Do TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts actually bring users to your app?
by•
Everywhere you look, experts are saying:
“Founders are getting hundreds of thousands of users from TikTok/IG Reels/Shorts.”
Sounds amazing… but honestly, from what I’ve seen, that’s more the exception than the rule.
Yes, these platforms push reach. Yes, they can go viral. But converting that attention into real app users feels like a much harder game.
Curious about your experience:
Have short-form videos actually driven meaningful growth for your product?
Or is it more of a nice-to-have brand channel rather than a core growth engine?
👇 Share your wins (or frustrations)
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i think content is new king and if you have a right content and i know we are never sure what will work but virality works
minimalist phone: creating folders
Only paid ads from Meta drove us a lot of users, otherwise... no :D
@busmark_w_nika that is a good and important point too. If there's budget behind it, videos are more likely to generate new eyes on the product.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@felix_sattler Do you use Meta for video ads? Our reels are quite strong for grabbing attention and generating new people trying the trial.
@busmark_w_nika back then we used both combined. So we would post a reel and then boost it with some budgets to get engagement (it's important to define a good target audience for it), but also more eyes on the videos.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@felix_sattler So you basically boost already trending posts, right?
@busmark_w_nika same
But there are plenty of experts telling the opposite. Not sure if it's true or just gurus tactics.
https://x.com/iamgdsa/status/1981365471002972515
minimalist phone: creating folders
@byalexai To be honest, I am curious how it is with repeated content. One guy posted one video on TikTok several times and he got banned.
Considering experimenting so ads but didnt run anything yet. I did a small test in Meta but had a lot of issues with them verifying the business. It's a pain because you cant really talk to a human and has been very hard to set up correctly to run ads.
@norteapp yes
AI customer support is terrible when you need actual support.
@norteapp Don't get me started on Meta support.
@felix_sattler The pain!!!
@norteapp wait until they hand your case over to the "specialized team". That's the point where you will never hear from them again and all support will do if you reach out is telling you "I can see that our specialized team is working on it, but I don't see the status as it's handled by our specialized team". It's so weird that customer service is a make or break for so many small companies, but the big players can do something like this and are still to big to fail. #sorryfortheflame but this topic triggers me big time.
Absolutely agree with your observation. Short-form videos can definitely generate reach and awareness, but in my experience, they’re most effective as one touchpoint within a broader marketing ecosystem.
A video-only strategy rarely drives sustained user adoption on its own. Its real impact comes when combined with other channels, such as email campaigns, LinkedIn outreach, product demos, or content marketing, which help nurture leads and convert attention into meaningful growth.
So yes, short-form content is great for traffic and brand awareness, but the full funnel approach is what turns views into real users.
@felix_sattler did you use already video+email strategy.
@byalexai only in newsletter formats. Whenever a video is added to our newsletter at easybits, for example, we notice that people click on it more often than on regular articles, as it's easy-to-digest content.
For cold outreach, I think combining video with LinkedIn looks promising. There are several AI tools that let you create hyper-personalized videos (it’s kinda funny, as in the videos, you say “Hi watermelon,” and the tool automatically replaces “watermelon” with the lead’s actual name) and send them at scale, which – according to a workshop I attended – tend to convert better than traditional outreach strategies.
MultiDrive
@felix_sattler Totally agree :)
Yeah, especially when starting out with very little audience to start with. Building traction on social platforms is a "VERY" long game in my own experience, but not having some social signals is also not great... thats also the same with most marketing really, you have to plant your seeds and help them grow. I would stick to the platform that's the best fit for your product and build your audience there instead of chasing (not saying you are) every social media channel to get views/users.
Anyway, it's a tough world out there for any SaaS product, and I don't think there are any quick wins, just consistent messaging.
@robert_nelson8 Yeah, I agree with what you’re saying. And I absolutely support focusing on what works for you. The question here is more about whether it brings users, not so much about brand awareness.
IXORD
Social media has become very user-friendly for product PR. If a video becomes popular and includes an idea about promoting the product itself, it has a very positive impact on the product.
@ixord yes but what about acquiring real users from short-format video?
IXORD
@byalexai That is exactly what I mean. I had a colleague who mentioned that when he was working on another product, a blogger simply reviewed their product, and afterward, the product’s client base grew
Not something I'd really look too deeply into - unless you've got a killer creative team that can just pump it out - but on the sea everything that lives on tiktok I bet conversions are crazy low.
Shotgun it and see what sticks but Its not where I would focus - lots of effort / time / energy to build out those assets and whats the ROI on that.. that being said - evergreen high value stuff makes a lot of sense to have there and just leave static so when people look for ya - its all there and high value for the USP .
I've have experience myself but I've seen many founders claimed simillar things where they've experienced brutal ROI from Tiktok.
Totally agree. Virality ≠ users.
Short-form builds awareness fast, but unless there’s a strong funnel behind it, the traffic fades. It’s great for top of funnel, not always bottom line.
From my experience, short-form videos are fantastic for awareness and building a brand personality—but turning that into actual app installs is a different beast. TikTok, Reels, and Shorts can get millions of views, but the conversion to “real users” usually ends up being pretty low unless your content is tightly tied to a clear, frictionless call-to-action.
We’ve had occasional viral hits that spiked installs for a day or two, but sustainable growth usually comes from a mix of content, email onboarding, and product hooks.