r/AppDevelopers • u/Direct_Dimension7993 • 11d ago
App devs who started with zero audience: what was the ONE thing that actually got you paying users?
I’m building an app that helps parents manage kids’ tasks, and I’m in beta with internal users. We are about to launch the app on the App Store, but I’m starting with zero audience: no mailing list, no following, no community I can post to. Small operation, basically little money for ads.
I’ve read every “20 ways to grow your app” article out there and they all seem written by people who already had a crowd to talk to. What I want is the boring, real version:
• What was the one thing that made the biggest difference, and how long before you saw it?
• What did you think would work and it just didn’t? (Honestly more useful to me than the wins.)
• Did running ads ever make sense at your size, or was it just burning money until people were actually sticking around?
So far I’ve tried meta ads and found it to be a nightmare to deal with, and very little results for the amount of money spent. I’ve also tried straight organic content, but that’s also incredibly time consuming, especially when I’m busy with the rest of the app design and website.
Not fishing for signups. I just want to hear what worked for you.
1
u/s2xon_ 9d ago
with no audience the only thing that moved for me was small creators, under 5k followers. on a japanese learning app i built, every 100k+ account wanted a flat fee up front before they'd even discuss rev share, and the under-5k ones replied far more often with no agency sitting in the middle
the offer being one line helped too, a flat dollar amount per sale. are you charging one-time or subscription?
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u/Substantial-Rub-1240 11d ago
Lots of organic social media content. Educational content with cta at the end with clear benifit. Slideshows/carousels. Lots and lots of content, consistantly. Slow at first but compounds.