Ask HN: Best ways to spread the word about your web app

[bfig]

Hi everyone. I built a beautiful project and task management tool and am now struggling to spread the word about it. Would be interesting to know from who went the same path if you have any pointers for me. Seems to be incredibly hard to push through all the noise out there.

[webstartupper]

Step 1: Define your customer segment. Who is hiveflux for? bootstrapped, startups, remote teams, specific industry? If you are not sure yet, look at who your competition is targeting. Niche it down. You can always expand horizontally later.

Step 2: Once you know your customer segment, change the copy on your website to drive the value proposition home for that specific segment.

Step 3: Find out where your target customers hang out. People from specific niche industries hang out at specific niche forums. Hang out at these forums and ask questions and contribute. If you are strapped for time, you could advertise directly on the forums - a lot of them allow you to open paid sales threads.

Step 4: Build a community from the early adopters you find from these forums and then get them to spread the word.

[bfig]

Thank you for the awesome pointers :)

[v_ignatyev]

Hi. I recommend to set up proper social accounts, make them containing clean one-liner/tagline of your web app and link to the page. Then post few tweets with hashtags somehow related to the problem your product solve. Then try to follow 50-100 guys in Twitter who could be your prospectives. Try to get follow backs. Post again. Look for forums and threads where people discuss tools like yours.

To support this campaign, try to write press release and send it to bloggers and magazines popping up on your key search request, set up links with them and ask to post on some date, then buy some targeted Ads in Facebook and Google.

More aggresive you will, more prospectives you engage. The better way is to make natural links on forums and boards related to your product. Better to make it the part of viral loop or even better part of user daily workflow.

[bfig]

Thank you for the valuable info.

[nkangoh]

You built a beautiful project and task management tool, make a post about it, yet fail to show us what it is (e.g. link)? That's pretty much your problem right there. You need to advertise the service.

[bfig]

Sorry, didn't want the post to sound like an advert.

Here: wwww.hiveflux.com

[dllthomas]

... link?

Word of mouth, for a quality tool, is significantly better than nothing (though probably not where you should stop... others will have more ideas).

[bfig]

www.hiveflux.com