Webflow aims to bring "development superpowers to everyone" by being a powerful no-code development platform. The software is used by more than 3,500,000 designers and teams to create, collaborate on, and grow beautiful websites in a visual canvas.

Circa 2021, the Webflow Director of Content, Mischa Vaughn, called a meeting to gather the best creative minds within the company to create a new Webflow tool. At the time, I was on the growth marketing team; however, I was asked to participate in the project because of my product knowledge and reputation for generating unique, brand-building ideas.

The goal of bringing everyone together was to create a free online resource that current customers could use, which would be valuable to them and help attract new users to Webflow.

Regarding the type of tool we were looking to build, we observed tools like Wise’s Invoice Generator and Shopify’s QR code generator. These online tools had a reputation for providing value to the current user base and generating website traffic for new potential customers.

Before moving forward with the idea of building a new tool focused on growth, there were some limitations that were placed on the project: 

• We had to build the tool ourselves
• The resource had to be built within 2 weeks
• We could not use new engineering resources
• The tool had to be noteworthy enough to generate interest
• The tool could not make a direct copy of any of our competitors

Given the project constraints, I was tasked with brainstorming ideas. While I generated several concepts, the challenge was finding something simple enough for us to build without engineering resources yet valuable enough to meet the project's goals. 

When brainstorming, my inspiration originated from the "convince your boss" letters often used to promote conferences. However, most of these "convince your boss" pages are overly glorified copy-and-paste of a pre-written email. I knew creating a copy-and-paste email or Google slide presentation was not enough for people to share because it already existed.

I wanted to create something more impactful—a visually compelling tool that is more persuasive than a swipe file. The tool must be useful, remarkable, and reusable for it to be shareable.

I had previously surveyed Webflow users to understand their needs better. One of the top requests was for talking points to help pitch Webflow to their clients and in-house teams. 

Combining this feedback with the idea of a "convince your boss" letter, I proposed creating a tool that allowed users to generate a customized pitch deck. By filling out a form with specific variables, users could make a presentation highlighting Webflow's selling points, helping them win over clients or internal stakeholders.

When I presented this idea, it was enthusiastically approved. It met all the project requirements and could be built without engineering support. Also, we already had slides and selling points from previous internal presentations created from product launches.

When presenting the idea, I knew it could be a way to recruit more customers to Webflow because it operated as a growth loop, a marketing model that creates a self-reinforcing cycle to drive continuous growth for a product or business.

Webflow grew in popularity, but it was labeled a website builder. To shift this stereotype, it was important to show that Webflow can be more than a tool for building static web pages.

With the new and improved Webflow CMS launch and integrations with other tools such as Airtable, it was important to show that Webflow could even be used to create a web app. There is no better way to advertise that your tool can build a web app than by using it to build a very own web app in your marketing. 

To accomplish this, I collaborated with Corey Moen to combine Webflow CMS + Zapier and Fullpage.js to transform the form inputs into an experience that allows you to build out and view the presentation deck in real-time.

I took the lead in writing a comprehensive launch brief detailing the project's background, the problem it aimed to solve, business objectives, target audience, promotion strategy, value proposition, and deliverables. This brief became our blueprint, enabling us to map out a two-week timeline of tasks in Asana.

As the project manager, I ensured all team members had the resources to stay on schedule. I collaborated closely with the brand design team to build and test the tool's functionality. 

The final product was Webflow Pitch, a tool that allows freelancers, agencies, or in-house teams to create a customized pitch deck for Webflow in just a few clicks. Users could enter their name and email, select the selling points they wanted to include, and instantly generate a professional presentation to send to their team or potential client.

Our target audience received the new tool well, with many Webflow users stating that it was a pleasant surprise and that utilizing the pitch deck was essential to helping them close the deal when presenting to in-house teams and potential clients.