HowTheyGotUsersHowTheyGotUsers

Join the Niche Communities Before the Product Exists

Join the Niche Communities Before the Product Exists is a reddit & forums tactic for getting your first users: Become an active member of the subreddits and Discords for your niche well before launch, so self-promotion is tolerated when you finally post.

It's a strong fit for teams of almost any kind, and works especially well for any founder planning a community-driven launch. As a reddit & forums play, plan for medium effort and expect results to build gradually over time, all grounded in 1 linked primary source.

Reddit & forumsMedium effortSlow

Why does reddit & forums work for this?

Communities and mods are far more lenient about self-promo from established members than from drive-by accounts.

The exact steps (4)

The full step-by-step this founder ran, what they posted, where, and in what order, plus the watch-outs, is part of the library.

Unlock the steps · $29 oncePlus all 3,000+ tactics and the new ones we add weekly.

Sources

Works for
Any / universal

Frequently asked

How is the "Join the Niche Communities Before the Product Exists" tactic verified?
It is drawn from 1 primary source — a real founder write-up or interview, not generic advice. It is linked in the Sources section above so you can read the original account yourself.
How much effort is it and how fast are results?
It is medium effort, and results tend to be slow.
Where can I see the exact step-by-step?
The full step-by-step a founder ran, documented via Source — IndieHackers, is in the paid library.

Related tactics

Reddit & forumsLow effort· Medium

Bookmark 'Recent'-Filtered Searches and Sweep Twice a Day

A zero-cost alternative one commenter uses: save Reddit, HN, IH and Slack search URLs pre-filtered to most-recent, then open them all in one batch each morning and evening (about 15 minutes) to catch new relevant conversations to join.

Read the steps →
Reddit & forumsMedium effort· Slow

Disguise Promotion as Native Reddit Content

Rather than pitching the product, they publish genuinely upvote-worthy artifacts made with their tool (e.g. beautiful charts) that stand on their own merit, and surface the brand only quietly.

Read the steps →
Reddit & forumsMedium effort· Fast

Turn Your Product Into the Reddit Bait Itself

They promoted Chunk on Reddit indirectly by making the product the entertaining hook inside a high-traffic thread, so people engaged with the tool instead of reading an ad. Roughly 1% of the 4,000+ visitors converted to signups.

Read the steps →
Reddit & forumsLow effort· Fast

Reverse-Engineer Customers From Top Subreddit Threads

Use a niche subreddit as free customer research: read the highest-voted threads and their comments to learn what your target audience actually cares about, then turn recurring complaints into product or feature ideas.

Read the steps →
Reddit & forumsMedium effort· Fast

Intercept the Threads People Already Find on Google

Search the exact "best [category] tool reddit" queries your buyers type, then add a genuinely helpful reply mentioning your product to the threads that already rank.

Read the steps →
Reddit & forumsLow effort· Medium

Recruit Beta Testers from the Exact-Match Subreddit

Post your beta in the subreddit that precisely matches your product's niche to recruit testers who already want the thing, framing it as seeking feedback.

Read the steps →

Get all 3,000+ tactics in one place

Filter by your product and channel, follow the exact steps, and get the new tactics we add every week. One payment, yours for good.

Unlock for $29 onceBrowse by channel