Ask HN: Should I Promote My SaaS to get first 100 Customers without budget
5•HSK11•1h ago
Bootstrapped founders: how did you get your first 100 customers without spending on ads? I'm interested in tactics that actually worked in 2026, not generic marketing advice.
Comments
lalithaar•1h ago
Distribution is the hardest rn and most marketing advice is absolute with AI.
So would love to know if something is working tbh
HSK11•1h ago
I am trying my best I am from coding background , I know building but zero info on marketing
charltonraven•57m ago
Same here
lalithaar•55m ago
oh okay, so incase this helps with knowing atleast what's not working:
I know people say cold emails work, but it's brutal and goes to spam most often than not. Maybe it works when you are emailing as a person talking of something and it's low these days too, but trying anywhere near selling even if it's something that would help them a lot it's gone.
Content marketing - I have to check more of the latest report to say this. But the post hyper specific blogs/information isn't working at least when you are targeting AI savvy users cuz most use AI overviews or similar
Micro tools - there are too many to compete with and AI makes up one so easily these days
Communities in slack/reddit advise when you are selling to B2B has become shovel sellers echo chamber instead of gold miners, it's everyone trying to pitch
Something I do see working, just because there is AI doesn't mean everyone want to take the overhead of creating pushing it up and maintaining, at least in few communities I have seen they are very much open to solutions, but there is not as much paying power.
I am sorry if I sound pessimistic, I would love if someone could prove this wrong lol.
lalithaar•54m ago
Tho if you are open to sharing, what are you trying to market? Maybe if an idea comes up, I can let you know
elombn•20m ago
Depends on the product niche, but most of the time if it's a b2c, posting tiktok/instagram content regularly helped a friend of mine a lot. And if b2b, twitter and reddit comments and cold dm worked for me personaly. Am currently at ~50 users, not 100 yet haha
poulskyman•20m ago
Man, I'm literally in the exact same boat right now. I've been trying everything submitting to those tiny directories nobody visits, even doing manual cold outreach.
lalithaar•1h ago
So would love to know if something is working tbh
HSK11•1h ago
charltonraven•57m ago
lalithaar•55m ago
I know people say cold emails work, but it's brutal and goes to spam most often than not. Maybe it works when you are emailing as a person talking of something and it's low these days too, but trying anywhere near selling even if it's something that would help them a lot it's gone.
Content marketing - I have to check more of the latest report to say this. But the post hyper specific blogs/information isn't working at least when you are targeting AI savvy users cuz most use AI overviews or similar
Micro tools - there are too many to compete with and AI makes up one so easily these days
Communities in slack/reddit advise when you are selling to B2B has become shovel sellers echo chamber instead of gold miners, it's everyone trying to pitch
Something I do see working, just because there is AI doesn't mean everyone want to take the overhead of creating pushing it up and maintaining, at least in few communities I have seen they are very much open to solutions, but there is not as much paying power.
I am sorry if I sound pessimistic, I would love if someone could prove this wrong lol.
lalithaar•54m ago