Built a product? No idea how to promote it
Hey, hi everyone - great to find this awesome community!
Long story short is: I build a cloud-first screen recording manager that allows anyone to capture important calls and manage them directly in the cloud at ease.
Product Name: ScreenTape
Product Page: https://screentape.io
Target Environments: Mac, Windows, Linux
Now I'm at a crossroad, I built it but how do I get people to benefit from it?
The question "If I was able to create value?" is on my mind as this is the only thing that would bring joy: having people actually benefiting from it and recognizing the value in it.
My question to you is: how do I get it in front of users? how to promote and bring attention to it?
Trending on Indie Hackers
There are 2 core ways you can go about this @danmo.
Organic Reach - This is much more manual, but if you don't have the budget for paid marketing, then you don't have much choice. You are already posting here on IH, which is a great start. Begin documenting your journey of building ScreenTape. You'd be amazed how much interest people with find in "The Building of..." content.
Then you should start creating content (Articles, Videos, Images) around Screentape's value proposition and unique selling point. Create content that appeals to the benefits of capturing meetings and saving them on the cloud. The upside may not be immediately apparent to people, so create content that spells out the benefits of using your product.
Distribute this content on your own site, as well as places like Indie Hackers, Twitter, Hacker News, Reddit, or wherever you think a large cohort of your ideal customers are hanging out. You can check out a content distribution model here.
Paid Advertising - If you have the budget, start running some paid campaigns with Facebook or Google Ads. Again, this is a whole undertaking in and of itself and will require you to build up pixel data about your ideal customer profile over 30-90 days and then create lookalike audiences to target for a more targeted and improved return on ad spend. Set up your outcomes in advance and ensure you have a dedicated way to capture a call to action on your end (email input / SaaS subscription purchase etc... )
The main overarching lesson for both of these is to just over index on value creation with content related to your niche. Help others and provide value and then you will eventually extract value back to your business. Organic reach will be much slower, but compounds over time. Paid Advertising is much quicker and will allow you capture great insights and ROI if you have the budget.
This is some great piece of advice @gordon
Thanks @Deepak09. Appreciate it!
hi @gordon and thank you for your feedback, it's priceless. I really like the journey document advice.
Checked your landing page and I'm very much interested in your app. You have a good landing page, but it doesn't convey the exact usage of your product. Can you confirm that I can record zoom calls, skype calls, Google meet, etc? If so you've built a great product and I can personally help you promote it. Please do confirm the same.
@rajanmr re-did the entire page messaging. What do you think of this https://screentape.webflow.io/ ?
I've followed the Product description + Value description strategy.
Looks much better now and conveys the important messages upfront.
hi @rajanmr thank you for the feedback and affirmative - ScreenTape recording anything: Zoom, Meet, browser tabs, full screen etc.
If your product can record the video/audio of Google Meet and Zoom, then that should be your Headline in the landing page. Something like "Record your Zoom/Google Meet/Skype meetings and watch them anything you want".
One important thing you should address is security. One of the frequent complaints of zoom calls is that it is not safe and the calls are leaked to the public. You need to give enough focus to communicate how you are securing the recordings. You have a great landing page design, but the content needs a total revamp and the sales pitch should be different.
With respect to marketing, first, identify your target audience. I read someone mentioning that it is useful for students in this thread. Look at that aspect and see whether students are the best fit if so you can partner with education platforms and cross-promote your product.
I know a lot of tech people who complain that they can't record zoom meetings if they are not the host. I feel that is a bigger market, I think your app can record meetings for non-host participants also. Promote it accordingly. Basically instead of thinking about marketing channels, first decide what are the best use cases and arrive at the target audience.
Yes, I would like to get that explicitely pointed out as well. Great looking landing page! I use OBS myself for everything, but I think this would be a better fit for most people.
Might want to think more about the product messaging first before extra promotion.
Immediate questions that came to mind:
Will this record my Zoom, Webex, etc, calls, even though I am not the host? What about Facetime, Skype etc?
Does everybody on the call need this software for it to work?
Or is this an alternative to Zoom, Facetime etc?
Just not entirely clear, at least to me.
If it is a Zoom alternative, then 'free Zoom alternative' ought to be at the top of the page somewhere.
Hi @colcol and thank you for your feedback. ScreenTape can record any app: zoom, skype, meet, browser, entire screen etc.
It allows you to use your common chat and voice apps while recording them.
ok great. I would definitely put something like 'works with any app: zoom, skype, browser' etc towards the top of your page. can't do any harm to say that. just that the problem your customers have is more like 'how can i record my zoom calls' rather than 'how can i improve my meeting experiences'.
"Record and store your video calls for free. Works with all apps including Zoom, Skype and Meet."
Apps like Zoom & Google Meet have internal recording option. I see potential for this app as "Anonymous Recording" option. Sales, Researchers, Marketing people connect with clients, customers, prospects over digital channel and want to analyze. However, respondents become self conscious when they see red tick of "Recording".
Second idea), I love the option of non-host to record any session. Like attending any virtual conference or lectures and they are not providing any recording after sessions. Limited but huge use case in covid. You can directly promote to attendees using branded hashtags of conference.
I see potential for this app as "Anonymous Recording" option.
I love the option of non-host to record any session
You can directly promote to attendees using branded hashtags of conference
Brilliant! This is surely the angle the website has to take.
"Anonymously record your video calls. Works with all apps including Zoom, Skype and Meet. Storage included. All free"
Definitely, I would not go for completely free model. Otherwise, how will maker pay for server charges and so on...
Initially, I guess start with picking one of usecase/audience of anonymous recording targeted to sales/marketing/customer support or virtual conferance or something he thought of.
Market to one usecase/audience only. I would suggest one-on-one interview before making any decision.
Different growth strategies work for different stages. I'd recommend the following:
I'm in stage 2 (https://wildkard.io). Happy to share more details.
hi @rainbowdash, this is such a great approach to breaking down growth into milestones. I will definitely try it.
Thank you for clearing strategies up.
Hi @danmo,
First of all your product seems awesome but what it does is not clear at all.
Words like "homeworkers" are not common. How can they "improve their meeting experience"?
Having said that how are your landing page metrics? First of all you need to know your numbers.
If you want I can help with the copy.
Keep grinding you'll get there.
Hi @ricardoPT can you please advise is this reflects better the product mission https://screentape.webflow.io/?
Hi @danmo
Sure it's better however still, a lot of clutter. Are you sure it's the product mission that you want to share or acquiring new customers? And both could be the goal, you have to define your path.
The LP has to make the reader/user want to register and try your application and product. Sharing a couple of tips:
@RicardoPT this is so true. "Why would I care?" is the best way of seeing things from a page visitor's perspective.
Can you please detail " Are you sure it's the product mission that you want to share or acquiring new customers?" ?
Want to connect on skype? my id is mihai.ochiana
Why would the customer care with your product mission?
They normally won't. (there are exceptions if you are a foundation or something like that)
The customer wants to know how does your product help them
@RicardoPT that's not the mission but the value proposal :)
I will not argue about what is a mission and what's a value proposal, it's pointless.
I'm not a business consultant that writes dozens of pages with words that nobody will read (though there are important for founders to get their heads right).
You should care about what makes me as a customer buys from you, not to share your mission (considering the exceptions I shared earlier ofc).
Exactly - Screentape cares about you not forgetting important things agreed/talked about during a meeting. This is a big pain point I personally experienced.
I wouldn't go that way. It's not about what screentape cares about its about what screentape can do for me.
I love the art and the colors of your website, top job!
Sure, you have lots of valuable tips and tricks around here, so I will only give you one tip, a strong one at that, find your product one liner.
The formula (stolen from Donald Miller) is something like this:
I tried to figure out an example for you:
"Most people forget what they discussed in meetings, so we provide a simple way to record your meetings, ensuring you never miss crucial information again."
Put this message as the first thing people see, use this wherever you discuss about the project, even with people in a coffee shop or something, let this one liner be your product's ethos.
Feel free to play around with this, but be sure you address a real world problem, I can see the benefit from your first message, but I don't really see why should I care, put that in front of people, they will instantly relate.
As for promotion, be everywhere, twitter, here, reddit, LinkedIn, Quora.
For organic reach, Linkedin and Quora are extremely powerful.
Start a blog that shows use-cases for your product, share them around the interwebz.
I hope this helps!
hi @LexPaval, your advice is awesome. What do you think of this https://screentape.webflow.io/ ?
I've followed the Product description + Value description strategy.
It works fine if you like it like that, I would remove the product description altogether and just double down on value, I feel it's more impactful like that, you have a good description down the page.
I like that you have a call to action in each section, that's good.
There are multiple strategies you can use when tackling this, I usually love when products show me the "Why should I care?" answer with big bold all around the first page.
Sure, you can also go the more "professional" way, the Product description + Value description. Seems more "standard" to me, but the artwork of the page makes me think about something more personal, more fun, and closer to the customer. You can imagine positioning yourself near your customer, not in front of him, you understand his pain and you are there to help, you are not selling a product.
TL;DR: I would go for a more personal approach but your implementation is fine if you want to keep more "neutral" and "business".
Hi @lexPaval, I agree - the product description bit makes it look too corporate-ish. Will take it down.
Based on the feedback given so far it seems the majority didn't really understand what the product is about this I was trying to cover this corner.
How about now https://screentape.webflow.io/ ?
Want to connect on skype? my id is mihai.ochiana
Hey man, I can help!
Ping me (email in my profile)
@danmo Product looks cool:) I'd start with writing a better copy for your landing page, I can't exactly understand who your target customer is and who would benefit most from using your product. You could also try adding a table comparing yourself & other competitors like loom for example.
One thing thats for sure is that your initial users will probably be techies or at least people that play well with technology. So launching on places like PH, HN, and BetaList etc could provide you with some excellent traction to start it off. I'd also try and #buildinpublic on twitter and other channels, try marketing organically as much as possible.
p.s. Try joining y-combinators startup school program. It's free & offers priceless lessons about everything startup related, also involving marketing.
hi @avg, can you please advice if this content explains the product better https://screentape.webflow.io/?
You need to get people thru the funnel.
Funnels get a bad rap from 'sales gurus' etc.
That is it. Of course that is too simplistic. We need to break each step down.
But the biggest thing we need to know is, what have you tried?
This is such a valuable thread. I am battling with the same. Thanks for posting this.
cool landing page but you need a demo video. And I would then use that or a short version of it for ads.
I'm not sure why I would use your service, and how. For example, we have all the meetings via Zoom or MS Teams. Both have the feature of recording. After recording a video I can send it to the team's storage what is our current project service.
Lots of useful comments but there's one thing I'm not seeing so I'd like to add it.
Marketing is at the top of the hierarchy, not the bottom.
The time to start marketing is not after the product is created but before you even begin. The problem is that most people teach that marketing is distribution while in reality it's as much about deciding what the product should and shouldn't be as well as for whom. That's why in my company we define Dutch School Marketing as behavior change for business purposes (mainly sales).
It's unfortunate that we still teach marketing in such a shit way. The problem with doing it the mainstream way is that you run the risk creating something that doesn't have a strong promise of what problem it solves, therefore it may not deliver on that promise, and to top it all off it might not be clear who it's build for and who it's not build for.
These are things that should be figured out before/during the creation of the product. You can tweak batter before you bake it into cookies. Once they come out of the oven, pretty much the only thing you can do is start from scratch if it doesn't taste good.
So for now, you should follow the advice of those wonderful comments below. But in the future, before you start creating, come up with a few guesses about
Rooting for you buddy.
RJY
I don't have a clear answer to your questions, but if you don't mind, I'd like to share a bit of feedback about your product:
Does the tool record only video, or also audio? If yes, the first user group that comes to mind are students! My girlfriend is studying and for various reasons her teachers refuse to record the zoom lectures, so she's currently recording the audio with the voice memo app of her phone. Your tool would make that 10x more convenient!
One more thing: I personally really dislike desktop apps that only offer Google social logins. It means I have to login to my Google account again, which means I have to dig up my password from my password manager, then look for my phone, start the OTP app, authenticate again, copy over the OTP code to finally log in. Usually I'm too lazy to go through all those steps just to see if I can get value from an app...
That's a great idea and perfect timing for release!
Make sure you address privacy properly. For enterprise customers you need to be able to convince their IT that this is safe enough to use.
Also, I think you'll need to add pricing on there. I suppose it's not really free-free if you are providing cloud storage.
i would put it on google chrome or display ads of users interested in Zoom, teams or what not. You can create these audiences in Google Adwords to see if you can get traction,
Beautiful site - do you have any users?
@danmo From what I have learned after building my product, ruttl, Social media marketing is the one stop solution to getting your product out to the customers. Refer to VeryGoodCopy in case you want to learn how to market your product further better using content.
Who are your competitors? What is the value of using your soft? I can help you with positioning, defining target customers, sales channels etc.
hi @Tiltforindie and thank you for the feedback, this is a very good question: I would say the main competitor is Loom.
Ok. But lets think a bit deeper. I see your message saying “don’t forget what happened on your meetings” - this is just basic words without any attachment to the specific customer. If you are doing demos for your clients? You are sales person? Discussing proposal.. Lawyer - checking agreement. Support team- showing customers how to setup a tool etc. Why is it important? You can target specific audience with right message, that resonates with them and this really helps you basically spend less on your CAC. So think about your ideal customer. Define your advantages over other solutions ( even Whatsapp is your competitor here) put them in front of your potential customer so they can see value and than start any promotion (paid or free channels) hope this helps.