Nika

Founders: what is your favourite channel for growing your audience?

I’m pretty sure most founders grow mainly on Twitter. Or LinkedIn.

But I’ve realised it really depends on what kind of product you’ve built.

If you’re a fashion-focused founder, you probably grew up on Instagram or Pinterest.

If you’re a software developer, you’re likely on Twitter.

I even know a guy who runs a digital detox app, and he’s not trying to grow his personal brand at all.

Which social media platform are you growing as a founder, and in which industry is your product?

979 views

Add a comment

Replies

Best
Rishi Uttam

Im still learning that :

  • Your Audience doesn't really hang out on X.

  • If your targeting B2B Linkedin, but people don't really "Hang out there" they passively consume untill their friends post or they post, otherwise it pretty much remains closed.

  • Facebook Groups, are actually a thing

  • Email marketing & (AI) SEO is still king.

  • Meet people face to face at trade shows

Launching Today!

Nika

@rishiuttamhk Good points! I am gonna check your launch :)

Rishi Uttam

@busmark_w_nika thank you, we're Sinosend btw. Seeya!

Nika

@rishiuttamhk I upvoted :)

Vlad Balan

Reddit was great for quickly validating LeetTrivia. I went from 0 to 300 active users in one weekend. The first paying customer came after 5 days, also via Reddit.

Long term, I use Linkedin, but it's a much slower process. Currently exploring Twitter and PH.

Nika

@vladbalan How did you manage not to be banned or deleted on Reddit? :D Can you explain? :D

Vlad Balan

@busmark_w_nika Haha great question! :)

LeetTrivia is targeted at software engineers so I posted in the local programming subreddit. So I guess they were interested both as users and as programmers. It varies widely on the subreddit, but as long as you're transparent and what you're promoting is actually useful to that community, it shouldn't be so bad.

It also helped that I engaged with the commenters and addressed their concerns and feedback. Here's the translated thread, if it's useful as a case study 😬https://www.reddit.com/r/programare/comments/1oero7v/am_f%C4%83cut_un_joc_care_m%C4%83_ajut%C4%83_s%C4%83_m%C4%83_preg%C4%83tesc/?tl=en

Nika

@vladbalan Congrats on a successful post, it seems that many of the comments are positive. That's rare for Reddit :D

Vlad Balan

@busmark_w_nika Thanks Nika! I'm lowkey proud of that too :))

Daniel Zaitzow

@busmark_w_nika whats our stance on Reddit as a medium. I like FB / LinkedIn for our non dev demo

Nika

@dzaitzow Reddit is the place where people go for advice, so people trust people there. But dunno how often people click on your profile and links. I think it is better for discussing topics. As for me, I would prefer LinkedIn over Facebook (FB is too political and toxic for me).

Abdul Rehman

Totally agree. The best channel is always where your users actually hang out, not where other founders hang out.

Nika

@abod_rehman ATM, it is LinkedIn, but ProductHunt has a special place in my heart. 🫶

Igor Lysenko

My product is in the productivity space, and we used social media where tips or advice on work were helpful. This definitely includes LinkedIn and Facebook :)

Nika

@ixord Wow, how can you convert people from Facebook? :D I thought this social media already died :D

Igor Lysenko

@busmark_w_nika I thought the same, but a lot of users are actually on Facebook. In my own circle no one uses Facebook, so it seemed outdated to me. But that is a misconception. You can get very good traffic for a product from there

Nika

@ixord also, depends on the demographic audience. There are especially elderly people (I mean elederly from me) :D

Daniil Poletaev

I was using Twitter for a very long time, but now I am also trying to start growing LinkedIn as well. Also IndieHackers and Product Hunt is a nice platform to grow audience ;)

Nika

@danshipit are we connected on LinkedIn? :D I cannot recall :D

Daniil Poletaev

@busmark_w_nika Yes, I think we do! And on X as well

Nika

@danshipit Sorry, I have so many people around that I cannot remember lol :D

Lakshya Tiwari

I think a lot of it is based on how much value, the product that you are building adds to a particular audience.

We are building a NetWorth app, that helps users organize their finances, plan it ahead, for themselves and also easy transmission of NetWorth digitally, at ease.

We think LinkedIn is primarily the best platform to grow our audience, followed by fintech communities.

Nika

@tiwarilakshya12 Probably LinkedIn is the place to go (as you said) :)

Lakshya Tiwari

@busmark_w_nika Yes, I think its a good way to tap into the right audience.

Munmun Desai

yes, i agree it depends where your audience is. we are building in Fintech space in India and for us linkedin and strong community like reddit works best.

Nika

@munmun_desai1 and what about X?

Munmun Desai

@busmark_w_nika X works well i agree in our case to have a very intended user base helps

Nika

@munmun_desai1 I still cannot get how one can grow that social media :D

Munmun Desai

@busmark_w_nika i am also learning .. sometimes it works on the content.. sometimes its timing

Ivan APEDO

Last month I joined X and I really noticed a different vibe from Linkedin. Before that I was most active on Linkedin but now I'm trying to grow my audience on X.

Nika

@ivan_apedo Different in what? And which do you like more and why?

Ivan APEDO

@busmark_w_nika On X most people have a builder, entrepreneurial mindset. You felt be around peope who have the same goal as you.

Nika

@ivan_apedo Yep, at the moment, I feel LinkedIn like to be a beter fit for me :)

Alex Troitsky

Why no one says SEO? It's great long term.

Nika

@alextroitsky Do you mean your blog now? :)

Alex Troitsky

@busmark_w_nika blog, programmatic pages, referral links, optimisation of the app :)