How we used $0 marketing to grow to 320k users

Aloha 👋 We launched FlowMapp 7 years ago and grew to 320k users (total signups). Bootstrapped, no VC. We are building freemium Saas (there are free users and paid customers). We work on Product-led Growth strategy using only organic and $0 marketing tactics. According to Google Analytics we acquired more than 1,777,249 website visitors. I decided to share 12 marketing channels that worked for us: 01. SEO We started working on it BEFORE the product launch. We designed the first version of landing page. Did SEO-research and optimisation (very well-known measures, nothing ultra-professional). Google search traffic was on of the first source and the first influx of new audience. SEO is a long marathon. The earlier you start, the better. 02. Blog I think that content marketing is a king. Especially in 2024. So back in 2017 we run Wordpress blog and wrote by ourselves first articles: story behind startup, initial idea, value of the product, how it works and how it supposed to be used, about target audience and how we solve their pains. 03. Medium Now we reached almost 22k followers on Medium, but we started from 0. In addition to a WP blog on our website (for SEO purposes), we decided to create our own brand voice. This is a great mistake: to choose between self-hosted blog and Medium blog. No need to choose, better to run both. Medium is blog-content social network with own organic audience + great Google visibility. I suggest to to use advantages of both channels. 04. Landing Page We just released the 5th version of our website and all the previous ones have won awards (Site of the Day, etc.). UX/UI/Design approach works great for a lot of aspects: user conversion, user acquisition, Google optimisation, referral, social mentions. Landing page is your active marketing channel. 05. Socials There are few suggestions: Start your social journey asap, your audience is already there. Start your socials before launch on idea stage. Start building your personal brand as founder. And ask co-founders too. Grow your social capital. Networking is the key to many opportunities (that you can't plan ahead). 06. Reviews Collect testimonials at external platforms such as G2, Capterra, etc. Use your first users for it. Ask them to share feedback: don't afraid to to do it, reward for it. Social proof is very very very important for people to make a decision of paying for your service. Collect it on platforms, share in your socials, put on the website, include to newsletter. 07. Product Hunt I'm not gonna hide it, we're in love with the PH (launched almost 10 times since then). That was our first growth step: first users, traffic, clients, mentions. 08. Micro-Media Well, before TechCrunch writes about you, pay attention to local media resources and professional media-blogs in your sphere. As for me, it's better to have 10 mentions (and external links) in small media websites, rather than 1 in big. 09. Influencers Make friends with opinion leaders. (again about social activity). Make connections and build relationships. Ask for help, ask for support, ask for reposts, and give smth back. 10. Communities Be visible in communities where your audience is active: Reddit, Indie Hackers, LinkedIn, Telegram groups, Slack communities, etc. If you can get not only the founder involved, but the rest of the team as well. 11. Partnerships Look for similar startups for win-win interaction. We had co-promo in socials, featuring in newsletters, interviews in blogs, etc. Opportunities appear wherever you are proactive. Get to know each other, make suggestions. It's not as hard as it seems! Everyone do marketing, so look for teams who are on the same level as you for audience sharing and mutual growth. 12. WoM Do whatever it takes to get recommended. One of the best approach is talking directly to your users (email, dm, zoom, etc.). Personal approach + engagement boosts WoM. — Now we are a team of 7 people (+few part time members) trying to scale product to $1M+ ARR. Hope these helps and good luck with your products! I also share more on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmitu Will be happy to answer questions.