# Email Sorter — Product Strategy (2-Week / Reddit Launch) **Role:** Product owner. **Goal:** First paying users from Reddit (r/buildinpublic, r/SaaS, r/freelance). **Constraint:** Understandable in under 10 seconds. --- ## 1. Homepage & Messaging ### Problems today - **Hero:** "Clean inbox automatically in minutes" is vague. "Minutes" undersells; "clean" is generic. - **Subhead:** "Create smart rules, apply in one click" — sounds like manual work, not automatic. - **Badge:** "AI-powered email sorting" — buzzword; doesn’t say who it’s for or what outcome. - **CTAs:** "Try Demo" vs "Connect inbox" — two choices slow decision; primary action unclear. ### Proposed copy (exact) | Element | Current | Proposed | |--------|---------|----------| | **Badge** | AI-powered email sorting | For freelancers & small teams | | **Headline** | Clean inbox automatically in minutes. | **Leads, clients, spam — sorted automatically.** | | **Subhead** | Create smart rules… | Connect Gmail or Outlook. We put newsletters, promos, and noise in folders so your inbox stays for what pays. | | **Primary CTA** | Try Demo (first) | **Try it free** (one button; goes to register or demo) | | **Secondary** | Connect inbox | See how it works (scroll or short demo) | ### Implementation - One primary CTA above the fold: **Try it free** → `/register`. Remove or demote "Try Demo" to a small link under the button: "Or try a 30-second demo first." - Remove "in minutes" and "smart rules" from hero. No "Inbox Zero" in hero (use only in Features if at all). - Trust line: keep "No credit card · Gmail & Outlook · GDPR compliant" but shorten to one line. --- ## 2. Activation & Onboarding (60-Second Flow) ### Minimum steps before value 1. **Sign up** (email + password or Google; no long form). 2. **Connect inbox** OR **Try Demo** (pick one as default; Demo gets you to "Sort complete" in one click). 3. **Done** → Dashboard with "Sort Now" or auto-result. ### What to remove or defer - **Remove:** Step "Settings" (Sorting Intensity: Light/Medium/Strict). Use a single default: Medium. Expose in Settings later. - **Remove:** Step "Choose your categories". Default: all 6 core categories (VIP, Clients, Invoices, Newsletter, Social, Security). No picker during onboarding. - **Remove:** "Historical emails" toggle. Default: off for first run (faster). Optional in Settings. - **Keep:** Connect email (Gmail/Outlook) + Demo. One click to "Done" then Dashboard. - **Skip button:** Keep "Skip" but rename to "I’ll do this later" and only show after they’ve seen the connect step (so they can still land on dashboard with empty state). ### 60-second flow (concrete) 1. **0–15s:** Land on `/register` or home → click "Try it free" → sign up (email or Google). 2. **15–45s:** One screen: "Connect Gmail or Outlook" + prominent "Try with sample inbox" (demo). No steps 2–3. 3. **45–60s:** After connect or demo → "You’re in. Click Sort Now." → Dashboard. If demo: one "Sort Now" click → instant result. ### Implementation - Collapse Setup into **one step**: Connect (with Demo as primary option for first-time). After connect or demo → go straight to Dashboard. - Move "Sorting intensity" and "Categories" to Settings (and optional "tune later" link from dashboard empty state). - Default for new users: Demo first (so they see a result in 30s), then "Connect your real inbox to sort it." --- ## 3. Core Feature Focus ### One main selling point **"Automatic email categories: Leads, clients, invoices, newsletters, spam — without rules."** - The moment of value: user sees **their** emails (or demo emails) sorted into clear categories and inbox count dropping. - Everything in the app should point to: connect → sort once → see result. No "AI suggests, you approve" as hero message. ### Features to hide or delay (for 2-week launch) - **Hide:** "Control Panel", "Smart suggestions" / "Apply suggested rules" as primary path. Keep in dashboard for power users but don’t push in onboarding. - **Hide:** Daily digest / "Today’s Digest" for new users (show after 2nd sort or after 7 days). - **Hide:** Referral / Share results until after first successful sort and upgrade prompt. - **De-emphasize:** Multiple email accounts (show "1 account" in pricing; multi-account in Settings, not hero). - **Remove from landing:** "Inbox Zero" as headline (overused). Use "sorted inbox" or "inbox that stays clean." ### Features to keep prominent - Connect one inbox (Gmail/Outlook). - **Sort Now** + result: "X emails categorized, inbox reduced by Y, time saved Z." - Single clear upgrade moment: when they hit limit or after first sort ("Unlimited sorts from $X/month"). --- ## 4. UX/UI Improvements ### Trust & clarity - **Navbar:** Add one line under logo: "B2B email sorting" or keep minimal. CTA: "Try it free" (not "Get started free"). - **Pricing section:** One price for Reddit launch: e.g. **$9/month** or **$7/month** (single plan). "Most Popular" on the only paid plan. Remove Business tier for now. - **Empty state (Dashboard, no account):** One sentence: "Connect Gmail or Outlook to sort your first emails." One button: "Connect inbox." No extra cards (Control Panel, Einstellungen) until one account is connected. - **Empty state (Dashboard, account connected, no sort yet):** "Click Sort Now to categorize your inbox. Takes about 30 seconds." Big "Sort Now" button. - **First-time sort result:** Keep current "First sort complete!" + numbers. Add one line: "We’ve put newsletters and promos in folders. Check your inbox — only important mail is left." ### Defaults - **Onboarding:** Default = Demo (so they see value without OAuth). Then "Connect your real inbox." - **Categories:** All 6 selected by default; no picker during onboarding. - **Strictness:** Medium; no selector in flow. ### Skeptical / impatient users - **Above the fold:** No carousel, no "4 steps". One headline, one subhead, one CTA. - **FAQ:** Move "Do I need a credit card?" and "Can I cancel anytime?" to top. Add: "What do you do with my email?" → "We only read headers and labels to assign categories. We don’t store email content." - **Footer:** Short. Imprint, Privacy, Contact. No long feature list. --- ## 5. Monetization (Early Stage) ### Pricing that feels "no-brainer" for freelancers - **Free:** 1 account, 500 emails/month, basic categories. Enough to feel the product. - **Single paid plan:** **$9/month** (or **$7/month** for first 100 customers). "Unlimited emails, 1 account, all categories, cancel anytime." - **Remove for now:** $19 Pro, $49 Business. One plan = no choice paralysis. - **Trial:** 14-day free trial, no card. After trial, card required or account stays free-tier (500/mo). ### Early-adopter experiment - **Reddit launch offer:** "First 50 from r/SaaS or r/freelance: $5/month for 6 months." Use a coupon or a separate plan ID. Mention in Reddit post and a small banner on pricing: "Reddit launch: $5/mo for 6 months — use code REDDIT50." - **Churn:** Focus on "Sort Now" success in first 7 days. If they’ve done 2+ sorts and connected a real inbox, send one email: "You’ve sorted X emails. Upgrade to unlimited for $9/mo." No aggressive upsells. --- ## 6. Retention & Defensibility ### One integration that increases switching cost - **Gmail labels (or Outlook folders) as the integration.** Product already sorts into categories; make the output visible where they live: - **Sync categories to Gmail labels** (e.g. "EmailSorter/Clients", "EmailSorter/Newsletter"). User sees labels in Gmail; moving away means losing those labels or redoing work. - Implementation: After sort, apply Gmail API `users.labels` + `messages.modify` to add the label to each message. One-way: Email Sorter → Gmail. No need for bi-directional sync in v1. - **Alternative (simpler):** **Weekly digest email.** "You sorted 47 emails this week. Top category: Newsletter (20)." Builds habit and touchpoint; unsubscribing = losing a small benefit. - **Recommendation:** Gmail (and later Outlook) label sync. Real defensibility; realistic for a solo dev (Gmail API is well documented). Ship "Sync to Gmail labels" as a Pro feature or post–free-trial hook. --- ## Implementation Checklist (Priority Order) - [ ] **Hero:** New headline, subhead, single CTA "Try it free", demo as secondary link. - [ ] **Onboarding:** Single step (Connect or Demo) → Dashboard. Move Settings + Categories to Settings page. - [ ] **Pricing:** One paid plan $9/mo; optional Reddit code REDDIT50 ($5/mo for 6 months). - [ ] **Dashboard empty states:** Copy and single primary action per state. - [ ] **FAQ:** Reorder; add "What do you do with my email?"; keep short. - [ ] **Defensibility:** Design/spec "Sync categories to Gmail labels" for post–launch.