Solved: Seeking Advice on Acquiring Initial Customers for New App

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out and explaining your situation. It sounds like you've done the hard bit getting the tech built, which is brilliant, but marketing is a whole other ballgame. It's totally understandable that you feel stuck on getting those first customers when your background is in development.

Trying Google and Meta ads right off the bat with zero customers and needing market validation is a really common trap people fall into when they're new to this side of things. And tbh, it's often why they don't work at that stage. I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance based on what we've seen with other software and B2B clients.

Paid Ads Usually Aren't the Starting Point for Validation...

You mentioned running some Google and Meta ads and they didn't work. This is pretty standard at the very beginning. Paid advertising, especially at scale, works best when you already have a really solid offer and a funnel that you know converts visitors into leads or customers efficiently. If you're still validating whether the product or the way you're positioning it actually resonates with people and gets them to sign up or buy, throwing money at ads is likely just going to burn through budget without the results you want.

We've seen this with clients before. For example, one B2B SaaS client we started working with was trying to scale paid ads but their conversion rates were really low. It turned out their offer – which was based around demos – wasn't compelling enough compared to competitors offering free trials. Businesses just didn't want to commit to a demo for an accounting system without kicking the tires themselves first. Like your situation, the tech was probably fine, but the barrier to entry was too high and the value proposition wasn't cutting through all the noise and competition. Paid ads just amplify whatever is happening on your website and with your offer. If that's not working, the ads won't either, or at least not cost-effectively.

Achieving costs like the $7 per trial we've seen for some SaaS clients on Meta, or even cheaper like the under £2 signups for other software types, typically comes after a lot of testing and optimisation, once the core offer and funnel are proven to work organically or through more targeted early-stage efforts.

So, before you go heavy on paid ads, the absolute priority is validating that people actually want your product, that your offer is right, and that your website or landing page can actually convert visitors.

Focus on Targeted & Organic Approaches for Early Validation

For getting those crucial first 5-10 customers and getting that initial market validation, I'd strongly recommend shifting your focus away from broad paid campaigns for a bit. Instead, look at places where early adopters or your specific target audience are actively looking for solutions or are open to trying new things.

-> Listing in specific online directories can be really effective. Think about places like Betalist, Producthunt, Indie Hackers. People browse these sites specifically looking for new software and tech products to try out. Getting listed there, especially on Producthunt when you have enough features for an MVP launch, can generate a good amount of initial traffic and signups from people who are predisposed to testing new apps. It's a great way to get early exposure and feedback.

-> Engaging in relevant online communities and groups is another route. This needs to be done carefully though. Just dropping a link to your app is usually seen as spam and won't work. Instead, find communities (on Reddit, Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack, Discord, forums) where your target audience hangs out and discuss the problems your software solves. Participate in conversations, offer genuine help based on your expertise, and only mention your solution when it's genuinely relevant and allowed by the community rules. The goal isn't just to get users, it's to understand their problems even better, get feedback, and build trust. For your video creation tool for SaaS companies, you'd look for groups for SaaS founders, marketing teams, content creators within tech companies, etc. You could post about the challenge of creating video content for platforms like TikTok/Insta and mention you're building a tool to make it easier, asking for feedback on pain points.

-> A waitlist campaign is also brilliant for validation before a full launch or before scaling ads. This is something we often recommend for pre-launch or early-stage products. The idea is simple: create a really compelling landing page that showcases the value proposition of your app, explaining what it does and the benefits it offers, even if it's not fully built yet. Use persuasive copy to get people excited. On this page, the single call to action is to sign up for a waitlist by entering their email address. Maybe offer a special incentive for waitlist members, like early access, a discounted rate when you launch, or extra features. Collecting email signups is direct validation – are people interested enough in your concept to give you their email? If you can get a decent number of signups, it shows there's interest.

Once you have this list, you don't just sit on it. Email these people with updates on your progress, share behind-the-scenes looks, ask for their input on features, and use them as your first batch of beta testers when you're ready. This keeps them engaged and provides invaluable feedback before you open the doors fully. This process helps you refine not just the product, but also your messaging and offer, ensuring it truly resonates before you start paying for traffic.

Refining Your Product and Offer Based on Early Feedback

The whole point of these initial validation efforts isn't just to get users, it's to learn. Once you get those first 5-10 users, talk to them constantly! What do they like? What don't they like? What features are missing? What problems is your app solving for them? Are they actually using it? Pay attention to how they describe the value they get. This is gold for refining your product and, crucially, your offer and marketing message.

Use their language in your messaging. If they keep saying "your app saves me hours on video editing", that's a much stronger message than just listing features. If nobody is signing up for your waitlist despite getting traffic, maybe the value proposition isn't clear, or the incentive isn't strong enough. This phase of iterating based on real user feedback is where you build a product and an offer that people genuinely need and are willing to pay for. It's the foundation you need before any paid advertising will be truly effective.

When to Consider Paid Ads (After Validation!)

Once you have a validated offer and a product that a small group of early users loves and finds valuable, and you know your sign-up process works smoothly, then you can start looking at paid advertising as a way to scale what's already working.

For a B2B SaaS, like your video tool aimed at other SaaS companies, the platform choice depends heavily on your ideal customer persona. -> LinkedIn Ads is often the go-to for B2B because you can target by job title, industry, company size, etc. If you need to reach CMOs, heads of marketing, or product managers at SaaS companies, LinkedIn is the place. The downside? It's typically much more expensive than other platforms. We've seen cost per lead (CPL) for B2B decision makers on LinkedIn average around $22, sometimes more. You need a high-value lead or a high customer lifetime value to make this work profitably. -> Google Search Ads can work if businesses are actively searching for solutions related to video creation for marketing, or tools like yours. You'd need to do keyword research to see if there's search volume for relevant terms. However, sometimes people aren't searching for a solution by name or even category; they might be searching for solutions to the *problem* itself, which can be harder to capture with search keywords alone. -> Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram) can also work for SaaS, especially for driving signups for free trials or freemium products. While less precise for B2B targeting than LinkedIn, they offer broader reach and often lower costs. We've achieved SaaS trial signups for around $7 on Meta for some clients. The key is compelling creative (video ads, image ads) and a really strong offer on the landing page, like a completely free trial with no credit card required. The audience targeting might be broader, relying on interests related to SaaS, marketing, business pages they follow, etc., but with a good offer and creative, you can still attract relevant users. We've even seen exceptionally low costs like £2 per signup for some software types on Meta, but that often depends on the specific niche and offer.

Once you're running paid ads, remember it's an ongoing process of testing and refinement. You'll need to split test everything: different ad copy, different images/videos (UGC videos, where real users or actors talk about the product, can work really well for SaaS), different targeting options, and different landing page variations. This is where having a structured approach and expertise really helps to find winning combinations and scale efficiently. Retargeting campaigns, showing ads to people who visited your website but didn't sign up, can also help lower overall acquisition costs later on.

Getting Your Offer and Website Right is Key

Regardless of the ad platform, if your offer isn't right and your landing page isn't persuasive, paid ads will struggle. For SaaS, especially B2B, overcoming the inertia of getting someone to try something new is hard. This is why a completely free trial is often the best offer to get people in the door. Asking for credit card details upfront or only offering a demo creates a significant barrier. Think about the accounting software example again – a demo wasn't enough; competitors offered months-long free trials. Your offer needs to be competitive and low-friction.

Your landing page needs to clearly communicate the value and make the offer incredibly easy to act on. Good sales copy here is vital. We often work with copywriters who specialise in SaaS to ensure the messaging on the landing page is as persuasive as possible, speaking directly to the target audience's pain points and highlighting the benefits of your specific solution.

Summary of Recommended Actionable Steps

Based on where you are now, needing validation and those first few customers, here’s a breakdown of what I’d focus on:

Considering Expert Help

Tackling paid advertising effectively, especially for B2B SaaS, is complex. As you can see, it's not just about setting up campaigns; it involves understanding your offer, your target audience, creative strategy, landing page optimisation, and the nuances of each platform. Scaling campaigns profitably requires constant testing, data analysis, and strategic thinking.

Once you've got that initial validation and are ready to explore paid channels more seriously, working with experts who have deep experience in SaaS and B2B campaigns can really accelerate your growth and help you avoid costly mistakes. They can help ensure your offer is right, your tracking is set up correctly, build out effective campaign structures, and run the necessary tests to find winning strategies faster than you might on your own.

If you'd like to explore this further and get more tailored advice based on your specific app and target market, we'd be happy to book in a free consultation. We can go through your current situation in more detail and give you some clearer next steps.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh