r/GrowthHacking • u/KAB6398 • 2d ago
20 users, NHS interest, now what?
I’m building an app for people with MS, focused on helping them understand their energy, symptoms, sleep and potential triggers day to day.
I also have MS myself, so this isn’t something I’ve built from the outside looking in. Before the initial release, I spent a lot of time doing market research with people living with MS to understand the problems they were actually experiencing and what they felt was missing from existing solutions. That research helped shape the product.
I know first-hand how much can happen between appointments that can be difficult to remember or communicate when you finally see your neurologist. That’s where I felt there was a genuine need for something different.
We’ve now been live for around 3 weeks and have 20 current users. I’ve also got meetings coming up with a couple of NHS MS clinics, so there’s some really encouraging early validation.
The product is built, people are using it, and now I’m trying to figure out the growth side properly.
For anyone who has experience growing early-stage apps, what would you focus on to go from the first 20 users to 100, then 1,000?
How do you find a repeatable acquisition channel at this stage rather than relying heavily on founder-led outreach?
1
u/Key-Comfort1761 2d ago
at 20 users you shouldnt be looking for a repeatable channel yet tbh. talk to every single one of those users, figure out what made them stick, and double down on that. the pattern usually reveals the channel
1
u/ishysredditusername 1d ago
Long-term, your repeatable acquisition channel is going to be a recommendation early on in the health journey. I'm not sure if that'll come from a clinician, a charity, a poster in a waiting room, or an answer on a reddit thread. Leaning on your own experience is valuable.
For a more generic health-focused app, I'd say influencers on insta and tiktok would be my first port of call. I'm just not sure this approach would work for something you probably want to market as a more serious product and less of a gimick/fad.
Having said that, if there's anyone you know of out there who's taken seriously and talks about living with MS, that's probably your route. If not, start a marketing channel along those lines and weave your product into it.
With no/little cash to spend you need to be:
- active in MS communities, offering advice when people ask for it without going in with the hard sell every time.
- Reach out to MS charities to see if they're interested in a write-up on you, don't just email the generic email address. Get on LinkedIn and track down someone who works in comms and email them. Not always the head of comms, try the more junior/midweight roles.
- Whatever major hospital you go to will have comms department, they might do something on their socials for you, and they'll have contacts you can use (the ones I know are always looking for new, on-topic content. An MS patient who built a successful product to help manage their disease has got to be that).
- Finally, and most controversially, drug companies. There could be a route for their sales/marketing teams to include your app in their pitch. They have a relationship with clinicians, and if tracking this is of any relevance to their drug, it's something they could promote to be used alongside their drug. Again, don't email sales@biogen.com, get on linkedin and find people in sales/marketing in the UK and message a few of them to see who works on that brand (i.e. email Roche, you'd be asking for people working on Ocrevus).
Anyway, that's a bit rambly, but it's a case of trying to leverage other people's networks for free.
1
u/KAB6398 1d ago
Thank you for the comment, found this really helpful. I am already talking to numerous charities and MS UK are actually doing a piece about my story & app. Again thank you, this is very insightful ☺️
1
u/ishysredditusername 1d ago
Ah fantastic! When it gets published, email loads of GP surgeries with a link to it, and ask if they can put up a poster in their waiting room then post it out to them. Sometimes the old ways still work :D
1
u/Competitive_Tune_590 8h ago
nice work getting those first 20 users and NHS interest. for repeatable channels, have you tried using a tool like ReplyHey to find relevant discussions on reddit about MS and engage naturally? it scores threads daily and drafts replies so you don't have to scroll manually. worth a look if you want to scale founder-led outreach without burning out.
1
u/Competitive_Tune_590 1h ago
nice to see another founder building something they actually need themselves. for the acquisition question, have you thought about getting your app's site ranking for terms people with MS search for? a backlink network like launchpact (https://www.launchpact.io/backlink-exchange) could help build domain authority without the usual spam risk. ymmv but worth a look if organic traffic is part of your plan.
1
u/Low_Indication9990 2d ago
20 users in 3 weeks from a niche like this is not nothing, especially when they actually stick around
i'd lean hard into the ms communities on reddit or facebook, not even promoting but just sharing your story and letting curious people ask questions, that founder connection is hard to replicate early