From Demos to Demand Gen: Lessons from 7 Years of Shopify App Growth

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Hey there, Oyku here!

I'm shifting gears a bit with the newsletter; you'll be seeing more interviews like this one. I've been talking with founders and marketers who've been in the trenches, and honestly, these conversations are too good not to share. Expect at least one issue each month going forward.

In this issue, you'll find:

Interview with Jill at Inventory Planner (her learnings from 7 years in Shopify app growth, including how she turned demos into their main growth engine)
A free 5-minute growth diagnosis to identify what's actually blocking your app's growth
An update on the cohort format, and I need your input on what to build first

Let's get to it!

From a Merchant to Shopify App Marketer

I recently sat down with Jill Liliedahl, who spent nearly seven years at Inventory Planner, one of the leading apps in the inventory planning category on Shopify. She led marketing from the early days through not one, but two acquisitions (first Brightpearl in 2021, then Sage four months later).

What makes Jill's story especially interesting is that she was a merchant first. She used Inventory Planner for four years while running an e-commerce business before joining as the third team member.

That customer-to-marketer transition gave her insights that most of us spend years trying to develop.

When Demos Become Your Growth Engine

One thing that stood out from our conversation: Jill was doing up to eight demos a day at one point. Eight!

But she noticed the first 15-20 minutes of these calls were nearly identical. Same questions, same explanations, same foundational walkthrough.

So she launched a webinar expecting maybe 5-10 people to show up.

120 people registered.

That first webinar became a cornerstone of their growth strategy. They repurposed it into onboarding sequences, broke it into bite-sized chapters for email flows, and created advanced versions for power users.

As a result, one-on-one calls became so much more productive because people came in with foundational knowledge. Plus, longtime customers kept signing up, using it as employee onboarding for new team members.

The Shift from Education to Differentiation as the Market Matures

When Inventory Planner first launched, they had to educate the market. People didn't even know what terms to search for. "I was looking for inventory management," customers would say, "but this forecasting thing is actually what I need."

Over seven years, that changed completely.

The category matured. Competition increased. Forecasting and demand planning got its own section in the app store. Merchants started coming in with sophisticated knowledge, knowing exactly what they needed.

The marketing shift was clear: stop explaining what forecasting is, start showing why you're better than the alternatives.

If you're in a newer category (hello, AI apps!), you might still be in the education phase. But if your category is established, differentiation is your game.

The Biggest Lesson: Talk to Your Customers

When I asked Jill for one piece of advice for app founders, she didn't hesitate:

"You've gotta talk to your customers."

But the nuance is also talking to non-customers. The people who tried your free trial and left. The ones who unsubscribed. The prospects who ghost you after a couple of emails.

That feedback reveals your blind spots.

Her approach was to make it as low-commitment as possible. If they're not responding to emails, offer a five-minute call. Some people process information better verbally. Some want a live demo site to play with. Some will watch a 2x speed video.

Meet people where they are.

Honestly, there were many goodies from the conversation. Listen to the full conversation here:

Listen to the full 35-minute conversation

Find Your Growth Bottlenecks in 5 Minutes

Speaking of talking to customers and understanding what's blocking growth—I built something for you.

It's a comprehensive growth diagnosis tool designed to help you identify where your app is stuck. Takes about 5 minutes to complete, and you'll get actionable recommendations based on your app's maturity level across key dimensions.

No fluff, just a clear picture of what to focus on next.

Take the free assessment here

The Accelerator Cohort Is Evolving (I Need Your Input)

Based on your feedback, I'm shifting to focused deep-dive trainings; each one tackling a specific growth challenge with actionable frameworks you can implement immediately.

Here's what each includes:

1-2 hour deep dive video with downloadable materials
1-hour consultancy session for your specific challenge
Access to community office hours

But I need your help deciding what to build first.

I've narrowed it down to four topics:

A) How to differentiate your app and apply it to your listing and messaging
B) How to optimize onboarding around the AHA moment (plus must-have email sequences)
C) Introduction to Shopify ads and optimization (plus my Claude ads analysis prompts)
D) How to find the best-fitting acquisition channels for your product (plus playbooks to kickstart experimenting)

Fill out this 2-minute form to vote on which topic you want first, and I'll give early bird pricing to everyone who responds. 🙂

That’s all for this issue!

Stay tuned for the next one...