What's New: Reddit for user acquisition

(from the latest issue of the Indie Hackers newsletter)

Is Reddit a good channel for user acquisition?

• Reddit can work well for growth, but can it actually help you acquire paying users? The short answer: Yes. This guide can help you get started.
• The play-to-earn model is extending to many other spaces. Below, explore 2 uses yet to reach the mainstream. This may be your next big play!
• Founder Abdulify rebuilt his startup from scratch after receiving constructive feedback from his early users. Here's what led him to scrap everything and start over, and what he did differently the second time.

Want to share something with over 100,000 indie hackers? Submit a section for us to include in a future newsletter. —Channing

💻 Using Reddit for Customer Acquisition

by James Fleischmann

Is Reddit a good channel for customer acquisition? Some founders swear by it. Others say that it's a toxic cesspool where self-promoters get torn apart.

Personally, I've found Reddit to be very helpful. I'd say that roughly 75% of my newsletter subscribers came from there, so I know that it works well for subscriber growth. But can it actually help you acquire paying users?

Here's what I've found!

The good

Reddit is a fascinating place. You can learn, have some fun, and reach niche markets directly. There is a subreddit for just about everything!

Reddit also has killer domain authority, so posts often wind up at the top of the SERP. That's a big opportunity acquisition-wise if it's your post, or if you've got a top comment.

And, it goes beyond customer acquisition. People also use Reddit for:

• Market research.
• Validation.
• Beta testing.
• Content ideation (watch what people are talking and asking about).
• Customer insights and feedback.
• Marketing copy.
• Creating a subreddit for their own product.

The bad

Redditors are notoriously against self-promotion, and they see through marketing tactics with x-ray vision. But honestly, that doesn't have to be a bad thing. I've found Redditors to be largely supportive, as long as you aren't taking advantage of the community.

Reddit for successful customer acquisition

Here's how to get started:

1. Polish your account:

Most of us probably already have an account, which is a step in the right direction. As a general rule, Redditors are skeptical of posts by new users and those with low karma. So, start contributing. Post, comment, provide value, and generally get your karma up. Not only will this make you look more credible, it's a valuable way to get the lay of the land. There's a culture and a language to reddit. Know it and speak it.

That said, I think it's important to point out that it really depends on the subreddit. Some are more accepting than others. Don't freak out about it. Just be a human!

As for your profile, take the time to create a personalized avatar. Add a bio, and link your product(s) there.

2. Find relevant subreddits:

Finding relevant subreddits is fairly easy just by using reddit's search bar. But, there are also some really handy tools that make it even easier. I'll list more tools below, but initially, GummySearch can be really helpful.

Google can do the trick, too.

3. Contribute:

When it comes to contributing, do it meaningfully through both posts and comments.

Do:

• Niche down on your subreddit. Generally, the more niche, the better. Shooting for ~10K+ members is a good start.
• Hang out in your subreddit(s) for a while before posting. Comment and discuss.
• Read the rules of each subreddit first. Don't break them.
• Analyze the top posts in the subreddit to see what topics and content types get the most engagement.
• When possible, make posts and comments that are likely to lead to organic moments where you can mention your product.
• When posting, original content is generally best. Write it specifically for Redditors, or adapt what you've already written. And, of course, add a ton of value.
• Include an image or GIF where applicable.
• Reply to comments. It's fun, good for building relationships (and karma), and it'll help get more eyes on the post.
• Gradually lean into self-promotion. Don't include it in your posts at all. Include it in comments. If people still seem okay with it, test it in your posts. If you're not getting any engagement, open an incognito tab to see if you were shadow-banned.
• Link your product only if the subreddit allows it.
• Talk to the mods! I've been rejected before, had a conversation to find out what I did wrong, fixed it, and posted successfully. They're people, too.
• Monitor reddit for questions that you can answer. You can do this manually, or use a tool that notifies you when certain keywords are used (see the list of tools below).
• Monitor reddit for people looking for product recommendations. This is more common in some subreddits than others, so look for those.
• Don't just post in niche subreddits, also post in subreddits designed for founders to share their products. This is a great way to get early adopters and beta testers. I'll list some below.

Don't:

• When it comes to titles, stay away from clickbait. Write the way you speak naturally.
• Don't promote your product immediately. Start contributing until you get a feel for the subreddit, then give it a shot once there's an organic moment to promote.
• Don't promote your product too much. You need to contribute in other ways, even in unrelated subreddits.
• Don't post in multiple subreddits simultaneously. People will notice, and it's spammy. You can crosspost to other subreddits later, if it does well.
• Don't link your product. This depends on the subreddit, to be honest. But, it's safest to say "Link in bio" to avoid being shadow-banned.
• When promoting your product, don't pretend it isn't yours. People get ripped apart for this all the time, and it isn't pretty.
• Don't be formal or sales-y.

What it boils down to is this: Don't use reddit to get customers. Just be a member of the platform. Have fun. Contribute. Learn. And, when it makes sense, promote. If you're really just trying to be a part of the community, people will respond positively.

Subreddits to know

• r/entrepreneur.
• r/startups.
• r/smallbusiness.
• r/entrepreneurridealong.
• r/sideproject.
• r/indiebiz.
• r/imadethis.
• r/design_critiques.
• r/growmybusiness.
• r/shamelessplug.
• r/alphaandbetausers.
• r/coupons.
• r/apphookup.
• r/ladybusiness.
• r/roastmystartup.

Ads

I think it's worth quickly mentioning reddit ads. I've never used them personally, but after looking into them, I've decided to give them a whirl.

There are two types of ads that you can buy: Premium Takeovers and Promoted Posts. To use the former, you have to commit to spending $10K per quarter, so let's skip that one for now.

Promoted posts are just like normal posts, but they'll stay at the top of your target subreddit(s). Prices vary, but they're relatively cheap.

You can find out more at r/redditads!

Tools

Here are a few top tools:

• The Indie Hackers product page: Search "reddit" to find a ton of helpful products.
• Gummysearch: Super handy for finding communities that you've never heard of.
• Olwi: Helps with market research on reddit.
• F5bot: Emails you when your keywords are mentioned on reddit, Hacker News, etc.
• SubredditStats: Tells you how many times a certain keyword has been written in a subreddit.

Have you acquired users through reddit? Share your experience below!

Discuss this story.

📰 In the News

from the Growth Trends newsletter by Darko

💰 Small businesses say that TikTok ads drive profits within six months.

📲 Here's who's currently downloading Facebook.

🙅‍♀️ Why you shouldn't cut ad spending in January if you're B2B.

📝 11 interesting insights from Grammarly's SEO strategy.

🎲 The board game space is booming.

Check out Growth Trends for more curated news items focused on user acquisition and new product ideas.

🎮 Cashing in on Play-to-Earn

from The Hustle newsletter by Julia Janks

The Signal: Play-to-earn (P2E) gaming took the world by storm in 2021, particularly in countries like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Venezuela, where gamers made $1.5K MRR on average, more than their full-time salaries.

*Source: Bitcoinist

The concept is simple: Players collect cryptocurrencies and NFTs in the form of weapons, cars, and skins, while playing a blockchain-based game. These digital assets can then be traded on secondary marketplaces, or exchanged for cash.

Before suffering a $620M hack in March, one of the most popular P2E games, Axie Infinity, attracted millions of players every month. More than $3B+ of in-game assets have been traded on the game's marketplace.

*Source: Active Player

Much like the way the SaaS model expanded to anything-as-a-service (XaaS), the P2E concept is extending to other applications, including:

• Create-to-earn: Musicians and artists make money from the initial sale and resale of their works (in the form of NFTs).
• Move-to-earn: Users are rewarded for physical activity (i.e., Sweatcoin for walking, Menzy for yoga and running, etc.).
• Wear-to-earn: Brands and designers pay customers who wear their virtual goods in the metaverse.

Here are two more applications yet to reach the mainstream:

1. Curate-to-earn:

KurateDAO is a curate-to-earn (C2E) platform that recently raised $6.85M and attracted 15K+ Discord members. Here's how it works:

• A Curator (i.e., skincare influencer) compiles a list of her favorite skincare products, and creates a "store" on KurateDAO.
• Each product in the store has an affiliate link.
• She advertises the store to her followers, who buy the products.
• If a follower suggests a new product be added to the list, and the Curator agrees, that follower becomes a Contributor, and earns a pro-rata share of the affiliate income.

*Source: YouTube

KurateDAO is currently focused on consumer products, but there are plenty of other verticals that would benefit from collective judgment and curation from domain experts, including:

• Travel and tourism: Locals could curate lists of the best places for tourists to visit.
• Insurance claims: Subject matter experts could get paid to review insurance claims as either valid or fraudulent.

*A store on KurateDAO. Source: YouTube

2. Validate-to-earn:

WeatherXM, self-described as "the people's weather network," raised $5M in June.

The company sells personal weather stations for $420, and claims to have pre-sold 4K devices. Station owners earn rewards for collecting and validating data.

The idea is to leverage a decentralized IoT model to increase accuracy of forecasts in areas that lack weather infrastructure.

Other potential V2E niches include:

• Vehicle traffic data.
• Foot traffic data.
• Crime and safety data.
• Rural internet connectivity (a la Helium).
• Consumer water monitoring.

Would you enter the play-to-earn space? Let's chat below!

Subscribe to The Hustle newsletter for more.

🧠 Harry's Growth Tip

from the Marketing Examples newsletter by Harry Dry

Don't sell deodorant. Sell first date confidence.

Go here for more short, sweet, practical marketing tips.

Subscribe to Marketing Examples for more.

🛠 Abdulify Rebuilt His Startup From Scratch

by Abdulify

Hi, indie hackers! I'm Abdulify, founder of CronDev, a serverless platform for running and monitoring your cronjobs and automated scripts.

I'm here to share the story of why I rebuilt my startup from scratch. Read on for more!

The backstory

Two months ago, I launched the first MVP of CronDev (previously monadflow). I wasn't expecting much, but the feedback that I received was incredible. A couple of days into the launch, I got featured on BetaList, which brought in around ~25 users.

The pivot

Here's why I decided to pivot after a lot of feedback:

• The landing page sucked.
• The messaging wasn't clear.
• No product screenshot.
• No pricing page: This was the most common piece of feedback.
• I listed a ton of unavailable features.
• The loading speed was too slow.
• The product felt empty and unfinished.
• I had too many "Coming Soon" features in the product.
• I had separate pages for each feature, which made it difficult to navigate.
• It often took seconds to load.
• Too much white space.
• No clear sign of how things worked.

What's different now?

• The landing page: I made the language and description simple and straight to the point, removing most of the buzzwords. The landing page is a separate project now, which helps with the page loading speed.
• Added a pricing page.
• The product: I kept every core feature at a maximum of two clicks away, and removed all unfinished features.
• I added onboarding to keep users engaged and educate them. You can't use the product if you don't go through the onboarding flow.
• I kept the design and visuals consistent.
• Domain name change: I still don't know whether changing the domain name was a good idea. People kept asking me why I initially named it monadflow. My initial idea doesn't apply anymore, so I changed the name. I hope that changing the name to CronDev at least gives people an idea of what the product is about.

The build

Here's what I used to build:

• The landing page is Nextjs.
• The app is Reactjs.
• The backend is Expressjs and Prisma.
• I have other services on AWS and GCP.

My ultimate goal for CronDev is to build a serverless platform for running any code periodically. I have a prototype built where you can upload and schedule your JS or Python code directly in the platform.

You will be able to invoke your job through a webhook or on a schedule. As time goes on, I will be adding integrations, including Zapier.

The third core feature is to add job monitoring capabilities. You will get notified if your background job stops working, or if it doesn't run on time.

It would be difficult to price per request because that's not the only thing you will be able to do. I intend to keep the free version forever to make it more accessible!

Wrapping up

I kind of knew that I wanted to rebuild before I even finished building. I quickly realized that my idea was too big, and that it was going to take awhile to finish. None of the core features in the MVP were completely done.

Two weeks after launch, I became convinced that it was better to have only one core feature instead of several incomplete ones.

I completely underestimated the work and effort that it takes to make a product remotely good. I try to seek feedback and iterate as much as I can!

Discuss this story.

🐦 The Tweetmaster's Pick

by Tweetmaster Flex

I post the tweets indie hackers share the most. Here's today's pick:

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Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to James Fleischmann, Darko, Julia Janks, Harry Dry, and Abdulify for contributing posts. —Channing