11 Marketing Channels That Consistently Work for
Founders
I've analyzed all 497 founder interviews on Indie Hackers and uncovered the marketing channels that worked consistently for founders. After I finished my analysis, I started the User Acquisition Channels series to provide insights on each channel.
This article will be a "hub article" of sorts that includes an overview of each marketing channel and a link to more detailed post(s) where you'll be able to learn more about each channel. I'll be updating this post on ongoing basis as I uncover new channels and strategies.
The Criteria
In order for a marketing channel to be in this list, I need to see 5 or more founders talking about how it worked for them. All of the channels below fit this criteria.
Ordering: The marketing channels below are ordered by the frequency of mentions. So far, most founders talked about SEO, so it's #1 in the list. Freelancing marketplaces are in the last place, because I saw the least amount of founders talking about it, etc.
Without further ado, let's get started.
1. SEO (After Succeeding With Another Acquisition Channel)
SEO is a pretty saturated channel, and it usually takes months to start seeing decent traffic on Google.
Most of the people who were successful with SEO tried used other acquisition channels first. Many founders also noticed that SEO success was often by accident. Take Snipcart ($100K/mo), for example:
In time, we realized our shaky, well-intentioned blogging was driving more and more organic traffic and even a few direct conversions. Especially our platform-specific e-commerce tutorials. So we decided to really own that channel.
Learn more: Acquisition Channel of the Week: SEO (with a twist)
2. Product Launch Platforms (Product Hunt, BetaList, etc.)
These are websites with millions of users that feature new products on a daily basis.
Product Hunt/Beta List are the top 2 platforms (in terms of traffic) for tech founders. Product Hunt worked very well for many bootstrapped companies, and one of them was Standuply ($20k/mo):
We launched Standuply and related Slack bot products 8 times on Product Hunt in the latest 18 months. At first, it was our initial launch that brought in our very first users. It wasn’t that successful as we ended up in 7th place. However, it brought us 150 teams.
Learn More:
3. App Exchanges / Marketplaces
Many huge platforms like Shopify, Slack and Salesforce have their own respective app stores. A surprising amount of founders had success being listed on them, like Finbarr from Shogun ($4.5k/mo), a drag-and-drop page builder:
When we launched on Shopify, sales began to trickle in and have been growing ever since. We've been attracting users in the Shopify app store from the beginning with very little marketing.
Learn more:
- There's one Acquisition Channel Where "Build it and They Will come" Still Holds True
- Shopify App Store: An underutilized acquisition channel?
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4. (sub)Reddit(s)
There are 100k+ active communities on Reddit. Chances are one - if not more than one - is related to your niche. Creative Tim ($118k/mo) sells UI kits/templates, and they've used these communities to successfully acquire users:
Most of our marketing strategies have been submitting our content to different communities like Reddit.. (Some important subreddits that work well in our area include /r/web_design, /r/html5, /r/frontend, and /r/webdev.)
Learn more: Acquisition Channel of the Week: Reddit
5. Cold Email Outreach
This is simply reaching out to people you don't know yet via email and making them aware of your product or service.
Cold email is a channel which is easy to get started with, but hard to master.
What really helps is if your target prospects make their email addresses public. Take Web4Realty ($100K/mo), a tool to easily create real estate websites, and how they got their first customers):
We’re very lucky to be in an industry where gathering lead information is very easy. Fortunately for us, real estate agents plaster their emails and phone numbers all over the place, which is very convenient.
Raza and I spent the first several months cold-calling leads, continuously collecting more email addresses and numbers, and sending individual marketing emails, one by one. Sometimes the client wanted a demo in real-life so we went and did it.
We operated this way for a good 5–6 months, and grinded our way to about 200–300 paying users.
Learn more: Cold Email is Not Email Marketing
6. "Powered by" Marketing
You've probably visited a website, seen a live chat widget and a small "powered by Intercom/Drip/[insert live chat provider here]" link at the bottom of the widget.
It turns out this is an amazing channel for getting new users from your existing users who publicly use your product.
How does it work? A customer visits website A, sees a widget, sees that you're the provider of that widgets, checks you out, and starts using you.
A good % of your users' users are also your users. Take LiveAgent ($250k/m), a help desk & live chat software, and how they got their users:
One of the friends was a local web hosting company. After they started using LiveAgent, we noticed that three out of four other leading local web hosting companies started using it as well, and they all continue to use it now.
Word of mouth and branding displayed on our widgets such as "Live Chat Software by LiveAgent" were bringing in 50% of new leads…
Learn more: “Powered by”: A Marketing Channel Nobody Talks About
7. Hacker News
A good % of founders who were interviewed in Indie Hackers targeted other devs and/or technical people on Hacker News. Take Qbserve ($2K/mo), a time tracking app for Mac, and how they got their first users:
I created a "Show HN" on Hacker News, and Qbserve became one of the top submissions that week, bringing a huge stream of sales and feedback.
Learn more: Hacker News: The Only Acquisition Channel Where Commenting Works Better than Posting?
8. SEO (starting immediately)
The difference between 1) and this one is timing. SEO/search is probably the most competitive marketing channel out there. 12 years ago, you could take a website and rank in for a decent keyword in a matter of weeks.
Not anymore. Nowadays, you usually have to wait for months before you even start appearing in the top 100 months.
There are certain exceptions, though. One of them is when there's a new category of searches appearing. Let me explain.
Kapwing, is a very popular meme making tool, and they've been able to get their first 10 customers by ranking for 'meme maker':
Organic discovery on Google was definitely our most powerful acquisition channel, and all ten of our first customers found us after searching for "meme maker" or the like.
"Meme maker" is a relatively new keyword (compared to something like "life insurance") and was probably not that competitive when Kapwig came out. If Kapwig was a life insurance company and they were trying to get their first customers ranking on it, I highly doubt that would happen.
If you want to learn more on this, check out the article below.
Learn more: Acquisition Channel of the Week: SEO (starting immediately)
9. Proactive Word of Mouth
Every product has a certain degree of word of mouth built-in. However, there are a few things you can proactively do to increase word-of-mouth.
One thing is to find a segment of users with an audience that's also your audience. Take Blender Market ($232k/mo), a marketplace for artists to sell 3D models, and how they got their early adopters:
Most of these early sellers were freelancers and prominent artists in the community.
Our pitch was help them generate some passive side income and let us handle the infrastructure.
This approach paid off because those artists themselves had an audience that wanted to learn and buy from them:
The advantage of attracting sellers that already had an audience was that they multiplied our initial customer reach dramatically by sharing their products.
Learn more: 3 Word-of-Mouth tactics that work with founder examples
10. Software Directories
Capterra, G2, GetApp. These are the top 3 most popular software directories in terms of traffic.
These sites are like traffic brokers. They buy traffic from Google AdWords, drive it to their pages, and then charge you per click/impression/lead.
If you're a founder in a B2B niche, this is a channel worth considering. Martial Arts on Rails ($5k/month) sells management software for martial arts facilities and gyms and they've seen success with Capterra:
After a couple of months I started running ads on Capterra, a search engine for business software, where I am now ranked first in searches for "martial arts gym software". This has become my strongest source for conversions. I was initially spending around $180 a month on Capterra, and it's now closer to $400 a month. Currently, Capterra and organic search results are the main acquisitions sources for my business.
Learn more: Acquisition channel of the week: software directories
11. Freelancing Marketplaces
UpWork, Freelancers, Fiverr. You might think these are marketplaces that only serve service providers. Think again.
I've seen SaaS founders who were quite creative leverage these marketplaces to acquire customers. Take StoreMapper ($21k/mo), a SaaS that enables you to put a store location map on your e-commerce website. They used UpWork to successfully acquire customers: his SaaS:
I searched job sites like Upwork for people looking to hire a freelancer to do a custom build, and would swoop in and pitch them on Storemapper instead.
You want to be careful with this; just sending a message saying "Hey you don't need a dev, get X instead" is likely to get you banned from many platforms (after all, you're taking money away from them by saying their clients don't need to hire a dev and could use your software instead).
In many cases, also, you can produce a win-win scenario by using a combination of your software + custom coding. For example, if I'm looking for a referral marketing platform, I'm more likely to pay attention by someone who says: "Hey, I can help you do this for $500 instead of $7000 by using a combination of [my software] + [the custom thing you'll be doing]".
Learn more: Acquisition Channel of the Week: Freelancing Marketplaces
As I mentioned, this post will be updated on ongoing basis (last update: 12th March, 2021) with more channels and examples.
Thanks for reading :)
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How would this list change if your audience is children?
Do you prioritize offline contact, since many don't yet surf the net, have smartphones, or hang out online? (see Discord & Twitter age restrictions)
Do you speak to the parents? (And if so, how do you segment them // where do you find them?)
Hi! How about influencer marketing? I've heard quite a lot about it's effectivness and just want to get other thoughts and opinions
The freelancing marketplaces part was an interesting one. I also saw something like this on Pinterest. People there ranking for various level-2/info keywords like "how to make X" and then writing an article where their software is ultimately the solution to the problem.
can you share any examples or cases?
I just did this two nights before this post. Now I have a lot of ideas in my notebook. hahaha
Makes sense!
These 14 B2B Saas Marketing Strategies could also help in some sense.
I don't see social media here. Interesting...
It's actually on the list, see https://zerotousers.com. This is not the complete list, the complete list has 40+ channels. I'll be adding new channels here each week, as I write more detailed articles on each platform.
Hey just checkout: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
Maybe there’s a bias given by the kind of people that build this kind of apps. I wonder what would brand-oriented entrepreneurs would answer instead of product-oriented.
True! Just check out: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
I was thinking the same thing. Did you find any resources like this one but more so for brand-oriented entrepreneurs?
Maybe this will help: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
I was wondering about bias too - it's what worked for IndieHackers founders.
This is an extremely valuable post. How long did it take you to do this research?
200-300 hours.
That's impressive. Thanks for sharing!
This will also help I think: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
Thanks for sharing with us the result of hundreds hours of your work for free ❤️
So every interview took around 30 mins?
Well, 15-20 mins for reading, 5 mins for separating the quotes, 5 mins for categorizing the quotes and entering them in a DB.
Very valuable thank you!
just check out: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
Wow, thank you!
How about Crunchbase?
A great way to share essential information for founders who are already running a business or about to start one.
Thanks for sharing, It's usefull
As a word of caution, don't go for all at the same time. Zero in on 2 at a time, really focus on both and run tests, then do it again with the others (generally speaking this would start once the other channel has become saturated/expensive).
Also, SEO is great but you are in an SEO sandbox for a minimum of 6 months. Google has also been on a made algo update the last 6 months to the point that the current SERPs are giving me circa 2010 vibes (spammy, old pages ranking for high volume searches). They are also not indexing new pages/sites like they used to. You are talking for some 5 days+ whereas before you could do it pretty much instantly with some blackhat tricks.
+1 for this advice. Unless your conversion tracking is setup perfectly you may not even know which channel is driving you leads at the moment.
If you are leveraging multiple acquisition channels you need to be mindful of effectiveness of each channel and CAC/LTV by channel when deciding what to drop and what to double down on.
Sandboxing is a myth... and been proved to be a falsehood.
I have 4 sites that I've been building up from scratch exclusively with black hat tactics. Everything that Google tells you to do is a myth.
Sandboxing however is way to evident from my first-hand clear evidence. 8 months into focusing on KWs with 800,000+ searches per month and we have been doing the Google dance for some time, each time climbing higher and higher after dropping. This is with domains with no clout.
There's way too much evidence from personal experience to say sandboxing isn't true.
It's even gotten worse now in 2022; hardly could a page get indexed. Real circa 2010 vibes.
Upvoted. Nice work!
@csallen - can we get favorites (like HackerNews) / saved (like Reddit). This would be something I'd like to revisit time-to-time!
This was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing!
the 3rd point was quite unexpected for me, thank you for this idea!
tried many of these marketing channels, and most of them usually is overcrowded :(
seems like we should hack this situation and start looking for other ways of reaching out potential users 🙃
What about social media marketing? Does that not work nowadays?
Sometimes it does, but not on all cases
It’s an interesting article. Thanks
you are right. Just check out this: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
Great article, and mostly matches my experience. Freelancing marketplaces is a big one for us. I would add to point 1 that paid backlinks can work to speed up the process, if they are from a high enough DA and not spammy (I've used accessily.com and fratlinks.com with some success).
Curious how you use freelancing marketplaces (no need to share any specifics, but just in general).
As a customer acquisition channel. With some effort we made it onto the front page of Fiverr for a few common queries and it's become a major source of inbound (we usually get people off the platform if we can to build long-term relationships).
Love the article @zerotousers! I completely agree with the Shopify channel for acquiring new users -- I recently wrote an article that shows how to Get close to 1,000 new users in a week on Shopify
Very insightful post, thank you!
Very helpful, thanks ;))
Thanks for sharing
Good post. SEO is the best for organic growth.
Great list. Id add in comment marketing, where you leave post-like comments on other posts. Adding additional value and gaining supporters
Found some interesting info all in one blog ...
Communities play a vital role in in reaching out to your targeted users..
This piece is awesome, thank you so much. I didn't know the "show" part on Hacker news, thank you for sharing that.
This is awesome.
I love the idea of the "Powered By" being both a marketing tool and asset for the user of the product. By which I mean, it can act as a 'tick of approval' authenticator.
Thank you very much @zerotousers, the report is a phenomenal work !
That is correct. It is very helpful. please check this out: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
Read this a bit late but this post is incredible! Thanks for sharing!
Yeah. I think this will also be helpful: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
Do anyone have experience with getting traffic from Youtube, i.e. create instruction videos, to drive new customers to your website/app, etc.?
We have a company channel on YouTube showcasing the presentations portfolio, as well as the results of our students' education. I can't say it drives a lot of traffic or brings customers, but maybe we should pay more attention to that
Here in comment section I don't see people discuss cold emailing. Seems like no one likes hard staff that actually delivers.
Looks like cold calling is an opportunity of a lifetime right now
You are right! just check this: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
The marketing channels are changing their leaders very often. One month the SEO sphere can prevail, and the other one the Reddits, or I don't know. The most crucial thing in marketing is knowing how to promote the product so that other clients will promote them for you among their friends. I ordered a digital screen from https://www.digitalframe0.com/product-category/digital-signage-displays/, and it helps me attracting potential clients for my cousin's company. I am glad I can help her achieve her goals.
Loved the idea about freelancing marketplaces - good insight!
Hey, Darko. It was super helpful. I'm going to apply it. Thanks for sharing. Cheers :)
Hey this will also help you, check this out: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
I'm curious how people are utilizing reddit. Every reddit page I go to has strict rules against advertising/promoting. How are you all handling this?
It's tricky but the key is to find the grey are between actually blending in (basically being another redditor) and plugging your stuff.
I recommend trying out Surfkey.io by @JohanCutych to always find relevant threads where you can provide value and plug your tool.
You need to post valuable content with only a passing reference to your product, e.g. original article link at the end, or the product has to be a part of a conversation when others are asking for product/service recommendations.
So you need to be looking for opportunities to mention your product. Very time consuming but can work.
I think you mentioned an article a week ago that talked about uncovering your power users and finding influencers was one of the strategies.
You probably mean the 'power users' part of this article?
did you analyzed all the articles with ai ?
Want some answers for my pole.
https://www.indiehackers.com/post/wow-maximize-roi-invest-x-amount-to-earn-3x-or-gain-nothing-ab304e417c
Note: Not sure if it is inappropriate to share my post here. Did not find any rule.
really helpful info! especially the point about have SEO keywords that are not highly competed over so that achieving rank is possible.
Very useful! Thanks for sharing
Maybe can add something like youtube. Nothing/The browser company do a good job here.
This is a great article! Would really love a 2024 update to this article. Last update was 21st of March 2021 :(
Thanks for sharing the awesome list on "11 Marketing Channels That Consistently Work for Founders." Great insights! 🚀
Fantastic read! The suggestion is spot on; it just makes sense. I'd also suggest incorporating lead magnets and engaging with Facebook or other social communities into this valuable list. Great insights! 👍
Great article! Really liked the powered by one, makes sense. I would add lead magnets and Facebook/other social communities to the list too.
I agree with this list- no doubt that I have hand on experience with every word written in it. very well explained
Thank you for sharing this amazing list,
As a non-tech founder, i will be utilizing this list to market my start called tiroeteng
so useful!
Awesome! How lucky am I to find this valuable post! Thanks for sharing!
This is a quality post.
Some of them I am already trying. Especially Reddit and Cold emailing worked well for me.
I'm running a design subscription agency https://www.pentaclay.com
One of my Reddit posts hit 20k+ views. And I got a client from there.
I cold emailed to almost 500+ leads, booked couple of meeting and supposed to get one client from there.
Isn,t cold emailing costly for you? how are you doing it?
Yes, it's costly.
I'm using hunter.io free version. If things go well I'll buy premium.
nice!
A read worth coming back to! Thanks for sharing
indeed
Hey community, i hope this comment finds you well, i am looking for feedback for a small side project i am building called Echo - www.echonow.co
Echo allows you to effortlessly leave voice comments inside google docs, sheets , slides & more.
Here are 11 freelancing marketplaces that consistently work for founders:
Upwork: Offers a wide range of freelancers with various skills.
Freelancer: Connects businesses with freelancers globally.
Fiverr: Known for its gig-based platform, offering services at various price points.
Toptal: Focuses on top-tier freelancers in software development and design.
Guru: Provides a platform for businesses to find and hire freelancers.
PeoplePerHour: Matches businesses with skilled freelancers in various fields.
99designs: Specializes in graphic design and creative work.
Craigslist: Has a diverse range of freelancers in local areas.
SimplyHired: Aggregates freelance opportunities from various sources.
Freelance Writing Jobs (FWJ): Specifically for freelance writers and editors.
Hubstaff Talent: A free directory connecting businesses with freelancers worldwide.
Choose a platform based on your specific needs and the skills required for your project.
Certainly! Here are 11 marketing channels that consistently work for founders:
Content Marketing:
Creating valuable and relevant content through blogs, articles, videos, and infographics can help establish your brand as an industry authority and attract a dedicated audience.
Social Media Marketing:
Leveraging platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to engage with your audience, share updates, and run targeted advertising campaigns.
Email Marketing:
Building and nurturing an email list allows you to directly communicate with your audience, share promotions, and provide valuable content.
Influencer Marketing:
Partnering with influencers in your industry can help you reach a wider audience and gain credibility through trusted endorsements.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
Optimizing your website and content for search engines helps improve your online visibility and drive organic traffic.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising:
Running targeted ads on platforms like Google Ads or Bing Ads can provide quick visibility and attract potential customers actively searching for your products or services.
Referral Programs:
Encouraging your existing customers to refer others can be a powerful way to acquire new customers while leveraging the trust built within your customer base.
Partnerships and Collaborations:
Collaborating with other businesses or influencers in complementary industries can help you tap into new audiences and mutually benefit both parties.
Community Building:
Creating and fostering a community around your brand, whether through online forums, social media groups, or events, can generate word-of-mouth marketing and customer loyalty.
Public Relations (PR):
Getting featured in relevant media outlets or industry publications can significantly boost your brand awareness and credibility.
Offline Marketing:
Depending on your target audience, traditional offline channels such as direct mail, events, or sponsorships may still be effective in reaching potential customers. Remember, the effectiveness of these channels can vary based on your industry, target audience, and overall marketing strategy. It's crucial to continuously monitor and adapt your approach based on the performance of each channel for your specific business.
wow thanks for sharing
Thank you!! I learned some interesting channels from this post and would help me with my saas (EzyCourse)
i learned a lot. thank you for the post. what's your thought on leveraging offline events like meetups?
That was informative, Thank You. But I'm wondering why LinkedIn and X are not listed as a marketing targets?
Nice Post.
Does anyone know how likely BetaList is to accept product submissions and why they might not accept a submission?
Fantastic roundup! The 'Powered by' Marketing point is often overlooked but can be a goldmine for organic growth. Also, love the nuanced take on SEO—timing is everything! 👌
Wow! Happy to find this! Thank you a lot!
can you make a strategy for my new SaaS business?
This is so useful, thanks a lot!
Great post, it got me thinking, thanks
I think you have listed down an appropriate list for targeting marketing channels based on their needs on a particular time.
Thanks, the list is really informative
which channel do you think is best?
I have tried reddit but just beware of the spam filters. It does have a good scrutiny over content
Super cool insights, we used most of these, and I think the more you do decide to utilize it essentially compounds!
Awesome, thanks for this
Great post! But I'd like to mention that karma matters a lot when you create a post on HN and (sub)Reddits.
For HN, a post with a comment from a user with a lot of karma will help gain a lot of attention. Also for some subReddits, if you don't have enough, you even cannot post on it.
When you say that a comment from a user with a lot of karma will "help gain a lot of attention" on HN, do you mean from the algorithm, or from people seeing the comment? I never thought that would have an effect on the algo.
I'm not sure how it works, but the influence of such users does exist. A friend shared his product-releasing experience on HN. Based on his analysis, one of his posts was commented on by one user with lots of karma and then this helped attract a lot of attention.
As a long term HN user (with quite a bit of karma) my guess would be that if the comment was from one of the "famous" people on HN, potentially somebody was tracking their activity and that's how it worked. I would be surprised enough if the karma number on its own had that effect (but who knows).
This was a well-thought-out post! Thanks.
How can I publish a post?
Very valuable content!
for 10. Share your ai tool to #Victrays - ai tools directory (google it)
Great post, gave me lots of new ideas!
Great article! Super helpful
Going to implement some of these strategies ASAP
Super helpful, thank you!
This is what I need now. Thanks in advance
Insightful. Thanks for sharing!
Social Media Marketing: Utilize platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to promote your brand and engage with your target audience. For green pumpkin relevance, you can create visually appealing posts featuring green pumpkin-inspired content, recipes, or DIY ideas.
Content Marketing: Develop valuable and informative content such as blog posts, articles, or videos that provide insights, tips, or solutions related to your industry. Consider creating content around green pumpkin recipes, decorating ideas, or sustainability initiatives.
Email Marketing: Build an email list of interested subscribers and send out regular newsletters or promotional emails. You can feature green pumpkin-themed discounts, recipes, or product highlights to create relevance.
Influencer Marketing: Collaborate with influencers or bloggers who have a strong following in your niche. Find influencers who are passionate about sustainability or eco-friendly living and have them promote your brand alongside green pumpkin-related content.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimize your website and content for relevant keywords, including "green pumpkin" and related terms. This can help improve your organic search rankings and drive targeted traffic to your site.
Video Marketing: Create engaging videos for platforms like YouTube or TikTok, showcasing green pumpkin-related content. You can create tutorials, recipes, or behind-the-scenes videos featuring your products or services.
Podcasting: Start your own podcast or become a guest on relevant podcasts in your industry. Discuss topics related to sustainability, green living, or even gardening, where green pumpkins can be mentioned in conversations.
Partnerships and Collaborations: Collaborate with other businesses or organizations that align with your brand values, such as local farmers or eco-conscious companies. Together, you can create events, contests, or campaigns that revolve around green pumpkin themes.
Referral Marketing: Implement a referral program where your existing customers are incentivized to refer new customers. Offer rewards or discounts on green pumpkin-related products or services to encourage referrals.
Local Events and Sponsorships: Participate in local community events or sponsor relevant initiatives such as farmers' markets, sustainable living expos, or fall festivals where green pumpkins are featured.
Public Relations (PR): Reach out to media outlets, bloggers, or journalists with press releases or story pitches related to your brand and green pumpkin. Highlight any unique angles, initiatives, or events you are involved in.
is anybody using Affiliates?
if you know high-level you probably know how good it is.
when I will get to $2000 Mrr i will learn and make a good affiliate program
This is a great article for someone like me who is on the come up. Trying to figure out what the best and most effective marketing strategy is not easy but this really helped!
Thanks for sharing,
SEO is a must have for everyone, I can't even imagine reaching the next level without it.
I'm rooting to try Product hunt next month.
SEO is the key, slow and steady wins the race. You sow the seed and you reap it after long gap. Overall, it compounds multiple time in the search engine itself to give us great results.
what is your product
I have to add this article to my favorite, Thanks a lot!
Thanks for the advice!
Thanks for sharing👍
what would you use to measure the success of SEO if you can only use one metric?
Agree. I also work at a startup and we gained our first 100 users by interacting in and contributing to some subreddits.
We started building SEO since day one, and now 4 months later we also are seeing some amazing organic traffic thanks for SEO!
That's gold, thanks for doing this research and sharing with everyone!
SEO, in my opinion, is one of the best tools. The project will progress over time if it can attract devoted consumers by presenting the product's story and using SEO to improve it.
very useful thanks for sharing
Informative, thanks for sharing.
Good post learned a new one.
very useful! thanks for sharing!
These suggestions appear to be quite broad in scope, but upon completion, their effectiveness may be limited. This is because they are generalizations. My recommendation would be to share specific cases and steps if you have professional experience in this field. Such details would be more useful and effective in practice.
Great, Thanks for sharing
Great list! I have a trading business, Algorithmic Futures, that converts very well on emails campaigns. I'm curious if anyone has just made target email lists and used Rocket Reach to look up a bunch of emails? Are there also services that provide target email lists? For example, my target customer is typically relatively financially sophisticated (understands futures trading) and has a net worth of $1-$10 million. Could I just create a target list of attorneys, entrepreneurs, doctors, investors? I would appreciate any referrals or insight if anyone has done this.
Good List, you need to add more.
Awesome blog. Extremely helpful.
Yes, product launch platforms like product hunt can be very beneficial for businesses launching new products. It helps us to reach a wider audience, build buzz and excitement, gather feedback and data, save time and resources, and establish credibility. Product launch platforms are really valuable tools for businesses looking to successfully launch and promote new products.
https://www.biztechcs.com/blog/magento-2-4-6-release/
very useful thanks for sharing
Very useful post thanks!
Nice post! I have found investing time into SEO is the best long term strategy to get users with no to little cost. It takes time though.
O wow I didn't know that. Appreciate it.
I personally like making promos with YT videos. Scheme is very simple, break down your topic into long-tail keywords - the more the better. Remember they should be very specific. Then make videos for every phrase, make proper keywords, descriptions. And just wait until YT algos will place your videos next to similar topics videos. Enjoy organic traffic!
That's pretty cool. I'm looking to scale my SaaS https://askmax.xyz
Very useful ! Thanks for sharing !
Great, Thanks for sharing
thanks for great tips
Awesome tips! Thanks for sharing
These are some great tips I guess. Everybody has to apply.
thnx
As a founder, it is important to have a comprehensive marketing strategy that includes multiple channels. Snov.io is a great solution for this, as it provides a wide range of marketing channels that consistently work for founders. These channels include email outreach, content marketing, social media marketing, influencer marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, display advertising, retargeting, referral marketing, and more. With Snov, you can easily track the performance of each channel and adjust your strategy accordingly. Additionally, Snov provides detailed analytics and reporting, so you can make informed decisions about your marketing efforts. With Snov, you can be sure that your marketing channels are working for you
Love these thoughtful tips! In my experience email marketing is most effective, but only when you have significant numbers game (100k+, ideally 1M+). Seems the founders in the group are thinking about the same things as me so I'd like to invite you to speak on my new podcast on customer retention for tech founders. Please let me know if interested in sharing your story - gaindandretainpodcast@gmail.com!
Great post, I would love to read about more channels
Thank you for all the work, awesome list.
muito bom quero me dedicar muito no ramo de afiliado para ganhar comissão gostei da matéria
You have mentioned cold emails. But my experience with this has been bad. Can you tell me through which software can I send 1-2L mails per day to my purchased email list (non-subscribers) in their inbox and not spam folders? Been trying to figure this out. I want to convert these non-subscribers to subscribers. We are launching really helpful products for them, but we aren't able to reach through emails properly!
Hey Darko, Good one :)
Implementation matters though, you can use all of those, but the outcome might be sad if not properly executed
A fast paced, fascinating read. A marketing strategy article for the ages. Thank you @zerotousers for sharing.
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Our Push-up trainee board system ensures minimum strain on our wrist muscles, let us engage & train more muscles by providing different variations and lastly, it also elevates the body angle to increase the range of motion by allowing more space. Improves range of motion results in better muscle gains and flexibility.
Reddit growth is one that I've relied on in the last 18 months, and now I've productized it here: https://jemi.so/reddit
Reddit is still so underrated! I also recommend Surfkey.io by @JohanCutych to always find relevant subreddits, posts and comments
I think SEO is one of the best tools. Reaching loyal users by telling the story of the product and optimizing it with seo helps the project get better in the long run.
I launch a product in Product Hunt, but just have a few users to join in the waitlist. I think in these stage to cold launch is diffcult, but I can't find some new methods to open my marketing.
You should also try an email finder tool named "Crawlbase lead API"
https://crawlbase.com/leads-api-company-emails-extractor
Awesome resource! It is useful!
Very insightful! Bookmarked it even before reading. Sub-reddits are really underrated. At bullet.so, we got out first 50 early birds from Reddit.
Yeah, Reddit has been around for so long but it's still so underrated, even amongst indiehackers...
I also recommend Surfkey.io by @JohanCutych to always find relevant subreddits, posts and comments.
Awesome resource. Thanks for taking the time to put this together. Shared it with some friends already.
Incredible post. Thank you! Very insightful not about the difference between SEO in a new category vs SEO in an existing category.
Hello,
There is a tool that I think is very important but I have not been able to take advantage of it yet.
And it is Telegram, the possibility of creating a niche channel of your sector and make it grow.
But the truth is that I can't think of ideas to make these channels grow from scratch.
I have always used hackernews & browsed on product hunt and appsumo but never thought of launching there.. thanks m8 will try these platforms
Thanks for the load of information on much needed Marketing channels!
I'm your target audience for this post! Thanks for such insightful content.
Thanks for sharing!
Really appreciate you sharing this. Thank you.
Good post.. thanks
As my username mentions, this is an article for me. And I loved it.
I would say people underestimate the power of cold email, especially when starting out. I actually made a 5-minute loom for someone a few days ago that talks about how to get email leads for less than a dime each. Here it is:
https://www.loom.com/share/29441bde98474904841238c3527afdbb
If we're talking about mobile apps, there's 2 big things to add:
Really amazing information i really got the new ideas from your post. Now making the success of business is difficult but not impossible if we have right plan for the business then we can get the good result. I will say a proper good marketing plan makes your product more reachable.
You can also check this tool this is also helping multiple business owners to reduce the churn rate. It helps people to reduce the membership cancellation.
ChurnFree: https://churnfree.com/
Great resource. thanks for sharing.
This is an awesome collection - especially because you curated so many examples!
How long did you work on this post?
Such a great resource - I've read and re-read and kept it in my bookmarks
The freelancing marketplace channel was a really good tip. I'm going to add it as one of our sales channels.
Any recommendations on how we can post on their without sounding like (as you mentioned) don't buy X, when you can get Y?
Good way to share information that i must for founder who already work for business or about to start the business.
https://www.spydetectiveagency.com/
Very informative post, for my SaaS I already figured out some of the ways to market my product, but some were totally new for me.
I ran into this video the other day. Partnerships maybe the future of business development: https://youtube.com/watch?v=RqjoMAHm4Gg
The presenter claims outbound sales / inbound marketing have been loosing their effectiveness. Thoughts?
Super cool post! Thank you so much for the valuable insights :)
Appreciate the content! Thank you :)
Very valuable! :)
A step back would be a good place to start. Deciding which strategy is the the right for your business is really hard.
Seems like you have to find the few that fit your business most which is not easy.
Can you share a few communities or how communities can be built?
This is a good list for technical founders who are indie hackers, but doesn't apply across the board for small business owners.
Here are a couple great resources to start from square one and figure out which channels to use for any business:
https://www.reforge.com/blog/racecar-growth-framework
Traction by Gabriel Weinberg
https://www.amazon.com/Traction-Startup-Achieve-Explosive-Customer/dp/1591848369
As a marketer I am a bit surprised not to see PPC there, though my guess is that it can get pretty pricey. Also, apps should invest in ASO concurrently with SEO as being on top of the app list in the store helps with discoverability
These channels might work for people who are part of these communities right? Mine is a B2B product focusing on D2C businesses. And I hardly believe that those founders will be in Reddit, or product hunt.
So in my case, what could be the best customer acquisition medium?
Yes SEO is the best option.But to see good results we have to wait compare to paid marketing.
SEO - Takes Long time
Paid Media - Instant Results
This is good to know
Great 👍,thank you for sharing
Wow, it's an extremely valuable post. Thank you!
Hey read this article, it will help: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
thanks for sharing, useful information
It's totally worth reading. Thanks for sharing these list with us.
P.s. Fortunately I started my career with SEO. SEO is here to stay.
I live in Ukraine, and it's popular here to make up your personal brand via social media like Facebook and Instagram. So people know whom to contact in case they need something related to your business.
Moreover, via posting you can show your principles, values and of course results.
Thank you - this has really helped me see the wood for the trees!
Interesting list, thanks for sharing! Wish we could explore more deeply all these channels (so far 9ish out of 11!) But it's challenging to put equal energy into each channel in order to know which one is the most profitable, especially when the resource is limited.
That is true! please check this out: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
Incredible post! Thank you for putting the work in for us.
I'm quite baffled with Hackernews. No matter what I've tried I've received zero return or even any interaction.
Not sure but it looks like you need to be backed by Y combinator or something to get to the front page. Does anyone have any tips on this?
Is it only PDF or is there an online version as well? @zerotousers
Thanks for this comprehensive list. Subreddits and Quora have proven successful for me in the past. I'll have to try The freelance marketplace idea + the Powered By technique.
Cheers,
-Joseph
Hey this article will help: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
What freelancing marketplaces can you recommend (except Upwork)?
thanks for sharing!
Wow, so much of a valuable knowledge in one place, it's very impressive! As a Growth Hacker in a Software House Railwaymen I can't adapt most of them 1:1 (as these advices are clearly more SaaS oriented) but it's definitely opening a lot of creative doors in my brain ;) Going to start with Reddit and HackerNews and see how it will go, once again - huge thanks for sharing that!
Be careful with Reddit as the users and mods there are allergic to self-promotion. However, if you blend in and always try to be helpful you can often get away with plugging your stuff if it makes sense.
I also recommend Surfkey.io to always find relevant threads and subreddits.
Hey Check out this, it will help: https://www.indiehackers.com/post/free-get-25-high-converting-customized-leads-for-your-business-f377eaa3cb
Thanks for sharing! Not sure how we could use fiverr and Co. for paperless.io but I will try it!
Thanks for sharing!
That is a unique and quality post, thanks.
Awesome list! Thanks for sharing 👍
Super useful article! Thanks @zerotousers
This is amazing, thanks a lot for this list.
This is great man.
Thanks for researching and posting this!
Thanks for this post.
Glad you liked it!
Nice distinction with SEO. It's really hard to miss this if you're not reading the whole interviews.
Definitely
Yeah, I've started noticing this after the 50th interview actually. I was like...wait, so many of them mention SEO but they previously mentioned Product Hunt or being featured on a newsletter.
All of these channels seem to follow the law of shitty clickthroughs though.
This all seems to be copied from another source. (this was posted months ago already)
What source?
The SaaS Growth Summit from user.com, a two day online free summit - where all theses details were discussed in detail, almost a carbon copy of what is communicated here.
Haha I was part of that summit. I actually wrote a guest post on Nathan Latka's article on "powered by". He thanked me and he now has a webinar he shares across these conferences where he discusses 3 channels: 'powered by'/marketplaces/community. You are probably referring to his talk.
But yeah he has done 3000+ founder interviews and found the same patterns. Mine are taken from Indie Hackers interviews, his are taken from his own interviews.
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