Written by Ar.Bhavesh Panse, AI app growth marketer | ZuAI: 10K → 2M users at $0.02 CAC | $300k/mo ad spend managed
AppGrowth Marketer

Free playbooks for your first users. From 0 to 1 million, step by step.

these are free, step-by-step playbooks for app founders who are stuck getting users. pick the guide for the stage you are at: your first 50 users, your first 100, your first 1,000, 1,000 to 10,000, or scaling past 50K to a million. each one tells you exactly what to do this week, what it costs in time and money, and what to measure.

if you are at zero, start with the first 100 users guide, pick two channels, and follow the channel playbook for each. i would rather teach you to fish than catch the fish for you.

new here? start with what an app growth marketer actually does.

13 articles

Everything in Playbooks

Playbooks

How to get your first 50 app users (when nobody knows you exist)

How to get your first 50 app users with no audience: hand-picked beta users, manual onboarding, a 14 day plan, an invite template and an interview script.

Playbooks

How to get your first 100 app users: a channel-by-channel guide

How to get your first 100 app users: pick two channels by app type and founder strength, what each channel needs, a 30 day plan and what to measure.

Playbooks

How to get your first 1,000 app users, channel by channel

How to get your first 1,000 app users: ASO, Reddit, TikTok organic, communities and paid, what each costs in time and money, and the order to run them.

Playbooks

How to get from 1,000 to 10,000 app users

How to get from 1,000 to 10,000 app users: a weekly creative testing loop, small paid budgets behind organic winners, ASO, sharing loops and retention.

Playbooks

How to scale from 50K to 1 million app users

How to scale an app from 50K to 1 million users: what breaks, a 150+ ads a month UGC engine, paid behind proven winners, honest CAC and a 90 day plan.

Playbooks

How to get your first 100 app users from Reddit

A 30 day Reddit playbook for founders with no budget: pick 10 subreddits, warm an account honestly, write answer-first comments and track every signup.

Playbooks

How to get your first 100 app users from TikTok (with zero budget)

A zero budget TikTok playbook for app founders: set up a founder account, 5 video formats, hooks, posting cadence, analytics, tracking and a 30 day plan.

Playbooks

How to get your first 100 app users from creators and micro-influencers

Micro influencers for apps on a budget: find small creators whose audience fits, outreach templates, what to offer with no money, disclosure and tracking.

Playbooks

How to get your first 100 app users from online communities

A zero budget playbook for your first 100 app users from Discord servers, Facebook groups, Slack groups, forums and Quora, without getting banned.

Playbooks

How to get your first 100 app users from Product Hunt and launch sites

A zero budget launch plan for Product Hunt, Show HN, BetaList and Indie Hackers: the official rules, a prep checklist, launch day plan and templates.

Playbooks

How to get your first 100 app users from your own network

How to ask friends, ex-colleagues, alumni and your LinkedIn and X followers to try your app, with message templates, intro asks and the ratings rules.

Playbooks

How to get your first 100 app users from the App Store

Get your first App Store downloads as a new app: long-tail keywords, 3-frame screenshots, in-app events, featuring nominations, ratings and analytics.

Playbooks

How to get your first 100 app users with a small paid ads budget

Is it worth running ads for a new app? When paid makes sense early, how to run a capped test, 3 to 5 creatives, cost per retained user and stop rules.

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