I'm Building an Instagram Audience Before Building the App

How would you get people to join Discord community? i am interested to learn as well.

Building an audience first reduces one kind of risk, but it doesn't necessarily validate the product. A community can enjoy the content without ever wanting the workflow your app is meant to solve. Keeping those two signals separate will make the validation much stronger.

Yes this is learning for us

That is a cool idea!

Hey, i just joined your discord lmk we can talk

That's exactly what it is happening to me, I have the app ready, but I'm facing the reality of no having audience. I thought I would find people to test my app easily but that it is not the case. When I finally finished the building I was very exited but now is becoming a mental struggle. I really appreciate your post, made me realize I'm not the only one having that problem.

Thanks

I like the audience-first angle. One thing I'd separate early: people liking vocabulary posts vs people wanting help building the habit.

A simple test could be: every few posts, add a very specific CTA like "reply START if you want tomorrow's word sent with a 30-second quiz." If people respond to that, you're validating the workflow, not just the content. The app can then start as the smallest version of that loop.

Audience-first is smart, but I’d be careful not to treat follower growth as the whole validation signal. For a vocab app, I’d track one behavior that looks like future product use: people saving posts, replying with words they want tested on, or joining a 7-day word streak email/DM list. If those people come back for day 2 or 3, that’s a much stronger signal than likes.

That's definitely an interesting approach... I hope it works out great for you. :)

I can't say it's illogical. :)

Follower growth validates the topic, not the habit. Before writing the app, run a 7-day vocabulary challenge manually in Instagram or Discord and measure day-7 completion plus unsolicited requests for reminders, quizzes, or saved words. That gives you app-shaped demand, not just content engagement.

Hey Man with your audience as distribution, I can help you build something and we can create a pertnership and business. I can handle everything technology wise whilst you grow the brand and drive sales. What do you say

Curious what the Instagram content strategy actually looks like for a vocabulary app, are you posting word-of-the-day style content, etymology deep dives, vocabulary in context, something else? The content type matters a lot for whether the audience you build maps to people who'd pay for an app versus people who just like consuming free vocabulary content and have no intention of paying for anything.

Good move. Distribution is usually the harder part, not the code. Building trust first makes the product launch much easier.

Smart approach. Building an audience first gives you continuous feedback instead of guessing what people want. Looking forward to seeing how the experiment turns out.

Solid approach, rafsan_hacke!

Building the Instagram audience before the actual app is a smart reversal of the usual order. Too many founders pour months into building something only to realize nobody's waiting for it. You're validating demand and warming up potential users early — that's huge.

Curious: what's your content strategy on IG right now? Are you posting tips around word games, productivity, vocabulary building, or something else? And how are you planning to convert those followers into beta users or early customers once the app drops?

Rooting for you — this "audience-first" play is exactly how a lot of successful indie products get their initial traction. Keep us posted on the progress!

The same happened to me I didn't validate my product and it ate lot of my time and effort, hope wordlock becomes successful!!!

Great breakdown! I've been building an AI SEO tool and going through the same journey. The cold email game is tough — I sent 80 and got 0 replies so far. How long did it take you to see your first response?

Now any one can make an App or website but not everyone who make an App or website can bring visitors to it. Distribution is what matters who can bring visitors, either build your own audiance or rent it ( Influencers/partners/colloboraters )

Audience-first is the right instinct, and this approach is much more forgiving than the traditional build-first model.

One thing worth layering on top: the content you're posting on Instagram right now is also your positioning research. Which vocabulary posts get saved vs. liked vs. commented on will tell you which angle the app should lead with when it launches. Saves usually signal utility (people want to come back to it), comments signal friction or confusion, and shares signal aspiration or identity.

If certain word categories consistently outperform others, that's your ICP signal. You might end up building a very different app than you originally planned — and that would be a success, not a pivot.

Also: the name WordLock is strong. It implies mastery, retention, locking in knowledge. That's a clean value prop in the name alone before anyone reads a description.

I am founder of Timora ( booking app in Albania), and I started the platform before knowing what my clients really needed. Now I only have registered 30 businesses.

I think more founders should do this. Building an audience first gives you feedback before you spend months polishing features nobody asked for. One thing I'm curious about: what metrics will convince you it's time to start building the app? Followers, engagement, or something else?

How you will build the audience?

This is the inverse of what I did, and honestly, I think you've got the right instinct. I built a full product (a video/design tool) solo over several years before ever thinking seriously about audience or distribution — the build was the fun part, so I kept building. Only recently did I really confront the fact that having something well-made doesn't create any pull on its own; nobody's looking for it if they don't know it exists.

In hindsight, an audience-first approach like yours front-loads exactly the hard, uncomfortable part (does anyone actually care about this) before you sink months into execution. I suspect the version of me from a few years ago would've built a much more focused product if I'd had to prove there was interest in the concept before writing any code.

One thing I'd be curious about: how are you deciding whether "people find the content valuable" is a strong enough signal to greenlight building the app, versus just being interesting-to-follow content? That gap — people enjoying a topic vs. wanting a tool for it — seems like the one place this approach could still mislead you.

Audience-first is right, but remember Instagram followers are rented, not owned. From day one push people to a waitlist you control, because even a 5% email capture rate on an engaged account beats 10x the follower count when launch day comes. The waitlist size, not the follower count, is your real validation number.

This is the right order and most people figure it out the hard way, including me.

One thing worth tracking early: are people saving and sharing the posts or just liking them? Saves and shares signal "I want this for myself" which is closer to purchase intent than a like. That metric will tell you a lot before you write a single line of code.

Hey, I like this approach: building an audience first gives you real feedback before investing months into development. It also makes it easier to understand what people actually want instead of relying on assumptions & looking forward to seeing how the experiment turns out.

don't you think that is unreliable and you should focus on paid ads or talking organic you should focus on going and engaging and building audience in a place where your ICP prospects live.

The sequencing makes sense, distribution is a product too, and building it after the app is already late.

The harder question I'm sitting with for my own product: what if the audience you build around the content attracts slightly different people than the ones who actually need the app? Curious if you've thought about that gap.

Love that you’re building an audience first. I’m working on Finsight AI, an AI dashboard for SMBs, and I’m curious — how did you decide Instagram was the right channel?

I like this approach. One thing I’ve learned is that validation isn’t just asking people if they like an idea—it’s watching what they actually do. Over the past few weeks I’ve been talking with people in breakup and no-contact communities, collecting feedback, and adjusting the product based on recurring pain points before spending more time building features. It’s slower than I expected, but I have a lot more confidence that I’m solving a real problem instead of one I imagined.

Hii, i just joined your discor

How can I join your Discord? I really agree with and am interested in this idea, and I hope we can have an in-depth discussion!

Perhaps you could try thinking: the money is already circulating in the market, the budget is readily available, so could you find a way to redirect users' budgets to yours? This is a million times easier than convincing users out of thin air to buy a new concept they've never budgeted for before. If there are only complaints without any existing consumer behavior, it usually means: the pain is real, but their tolerance level hasn't reached the point where they need to spend money.

I like this approach. Building an audience first gives you real feedback and helps validate demand before investing months in development. One suggestion: ask your followers what features or learning challenges they care about most. Those conversations can shape a product people already want. Good luck with WordLock! 🚀

This is basically the opposite mistake I'm trying to avoid right now. I built the landing page and pricing for what I'm working on before validating anything, and I'm realizing that was probably backwards too should've been testing the actual pain point with real people first, same as you're doing with the Instagram account.

Curious how you're deciding what counts as "enough" traction before you start building is it a follower number, engagement rate, or actual DMs asking for the app?

It's actually good approach

Hi! I enjoyed your post about validating a vocabulary app through Instagram first. It's a refreshing approach compared to building an MVP immediately. I build AI-powered and full-stack products, so I'd love to follow your journey. If you ever want to brainstorm the technical side when it's time to build, I'd be happy to chat.

I really like the idea of building conversations before building features. You will probably learn much more from an active community than from another month spent developing in isolation.

The interesting challenge will be distinguishing between “I enjoy receiving a free word every day” and “I genuinely need a separate app for this.” Have you already thought about what behaviour or feedback would be a strong enough signal to start building?

OMG, I literally made the same mistake before. Its absolutely crucial to build in public before releasing your app

This sounds like a very interesting concept! Looking forward to seeing your progress. Good luck with the build!

interesting way

Love the idea of validating before building it.

May I ask, How people find your discord channel?

Very interesting. Been thinking of doing something similar.

This feels like a much smarter approach, especially for something habit-driven like vocabulary. How will you tell if people would actually pay, not just consume free content? Also wondering if you’d test some light monetization early to validate demand.

Love this approach! Building the audience first is an absolute superpower.

One minor tip as you grow the Discord: keep a close eye on how they interact with the daily words. The features they naturally ask for in the chat (like "is there a way to bookmark this?" or "can I get a quiz on this week's words?") will basically write your product roadmap for you.

Kudos for having the discipline to validate before coding!

that's a great strategy. build the audience first and keep building the app. when the app is ready , you already have users to test the app and give feedback.

I'm a virtual assistant and an SOP writer, just in case anyone is interested