I think we all know the usual traffic sources to help validate an idea during pre-launch.
-IndieHackers
-Twitter
-Reddit
-Tons of beta sites and builder sites
But sometimes you need to target a niche audience. For me, I wanted to talk to Data Scientists, because I am building Rook (https://getrook.app) - an app that helps data scientists clean data faster using AI.
But where do they hang out so I could learn from them and get feedback?
I took a wild guess and tried Facebook and search for Data Science groups, easily joined the groups and posted on 3 groups about my idea and within 4 days I had over 1,300k views (https://twitter.com/stephenweber/status/1354287868747763715) on a little demo video I had of the product. Got a bunch of messages, people wanting to help me build it, beta testers, and even a job offer.
Each post became the top topic in each Facebook group and each group had at least 60k members.
So if you are trying to reach a niche audience I think Facebook should be on your list to consider.
This is really good advice, joining Facebook groups, where your target audience hangs out helps you multi fold:
Totally agree with all your points. 💯
Top50slack too ;)
groan! ;-( FB, do I have to? I've managed 20 yrs without FB, please don't make me, there must be other ways ;-)
Haha! Definitely are other ways.
I think Meetup groups when they have virtual meetings is one I want to try.
Reddit is still great and I am sure there is a healthy amount of forums for most niche clients.