Glossary/Reciprocity marketing
Reciprocity marketing — definition
Reciprocity marketing uses the human urge to return favors: when you help first, people feel inclined to help back. In indie growth, that looks like shoutouts, testimonials, and backlinks exchanged among peers instead of one-way ads or cold asks.
Why it matters for indie developers
Bootstrapped founders lack ad budgets. Structured reciprocity — give proof, earn credit, receive proof — turns goodwill into a repeatable channel without sounding spammy.
The risk is fake mutual praise. Honest product use and verified submissions keep reciprocity credible; empty “great tool!” swaps train buyers to ignore you.
Related terms
Go deeper: Read: founder reciprocity growth