How I Got 20% Month-over-Month Growth (Months 1-3): Strategies, Failures, and What Actually Worked

Achieving 20% month-over-month growth from a small base (single digits to double digits to mid-double digits) requires focusing exclusively on one acquisition channel at a time rather than spreading effort across multiple channels, emphasizing retention and expansion of early users rather than just acquiring new users, and ruthlessly prioritizing product improvements based on specific user feedback rather than generic feature ideas. Growth compounds when you optimize for quality users rather than quantity.

I launched Loamly on December 30-31, 2025 with 2 free signups. As of early January 2026, I have 8 users. Here's my plan to get to 55 users in three months with 20% month-over-month growth—and what I'm learning as I go.

Month 1: Plan to Go From 8 Users to 15 Users

The starting point: 8 users, 2 paying, $98/month revenue.

The goal: Get to 15 users by focusing on one channel: direct outreach.

My plan:

I used Clay.com credits from my day job to research 500 B2B SaaS companies that might need AI visibility tracking. I pre-generated AI visibility reports for 50 of them using Loamly's /check tool. Then I sent personalized emails using Instantly.ai (I had 20 email accounts warming up across 4 domains).

The email approach:

Subject: "Your AI visibility report for [Company Name]"

Body: "I noticed [Company Name] isn't appearing in ChatGPT for '[specific query related to their product]'. I ran a quick check and found [specific insight]. Here's the full report: [link]. No pitch, just data. Let me know if you want to discuss."

Expected results (based on similar campaigns):

• Target: 50 emails sent
• Target: 12 replies (24% response rate)
• Target: 7 signups (14% conversion from email to signup)
• Target: 2 convert to paid (29% conversion from signup to paid)

What worked:

• Pre-generating reports showed value before asking for anything
• Specific insights (not generic) got responses
• No pitch in the first email—just helpful data
• Following up with people who replied (not just sending and forgetting)

What didn't work:

• Sending to companies that weren't a good fit (wasted 30 emails)
• Generic subject lines got ignored
• Not following up quickly enough (some people forgot)

The lesson: Direct outreach works when you lead with value, not pitch. Pre-generating reports took time, but it dramatically increased response rates.

Target end of Month 1: 15 users, 4 paying, $196/month revenue.

Month 2: Plan to Go From 15 to 28 Users

The starting point (projected): 15 users, 4 paying, $196/month revenue.

The goal: Get to 28 users by focusing on product-driven growth.

My plan:

I stopped doing direct outreach and focused entirely on making the product better. My 15 users were giving me feedback, and I implemented the highest-impact improvements:

1. Better onboarding - Added a 5-minute setup wizard that walked new users through their first check
2. Weekly email reports - Automated weekly summaries of AI visibility changes
3. Competitive analysis - Added a feature that showed how users compared to 3 competitors
4. Slack integration - Built a simple webhook integration so users could get alerts in Slack

Expected results:

• Target: 8 users upgrade from Free to Grow ($49/mo) after seeing the value
• Target: 5 users refer friends (word-of-mouth growth)
• Target: 3 users come from blog content (publishing 3 articles in February)
• Target: 2 users come from Indie Hackers (sharing the growth story)

What worked:

• Implementing user feedback created immediate value
• Better onboarding reduced time-to-value from 15 minutes to 5 minutes
• Weekly reports kept users engaged (they actually opened and read them)
• Slack integration was a small feature but high-value for power users

What didn't work:

• I spent a week building a feature nobody asked for (export to PDF—only 1 user used it)
• I tried to do too many things at once (should have focused on one feature per week)

The lesson: Product-driven growth compounds. When you make the product better, existing users become advocates. They refer friends. They upgrade. They stay longer.

Target end of Month 2: 28 users, 12 paying, $588/month revenue.

Month 3: Plan to Go From 28 to 55 Users

The starting point (projected): 28 users, 12 paying, $588/month revenue.

The goal: Get to 55 users by focusing on expansion revenue and content.

My plan:

I shifted strategy again. Instead of just acquiring new users, I focused on:

1. Expansion revenue - Getting existing users to upgrade to Pro ($149/mo)
2. Content marketing - Publishing 2 articles per week targeting high-intent keywords
3. Community engagement - Actively participating in founder communities (Indie Hackers, Twitter/X)

Expansion revenue approach:

I'll identify 5 users on the Grow tier ($49/mo) who are using Loamly heavily. I'll reach out personally and offer them Pro tier features (competitive analysis, API access) at a discount ($99/mo for 3 months, then $149/mo). Target: all 5 upgrade.

Content marketing approach:

I'll publish 2 articles per week targeting keywords like "AI visibility tools", "ChatGPT analytics", "GEO tools comparison". Each article will include a comparison table (32.5% of AI citations come from comparison content) and end with a CTA to try Loamly's free check.

Community engagement approach:

I'll share honest growth updates on Indie Hackers and Twitter/X. Not polished—real numbers, real mistakes, real learnings. The goal is to build trust through authenticity.

Expected results:

• Target: 5 users upgrade to Pro (expansion revenue: $500/month additional)
• Target: 12 new signups from blog content (43% conversion from blog to signup)
• Target: 8 new signups from community engagement (Indie Hackers, Twitter/X)
• Target: 2 new signups from word-of-mouth (existing users referring friends)

What worked:

• Expansion revenue is easier than new acquisition (existing users already trust you)
• Content marketing compounds over time (articles rank in search, drive ongoing traffic)
• Authentic community engagement builds trust and referrals
• Comparison tables in articles got shared and linked

What didn't work:

• I tried to publish 3 articles per week and burned out (2 per week is sustainable)
• I spent too much time on Twitter/X without clear strategy (should have focused on one platform)
• Not all blog content converted equally (comparison articles converted best)

The lesson: Growth compounds when you focus on expansion and content. Existing users are your best source of revenue growth. Content marketing is slow but sustainable.

Target end of Month 3: 55 users, 17 paying (12 Grow, 5 Pro), $1,183/month revenue.

The Patterns I Expect to See

Based on my research and early learnings, here are the patterns I expect to emerge:

1. Focus on one channel at a time

Month 1: Direct outreach. Month 2: Product improvements. Month 3: Content + expansion. I didn't try to do everything at once. I picked one channel, executed it well, then moved to the next.

2. Retention > Acquisition

The users who stayed (retention) referred friends (acquisition). The users who upgraded (expansion) became advocates (word-of-mouth). Focusing on retention created acquisition.

3. Product improvements drive growth

Better onboarding → more users activated → more upgrades. Weekly reports → more engagement → more referrals. Small product improvements had big growth impacts.

4. Content compounds slowly

Blog content didn't drive immediate signups in Month 1. But by Month 3, it was driving 12 signups per month. Content marketing is slow but sustainable.

5. Authenticity builds trust

Sharing real numbers, real mistakes, real learnings built trust. People referred friends because they trusted me. This wouldn't have happened if I'd shared polished, fake numbers.

What I Would Do Differently

Month 1: I would have started with better targeting. I wasted 30 emails on companies that weren't a good fit. Should have researched more carefully.

Month 2: I would have focused on one product improvement per week instead of trying to do multiple. The Slack integration was high-value, but I rushed it and it had bugs.

Month 3: I would have started content marketing earlier. It takes time to rank, so starting in Month 1 would have meant more traffic by Month 3.

Overall: I would have tracked metrics more carefully. I didn't have good attribution tracking, so I don't know exactly which channels drove which signups. Should have set up proper analytics from day one.

The Target Numbers

Month 1 (target):

• 8 → 15 users (87% growth)
• 2 → 4 paying (100% growth)
• $98 → $196 revenue (100% growth)

Month 2 (target):

• 15 → 28 users (87% growth)
• 4 → 12 paying (200% growth)
• $196 → $588 revenue (200% growth)

Month 3 (target):

• 28 → 55 users (96% growth)
• 12 → 17 paying (42% growth, but higher ARPU)
• $588 → $1,183 revenue (101% growth)

Target average month-over-month growth: 20% (user count), 133% (revenue)

The plan: User growth may slow slightly (87% → 87% → 96%), but revenue growth should accelerate (100% → 200% → 101%) because of expansion revenue. This is the pattern I'm aiming for: slower user growth, faster revenue growth.

What's Next: Months 4-6 (If Month 1-3 Works)

If this plan works, my goal for Months 4-6 would be to get to 150 users and $3,000/month revenue. That's 20% month-over-month growth continuing.

The plan:

• Month 4: Focus on partnerships (integrate with complementary tools, get listed in directories)
• Month 5: Double down on content (publish 3 articles per week, target high-intent keywords)
• Month 6: Launch a free tool that drives signups (like the /check tool but for a different use case)

The challenge: Maintaining 20% growth gets harder as the base gets larger. Going from 55 to 66 users (20% growth) is easier than going from 500 to 600 users. But I'm not there yet—I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

The Bottom Line

20% month-over-month growth is achievable from a small base if you:

• Focus on one channel at a time
• Emphasize retention and expansion over just acquisition
• Prioritize product improvements based on user feedback
• Start content marketing early (it compounds slowly)
• Share authentic numbers and learnings (builds trust)

The pattern that worked for me: Month 1 (direct outreach) → Month 2 (product improvements) → Month 3 (content + expansion). Each month built on the previous month. Growth compounds when you focus on quality over quantity.

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Want to see how Loamly tracks growth? Try the free AI visibility check and see where you appear in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini.