How to get first users for a startup?

During the validation phase of our startup, we faced challenges in acquiring users. I'm willing to share the channels that proved successful for us: - We surveyed some people to get them to the interview. We got several hundred people in the base. Conversion from email invitations to MVP was almost zero. - We posted on our social media, asked every friend and enemy to check it. Some tried, but the approach didn't move the needle, as my co-founders and I are not celebrities. - We sent cold messages on Instagram. It worked for finding people for interviews and checking the MVP. Out of 100 people, around 5-20% will react positively. The main factors are the audience, script, and your account. We wrote to people who have commented on relationship experts/influencers' posts or just subscribed. We made it feel not like marketing, but real and authentic. At the end, it is one person writing to another person, and you need to be nice and show that you want to deliver some value. Also, our accounts are different, and that's why we saw different conversion. Keep in mind that Instagram has spam filters—mine blocks me after 25 messages in a day. - We made some posts on Reddit. It helped. You can check in my profile some subreddits, where I post—we got some very valuable feedback from there, as well as first users. - We made some posts in relevant Facebook communities. I got the perception that these pages (around relationships) are spammy, and we haven't got any users from there. - Startup directories. We went through dozens. Some of them are good. But most don't really. Some are free, and most relevant are paid. We spent a lot of resources (though not money) to get into it, but engagement was low. - Articles. We wrote for Medium and Hacker Noon and got some users from there! Seems like it could be a reliable channel, especially if writing on-going. - We tried to launch on Show HN (Hacker News), but put too little effort into it and didn't get positive feedback from there. To clarify: first, we had a Facebook Messenger chatbot as an MVP. Traction was low. With our previous app version, with the help of the methods above, we got around 2000 installs for "free". Which channels we currently use? - Short videos in TikTok. We make really simple content that can attract audience organically. - App Store Optimisation. We’re constantly making improvements to get better positons for relevant search terms. Now it’s giving us the largest share of traffic. Which channels do we plan to use? - Demo video. Not the channel itself, but will be helpful in social media, pitching, and even some subreddits appreciate video content. - Influencers/bloggers/podcasts. Now we know some people in the industry and plan to know more. Showing our product and its value through real people should be a very good option. - Social communities. We've tried FB, but what about Discord? Twitch? We'll check it out. - Offline marketing. More expensive in terms of time and effort, but might work. - Paid ads. The easiest way, though the worst for a startup like us. - Product Hunt. One of the best channels to get quality users—soon come! I would appreciate any insights you can offer based on your knowledge. How did you your first users?