Solution: I built Cork. You can send a Reel or Tiktok directly to Cork without even needing to leave the app, and Cork will automatically extract the info in the reel and save it in a map + calendar.
However, I've been finding it hard to get traction while my competitors have gotten traction/funding. I strongly believe my app outperforms all known competitors (their apps fail on reels of popular creators while mine succeeds).
I'm not here for pity or to advertise, but I'm curious why people ship products that don't work for a pretty significant number of inputs when the teams are big enough (employees + funding) to pretty easily solve the problem in a cheap way (as I've done) or at least have a temporary high-performing solution with GPT.
TL;DR: imo my app outperforms competitors in raw performance. why is a team with manpower and funding failing to do something a 2 person team did in a month?
"Because you think the quality of the product matters."
If you want to get customers then the right focus is getting customers. Not making the product.
There are 2 of you. Your product is already better. Stop coding. Start marketing.
Like some others here, it's not something I would use, indeed I can't imagine using it, so I can't offer specific advice other than "find the market".
I'll also point out that you did the easy part first, which is your real mistake. Don't build a product then look for the market. Find the market first (that's the hard part) and build a product for them.
Personally I save a ton of restaurants like this, even in cities I may not visit months or years from now.
I would look into partnering with the restaurants in question. Maybe if someone saves a place to Cork, they get a discount code from the restaurant?
It has always seemed odd to me that instead of using the "ant trails", as it were, things are set to cause people to do something completely different from what they normally do. It seems harder, somehow...and not as effective.
You want to attract the attention of those who already go out and do things:
bikers, rock climbers, eaters of gourmet meals etc. So wouldn't partnership with these places and apps be the most effective? When you get someone on board...and if your project is properly made, then it should be easier to figure out what isn't correct. You are making assumptions without evidence...any at all, which seems premature. So you need data points to create a direction.....
I hope I'm being clear, as I am a hermit....and go nowhere. But if I were looking to find groups, then I would try a directory like Organized Obsessions ( print only) and pair that with an online effort to advertise in their newsletters etc. Jim Novo's Drilling Down for data collection and Lob.com to know whom to mail. A hybrid approach...which may yield good results. But definitely targeting first.
Hth,
Blackwolf
distribution is a separate skill from building.
your competitors got traction because they figured out how to get in front of peopl not because their product is better.That's the uncomfortable part.
A competitor with funding may simply be able to kickstart product awareness with lots of lost spend on advertising. Whereas a bootstrapped company will have a much more difficult time getting off the ground.
I can't find it on google
So immediate feedback. Why do i need to download an app ? This is HUGE friction.
Why can't i just DM your Intagram account all the posts/events that i care about, and it can pull directly from there and sent me a web link with a login code to view my organized events ?
Do you have links to your competitors ?
Genuinely: Who cares about saving reels? Or less bluntly, who are your potential customers and where are you advertising to reach them? Instagram itself is hugely popular, but the general population of Instagram users won't and don't care about saving reels. So either you teach them to (a la the story about the first shopping carts), or you find users who already want to, but don't have a tool for that yet, or are using a competitor's tool. Having not given it a ton of thought, creators themselves would want (and be willing to pay) for you're service. Play up the issue of if their account gets hacked or suspended by Instagram itself, they'll lose access to their reels and stories and posts, so use your service to get an off-site backup. Do you have AdWords setup so you come up when potential users search for your competition? Don't answer this, but what's your targeted/projected CAC (customer acquisition cost) vs LTV(lifetime value of a customer). You probably want to double or triple your ad-spend, but that'll raise CAC, so you want to have a examination of LTV before you commit to that.
Etc.
Contact a marketing agency for more in-depth specific help.