Hooked on $1K MRR, Tried Reddit and Google Ads, Still Stuck

Hey Indie Hackers,

I wanted to share a bit about what hasn't worked for us so far. We run a startup called Adsby—a tool that makes it super easy to create and optimize Google Search Ads with the help of AI. While we’re pretty good at paid marketing and have helped a lot of clients, ironically, we haven’t been able to crack the code for our own growth using paid ads.

Our Reddit Ads Experiment

We decided to give Reddit Ads a shot. They offer a $100 bonus if you spend $100, which sounds great—like cutting your cost per click in half, right? But unfortunately, it didn’t work for us. We targeted startups, small businesses, and agencies that seemed like they’d be a good fit for our product. Here’s what I learned:

• Key takeaway: Reddit is not the Instagram of SaaS.
• Reddit is more of a place to hang out and have conversations. People go there for bite-sized content, not to buy stuff.
• The cost per click (CPC) is pretty high, but we assumed the audience would be more likely to convert. Our average CPC was between $1 and $1.50.

Google Ads: A Better Fit, But Still a Challenge

We’ve also been running Google Ads. It's a bit cheaper than Reddit, and you can target keywords that align with user intent. But despite all this, we’re still working to get the funnel we want. Our budget is probably much lower than what our competitors (both direct and indirect) are spending, so that might be holding us back. Here’s what I’ve found so far:

• More reliable than Reddit—Google Ads feel like a safer bet.
• Good for long-term campaigns. You’ll want to stick with it over time.
• Google claims it helps SEO—I’m not convinced, though.
• Cheaper, so you can run tests and then scale up your budget.
• Competition is fierce. You need to be smart (maybe Adsby can help with that 😉).
• Lead quality varies if your budget is small.

What’s Next: Trying LinkedIn Sales Navigator

We’re going to dive into LinkedIn Sales Navigator next for lead generation. The goal is to build a cohesive funnel across all these channels. So far, we haven’t nailed it, but we’re learning as we go.

If anyone has suggestions or wants to collaborate, I’m all ears! Let’s share ideas.