I built and launched my first app, but getting users feels harder than coding it. What should I focus on first from zero?

Start With Intent

In short, focus on these checks: start with intent, build a small loop, and use aso and video together. Avoid rebuilding the whole content strategy from one trend, tool, or metric; run a small test and compare the audience response before making more videos. The caveats are platform context, production effort, content quality, and whether the next step is measurable. More detailed guidance is below.

The first channel that usually becomes consistent is not a magic social platform. It is the first place where your target user is already showing intent: app store search, a niche community, a comparison query, a creator’s audience, a marketplace, or a very specific problem thread. For a new app, the mistake is treating “get users” as one big task. Break it into three smaller jobs: make the app understandable, put it where intent already exists, and learn which message causes someone to install or sign up.

ASO matters because app stores are not just a final download page. Apple’s developer guidance treats the product page, icon, screenshots, preview videos, keywords, localization, referral traffic, and analytics as parts of discovery. Google Play’s guidance is similar: descriptions should be accurate and concise, screenshots should show the real in-app experience, and preview assets should set clear expectations. That means your first growth work is often not “more content.” It is making the store page obvious enough that a stranger can understand the app in five seconds.

Short-form video can help, but only if it demonstrates the same intent clearly. A founder saying “I made an app” is weak. A 20-second clip showing “before: messy workflow, after: solved in the app” is much stronger. The app should be visible early, the use case should be concrete, and the call to action should match the stage: join waitlist, try the free version, download, or watch a demo.

Build A Small Loop

From zero, I would not start by posting random Reels every day. I would build a weekly acquisition loop: choose one user problem, make one store-page improvement, publish three short clips around that exact problem, send them to one relevant community or list, then check installs, trial starts, retention, and replies. The goal is not virality. The goal is a repeatable path from problem to proof to signup.

For short videos, use a format you can repeat without burning out: hook, screen proof, result, CTA. For example: “I kept missing invoice follow-ups, so I made this 10-second reminder flow.” Then show the actual screen, not a generic animation. If you need to move faster, draft the clips in YumCut from a small batch of prompts, but still review the output manually for accuracy, UI clarity, captions, and platform-safe claims.

The best early clips often look more like product evidence than polished ads. TikTok Business Help Center recommends vertical, platform-native creative, sound, safe-zone awareness, and ongoing testing. YouTube Shorts can be discovered in the Shorts feed, search, homepage, subscriptions, and notifications, so titles and visible context still matter. The practical takeaway is simple: every clip should teach the viewer what the app does, who it is for, and why now is a good time to try it.

Use ASO And Video Together

Do not separate ASO and social content too much. Your store screenshots, short description, preview video, website hero, and Reels should all answer the same buyer question. If your app helps freelancers send quotes faster, do not make one asset about “productivity,” another about “AI,” and another about “business automation.” Pick the clearest use case and repeat it in different formats until the data tells you it is wrong.

For an iOS app, Apple product page optimization lets you test different icons, screenshots, and app previews. For Google Play, preview assets can include screenshots and video, but the guidance emphasizes showing the actual app experience, keeping text readable, avoiding misleading claims, and reflecting the current app. This matters because a short video may bring someone to the store, but the store page closes or loses the install.

A useful early test is to make three variants of the same promise: one emotional, one practical, and one proof-based. Emotional: “Stop forgetting client tasks.” Practical: “Track every client follow-up in one screen.” Proof-based: “Here is the exact reminder flow.” Use those same three angles in screenshots, short clips, and landing-page copy. After a week or two, compare not just views, but profile taps, store visits, installs, activation, and whether people keep using the app.

Avoid Common Traps

The first trap is optimizing too many channels before you know your buyer. If you are making a consumer habit app, TikTok, Reels, Shorts, and app store search may all be relevant. If you are making a B2B workflow tool, LinkedIn posts, founder demos, niche newsletters, cold outreach, and SEO pages may outperform daily Reels. Pick channels based on where the user already looks for the problem, not where creators say growth is easiest.

The second trap is using AI or faceless content as a substitute for product truth. AI can help you produce more script options, multilingual captions, demo variations, and faceless explainers. It cannot decide whether your onboarding is confusing, whether your pricing is credible, or whether a feature claim is legally safe. A practical first test is to create the video in YumCut, then review it like a skeptical buyer: can I see the app, understand the benefit, and believe the claim?

The third trap is faking social proof. Do not use anonymous testimonials, invented “number one” claims, fake reviews, undisclosed paid endorsements, or screenshots that imply functionality the app does not have. Google Play’s store listing guidance warns against misleading claims and unattributed testimonials. The FTC also expects clear disclosures when endorsements are paid, incentivized, or connected to the brand. Early growth is slow enough without creating trust problems you later have to unwind.

What Usually Clicks

For many first-time app founders, the thing that clicks is not a channel. It is specificity. “A task app” is hard to market. “A task app for freelance designers who forget client follow-ups” is easier to demo, title, subtitle, screenshot, post about, and pitch. Once the specific user and moment are clear, the channel decision gets easier.

If I were starting from zero, I would spend the first month proving one narrow acquisition loop, not chasing every growth tactic. Week one: fix the store page and onboarding. Week two: publish problem-specific demos. Week three: reach out to real users in the niche and ask what almost stopped them from trying it. Week four: double down on the message that produced installs and actual usage, not just impressions.

The first consistent users usually come from a place where the pain is already active. Your job is to show the app solving that pain with enough clarity that a stranger does not need your explanation. Short video is useful when it compresses that proof into a few seconds; ASO is useful when it turns that interest into a confident install.