How can you market a SaaS product and acquire customers without money or a social media following?

Question

I am a tech enthusiast and product creator with a passion for building innovative tools, apps, and Chrome extensions. While I excel at developing high-quality tech products, I often struggle with marketing and customer acquisition.

I have tried multiple strategies, including growing my presence on social media and promoting my products on platforms like ProductHunt,instagram,facebook , twitter but the results have been underwhelming. Despite my persistent efforts, I find it challenging to connect my products with the right audience. My primary focus is to discover practical, cost-effective marketing strategies to effectively promote my products and achieve success in reaching and retaining customers.

Mehvish Shafiq · Accepted Answer

If you don’t have money or a social media following, you’ll need to get creative. First, make sure your product is really good so people want to share it. You can ask happy users to refer others, maybe with a small reward.

Another good option is cold emailing—just reach out to potential customers, explain how your product can help them, and offer a free trial.

hritik choudhary · Answer

@koshevoysergey Thank you, Sergey! These are excellent suggestions. I’ll focus on engaging more in niche communities, creating problem-solving content, and exploring micro-influencer partnerships. Also, I’ll revisit my Product Hunt strategy with more pre-launch networking and consider AppSumo for early adopters. Appreciate the detailed advice!

hritik choudhary · Answer

@koshevoysergey I checked out your website and Chrome extension, Planyway, and I was really impressed. Could you please share some insights on how you managed to reach 100,000 users for your Chrome extension? Was this entirely through organic growth, or did you use paid advertising as well? If you used paid advertising, what strategies did you apply, and how effective were they? Also, how long did it take you to achieve this milestone of 100,000 users? Your guidance would be really helpful.

Sergey Koshevoy · Answer

Some ideas from me:
-Get active in online communities where your target audience hangs out, like Reddit, Discord, Slack groups, or niche forums. Offer value first—answer questions, solve problems, and share insights. Once you’ve built trust, subtly introduce your product as a solution.

-Write highly specific, problem-solving content related to your SaaS product's niche. Post it on Medium, LinkedIn, or your own blog, optimized for SEO. You don’t need a following—great content draws its own audience over time.

-Find influencers or bloggers in your product's domain and offer them free access in exchange for a review or mention. Focus on those with smaller, highly engaged audiences—they’re more likely to say yes and bring quality leads.

-You’ve tried Product Hunt, but did you actively engage with the community beforehand? Success often depends on pre-launch networking. Also, try launching a free or discounted plan on AppSumo to attract early adopters.

-Start with a small, engaged group of users and make them your champions. Overdeliver on customer service, ask for testimonials, and encourage them to refer friends. Word of mouth can be a powerful (and free) growth engine.

-A freemium model or a generous free trial can help you onboard users with little friction.

Janak Patel · Answer

Focus on content marketing, partnerships, and word-of-mouth. Offer free trials and use referral programs to drive growth.

hritik choudhary · Answer

@mehvish_shafiq Thanks, Mehvish! I agree—having a great product that people want to share is key. I’ll work on improving my referral system and give cold emailing a shot to connect with potential customers. Your tips are super practical!

Sergey Koshevoy · Answer

@hritik_choudhary Happy it was useful:) Appreciate your support too as we launch on Nov 25:)

Amelia · Answer

Marketing a SaaS product without money or a social media following can be challenging, but it’s possible with creative, cost-effective strategies. Start by leveraging communities where your target audience hangs out, like Reddit, Quora, or niche forums, and provide genuine value before promoting your product. Offer free trials or freemium versions to attract users and incentivize word-of-mouth referrals. Collaborate with micro-influencers or bloggers in your niche for reviews or shoutouts. Finally, focus on SEO and content marketing by creating blogs, tutorials, or case studies to help your audience solve problems using your product. Consistency is key—keep testing and iterating!

Sergey Koshevoy · Answer

@hritik_choudhary  The Chrome extension is our smallest channel now, the main traffic goes through trello.com/power-ups and Atlassian marketplace for Jira. Earlier the Chrome store brought us lots of leads but since last year they changed some mechanism and now it's our lowest priority as we don not understand how to impact on the traffic there anymore. So, we focus on Trello store, Atlassian store, referring traffic, and organic traffic from Google search.

We never used paid traffic for Trello app, tried once for Atlassian marketplace for Jira, but the economics didn't match. Honestly, the best traffic driver is when people start using your app, love it and then share if with others.

Answer

Engage with niche communities, offer free resources, collect feedback, and encourage referrals to attract customers.

Sonia Kandola · Answer

I’ve heard LinkedIn is a great way to get leads for a b2b product, and you don’t need to have a great following for it :-)

hritik choudhary · Answer

@koshevoysergey Thank you so much for sharing all this valuable information! It’s evident that you have a lot of experience and knowledge in this space, and I’ve learned a great deal from your insights. I also tried the suggestion you gave about the AppSumo marketplace for selling software, but they require GST registration to proceed. Since I’m currently a developer and don’t have GST registration, I couldn’t move forward with it. Nevertheless, I truly appreciate the time and effort you took to share your experiences—it has been incredibly helpful and inspiring.

hritik choudhary · Answer

@soniakandola I completely agree that LinkedIn is the best platform for B2B leads. I’ve tried running a B2B business myself, but unfortunately, it didn’t work out for me. I focused on strategies like cold calling, cold emails, and cold messaging, but I faced a lot of rejection. That’s why I shifted to B2C. By the way, I had initially asked you a question about B2C, but I appreciate your insights on B2B. Thanks for sharing!

How can you market a SaaS product and acquire customers without money or a social media following?

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