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Is it worth spending money to advertise our app on social media, just a few weeks after launch?

Santiago
9 replies
About three weeks ago, we launched "It's On Meet". A social networking app that allows you to show your real interest by buying a drink for a person you'd like to connect with. And lets others buy you a glass of something in order to connect with you. (It's available for download on the app store): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/its-on-meet/id1571057140 We've been getting good feedback so far (so... we're still open for any comments from you guys). But we where thinking of using some of our budget on paid ads on social media to generate new users. Is it worth doing it that early in the process? Or what are your suggestions? Appreciate your help!

Replies

Nick Spreen
Bubble Video Commenting
Bubble Video Commenting
We tried it this week when we launched our Social Platform. We went through many platforms to experiment with different ad styles, all the major big social companies. Our learning was that the conversion rate is really bad in social. At least for the ads we ran. That means you either need to crack that rate or put a lot of money into it. In my personal opinion, I'd say the only way to crack the former is to have one clear message. A statement that sells a value gain to the user. Because everything else is just noise and will not convert into a new install. We have to reflect on the fact that our own experience with new apps and products as founders and product makers is super different from the average person. For them, an app install is a higher barrier. The average iOS user installs 0 apps a month. So I'd say, ads can work if: - You really know your audience and know they have a big interest in your product - Your ad can sell a very clear value add to everyone it's shown to - You're able to target a very specific group of people who don't have a large barrier towards new apps (i.e. PH) - You're big enough that people have heard of you and the sheer exposure boosts your brand awareness, this works for companies like Coca-Cola. Good luck!
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Santiago
It's On Meet
It's On Meet
@spreen Hey Nick. Thanks for your comment and thanks for sharing your experience with paid ads. "The average iOS user installs 0 apps a month". That stat blew my mind.
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Frederick Sieber
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Trent Wann
Bucket
Bucket
We launched some ads early on to test interest in our product (how many people actually clicked) and to see how those users engaged with the app. It helps to get some more data points early on but I think it gets dangerous if you're relying on paid ads for growth. I downloaded It's On Meet and one thing I would suggest (that we're still in the process of working on and learning at Bucket) is to make it SUPER easy for the user to invite their friends. I wish we implemented better inviting/product-led-growth features early on so all those users that joined at least had the option to spread the word! Hope this helps ⚡️
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Santiago
It's On Meet
It's On Meet
@trentwann Awesome! Thank you for your feedback. I downloaded "Bucket" and playing with it. Really nice. Congrats!
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David Gregorian
I think it makes sense to run some ads in specific cities to create a "community" effect in that area. (Definitely not globally or nationwide in your case) Just make sure to start with a small amount and then adjust it dynamically. Create as many different ads as possible and test them against each other. We are also running ads for our startup all the time and found out, that it is very difficult to predict what kind of ads are going to work well. Therefore we just go with many different variations :) I hope this helps you a little bit. Good luck! 🍀
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Santiago
It's On Meet
It's On Meet
@david_gregorian Yes. That's very helpful. The idea of creating a "community effect". Appreciate the feedback. And congrats on your startup.
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Gleb Braverman
HackerPulse
HackerPulse
Hey Santiago! I would go with exploiting free or semi-free ways to get users early on - I believe there's no real value in paid UA unless you generate revenue. Some of my favourite slack communities you can share your launch on: - Lenny's Newsletter community is amazing, I believe you need to sign up for his newsletter to get access! - This week in startups by Jason Calacanis (37k members) - Acquired (7k members) - The Product Folks (7k members) Sharing it on Twitter, HackerNews, HackerNoon and other sites is also great!
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