I spent $0 on marketing Convert in year one. Zero. No ads, no influencers, no paid placements. Just time and effort on free channels.
Some of that time was well-spent. A lot of it was wasted. Here's the honest breakdown of every channel I tried, with actual numbers.
ASO (App Store Optimization)
Time invested: ~40 hours over the year
Downloads attributed: ~8,400 (60% of total)
Verdict: The single most important thing I did
Most people treat ASO as "pick good keywords and forget it." That's leaving huge amounts of traffic on the table.
What I actually did:
- Keyword research every 6 weeks. I use AppTweak's free tier to find what people actually search for. "Unit converter" has way more volume than "measurement converter." "Currency exchange" beats "money conversion." Little things, big differences.
- Localized metadata. Convert is in 12 languages now. Each localization gets its own keyword research. "Calculatrice de conversion" in French. "Einheitenrechner" in German. My German is terrible but Google Translate + native speaker review works.
- Screenshot testing. I've A/B tested screenshots 4 times. The current set converts 23% better than my launch screenshots. Turns out people want to see the actual interface, not marketing fluff.
- Review responses. I respond to every review, good or bad. Apple seems to reward engagement. Also, turning a 2-star review into a 4-star by fixing their issue feels amazing.
ASO isn't glamorous. Nobody writes viral Twitter threads about optimizing App Store metadata. But for a utility app, it's probably 10x more effective than any other channel.
Time invested: ~25 hours
Downloads attributed: ~2,800
Verdict: High ROI when organic, negative ROI when forced
Two posts drove basically all my Reddit traffic. Neither was promotional.
The first was in r/iphone, in a thread asking for unit converter recommendations. I mentioned I'd built one, described why, linked to it. 340 upvotes. ~1,200 visits to the App Store page.
The second was in r/digitalnomad, answering someone's question about tracking exchange rates. Same approach — helpful comment first, app mention second. 180 upvotes. ~900 visits.
Meanwhile, the posts I wrote specifically to promote Convert? Total flops. r/iOSapps, r/AppHookup, r/SideProject — combined maybe 20 upvotes and negligible traffic.
The pattern is obvious in hindsight. Reddit rewards genuine participation. It punishes anything that smells like marketing. The posts that worked were me being helpful first. The posts that failed were me trying to be helpful as a pretense for promotion.
Product Hunt
Time invested: ~60 hours
Downloads attributed: ~40
Verdict: Massively overrated for consumer iOS apps
I prepared for weeks. Custom landing page. Animated GIF demos. Coordinated launch day with beta testers for upvotes. Responded to every comment within minutes.
Result: #8 product of the day. 156 upvotes. Roughly 300 website visits.
Sounds decent until you realize: Product Hunt users aren't iOS app users. They're mostly developers, founders, and tech enthusiasts browsing for interesting products. They upvote things. They rarely download consumer apps.
Of those 300 visits, Google Analytics shows 47 clicked through to the App Store. Of those, maybe 40 actually downloaded (based on the spike that day). At a 3.5% subscription conversion rate, that's about 1.4 paying users.
60 hours for 1.4 paying users. About $30 in annual revenue.
If you're launching a B2B SaaS or developer tool, Product Hunt makes sense. For a consumer iOS app? I'd skip it entirely next time.
Twitter/X
Time invested: ~80 hours (probably more)
Downloads attributed: ~15
Verdict: Valuable for network, useless for acquisition
I did the whole build-in-public thing. Weekly updates. Screenshots of revenue. Lessons learned. Grew to ~340 followers.
Downloads from Twitter? Basically zero. The indie dev community is supportive and I've made genuine connections. But they're developers, not unit converter users. They'll like your posts. They won't download your consumer app.
I don't regret the time. The connections led to beta testers, feedback, and some cross-promotion opportunities. But as a direct acquisition channel? Completely useless for this type of app.
If I were building a developer tool, it'd be different. For consumer apps, Twitter is networking, not marketing.
Press Outreach
Time invested: ~20 hours
Downloads attributed: 0
Verdict: Complete waste of time for unknown indie apps
I emailed 53 journalists and bloggers. Personalized pitches. Found their previous coverage. Explained why Convert was newsworthy.
Responses: 3 polite rejections. Coverage: zero.
I don't blame them. A unit converter from an unknown developer isn't news. There's no story. "Person builds app that works well" doesn't get clicks.
Maybe if Convert had a unique angle — "Built by a 12-year-old" or "Made $1M in week one" — press would care. But "solid app from normal person" isn't a headline.
Next time I'm not bothering with press until I have a genuine story to tell.
What I'd Do Differently
If I were starting over:
- 80% of effort on ASO. It's boring. It works. The compounding effect of better search rankings is insane over time.
- Reddit only when natural. Join communities I'd be in anyway. Help people. Mention my app when genuinely relevant. Never post promotional content.
- Skip Product Hunt. The time spent preparing could've gone to ASO improvements or actually building features.
- Twitter for networking only. Keep the build-in-public posts but with zero expectation of downloads. Use it to meet other devs, get feedback, find beta testers.
- Skip press entirely. Unless you have a real story, don't bother.
The Uncomfortable Truth
Here's what nobody wants to admit: for consumer iOS apps, organic marketing is mostly about the App Store. Everything else is noise.
Make your app show up in App Store search. Make it convert when people find it. Get reviews so the algorithm likes you. That's 90% of the game.
The Twitter threads, the Product Hunt launches, the press outreach — they feel productive because they're visible. You're doing marketing! But visible isn't the same as effective.
The boring work of optimizing keywords, testing screenshots, and responding to reviews? That's what actually grows an indie app.
Not glamorous. Not thread-worthy. But true.
