You built something. Now nobody knows it exists.

You are good at shipping code. You can debug a production issue at 2am, optimize database queries, and architect clean solutions to complex problems. But marketing? That is a different language.

The problem is not that you cannot learn marketing. The problem is that most marketing advice is written for people with teams, budgets, and time. You have none of those things.

You need a marketing stack that works for solo builders. Something simple enough to maintain while you are still shipping features. Effective enough to actually get users.

This is that stack.

Why Most Indie Hacker Marketing Stacks Fail

Before we build the right stack, let's talk about why most indie hackers fail at marketing.

Too Many Channels

You read that you need to be on Twitter, LinkedIn, ProductHunt, Reddit, HackerNews, Instagram, TikTok, a blog, a newsletter, and a podcast.

So you try to do all of them. You post once on each platform, get minimal engagement, and burn out within two weeks.

The truth: One channel done well beats ten channels done poorly. Pick one distribution channel and actually commit to it.

Tool Overload

You subscribe to fifteen different SaaS tools. Social media schedulers, analytics dashboards, SEO tools, email platforms, CRM systems.

Your monthly tool budget hits $200 before you have made a single dollar in revenue.

The truth: You need maybe three tools total. Everything else is procrastination disguised as preparation.

No System for Consistency

You post when you feel inspired. Sometimes that is three times in one week. Sometimes that is radio silence for a month.

Your audience never knows when to expect content from you. The algorithm definitely does not reward sporadic posting.

The truth: Consistency beats quality. A good post every week beats a perfect post every month.

Building in a Vacuum

You spend all your time building and zero time talking about what you are building.

You think the product will speak for itself. It will not.

The truth: Marketing is not something you do after you build. It is something you do while you build.

The indie hacker marketing stack solves all of these problems with three components: one platform, AI tools, and a consistency framework.

Component 1: LinkedIn as Your Primary Channel

If you only pick one channel, pick LinkedIn.

Not Twitter. Not ProductHunt. Not a blog.

LinkedIn.

Why LinkedIn for Indie Hackers

LinkedIn has something no other platform can match: purchase intent.

People scroll Twitter for entertainment. They scroll LinkedIn to get better at their jobs, find solutions to work problems, and discover tools that make them more productive.

When someone finds your SaaS on LinkedIn, they are already in a problem-solving mindset. When they find it on Twitter, they are looking at memes.

The audience quality difference:

• Twitter: Founders talking to other founders
• LinkedIn: Founders talking to potential customers
• ProductHunt: One-day traffic spike that rarely converts
• LinkedIn: Sustainable audience growth that compounds

The algorithm advantage:

LinkedIn's algorithm is less saturated than Twitter. A decent post on LinkedIn reaches more people than a decent post on Twitter, especially if you have fewer than 10,000 followers.

LinkedIn also rewards consistency more predictably. Post regularly and the algorithm will show your content to more people. Miss a week on Twitter and you might as well start over.

The LinkedIn Content Strategy for Indie Hackers

Your LinkedIn strategy has three content types:

1. Build-in-public updates

Share what you shipped this week. Show screenshots. Talk about technical decisions. Share metrics if you have them.

People follow indie hackers because they want to see the journey. Give them the behind-the-scenes view.

Example structure:

• What I shipped this week
• Why I made this technical choice
• What I learned
• What is next

This content is easy to create because you are already doing the work. You are just documenting it.

2. Problem-solution posts

Take a problem your product solves. Write a post about the problem, why it matters, and how to solve it.

Mention your product as one solution, but make the post valuable even if someone does not use your tool.

Example structure:

• Here is a problem you might have
• Here is why it happens
• Here are three ways to solve it
• Here is how we solve it in [your product]

This content attracts people who have the problem you solve. It also positions you as someone who understands their pain points.

3. Lessons learned

Share what you learned building your product. Technical insights, customer research findings, pricing experiments, marketing tests.

This content builds authority and gives people a reason to follow you beyond just your product.

Example structure:

• I tested [something]
• Here is what I expected to happen
• Here is what actually happened
• Here is what I learned

You can read more about how to structure LinkedIn posts in our guide on how to write LinkedIn posts.

The Weekly LinkedIn Workflow

Here is the exact weekly workflow that makes LinkedIn sustainable:

Sunday (30 minutes): Plan the week

• Review what you shipped or learned this week
• Pick 3-5 topics for posts
• Outline each post in 2-3 bullet points

Monday-Friday (20 minutes per day): Create and post

• Turn one outline into a full post
• Post it
• Spend 10 minutes engaging with comments

Total time commitment: 2 hours per week

That is it. No complex content calendar. No elaborate planning. Just consistent daily execution.

Component 2: AI Tools for Content Creation

You do not have time to spend four hours writing one LinkedIn post.

AI solves this problem.

The AI Tools You Actually Need

Most indie hackers overcomplicate their AI stack. Here is what you actually need:

1. A LinkedIn-specific AI tool (like Postiv)

Generic AI tools like ChatGPT are great, but they do not understand LinkedIn's format, tone, or best practices.

LinkedIn-specific tools like Postiv are trained on high-performing LinkedIn content. They understand hooks, structure, and the conversational tone that works on the platform.

What this tool does:

• Turns your rough ideas into complete LinkedIn posts
• Maintains your voice and style
• Handles scheduling so you are not posting manually every day
• Suggests content ideas based on what is working

Time saved: 60-90 minutes per week on content creation and scheduling.

2. ChatGPT or Claude for research and ideation

Use a general AI tool for:

• Brainstorming content topics
• Researching your audience's pain points
• Drafting long-form content for blogs or guides
• Analyzing competitor positioning

You probably already have access to one of these. Do not overthink it.

3. Canva (with AI features) for visuals

LinkedIn posts with images or carousels get more engagement than text-only posts.

Canva's AI features let you create decent visuals in minutes, not hours.

What you actually need:

• Simple branded templates for quotes or stats
• Screenshot markup tools
• Basic carousel templates

You do not need to be a designer. You just need visuals that do not look terrible.

How to Use AI Without Sounding Like AI

The biggest mistake indie hackers make with AI content: They copy-paste without editing.

AI-generated content has tells. Certain phrases, structures, and patterns that scream "a robot wrote this."

Here is how to use AI and still sound human:

1. Start with voice notes, not prompts

Record yourself talking about the topic for 2-3 minutes. Use a tool like Otter or your phone's voice recorder.

Transcribe it and feed that to AI. The AI works with your natural speaking patterns instead of generating generic content.

2. Give AI your outline, not the topic

Do not prompt: "Write a LinkedIn post about API design."

Instead: "Turn these bullet points into a LinkedIn post: [your rough outline]."

You maintain control of the structure and key points. AI just helps with polish and flow.

3. Edit for personality

After AI generates the draft, read it out loud. Anywhere it sounds stiff or formal, rewrite in your own voice.

Add personal examples. Change generic phrases to specific details. Remove flowery language.

4. Use AI for the middle, write the hooks yourself

The first 2-3 lines of your post matter most. Write those yourself.

Let AI handle the body content, but always review and edit.

You can learn more about creating consistent content in our guide on how to create a content calendar.

The AI-Assisted Content Workflow

Here is what the daily workflow looks like with AI:

Input (5 minutes):

• What did I ship or learn today?
• Record a 2-minute voice note or jot down 3-4 bullet points

AI processing (2 minutes):

• Feed the input to your LinkedIn AI tool
• Let it generate a draft post
• Review the output

Human editing (8 minutes):

• Rewrite the hook in your voice
• Add specific examples or data
• Remove AI-tell phrases
• Check that it actually sounds like you

Schedule and engage (5 minutes):

• Schedule the post
• Respond to yesterday's post comments

Total: 20 minutes per day

This workflow is sustainable. You can do this while shipping product features, talking to customers, and actually running your business.

Component 3: The Consistency Framework

Tools and platforms do not matter if you cannot show up consistently.

Consistency is the actual competitive advantage. Most indie hackers quit after two weeks. If you can post for two months, you are already ahead of 80% of people.

Why Consistency Beats Everything

LinkedIn's algorithm rewards consistency. Post regularly and your reach increases. Ghost for two weeks and you start from zero again.

But the algorithm is not even the main reason consistency matters.

Consistency builds trust.

When someone sees you show up every day, they start to believe you will still be around in six months when they need to buy a tool like yours.

Inconsistent posting signals that you might abandon your product. Nobody wants to buy software from someone who might disappear.

Consistency creates compounding.

Your first 20 posts will not move the needle. Posts 21-50 start to perform better because the algorithm understands your content and audience.

Posts 51-100 reach new audiences because your existing audience is engaging consistently.

By post 200, you have built real distribution power. But only if you get to post 200.

The Two-Week Test

Most marketing advice tells you to commit to 90 days. That is too long when you are also building a product.

Start with two weeks.

The two-week challenge:

• Post on LinkedIn once per day for 14 days straight
• Spend 20 minutes per day total
• Track what happens to your follower count and post engagement

If you cannot do two weeks, you need a simpler system. If you can do two weeks, extend to four, then eight.

The Consistency Tools

You need two things to maintain consistency:

1. A content buffer

Never post the same day you write. Always work one week ahead.

On Sunday, create Monday-Friday posts and schedule them. This removes the daily decision of "what should I post today" which is where most people fail.

If you have a bad day and cannot create content, you still post because it was already scheduled.

Tools like Postiv handle scheduling natively. You create the posts when you have energy, and they go out automatically.

2. An accountability system

The simplest accountability system: Public commitment.

Post on LinkedIn that you are committing to daily posts for two weeks. Now you have social pressure to follow through.

Or find one other indie hacker and check in daily. Two-person accountability works better than going solo.

What to Do When You Miss a Day

You will miss a day eventually. Everyone does.

When it happens:

Do not apologize. Nobody noticed you missed a day except you.

Do not try to post twice the next day. Just resume the normal schedule.

Do not quit. Missing one day does not erase the previous 20 days of consistency.

Just post the next day like nothing happened.

The Complete Indie Hacker Marketing Stack

Let's put all three components together into one actionable system.

The Tools

Required:

• LinkedIn account (free)
• Postiv or similar LinkedIn AI tool ($19-49/month)
• ChatGPT or Claude (free or $20/month)
• Canva (free or $13/month)

Total cost: $0-82 per month

Compare that to the $3,000+ per month agencies charge for LinkedIn management. Or the $200/month you would spend on a bloated marketing stack.

The Weekly Time Budget

Sunday planning: 30 minutes

• Review the week's progress
• Outline 5 posts for Monday-Friday
• Schedule posts in Postiv

Monday-Friday execution: 20 minutes per day

• Review and edit scheduled post
• Engage with comments from previous post
• Spend 5 minutes engaging with others' content

Total: 2 hours per week

That is 8 hours per month. Less time than you spend debugging production issues.

The 90-Day Roadmap

Here is what the first 90 days look like:

Days 1-14: Prove you can be consistent

• Post once per day
• Do not worry about follower growth
• Focus on building the habit

Days 15-30: Find your content mix

• Test different post formats
• Track which posts get the most engagement
• Double down on what works

Days 31-60: Optimize for engagement

• Respond to every comment
• Start conversations with your audience
• Build relationships, not just followers

Days 61-90: Add distribution tactics

• Invite engaged commenters to connect
• DM people who resonate with your content
• Start turning LinkedIn connections into email subscribers or product users

By day 90, you should have:

• 50-100 new LinkedIn connections
• 10-20 engaged community members
• 2-5 people who tried your product from LinkedIn
• A sustainable content system that takes 2 hours per week

How to Measure Success

Forget vanity metrics like follower count. Track these instead:

Engagement rate: (Comments + Shares) / Impressions

If this number is above 2%, your content resonates. Below 1%, you need to adjust.

Profile views:

When profile views increase week-over-week, your content is reaching new people.

Inbound messages:

The ultimate metric. Are people DMing you about your product, your content, or potential partnerships?

Website traffic from LinkedIn:

Set up UTM parameters on links you share. Track how many people visit your site from LinkedIn.

Product signups from LinkedIn:

The only metric that actually matters. How many people who found you on LinkedIn became users?

Advanced Stack Components (Once You Have Momentum)

The core stack is LinkedIn + AI + consistency. Once that is working, you can add these:

Email List

After 30-60 days of consistent LinkedIn posting, add an email capture.

Where to mention it:

• LinkedIn profile headline or about section
• Occasional LinkedIn post offering a free resource
• DM to highly engaged connections

What to send:

• Weekly recap of your LinkedIn posts
• Behind-the-scenes content not shared publicly
• Early access to product features

Tools: ConvertKit (free up to 1,000 subscribers) or Beehiiv (free up to 2,500 subscribers).

A Simple Blog

Not a content marketing blog with 50 SEO-optimized articles. Just a place to expand on LinkedIn topics that need more depth.

Write one long-form post per month. Link to it from LinkedIn.

This gives you SEO presence without the time commitment of a full content marketing strategy. You can learn more in our guide on content marketing for startups.

Tools: Your existing website with a /blog route. Do not overcomplicate this.

Product Hunt Launch

After 90 days of LinkedIn consistency, launch on Product Hunt.

Your LinkedIn audience becomes your initial upvote and comment base. This gives you momentum on launch day.

Do not launch on Product Hunt before building a LinkedIn audience. You will waste your one launch on a cold audience.

Paid LinkedIn Ads (Maybe)

Only consider paid ads after you have validated organic content for 90+ days.

If your organic posts consistently drive signups, paid ads will amplify that. If organic posts do not drive signups, paid ads will just waste money.

Start with $10/day promoting your best-performing organic posts.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

You now have the complete stack. Here are the mistakes that will kill it:

Mistake 1: Optimizing Before You Have Data

You post for one week, get minimal engagement, and start changing everything.

You try new formats, new topics, new posting times. Nothing works because you do not have enough data to know what to change.

The fix: Commit to 30 days before you change anything. You need at least 20-30 posts to see patterns.

Mistake 2: Copying Someone Else's Voice

You find an indie hacker with 50,000 LinkedIn followers and copy their post style.

Your posts feel forced. Your audience can tell you are imitating someone else.

The fix: Write like you talk. If you would not say it in a conversation, do not write it in a post.

Mistake 3: Only Posting, Never Engaging

You post daily but never comment on other people's content or respond to comments on your own posts.

LinkedIn's algorithm notices. Your reach drops because you are not participating in the community.

The fix: Spend half your time creating, half your time engaging. 10 minutes writing, 10 minutes commenting.

Mistake 4: Treating LinkedIn Like Twitter

You write threads, use hashtags heavily, and focus on hot takes.

LinkedIn rewards depth, not brevity. It rewards insights, not controversy.

The fix: Write like you are teaching someone, not trying to go viral. Provide value, not entertainment.

Mistake 5: Giving Up Too Early

You post for three weeks, gain 20 followers, and quit because it is not working fast enough.

Meanwhile, the indie hacker who kept going for 90 days just landed their first customer from LinkedIn.

The fix: Commit to 90 days before you evaluate. Marketing compounds slowly, then suddenly.

The Minimum Viable Marketing Stack

If you take nothing else from this guide, take this:

One platform: LinkedIn One AI tool: Postiv (or similar) One commitment: 20 minutes per day

That is the minimum viable marketing stack for indie hackers.

It is simple enough to maintain while building your product. Effective enough to actually grow your audience. Affordable enough to run on a bootstrapped budget.

Most indie hackers fail at marketing because they try to do too much. They spread themselves across ten platforms, subscribe to twenty tools, and burn out in two weeks.

The indie hacker marketing stack works because it is intentionally limited. One channel done well. AI to reduce grunt work. Consistency as the strategy.

You do not need a big marketing budget. You do not need a team. You do not need to be a great writer.

You just need to show up daily and talk about what you are building.

If you can ship code, you can do this.

You can also read our guides on developer marketing, marketing your side project, and bootstrapped startup marketing for more strategies.

The Bottom Line

The indie hacker marketing stack is not complicated:

Pick LinkedIn as your primary channel because that is where people with purchase intent actually are. Use AI tools like Postiv to reduce content creation time from hours to minutes. Commit to consistency because that is your only real competitive advantage.

Most indie hackers never figure out marketing. They build great products that nobody discovers. They quit before they give marketing time to compound.

Do not be most indie hackers.

Take the stack in this guide. Commit to 90 days. Post daily, engage genuinely, and talk about what you are building.

Two hours per week. That is all it takes.

The question is not whether this stack works. The question is whether you will stick with it long enough to find out.

Start today. Outline your first five posts. Schedule them in Postiv. Show up tomorrow and do it again.

Your future customers are on LinkedIn right now, scrolling past mediocre content and waiting for someone like you to show them something worth paying attention to.

Be that person.