How to Launch and Promote a Micro SaaS App
At least 30-60 days out from your Micro Saas app launch, youβll want to start to build up an audience to launch to. Alongside this, youβll need to be planning out your launch channels. But thatβs far from everything. You should be actively trying to do the following things when getting ready for the exciting day:
Commit To Writing X Blog Articles Per Month
When in the pre-launch phase and youβre still building out your website, itβs easy to forget to focus on other content.
It may seem like devoting time to writing blog articles isnβt worth it at this stage. However, these search engine-friendly posts will give you a great long-term ROI, so itβs worth planting these seeds nice and early. With better Google Rankings comes more traffic, with more people finding your website due to the well-written blog posts.
With that in mind, commit to writing a number of blog posts that youβll publish per month. This could be anything from one a month up to several each week to get the blog bulked out at the start. The main thing is to commit to a regular schedule so that you donβt end up with an outdated-looking blog.
Itβs important to attract an audience and keep your audience engaged with relevant content. Make sure your articles are well crafted and give value to your target audience. These articles will provide you with a steady stream of (free) leads for your app every single month. You can also use these blog posts as lead magnets so potential users can opt-in to your email list.
Articles should answer questions around the problem that your app solves. You should also aim to cover the full spectrum of intent from informational through to commercial and transactional intent.
You might think you need to wait until you have the app ready to launch before announcing it to the world but as long as youβre ready with your marketing efforts, you can start showing people what youβre going to offer well before you launch your app.
Donβt Delay Your Micro SaaS App Launch
So, youβve (hopefully) kicked your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) into shape, and itβs ready to make its debut.
Please resist the never-ending temptation to βadd just one more feature before I launchβ. We all know that once that feature has been built, thereβll be another one, then another one π
You donβt want to fall into the trap of going round in circles adding new features, constantly delaying the launch for one more week or even months at a time π±
Start Gathering Reviews
If youβve been through the beta testing phase, then now is the time to ask them to gather reviews which youβll put on the sales page/website as testimonials.
Any social proof will really help build trust and in the early days this is essential! Disclosing that theyβre a beta tester will add to the authenticity of their reviews.
Get consent from them to use their profile pic/social avatar to add a further aspect of social proof to their reviews. Below you can see some reviews of one of my Micro SaaS apps - Merch Wizard.
In the early days, I had automated email sequences that culminated in a request for a review from the user that proved to be quite effective.
Build Up The Pre-Launch Hype
On to the actual micro SaaS app launch itself! Set a realistic date and then start to build up some excitement for the launch π
Starting from T-minus 30 days, every few days you should be providing some fresh content for your potential user base. This content shouldnβt just be the βX days to goβ style mundane countdown email sequence.
Build up a content calendar in which youβll drip feed them each featureβs description and the benefits of it to them. Believe it or not, people will genuinely get excited for your app launch if you're drip feeding them solutions to their problems.
Hereβs an example of a simple post I made in the KDP Wizard Facebook Group showing a searchable treeview control Iβd been working on to replace the clunky native treeview control. Despite its simplicity, the groupβs users loved it because they knew itβd save them so much time every time they listed a book:
Houston, We Have Lift Off π
Needless to say, your beta users should have tested the go-live version ahead of you starting to promote the app. Once theyβve given it the green light, itβs time to push the big red button and get this Micro SaaS rocket launched.
You can start small and launch through one platform at a time to ensure there arenβt any teething or unexpected load issues. As your confidence builds, you can expand out to the bigger platforms.
Some users may struggle to get your app up and running, so you will need to be on hand to help support this influx of new users.
Treat Your Early Adopters Well
Your first users will be the seeds of your customer base, so itβs important you treat them well. Be transparent in your pricing, provisional roadmap, and your passion for making the best possible app to solve their problem(s).
If you can do a great job for these early customers, they will likely help spread the word of your app to other potential users in your niche. This chain reaction is only likely to come from delighted users rather than just satisfied.
The MVP of my app Merch Wizard was very βbasicβ (to put it kindly), but it did what it needed to do. It proved that there was an audience willing to pay for an app to fix their problem. Many of those early adopters are still paying their monthly subscription several years on as they locked in the low monthly launch rate.
Merch Wizard MVP (cringe) π±
My Multi-5-Figure Micro SaaS App Launch
My apps (Merch Wizard & KDP Wizard) were launched using purely organic traffic. Here are the sources of that organic traffic that I leveraged when launching my apps:
Start As You Mean To Go On
Even though weβre just starting on our app development journey, itβs important to set off on the right foot with the future in mind.
Yes, you can hack your way to an MVP and then address that technical debt later on - Iβm ok with that.
However, from a billing perspective, subscribers to your MVP should be paying your business stripe/paypal account rather than your personal stripe/paypal account which would be way harder to transfer during a future sale (albeit a long long way off).
Having been through the sale/exit process, I have learnt that subscription income that canβt be easily transferred can sometimes be written off the valuation. π²
Failure Minimisation
Nobody wants their app launch to flop. If youβve done your best to validate your Micro SaaS idea, then youβre already on the right track.
In any case, youβre better off finding out the truth sooner rather than later to avoid unnecessarily wasting additional weeks/months developing a product nobody wants.
If your initial micro SaaS app launch does fail, donβt be disheartened! Itβs most likely due to a lack of genuine demand for the solution youβre aiming to provide, rather than a reflection on yourself. You can learn from this experience, finding a better problem to focus on for next time.
In order to come across a better idea, make sure you check out my chapter on the characteristics of a solid Micro SaaS app idea. This will walk you through the whole process and make sure your idea is certain to be a hit!
In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then youβre reading chapter 8 of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.
Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.
Final Thoughts
This has been an exciting chapter, actually launching your app into the big wide world! Let's remind ourselves of the key takeaways for this chapter before we move on:
In order to successfully scale your appβs user base, youβll need to go through a short period of consolidation to sure up the foundations first. These are important prerequisites to ensure that when you do scale your Micro SaaS, it goes smoothly.
Take a look at my detailed chapter on preparing a Micro SaaS app for scaling before you move on!
Related Articles
The Micro SaaS Handbook
The Micro SaaS hub containing all the links to the individual Micro SaaS chapters you'll need to go from zero to hero.
You can download all my Micro SaaS articles in a free ebook PDF so you can read it anywhere, any time.
Validating your micro SaaS app idea
Developing an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for your Micro SaaS app idea is the best way to establish whether or not your app genuinely solves a painful problem for your target audience.
If you think youβve found a fantastic idea but want some certainty, then read through my validating your Micro SaaS app idea chapter to find some techniques that will put your mind at ease.
Preparing Your App For Scaling
Having generated an idea, developed an MVP and gathered beta testing feedback, you are now ready for your big launch. In this chapter, Iβll cover what to do pre-launch to build up the hype train and the different launch phases.
By focusing on each of these things in turn, you give yourself the best chance of launching your Micro SaaS app and getting your first customers successfully.
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