This article outlines a step-by-step sequence based on launch stages and explains the criteria for each step.
01 First Week: Define the scenario users care about most
Before starting promotion, write the product's core scenario in one sentence. The more specific the scenario, the easier it is to craft copy for each channel later.
'Helping indie developers with product cold starts' is too broad. 'Helping indie developers find their first 20 willing trial users within a week' is an actionable scenario.
02 First Month: First, create pages that can be found via search
Search traffic takes time to show results, but once rankings stabilize, the cost is nearly zero. The focus for the first month is:
- Write 2 to 3 articles that solve specific problems related to the core scenario
- Ensure the site has a sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
- Include a relevant product entry point in each article
These pages may take weeks to months to get indexed, so the sooner they go live, the better.
03 Second Month: Engage directly where target users gather
Community posts and comments are the fastest free channels for results, but follow two rules: provide useful content first, then mention the product; respect each community's rules and avoid bulk posting.
To judge if a community is worth investing in, check three things: whether target users are present, if there are questions you can answer, and if moderators allow sharing.
04 After Revenue: Then consider paid advertising
Paid advertising only makes sense when revenue per user clearly exceeds acquisition cost. Before that, it just pushes an unproven product to more people and drains the budget.
The criteria are simple: first calculate how much revenue a paid user brings, then decide the maximum acceptable acquisition cost.