Hey,

If you’re in the process of developing a mobile app, you’re probably wondering how you get users to care about it.

More importantly, how do you get them to pay?

Both total beginners and veteran developers face the same struggle.

When you’re starting from 0, it feels impossible to hit 10,000 users.

But remember, the hardest users to get are the first 100, so keep going.

Set small incremental goals to keep momentum and push through when others would give up.

The truth is, with a step by step growth plan you can leverage initial traction for strong compounding growth. Weak marketing and bad launch strategies are the most common reasons apps fail. But you can avoid this with the strategies I’m about to share.

The first step is to…

Build an audience excited about your solution.

You really don’t need to overcomplicate this.

Post in Facebook groups, Skool communities, reply to YouTube comments, or any other space where your target audience is.

Start DMing people— but always offer free value up front!

Let’s say you want to create a Korean language learning app.

Message learners asking them if they’d be interested in an app that helps them memorize vocabulary. Offer them a one month free trial once the app is complete, in exchange for answering a couple of questions.

Reddit has numerous subreddits where you can post about your app.

I’d highly recommend using these:

r/SaaS
r/startups
r/thesidehustle
r/ProductMgt

You can easily share your project in these subreddits and get immediate feedback and build a following.

Here’s an example of someone we know who used Reddit to build an insane amount of traction while paying $0.

Getting a couple users from Reddit isn’t hard.

The best part is once you have a few users, you can leverage them for testimonials and proof of concept.

Nothing pulls in new customers like seeing the actual results you've delivered for others.

Which brings me to the next point.

Write about your benefits, not your product.

People care about what your product can do for them.

If people feel like your content is an ad, they’ll click away and you lose them forever.

Your top of funnel content should be informative, not promotional.

TikTok content shouldn’t be walking viewers through each step in your app, or trying to get them to make in-app purchases.

The only goal is to move your users to the next step, not have them buy your app immediately.

Pull your ideal target customer into your orbit, hook them on your solution to their pain point, and sales will follow naturally.

So now you’re probably wondering how you can figure out your ICP’s pain points?

Good question.

Use YouTube's search function with your target keywords to discover what content your audience is actively seeking.

If your app counts calories, then type in “calorie tracking” and see what content comes up.

Once you nail your messaging and understand what content resonates with your ICP, you’ll be ready to scale. Don’t hire a bunch of creators, influencers, and run paid ads until you’ve done this.

Posted App is a great marketplace for sourcing influencers.

Create a brief and describe the key benefits of your app and you’ll get bids from different creators and influencers who can market your app.

You don’t pay anything upfront so you can browse the offers you get without risking anything.

If you want you can pay creators on a cost per 1000 views basis.

The winning content is also IP you own so you’ll build an archive of high performing content.

When you know exactly what content is popular you can start running paid ads with a clear call to action on your video.

Look at what content is driving the most installs and double down on it.

Shotgun approach your content marketing until you hit a winner, then go hard with paid ads.

Remember, as long as your customer acquisition cost (CAC) is lower than your customer’s lifetime value (LTV) you’re going to make money.

When you break it down it’s actually not that hard to get your first 10,000 users.

Most people fail and don’t make money because they get stuck in development.

You want to use a software like Natively that removes friction and allows you to get out and market your app.