30+ Best Acquisition Channels That Have Consistently Worked for 487 Founders

[MTF]

As I was browsing for some marketing resources, I found a super well-researched free report on 34 acquisition channels that have worked for 487 analyzed founders. The report was created by Darko and is available for a free download (in exchange for signing up for his list) here: Zero To Users

I have no affiliation with the guy. Just wanted to share it as I found this immensely valuable and it's quite surprising it's available for free. Now, this is primarily for online businesses and mostly SaaS I guess but it's still very useful as a general guide to different marketing channels you might have never considered before.

I don't want to give away the value from the report here so I'll only post the first ten most consistent acquisition channels without any details (in the PDF, he explains each of the 34 channels with some examples):

1. SEO (after getting results with another acquisition channel). Worked for 84 founders
2. Marketplaces & Existing Platforms. Worked for 78 founders
3. Product Hunt. Worked for 78 founders
4. Reddit. Worked for 45 founders
5. Cold email outreach. Worked for 42 founders
6. "Powered by" marketing. Worked for 42 founders
7. Hacker News. Worked for 39 founders
8. Having an existing media brand. Worked for 39 founders
9. Using your own network. Worked for 37 founders
10. Google Ads (AdWords). Worked for 31 founders

Also, I love Peter Thiel's quote Darko has on his Twitter profile:

 

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[Niptuck MD]

interesting read, thanks for the link.

 

[Ivex]

In 2030, the number one as reported by founders building their businesses right now will be "Built a social media brand".

You can literally build an audience in any niche, then create a product and skip all the gruelling part of getting momentum.

Building a huge social media audience isn't easy, but it is much easier than building a product with no audience and no starting capital.

 

[MTF]

In 2030, the number one as reported by founders building their businesses right now will be "Built a social media brand".

You can literally build an audience in any niche, then create a product and skip all the gruelling part of getting momentum.

Building a huge social media audience isn't easy, but it is much easier than building a product with no audience and no starting capital.

A social media brand has very little relevance in B2B and many B2C industries. With the way things are going now with social media (censorship etc.) I wouldn't be surprised if something new emerged by 2030.

Either way, building a huge social media audience to me feels like a risky play and an unnecessary time investment if you can simply start selling right away.

 

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[Deleted70138]

As I was browsing for some marketing resources, I found a super well-researched free report on 34 acquisition channels that have worked for 487 analyzed founders. The report was created by Darko and is available for a free download (in exchange for signing up for his list) here: Zero To Users

I have no affiliation with the guy. Just wanted to share it as I found this immensely valuable and it's quite surprising it's available for free. Now, this is primarily for online businesses and mostly SaaS I guess but it's still very useful as a general guide to different marketing channels you might have never considered before.

I don't want to give away the value from the report here so I'll only post the first ten most consistent acquisition channels without any details (in the PDF, he explains each of the 34 channels with some examples):

1. SEO (after getting results with another acquisition channel). Worked for 84 founders
2. Marketplaces & Existing Platforms. Worked for 78 founders
3. Product Hunt. Worked for 78 founders
4. Reddit. Worked for 45 founders
5. Cold email outreach. Worked for 42 founders
6. "Powered by" marketing. Worked for 42 founders
7. Hacker News. Worked for 39 founders
8. Having an existing media brand. Worked for 39 founders
9. Using your own network. Worked for 37 founders
10. Google Ads (AdWords). Worked for 31 founders

Also, I love Peter Thiel's quote Darko has on his Twitter profile:

View attachment 41057

Nice. Never thought one could market via Reddit.

 

[MTF]

Nice. Never thought one could market via Reddit.

It's a difficult channel to make work. Most people who are on Reddit seem to be very anti promotion of any kind and are in general quite trollish.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Nice. Never thought one could market via Reddit.

Getting the Reddit community to love your startup is like threading a needle in a hurricane.

Some tips might be to call yourself a non profit, or mention that your company will refuse all profits, and if any do occur, they will be donated to social justice causes or any future Bernie Sanders campaigns. Then your startup will gain massive Redditary momentum!!

 

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[doster.zach]

Getting the Reddit community to love your startup is like threading a needle in a hurricane.

The least valuable users!

Reddit users are the least valuable of any social network

At its latest valuation of $3 billion, Reddit's 330 million monthly active users are valued much lower than those on other social networks.

www.cnbc.com

 

[Guest-5ty5s4]

The only way to make Reddit work is to trick them into liking your product or business. Write up a long story about your struggles, or something to that effect, and very subtly slip in a link or reference to your business.

That always does the trick. They think they’re super clever, but are really just rabidly anti-business. If you spin it right they’ll lap it up...

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Thought this was an interesting customer acquisition tactic...



Looks like a gift card, holds more perceived value than a standard coupon.

 

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[socaldude]

Looks like a gift card, holds more perceived value than a standard coupon.

I once got a “$100 wine voucher”. It makes you think you are holding $100 in your hand when you have to pay the retail difference. So you have to spend $200 to get the $100 off. LOL it probably converts pretty well.

 

[Ela]

Very helpful tips.

From all these channels, having / creating good content will plays a major role.

Thanks for sharing.