3 weeks building in public - what am I missing?

tiktokguru

I'm building a tool for social media marketing agencies - think Sprout Social but tailored for small to mid-sized agencies with a dedicated onboarding flow and better approval workflows to kill the bottleneck.

For the past few weeks, I've been sharing the build process across my channels: day-in-the-life content, top-of-funnel stuff, and generally documenting the pre-launch journey. Besides that, I've been doing manual outreach on LinkedIn and talking to people about what they struggle with.

here's the thing - I've racked up over 2 million views, gained around 2,600 new followers, and had maybe 20 DMs from people who want to try the tool when it launches. But let's be real: agency owners aren't going to switch their entire workflow because of a funny top-of-funnel reel.

So i need to figure out what's broken. two areas I'm unsure about:

🔸 I'm reaching out to agency owners on LinkedIn asking about their bottlenecks - but the tool won't be ready for another two months. How do I steer that conversation towards getting them to try it without coming across as salesy?

🔸 Getting people into a beta that will inevitably have bugs. I'm worried that a rough early experience will put them off the final product for good.

Any advice on flipping this kind of early traction into real beta signups? would love to hear how others have handled this.

backlinker

Your view count is impressive, but top-of-funnel content rarely converts into high-intent beta testers for B2B, especially when you're selling to businesses that need hands-on demos. I've found more success by monitoring social threads for people actively complaining about their current tools. I use purplefree to ping me on specific keywords, though you have to filter tightly otherwise the noise drowns out the signal.

analyticsjunkie

your reach numbers are absolutely mental, but here's the thing - viral ≠ profitable. I've seen people hit 2m views with a stupid cat compilation and still can't sell a £5 PDF. Chasing views without a conversion strategy is just a high score on a broken arcade machine.

That LinkedIn cold outreach plan is screaming for a rethink. Instead of sliding into DMs asking "what's your biggest pain point?" (yawn), find the threads where agency owners are already moaning about workflow hell. Jump in like a lifeguard, not a salesman.

For the beta, sell it as "you get to be the cool early adopter who saw it first." Agency owners love being the insider who discovered the next big thing before their rivals. just be crystal clear on the time commitment - nobody enjoys a surprise homework assignment. Throw in a longer free trial or locked-in pricing so they feel like a VIP.

Two months is totally fine to build a waitlist. But honestly, 50 agency owners who actually give a damn about your tool beat 500 randos who signed up because they laughed at your meme about bad briefs. Quality over quantity is the only play here

wordweaver

Oh, agency-facing SaaS? Been there, done that, burned the t-shirt. The whole "building in public" thing is a trap if you're not separating the audience lurkers from the actual buyers. Your content can be a barrel of laughs, but every few days you need to drop a cold, hard, "we need you specifically" post. Like, "Looking for 5 agencies running 10-50 clients to co-build our approvals workflow. You get 3 months free, direct roadmap access, and my team fixing your bottlenecks." That sort of language actually pulled in decent leads.

LinkedIn calls I treated as discovery, then ended with, "We're about 8 weeks from a private beta that tackles exactly this - want on the shortlist?" Bugs were fine as long as I framed them as "you get veto power on what we build next."

For finding more of these people outside your own bubble, Clay and Apollo are handy for lists, and Pulse for Reddit just quietly surfaced threads where agency owners were ranting about approvals and client delays. I'd drop in with examples of what we were testing.

So, how many actual calls with agencies that fit your ideal size and niche? And are you positioning this as a co-building beta or just another new tool right now?

sleepermode

Honestly, the 2.2 million views is a pure vanity metric if they're not filtering into beta signups. I've seen this pattern a dozen times - huge reach but zero conversion because the content doesn't align with the decision-maker's actual workflow. Agency owners don't care about viral numbers, they care about the one peer who says, "Yeah, this tool cut my approval loop from three days to twenty minutes."

Instead of broadcasting your beta ask, pivot those LinkedIn conversations to diagnosing their specific bottleneck first. ask them to walk through a real approval sequence, then show a tiny script (even a simple HubSpot workflow or Zapier step) that removes exactly that friction. One concrete example beats a hundred thousand impressions. Then track UTM parameters on every click - if those 2.2M are all from a funny meme and zero from pain-point content, the channel is broken, not your product.

metricsmuse

honestly, I think you're falling into the same trap I see a lot - mistaking attention for actual product-market fit. 2.2 million views and 2,600 followers sounds flashy, but it just tells me people find your content entertaining, not that they're even remotely interested in buying. Those 20 signups are decent for a mailing list, but that's a world away from proving anyone will pull out their wallet.

The thing is, agency owners aren't invested in your journey. They want to hear about their specific headache. All that behind-the-scenes stuff is basically noise when you could be deep in conversations with actual shop owners, asking about their approval workflows and how much that bottleneck is costing them.

My advice? spend the next couple of months doing what probably should have come first: get 20 to 30 agency owners on calls, show them rough prototypes, and ask point-blank if this actually solves something they'd switch tools for. right now you're building an audience for startup content, not a customer base. Those 20 signups are gold only if you pull them through real product demos, not cute clips. Focus on depth over reach until launch - you'll have way stronger traction when you finally flip to paid.

budgetburner

you've already nailed the core issue - viral TOFU content and agency-owner conversions are two different games. let me cut straight to it.

first question: don't ask them to "try it." Ask them to "build it with me." Agency owners two months out from launch don't want half-finished software. they want a say in something designed specifically for their headaches. switch from "will you test this?" to "I'm building this around the exact bottleneck you described - can I show you what we've got and get your take?" Co-creators defend what they help shape. Testers just leave.

Second question: kill the word "beta." Call it a "design partnership." Beta implies working software, people churn on bugs. Design partners expect rough edges and feel ownership. same product, different psychological contract. Try "I'm working with five agencies to shape this - your feedback directly decides what ships." That reframe solves your fear of putting them off.

the deeper issue: 2 million views and 20 inbound screams wrong audience. Funny content attracts people who like funny content, not agency owners who actually spend money. those inbound leads are likely other founders, not real buyers. Your actual pipeline is LinkedIn outreach to decision-makers. Track those two channels separately and put your effort where the cheques come from.

wordweaver

Three weeks? That's barely enough time to get your mum to notice your posts, let alone strangers. Most people f*ck up 'building in public' because they treat it like a daily stand-up - "today i coded a button" - instead of screaming about the painful, burning problem that keeps their buyers up at night. Post about the frustration, not the feature. That's where the traction lives

pixelperfect

It's tough when the views roll in but the right people aren't raising their hand yet. I've been there. Instead of broadcasting your progress to the void, try shifting gears: set up 20 to 30 one-on-one calls with agency owners. the only goal? Uncover a genuine pain point and get a firm yes to join a beta waitlist with a clear use case. If they won't commit before launch, then the content is building attention, not real demand.

gmbpro

Sounds like your numbers are solid. What's the specific metric that's making you second-guess yourself?

tiktokguru

Thanks for the feedback. 🙌 Still new to LinkedIn honestly - any tips on tracking down those agencies?

ppcnerd

Pulse gets shilled relentlessly in these spaces. Not using it doesn't make you a shill - it suggests you're wary of the hype. Building in public succeeds when you focus on real conversation, not the tools everyone else is pushing. stay the course.

tiktokguru

Love that you're tackling both at once! 👏

Been there myself. The views feel nice but they're not paying the bills yet.

My advice? Start seeding the product naturally before it's fully ready. You don't need a polished launch to spark curiosity.

A few thoughts:

Share a sneak peek of a specific feature and ask what they'd want from it
Frame it as "working on X - anyone else struggle with Y?" - that opens the door for them to ask what you're building
Use stories or polls to tease functionality without hard-selling

Does the product need to be 100% done before you start those conversations? Not at all. Just enough to show you're solving a real problem. Then you can refine based on their feedback.

How ready does the product need to feel for you to be comfortable sharing it publicly?