Is it worth paying for any kind of ads?
I've recently realized that growing and acquiring new users will definitely be the most difficult part of building my startup, and that's after writing thousands of lines of code myself
Is it worth paying for ads to spread the word?
I was thinking about investing some in Apple Search Ads and/or Reddit Ads, not sure if anybody has any experience with either of those specifically
I've also heard that unless you're dumping a decent amount of cash into these types of things then it may not be worth it, so I'm not really sure how much to even consider spending
Would love to hear your thoughts, experiences, or suggestions on this!
Of course it’s worth paying for ads! Companies spend billions (trillions?) on them, which they wouldn’t do if they were a waste.
But it comes down to what industry you are in, if you are B2C or B2B and who your buyer persona is. For some companies ads don’t work, in other industries they do.
As a professional marketer I can give you my two cents if you briefly describe your service.
Good point! I know a lot of stuff is dependent so sometimes you have to experiment for yourself to figure out what works, but I'm completely now to the marketing side of things so I'm trying to get all the info I can 😬
I have an investment tracking app that lets users track stocks, crypto, and passive income all in one place
Looks to me like it's a B2C app, which further gives me reason to believe ads could work for you. I'd go around and ask your existing users why they use the app, which could give you ideas for ads. If you get five common answers, you have five different ad messages to try!
You could also try creating short videos and upload on Twitter to gain a following, since Twitter in my opinion is the place mostly where investors spend their time.
Lastly, I'd also try to figure a clever referral-program. Some companies have built their entire business around referral-programs (Gmail, Spotify for example).
That's my three quick'n'dirty inputs.
You're the man! I hadn't thought of using the existing users, definitely going to reach out to some of them
No probs. I hope your app explodes in popularity in a near future! 🙌🏻
Yes it is, but it's not necessary.
The reason most people choose not to pay for ads is because they don't have the funds right way. And that's fine. Content marketing is a good and proven approach, but requires more time.
I built a 7-figure business from just a blog (since sold). I'm starting my current SaaS, GapScout, in the same way.
However, once the product is ready, I do plan to pay for ad spots on podcasts. For my last company, I didn't entertain paid ads until after a couple years, but I know that they can work really well. I later implemented Google Ads for that business and made $10 for every $1 that was spent (see this post on IHers about it)
Apple gives you $100 for ads - this can used to determine if you want to spend money on ads afterwards.
I did a basic campaign - got 200+ downloads from that $100 AppLe gave me.
Yes, it's worth trying if you have some budget, and you can track the performance of the ads and see a positive ROI.
I'm having a hard time growing my startup (upbase.io), and here are something I'm about to experiment with:
Hope that's helpful for you.