hear about it from the status update. Other people asked through your teams, and some asked on related ideas. Find them all before you announce.
| Who asked | Where to find them |
|---|---|
| Supporters | The subscriber count next to Email in the status update |
| People and accounts behind the idea | The People and Accounts sections of the idea sheet, with revenue from your CRM |
| Customers whose feedback a team captured | The Feedback section of the idea sheet; the contributor who captured it follows up |
| Supporters of related ideas | Search the idea grid for the same request in other words, then merge duplicates, so one update reaches them all |
List every idea a release delivers
- Filter the idea grid to your in-progress public status, such as Started, and add the Accounts and Revenue columns.
- Check each idea's linked Jira issue or Azure DevOps work item, in the idea sheet's Integrations section, against the release.
- Add the ideas that ship to an idea list named for the release, and share it with Success, Sales, and Marketing.
- Save a grid view of ideas marked Completed in the last 30 days, for your monthly recap.
One release, every channel
Each channel reaches a different group. Coordinate them around the ideas the release delivers, and link back to those ideas.
| Channel | Reaches | Tie it to the ideas |
|---|---|---|
| Completed status update | Supporters and contributors of each idea | It is the idea |
| Release notes and changelog | Everyone who reads them, including prospects | Link each item to its idea on your portal, with “Requested by [N] customers” |
| In-app announcement | Active users, in the product | Show it to the accounts that asked first, if your tool can target them |
| Email newsletter | Your full customer list | Lead with the most-requested item, and say how many asked |
| Slack or Microsoft Teams | Your own teams | Send public status updates to a channel Success and Sales watch |
| Account team outreach | Decision-makers at the accounts that asked | A personal note naming the idea they supported |
Link release notes to the ideas. A release note that links to an idea with hundreds of supporters shows prospects that you listen, and sends readers to the portal where they can ask for the next thing.
Outreach from Success and Sales
The status update reaches the person who voted. Their account team can reach the people who decide on renewals, and connect the release to the account.
- Share the release's idea list with account teams before release day.
- For each idea, open the Accounts section in the idea sheet and note the accounts renewing soon.
- Each account owner sends a short note to their contacts, naming the idea and linking to it.
- Log the outreach in your CRM, so the next renewal conversation can mention it.
Customer Success: to an account that asked
Sales: to a prospect who asked during evaluation
One owner per release closes the ideas. Usually the product manager. They post every Completed update on release day, so customers don't hear from Sales before they hear from the product.
Partial delivery and changes
Close what shipped, track what's left as its own idea, and say plainly when what you built differs from what was asked.
When you ship part of it
Use Split Idea in the idea sheet's settings menu to create a new idea for the part you haven't built. The new idea copies the original's users, votes, and comments, and its subscribers are told about it. Then mark the original Completed, with a note linking to the new idea. An idea left at Started for a year looks abandoned.
When you shipped something different
- Name the difference. “You asked for X; we built Y” is clearer than describing Y as if it were X.
- Give the reason in one sentence. It covers more cases, it's simpler, or it fits how most customers work.
- Show how it solves their problem. One example, in the terms of the original request.
- Leave the door open. Ask for comments if it doesn't fit their case, and read them.
- Marking an idea Completed when the release doesn't solve it. Supporters will say so in the comments.
- Closing an idea as Completed because a workaround exists. If you won't build it, decline it with a reason.
Measure the effect
Check each release's announcement two to four weeks after it goes out. The numbers tell you which channels work, and give leadership proof that feedback leads somewhere.
| Signal | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| How people reacted to the update | Thumbs up and down counts on the update in the idea's activity |
| How it works for them | Comments on the Completed idea |
| Who the release reached | The Activity Report's status updates section: voters, accounts, and revenue reached |
| Follow-on requests | New ideas from the same accounts, often the next step after the one you shipped |
| Adoption at accounts that asked | Your product analytics, filtered to the accounts behind the idea |
| Renewals | Accounts that asked, and their renewal outcomes, in your CRM |
Add a “Shipped” line to your leadership update. The ideas you completed this month, the accounts they reached, and the revenue behind them make the clearest case for your feedback program.
Announce with the UserVoice agent
The UserVoice agent in the admin console, or your own assistant through the UserVoice MCP, can find what you shipped, draft the announcements from the ideas themselves, and mark the ideas Completed.
| Ask | You get |
|---|---|
| Which ideas did we mark Completed this month? Include supporters, accounts, and revenue. | A table for your release recap |
| For these ideas, list the accounts that supported them, sorted by revenue, with their contacts. | The outreach list for each account team |
| Summarize the customer feedback on [idea], in their words. | Quotes for the release note and the completion note |
| Draft release notes from the ideas we completed this month. Lead each item with the customer problem, and say how many customers asked. | A draft you edit and publish |
| Set these ideas to Completed with a note from our template, and email their supporters. | The public status, the note, and the email, after you confirm |
Nothing changes until you confirm. The agent and the MCP set public and internal statuses, up to 25 ideas at a time. They post the status's template unless you ask for your own note, and email supporters only when you ask. A public status update can't be undone, so check the list first.
Try it with your AI assistant
1 of 4 prompts in the PDFAttach the PDF to Claude, ChatGPT, or another assistant, then paste:
Using the UserVoice guide I attached, help me plan the announcement for [release]. Ask me which ideas it delivers and who asked for them first, then list every channel, owner, and date.
Three more prompts and the checklist are in the full guide. Get it by email →
Read next
Get the full guide
We'll email you the 11-page PDF. It adds two things that aren't on this page:
- A seven-step checklist to put the guide into practice
- Four AI prompts for Claude, ChatGPT, or your assistant of choice, including one that uses the UserVoice MCP to work with your own feedback data
