How do you find leads to beta test your product?

Question

We know launching good products is all about getting user feedback. But how do you get people to try your product/feature when you don't have user yet?

Rupal Saini · Accepted Answer

I do think that sharing information about your product within your LinkedIn network will help you find the right set of initial users who can try it and provide genuine feedback. Also, you can build a list of potential users using any prospecting tool and share information about testing your product.

Katya Firyan · Answer

Just beg relevant people )))) That was our experience with Textok.

PS: We're LIVE on PH today!

Rishab Gupta · Answer

It depends on your user base and what platform they mostly use. For example, hacker news/certain subreddits might be a good platform to find beta testers for a dev-ops platform.

Answer

Warm outreach to your prospects. I have a lot about reddit- however, it really depends on the audience itself. If the audience is active on the right subreddits, you should find topics that interest them and build a relationship with them first instead of straight up asking for people to be your beta test users.

Charlotte Hare · Answer

@toni_pm Hey Toni, You could potentially start with friends and family (I find they are always the biggest critiques - maybe thats just my social circle though haha). Branching out from that I think posting on Reddit asking for beta testers is good, theres also forums for students  on like 'the student room' where you can post asking for people to test it out. But ultimately I think it depends on your product where you should go to ask.

My product is corcel.io an all in one AI app, so we find X and reddit particular useful for asking for feedback

Rupal Saini · Answer

Sure! You can explore Truebase.io—(I'm helping build it :)) Another tool that's worth a look is Clay.com.

Gurkaran Singh · Answer

Finding leads to beta test your product is like searching for buried treasure - you can start by tapping into online communities, leveraging social media, or even reaching out to friends and family for a feedback treasure hunt! Happy hunting!

Rupal Saini · Answer

@toni_pm Yes, sure. Let me know if you need any help when you try it out :) Clay is one of the amazing options in this category. Truebase provides contact information of leads using a triple-check verification method, including debouncing, so users get only verified leads in their list. Plus, Truebase is easy to set up and is an affordable solution as well.

Toni · Answer

@rupal_saini I love clay. So versatile and powerful.
For data enrichment it s gold

Will take a look at true base

Toni · Answer

@rupal_saini great advice. 
For prospecting, any recommendation for tool ?

Toni · Answer

@charlotte_hare that s a great channel to get users, you re right . Smart idea,
I love the idea of an « customer advisory board » with privileged users that get access to betas and discuss features.

But when you don’t already have users, how would you find testers ?

Toni · Answer

@my3_murthy great thanks. 
Reddit seems to be great for outreach but like you say, it's a subtil balance of building relationships then asking for help. 
But i hear the results are great indeed

Toni · Answer

@rishabg1507 Agreed ! gotta go and focus efforts where your audience is. 
And for example on hacker/reddit, how would you approach this.

Post and ask for help ? 
or reach out to people ?

Rishab Gupta · Answer

@toni_pm It depends on how well you know your first users - get as niche/specific as possible.

For example, If I am building an app to analyze YouTube comments - I'd profile my first users like : 
1. Ambitious influencers who get 2,000+ comments on their videos
2. Influencers who want to grow fast and are actively engaging with their audience
3. Influencers who do live streams - maybe you can ask them to try your tool there?

Once you've profiled where they hangout/what platforms they're active on most - you have to get their eyes on your product (by re-commenting on subreddits/ talking about how you solve the problem they face, DMing, etc - since you're solving a niche problem for them, there's a good chance they'll try your product.

How do you find leads to beta test your product?

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