Which is more important: making a great product or doing effective marketing?
Hello, Product Hunt! 👋
I vote for "marketing is more important!"
Recently, building has become really easy with the help of AI agents and tools like Cursor(thx Ai).
I think the time and money needed to create a good product have significantly decreased thanks to various SaaS programs.
However, I still don’t have any references to introduce to you (😹).
I feel like I’ve neglected marketing, which is more important than making the product. (Please tell me this is the real reason...) Especially for indie makers like me, marketing is the hardest part (I wish someone could do it for me! 😅).
Making a good product and promoting it are both important, and it’s a pointless debate.
Still, making vs. marketing? What do you all think?
And if there are any cost-free ways for indie marketers or beginner marketers to try out, could you let me know?
Replies
Marketing.
Distribution determines winners and losers.
The product is obvious vital... but if you don't have water flowing through your property everybody dies.
Graphify
@matt__mcdonagh Especially, because your product can be replaces. Not having good marketing, means not getting any customers.
@matt__mcdonagh any tips for doing marketing as a solo indie maker?
I’m currently building Lvlpedia. Still figuring things out, especially on the marketing side, so any help or advice would mean a lot! 🙌
Appreciate y’all in advance 🙏
@ian_tirta Hey Ian, I feel you—marketing can feel like a whole second startup! I'm prepping to launch PageX, a Chrome extension for SEO/content folks, and I'm leaning hard on community-driven channels like Product Hunt (shoutout to this awesome space 🫶).
It’s been a mix of figuring things out, sharing openly, and hoping to get better one post at a time. I’ll definitely need support when the launch goes live soon—would love to stay in touch and cheer each other on! 🙌
@ian_tirta Study (or hire) how to create a winnign landing page that converts. Creating that with strategy in mind helps you with all the other marketing efforts you'll do.
Graphify
I’d say it’s 70% marketing, 30% product, at least in the early days. Later on, the product has to improve because people won’t stick around otherwise. But at the beginning, most users are just happy the product exists and solves something for them, even if it’s not perfect yet. Without marketing, they’d never even find it in the first place.
@hussein_r I worked hard on this, but I can't reach the users.
I just want to hear real user feedback instead of fake numbers.
Graphify
@mattt_lim I get that, real feedback beats fake numbers every time. More happy users = better real numbers in the long run. What’s the app or tool you’ve built, and what’s it about? And which marketing channels have you tried so far? Maybe I can help a bit better if I know more about your context 🙂
@hussein_r The project that will be launched soon is still in the stage of developing a marketing strategy, so I haven't tried anything yet.
I really appreciate your offer to help. 🥰👍
Let me explain my project.
1. Main target:
- freelancers working alone, vibe coders, digital nomads, indie makers, etc.
2. Pain points:
- Irregular work patterns → the boundary between life and work becomes blurred.
- Loneliness → there are no colleagues.
3. MVP solution:
- Provides a work record dashboard.
- Allows finding work patterns through work records.
- Enables communication with colleagues around you.
4. MVP marketing:
- Brand message - stack your work, discover new balance.
- No marketing strategy.
Raycast
Yes.
Product Hunt
@chrismessina Agreed. I actually think making a great product and positioning it and marketing it well are very closely related. There's more overlap than most people think. Building a great product involves seeing it through the eyes of users. That's also what great marketing is.
@chrismessina Agreed here too. I think it's not about which outweighs the other. The point should be how to make product great AND spread it effectively.
@chrismessina I completely agree.
Finding something important is a pointless argument. However, it seems like they are looking for the cause of failure in marketing due to a lack of understanding. That's a bad habit.
You can have the best product ever, if you don't brand it...
Nothing will happen :)
1st MVP + superb marketing. Building is easy now with AI - distribution is 10x harder. Even a simple product wins if people see it. For indie makers, marketing is everything. ;)
@viriava Yes, I completely think so too.
minimalist phone: creating folders
Distribution of a great product :)
@ben_griese hi!
Looks like the post is still not being displayed?! Of course, I didn't expect it to improve immediately. I was going to wait and see, but I still wanted to let you know. (For the last time...)
Product Hunt
@mattt_lim hi Mattt – all forum posts are subject to review. It may take a moment while our team works on other tasks.
I know there are n number of resources available currently to learn marketing. Still I am greedy (for say curious) enough to ask for 'The resources' (courses, blogs, tools etc.), which you have tried in your journey as 'Indie marketers'?
I agree with you @mattt_lim , I've seen great products die without a Marketing. I've seen stupid products doing great with right Marketing.
those two can't live without each other. I was stuck in a cycle of doing too much and feeling like it was never enough. I tried planners, apps, late nights—nothing worked. What really helped was letting go of the idea that I had to do it all alone. Academized academized.com/write-my-dissertation stepped in, and with them helping out, I’ve found more time for self-care and rest.