The No Barrier Reef 🪸

Hey Reader,

You built the app. Launched it. Optimized the listing.

Page 3 of search results. Watching apps with hundreds of reviews rank above you.

You need reviews to get visibility. You need visibility to get installs. You need installs to get reviews.

Chicken and egg.

Most founders think better listing copy fixes this. Better keywords. Better screenshots.

It doesn't.

The App Store rewards apps that already have momentum.

Waiting for it to send you customers? You're going to wait a long time.

I talked to a founder last week. Listed on page 2 or 3. Still growing fast.

"We've not done anything there. Most of our customer acquisition is outside the App Store. Agencies, events, stuff like that."

They stopped waiting for the App Store to save them.

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Where do you actually find merchants?

Agencies that work with your target stores. Events where they show up. Direct outreach to merchants who obviously need what you built. Partner integrations. Communities where they hang out and ask questions.

Facebook groups, Sub-Reddits, Slack communities.

The App Store doesn't create demand. It captures demand that already exists.

Your job is to create that demand somewhere else first.

Competitive categories are brutal. If you can't explain why someone picks you over the three other apps that do the same thing, your listing position won't save you.

Figure out what makes you different. Not better features. Different angle. Different merchant problem. Different workflow.

Then find those specific merchants directly.

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Free tiers work, Reader. Generous trials work. Content that helps before they install anything works.

Build trust outside the App Store. Get people talking. Get merchants seeing value before you ask them to commit.

When they do install, they're warm.

Already convinced.

Way more likely to leave that review you needed for visibility in the first place.

what's your drop-off rate between people clicking your listing and actually subscribing?

The App Store is where people convert after they know they want something like what you built.

Your listing isn't the problem. It's that nobody knows you exist yet.

That happens everywhere except the App Store.

What channels are you actually using to reach merchants right now?

Best,

Ohad.