Compare communities, social posts, and direct conversations by audience fit, access, and the work needed to learn from them.
This article covers channel selection. Return to the main guide for the full path from first contact to a second product visit. Find your first users View guide
Choose a channel where people already describe the problem your product solves. A small, relevant conversation is a better starting hypothesis than a large audience with no reason to care.
Read the rules before introducing your product. Use designated feedback or promotion spaces when required. Answer relevant questions honestly and avoid treating a community as a contact database.
A public post is not permission to send someone a private message. Keep the conversation in the original channel unless they invite another route.
Share a specific problem, an actual product change, or a lesson from a test. Show evidence and limitations. Track whether the post starts useful conversations rather than judging it only by impressions.
A personal introduction or an appropriate, permitted message can start a detailed exchange. Explain why you are contacting this person, ask one question, and respect a decline or opt-out.
Write a clear beta testing invitation — Continue reading
Keep the first experiment small enough to follow up with every participant. Record the audience, message, response, actual use, and next step so you can distinguish reach from useful engagement.
Adapt to each community’s purpose and rules. Copying the same promotion across unrelated spaces does not test audience fit and can damage trust.
Count relevant conversations, completed product tasks, useful feedback, and return visits. Keep these separate from views, collected profiles, and untested signups.
After choosing a channel, use the main guide to plan who to invite and what to ask them to try.