What marketing channels actually work in 2025?
The marketing landscape feels completely different than it was even two years ago. Social media algorithms are harder to crack, paid ads are getting more expensive, and everyone's fighting for attention in the same spaces.
Some people swear by TikTok and short-form content. LinkedIn seems to work for B2B but feels oversaturated. Twitter is either dead or thriving depending on who you ask.
Then there are the newer approaches: building in public, community-driven growth, AI-generated content at scale. But it's hard to tell what's actually working vs what just gets talked about a lot.
For solo devs with limited budgets and time, it feels like you need to pick your battles carefully. You can't be everywhere at once, but choosing wrong means missing your entire audience.
What's actually moving the needle for you right now? Are you seeing better results from organic content, paid acquisition, partnerships, or something completely different?
Replies
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It depends where is your target audience.
Of course, the highest chance is that most people are on the biggest one (Meta – FB, IG), YouTube, and TikTok.
Recently I have read that people want to have overviews and receive experiences from real people, so they usually search for [Some Term] review Reddit – I am also there more often these days.
@busmark_w_nika Hm yes, im also trying to market on Reddit the community seems really strong there but it seems anything that sounds even slightly promotional gets taken down immediately and im not sure how to get around that.
If you have to pick one - LinkedIn...though it's quite saturated.
Building in Public and community driven is better for feedbacks actually. But yes, some boost exists.
I think PH used to have a Building in Public thread too...which i don't think is there now?
@manu_goel2 Been trying on LinkedIn, havent gotten any real traction yet im posting once a day. Any tips to get through the crowd?
I've been leaning into "build in public" lately and surprisingly, it's working better than anything else. People love transparency and root for progress. I post small wins and failures mostly on X (yeah, it's still alive).
@raul_richardson Nice, ill try to double down on the build in public then. It does seem this is the new wave of marketing everyones been seeing success with recently
I haven't done any paid promotion yet so I am wondering the same for when its time. I do strongly believe, however that fostering a loyal and trusting community is the best policy. For example, "building in public" is a great way to do that which is what I'm currently doing and so far its been great.
@jennifer_interactively so true. People want to see authenticity these days and building in public is defintiely the best way to do that now, so it makes sense why its one of the best ways to market.