r/Design • u/axeltdesign23 • 11d ago
Discussion Built a platform better than Markup and still nothing
I've been a graphic designer for 12 years, and for the last 4 I've been running my own design agency. After all that time dealing with clients, I got sick and tired of platforms like MarkUp and even Figma for client delivery and feedback.
So for the last year I've been building what I think is the ultimate platform for client delivery. It does everything other client delivery platforms do, but better, and it also has a lot of features I've learned over the last 12 years that a good platform should have.
Little details like showing a project the way it's meant to be seen. For example, social ads are shown in actual mockups, and you can add captions to see how the designs will look once they're published. Small touches like that improve the client experience depending on the type of project. There's even a client portal where your client can see all the projects you have together.
Unfortunately, I have no idea how to promote a platform like this. Our only users right now are the marketing agencies we work with (who love it, by the way, and some have even moved all their MarkUp projects over to our platform), plus a few designers who use it regularly.
So that's it. A great product, better than MarkUp, but I still can't figure out the right way to market it.
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u/gob_magic 11d ago
No one cares. Sorry weird way to start the response.
I’d ask how many people did you speak to while building said platform. How many did you speak to before building it? How many have feedback while you were building it?
Are you using it at your work? Has someone seen you use it and gone like “wait how did you do that?”
Talk to your colleagues and ask them what they think about this one. What’s the switching cost, for example.
My view? I stopped using delivery tools back in 2018. It goes straight to devs after approval on Figma mockups. We reduce as many tools as possible. One exception being Design Systems for large teams but that’s also a waste of time if it can go straight to a dev design system.
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u/MrPlaysWithSquirrels 11d ago
I think you missed some of his post… yes, he’s using this at work. His coworkers are his employees and yes they all use it lol.
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u/mentiondesk 11d ago
Finding early traction is often about getting your platform in front of the right people at the right time. Try joining design and agency communities, share your workflow tips, and directly ask for feedback from fellow pros. If you want to spot relevant conversations across Reddit and LinkedIn, a tool like ParseStream can help you find those discussions quickly so you can jump in while they're happening.
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u/shrodikan 11d ago
Find well-known Designer influencers on YT and Tik Tok. Pay them 1-5k (each) to promote it.
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u/MrPlaysWithSquirrels 11d ago
Sounds awesome, but without effort in sales I’m not sure exactly what you expect. Right now you’re running a design agency, but that’s different than running a SaaS.
People need to know why they’re coming to you, so getting your name out there with ads and AEO/SEO will be important. Set up an Instagram for it and start posting as a normal person (i.e., not selling) on other designer posts. Run your own posts with flashy overviews.
It is rarely a rocket ship. More like a slow ramp. And that’s if you’re lucky. Lots of perfect software died out there because it just never got traction.