How did you build a community before your launch?

Edgar
15 replies
I'm looking to launch a product in the next upcoming months but have been having issues getting traction. How did you create a community and which platforms worked better for you? Upcoming page: https://www.producthunt.com/upco... Website: hoku.travel

Replies

Igar Volan
Hi, @edgar1 We are also planning to launch our product next month. For me looks like you need to spend a lot of time here, Slack, LinkedIn. You need to be everywhere and share knowledge and positive feedback. And maybe someday you will find community around you and your product. A least we believe so. So good luck with your launch.
Edgar
@ihar_murashka Good luck to you as well. I will definitely be looking out for your product
Shariq A
We are still trying to find the right marketing channel :) We are on ProductHunt, LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit. We have tried Google Ads and running some Ads on Youtube as well. We are writing articles on Medium as well.
Edgar
@shariq_a Thats great! I'm doing all of those besides reddit. Also recently started writing articles on Medium. Its definitely hard getting those first few users interested if you dont have a product yet.
Shariq A
@edgar1 We are learning the same lesson :) The market is overcrowded and getting the word out is almost impossible.
Lior Galante Cohen (Vaza)
We haven't launched yet, but this is what we're currently doing: *Reaching out to our existing user base. *Posting in different FB, LI, and Slack communities/groups. *Creating relevant content and engagement on LI and Twitter using both our personal accounts and the company accounts. *Reaching out to influencers and relevant newsletters. *Connecting with other like-minded makers on PH. *We're also planning to write a few articles (on platforms such as Medium).
Edgar
@lior_galante_cohen I definitely need to explore using influencers. How has that worked for you so far?
Bertha Kgokong
The right answer is Everything, all the platforms. If there is a platform, use it. What we are doing: -Twitter posts and reaching out on DMs -Product Hunt -Indie Hackers (just getting started) -I have been on medium for a while - it takes a year on Medium to get solid traction and a following -Youtube - also takes about a year of consistent posting to get a solid following -LinkedIn articles -Reddit -Quora What worked the best (this is for a previous product) was Youtube, Quora and Medium stack. Post a video on youtube, create a written version for Medium and answer questions on Quora related to that topic with links back to your youtube video. Its a long term project - after a year of consistency, you will rank for some keywords on youtube and start getting consistent traffic, by consistent I mean the same number of new users almost daily. Works like a charm -----
Shariq A
@berthakgokong Thank you for sharing this. I was prepared to keep trying for the next 6 - 12 months and then give up on the project if it doesn't get any traction. But now I guess, I must try this consistently for 12 - 18 months and then assess if the efforts are producing any results
Edgar
@berthakgokong I liked your strategy, definitely have to look into implementing it for my product. Sometimes results need hard work and consistency
Bertha Kgokong
@shariq_a community building takes time, and you can build a community for anything - so never give up on your idea
For your specific product I'd personally concentrate on the travel forums as just ask for some beta users: https://travelsites.com/travel-f...
Edgar
@maxwellcdavis Thank you! I didnt think of these types of forums