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An annual conference usually means a tonne of announcements, and Webflow Conf 2024 was a biggie. It’s safe to say the platform’s latest updates will transform the way we do web design, from revolutionising our processes to helping us craft more impactful websites.

Here’s a deep dive into what’s new with Webflow and why the latest updates are such a big win for web agencies like us.

Analyse and Optimise: data-driven decisions, made easy

The release of Analyze and Optimise means that it’s super simple to gather insights and test what’s working, all from within the platform. No more relying on third-party tools to track behaviour or run A/B tests—it’s all right there. You can see how visitors are interacting with your site, tweak the experience based on real data, and personalise things on the fly. For us, this is a massive win because we’ll have more control over the full lifecycle of a project, from design all the way through to ongoing performance improvements.

AI Integration: speed without sacrificing creativity

Webflow’s new AI Assistant is seriously going to speed things up on the build front. Whether you’re using it to draft content or generate new sections for a page, it allows you to move faster without giving up that creative edge. For designers, this means you can spin up core sections like testimonials or pricing tables in seconds, but still customise everything to fit your brand. It’s perfect for cranking out quality work when deadlines are tight, without sacrificing creativity or control.

Animations can take a site to the next level, but coding more complex animations from scratch can be pretty time-consuming. Now, with Webflow integrating GSAP (the GreenSock Animation Library), it’s so much easier to add eye-catching animations directly into our projects. No extra coding required. This opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for creating those engaging, interactive web experiences that really make a website stand out.

New page building and approval workflows: even more reasons to collaborate

Collaboration can be one of the biggest challenges in web development, especially when lots of stakeholders are involved. Webflow’s new page-building tools enable non-technical team members to create pages while staying within the brand’s design guidelines—speeding up the build while keeping everything consistent. Plus, their design approval system organises feedback and ensures we can easily get the go-ahead from everyone involved—without slowing down the whole project.

CMS and design system improvements: greater flexibility, less maintenance

Managing content is always at the heart of our workflow, so these CMS upgrades are a huge boost. The new bulk operations and improved publishing controls will make handling large-scale projects way more efficient. On top of that, the addition of Component Style Variants means less repetitive work for designers and more flexibility to make sure everything stays cohesive across a site. A win-win for both creativity and maintenance.

What’s hot at Webflow Conf 2024

Last week, we set statuses to ‘out of office’ and met in the terracotta-topped city of Lisbon for our annual team retreat. It’s not often we all get together—and since we’ve recently welcomed a tonne of new faces to the team, this year was all about eating, drinking and just hanging out IRL.

One by one, we made ourselves at home at Lisbon’s Mama Shelter—a super sassy urban hangout that we love for its foosball tables and family-style feasting. For some of us, it was a case of a quick coach ride to the capital. But for others (sorry, Cyprus crew), it was a late-night arrival after various layovers and lost luggage drama. Plus, there was a last-minute detour for Jasmine, who, after feeling very smug with her early arrival at Gatwick, ended up making a mad dash to Heathrow (the airport she was actually meant to be flying from…)

Despite the bleary eyes, the next day started strong with the first of our activities: a pastel de nata masterclass. Working under the watchful eye of the pros at Nat'elier, we hand-crafted and baked our very own versions of the Portuguese classic. Why yes, we did make our own pastry.

That evening, the voyage of gastronomy continued as we took to the streets of the city for a tuk-tuk food tour. We sampled everything from local cheeses and vino verde to the city’s famous pork bifanas. We even sat down to the traditional salted cod dish, bacalhau à brás, with a side of Fado guitar. All of this was rounded off with a freshly baked pastel de nata chaser—yes, more pastries.

For our final night, we tore around the city armed with tablets as we took part in an outdoor escape hunt. Turns out nothing makes us more competitive than a Time Cops-themed backstory, cryptic clues, and a 90-minute countdown clock. But after crowning the winners, it was onwards to Sumaya for our final meal together: Lebanese mezze followed by a birthday cake for a 

 surprised Soraia, who turned 28 while we were away.

The theme of this year’s retreat was all about getting together—so we made plenty of time to do just that. We explored museums, wandered around botanic gardens, and scaled those deceptively steep streets of the old town. We drank port and tonic in Alfama, did karaoke in Bairro Alto, and each night, claimed the hotel terrace as ours for beers and cocktails.

We reconnected with people we hadn’t seen in real life for a while—and, for the first time this year, almost all of us were together in person (shout out to Andreas, Alex and Simon who were with us in spirit). But best of all, we came away with a tonne of new memories and Slack memes, feeling hyped about what the future has in store for the S8 fam.

 love to Fran and Mario for treating us to three incredible days out of the office. It’s safe to say we loved every second.

S8 Team trip 2024: Lisbon

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Whether you love them or hate them, it’s safe to say that most consumers still can’t resist them. So with some of the biggest sales events of the calendar year just around the corner, how can you make sure you’re doing everything you can to get in on the action?

Here’s our 9-step Black Friday prep plan for e-commerce brands.

1. Decide on your offer. And make it a good one.

Your customers won’t settle for the kinds of discounts you get for simply signing up to a mailing list. They’ll be holding out for big things when it comes to Black Friday. They may even have their favourites list and basket filled up already. So make sure it’s an enticing enough offer that will cut through the noise and convince them to part with their cash in the first few hours.

A lot of time is spent focusing on the front end of your site—but it pays to give a bit of love to the checkout, too. How seamless is the cart journey on mobile? Are there features you could be utilising to increase the average cart value, like upsell or cross-selling tools? Is it worth adding buy now, pay later options or shortcuts like Shop Pay? If it makes the purchase journey easier, then it’s worth considering (and testing) ahead of time.

3. Prep your store for an influx of traffic.

If you’re using a managed platform like Shopify then relax—everything’s handled for you. But if your website is on a self-hosted tool such as WordPress or Craft, then it’s a good idea to know how to monitor your server resources. If you need to scale up your hosting to deal with additional demand, there are caching and CDN tools like Cloudflare and Fastly. But, if you’re expecting a huge surge in traffic, you could always look into implementing a virtual waiting room using Cloudflare, Akamai or AWS to prevent any overloading.

By that, we mean go back to basics and make sure your tactics align with every consumer you might encounter throughout the sales period.

Broad, top-level targeting that intros your brand to new audiences with messaging around deals and promos.

Middle of the funnel: the consideration phase

If users have shown an interest, retarget them with content such as reviews, testimonials and limited-time offers.

Bottom of the funnel: the conversion phase

Now’s the time to drive urgency with countdown timers, reminders and exclusive discounts for last-minute shoppers.

Over the next 3-7 days, encourage repeat purchases with personalised follow-up orders and upsells.

Figure all of this out ahead of time and trust us, your strategy will be foolproof.

If you’re continuously capturing leads via a newsletter sign-up, then ramp things up in the run-up to Black Friday. Creating a landing page that captures email and phone numbers in exchange for early access to the sale is an easy win. Or, you could supercharge your subscriber sign-ups by throwing additional things like discounts, free gifts or mystery sign-up offers into the mix.

6. Be ready with your email campaigns and flows.

Of course, you’re going to need a fully-fledged email plan that targets your subscribers with your Black Friday offer. But think about revamping all your existing flows, too. Feature Black Friday messaging in your welcome flows during the Black Friday period, and optimise any automated flows like your abandoned cart journey, too. It’s simple tactics like this that can be done well in advance but are super effective.

7. Create ad campaigns that stand out from the crowd.

Catchy creative is one thing, but delivering the right message to the right people at the right time is where you’ll really see results. Make sure you’re considering Meta ads for targeting and retargeting specific audiences, utilising assets such as customer testimonials to build trust. Plus, be sure to roll out broad audience targeting with personalised dynamic ads, too.

8. Have a plan in place for community management.

Managing your social media community is important throughout the year, but during peak sales periods like Black Friday, the stakes are even higher due to the massive influx of engagement. As more users will be interacting with your ad content, it’s vital you have a plan in place for monitoring comments and inboxes. As a minimum, make sure you:

Prepare a set of pre-written responses for common queries to save time and make sure your voice is consistent.

Prioritise comments that are most visible or influential, like those on popular posts or those that get engagement, fast.

Automatically filter and hide comments with offensive words, phrases, or spam.

Have a plan for how to quickly escalate more complex issues, like a dedicated Slack channel with your customer support team.

Keep interactions authentic to ensure genuine connections with customers.

9. Get prepped with your post-purchase activity, too.

Black Friday is just the beginning. With the right kind of post-purchase activity, you could have a new wave of brand-lovers on your hands. So get ready with those post-purchase email flows and campaigns so you can start engaging with your new buyers right away.

What’s hot at Webflow Conf 2024

Analyse and Optimise: data-driven decisions, made easy

AI Integration: speed without sacrificing creativity

GSAP: animation just got easier

New page building and approval workflows: even more reasons to collaborate

CMS and design system improvements: greater flexibility, less maintenance

Our 9-step Black Friday prep plan for e-commerce brands

S8 Team trip 2024: Lisbon

Let us take you further than you’ve ever been

What’s hot at Webflow Conf 2024

Analyse and Optimise: data-driven decisions, made easy

AI Integration: speed without sacrificing creativity

GSAP: animation just got easier

New page building and approval workflows: even more reasons to collaborate

CMS and design system improvements: greater flexibility, less maintenance

Our 9-step Black Friday prep plan for e-commerce brands

S8 Team trip 2024: Lisbon

Let us take you further than you’ve ever been SCHEDULE A CALL

Let us take you further than you’ve ever been