How did you build a community before your launch?

Question

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/upcoming/hoku
Website: hoku.travel

Bertha Kgokong · Accepted Answer

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 -----

Edgar · Answer

@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 · Answer

@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

Shariq A · Answer

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.

Lior Galante Cohen (Vaza) · Answer

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).

Shariq A · Answer

@edgar1 We are learning the same lesson :)
The market is overcrowded and getting the word out is almost impossible.

Igar Volan · Answer

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 · Answer

@lior_galante_cohen I definitely need to explore using influencers. How has that worked for you so far?

Edgar · Answer

@berthakgokong I liked your strategy, definitely have to look into implementing it for my product. Sometimes results need hard work and consistency

Edgar · Answer

@maxwellcdavis Thank you! I didnt think of these types of forums

Janinah · Answer

@lior_galante_cohen @edgar1 I'm also curious 🤔

Lior Galante Cohen (Vaza) · Answer

@edgar1 @rachel_levitz Can you please elaborate on this? :)

Maxwell Davis · Answer

For your specific product I'd personally concentrate on the travel forums as just ask for some beta users:

https://travelsites.com/travel-forums/

Edgar · Answer

@ihar_murashka Good luck to you as well. I will definitely be looking out for your product

Bertha Kgokong · Answer

@shariq_a community building takes time, and you can build a community for anything - so never give up on your idea

How did you build a community before your launch?

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