Product Hunt Launch Tips: The Ultimate Guide to Launching Like an Expert

Product Hunt is invaluable when it comes to launching a new product. It attracts marketers, tech experts, entrepreneurs, and hobbyists who are all looking for the next best thing. This tight-knit community means it’s likely to get picked up if you have created a truly worthwhile service or product.

It’s quick, simple, and free. Sounds like an easy win, right? It can be. But only if your product launch is up to scratch. With thousands of new posts every day, you need to make sure yours stands out from the crowd.

There are countless opinions on the best way to launch, and they all offer ‘pro-tips’. To save you hours of scrolling through and sifting the useful from the not-so-useful, we’re bringing them all together in this easy-to-read guide.

We’ll take a quick look at how the site works and why you should use it before diving into expert approaches to your complete Product Hunt strategy. This includes product tips, pre-launch advice, launch-day strategy, and post-launch advice. Finally, we’ll finish off with some case studies of people nailing it and the success that followed. 

A quick overview of how it works

So you’ve found this article, which makes me think you’re familiar with the basic concept of Product Hunt. Fair assumption? Even so, let’s quickly scan over the crux of the site to ensure we’re all on the same page.

First of all, Product Hunt is for everyone. It’s not exclusively for experts or tech wizards. If you have an idea, you’re an equal.

You have to be signed up for a minimum of a week before you launch your product. (We suggest longer than a week, but we’ll get to that in our pre-launch tips.)

When you’re ready to launch, simply click ‘submit’ and ‘new product’ in your account. Link the URL of your product’s landing page, and you’re good to go.

Your product will now be on the ‘homepage leaderboard’ ready to be discovered. The leaderboard changes throughout the day based on an algorithm that takes into consideration:

• Number of upvotes
• Comments
• Time since submission
• Other factors that remain a mystery

 So, there you have it. Pretty easy, right? It’s a gem of a site that gives everyone fair and equal opportunities for success. But why else should you use it?

Why use Product Hunt?

Product Hunt has a huge user base. It’s not surprising. The benefits of the platform are endless. Let’s take a look at a few before we start advising how to use it.

• It’s free. It’s not often you can get free publicity when launching a new product. Knowing that your post could be seen by thousands of interested people in your industry is a pretty good feeling, especially when it doesn’t cost a penny. 

• Supportive community. Getting involved in the Product Hunt community can be really rewarding, especially for startups. From listening to great advice to watching success stories unfold before your eyes. It’s a great team to be a part of. 

• Achievable success. It’s not sheer luck or having an already established following that decides whether your product makes it after launching. In fact, many businesses have grown from small startups to incredibly successful companies. We’ll get into a few juicy examples later. 

• Increased website traffic, signups, and email subscribers. Alongside support for a particular product, it’s likely you’ll receive a huge increase in engagement with your brand. This is invaluable for future launches and updates. 
• Honest feedback. A lot of hunters will submit a product that they know isn’t quite perfect yet. And that’s the point. To perfect it, you need honest feedback from users. What better place to get that than a supportive community?

You’ve got to be convinced by now. If you’re raring to go, let’s take a look at how to use it to your best advantage. The key with Product Hunt is to never jump in blind.

Product tips to set you apart from the crowd

You can know the ins and outs of launching and building a following, but if your product is no good, there’s no point. Product Hunt ensures that the product comes first.

There’s no way around the system. If you’ve got a good service, then the likelihood is you’ll gain a good following. If you don’t have anything original to offer, then people won’t bother. For this section, we’ll focus on Product Hunt’s advice. Because who’s going to have better insights than them?

Provide unique value

Value proposition is super important when it comes to the product you’ll launch. How will it benefit its users? How will it improve their current workflow? Will it target specific pain points? The top products always offer a service that will directly improve the user’s life.

This means that if your product is merely a copy of another service that’s widely available, it’s unlikely to be successful. Unique value means only your business can provide the experience. Yes, there may be similar products out there. It’s almost impossible to be completely unique in this saturated market. But it’s what you do to stand out. The added extras are what set you aside from competitors.

So, ask yourself the following questions before you put all your time and energy into your product launch:

• Why would people use your business for this service? 
• What makes your product stand out from the competition?
• Can you see your service becoming the product of the week? 
• Have you thoroughly researched your competitors? 

The maker is trustworthy

Product Hunt has strict rules when it comes to makers’ (the person who created the product) behavior. Your product might be the most exciting and innovative service of the week, but if it’s removed from the site, that won’t matter.

Never pay for upvotes or even directly ask for upvotes. If you are found as a maker to be doing this, your product will be removed. This means all of your hard work goes down the drain. Product Hunt prides itself on organic successes. Everyone starts equally, meaning the value of the product itself is the only thing determining success.

Aside from the rules in place, if you don’t come across as a trustworthy person, people won’t invest in you. 

The product is a product (duh)

Blog posts and lists won’t cut it. Product Hunt says they dilute the homepage, so it’s no use launching plain text documents. Ideally, people will be able to start using your product straight away. If not, you need to have a clear timeline in place to make it obvious when it will be usable.

Your focus should be on your product’s usefulness and value. You need to be convinced before you can convince others. So, get innovating.

Product Hunt launch checklist

There are plenty of services available that offer an interactive and complete breakdown of everything you need to launch on Product Hunt. By all means, check these out (but they’ll often come at a price). However, we’re going to provide a simple bullet-point list of everything you need when you submit a product.

• URL. This should be a direct link to your landing or home page where users will be able to download the product. 

• Name of the product. Don’t add descriptions or emojis. Keep it simple. 

• Tagline. In 60 characters or less, you must describe what your product does. Keep it short and snappy, but remember this is primarily what drives people to click through to your product. 

• Twitter handle. Garner attention and drive engagement on social media by including a product-specific handle (preferably not your personal Twitter account). 

• Topics. Select a few topics that most closely represent the industry or category the product falls under. 

• Description. In 260 characters or less, describe specific features of your product, what it is, and what it does. 

• Thumbnail. The image used needs to be in square dimensions. Product Hunt recommends 240×240. It also needs to be under 3MB. You can get creative with your thumbnail and use GIFs, but make sure they are readable and fairly simple (with no quick cuts or strobing effects.)

• Gallery images. The recommended size for these images is 1270×760. You need at least two images, and it’s worth putting some thought into what you choose. 

• Video. Around 53% of products that reached product of the day included a video. Demos are excellent for showcasing the value of your product in an engaging format.

• Makers. All makers and co-makers will need a Product Hunt account that you can link to on the launch page. 

• First comment. 70% of products that achieved Product of the Day, Week, or Month had a maker comment first. 
• Pricing. Choose one of the three options available: free, paid, and paid (with a free trial or plan).

Expert pre-launch tips

Let’s dive into the good stuff and take a look at what the experts are advising for your pre-launch strategy. After all, no good Product Hunt launch came from nowhere. The trick is to put the majority of your efforts into building a good base for your launch day. 

Nick Costelloe’s pre-launch advice at Demand Curve

“You should be doing most of the work before launch day.”

Don’t underestimate this advice. Without a good reputation within the community, it’s unlikely you’ll be successful. Product Hunt advises joining the community around three months before your planned launch. During this time, you should be:

• Providing useful feedback on new products
• Joining discussions in your industry
• Making connections
• Teasing your launch

Alongside this, you should be building an audience on various social media platforms. Share your project and be open and honest about what you’re working on, the difficulties you’re facing, and new ideas. You can reach out to your following and ask them to make Product Hunt accounts in anticipation of your launch. Some places this can be done are:

• Linkedin
• Facebook groups
• Instagram 
• TikTok 
• Twitter
• Slack

Get creative with the content you’re sharing. From blog posts to homemade gifs. The more diverse, the better.

Mariam Hakobyan’s website insights at Softr

“Make sure your website can handle the best case scenario – lots of traffic.”

If you’re hoping to go viral, your website needs to be functional, well-designed, sleek, and easy to use. Your message needs to be clear and succinct for Product Hunt users to appreciate your service. You’ll be going against some of the best sites out there, so don’t forget your competition.

Be sure to smooth out any bugs and make sure all the content is updated and SEO focused. If your main goal is to increase email subscribers, make sure every page has a clear and simple subscribe option. If your goal is to convert traffic to membership sign-ups, be sure to break down different membership options in an easy-to-read format.

Ovi Negrean’s hot take on hunters at Foundr

“Having a good hunter (the person who will submit your product on Product Hunt) can mean winning half of the battle. It’s like having a B2 bomber start the battle for you.”

This is an interesting one. Product Hunt specifically says that you do not need to find a particular hunter. It can be you, your mate, or your neighbor who happens to have an account. In fact, they actively encourage the owner of the product to be the hunter because you’ll have more control over the launch.

However, there are top hunters out there with a huge following. This means if they submit your product, you could have a significant head start. So, if you’re deciding to use an external hunter, be sure you find one who really understands your product and has a following and interest in your niche already. You want to focus on authentic engagement rather than an initial exciting increase in website traffic that’ll drop off after a week.

Check out 500 Hunters. It’s a constantly changing list of the top influencers on Product Hunt. But remember to never pay a hunter to post your product. This goes against Product Hunt’s guidelines and their ethos of having a fair and equal experience.

Lidia Vijga and Adam Casole-Buchanan’s email advice at BYVI

“The best way to start collecting emails from active Product Hunt members while also creating buzz around your launch is to create an upcoming page through Product Hunt Ship.”

Creating an upcoming page means you can gather a following of community members and their emails. You’ll be able to start building a good user base before the big day. When it comes to launch, sending out an email to all those interested will ensure they see your product. 

Product Hunt launch tips

The big day is here, so how are you going to navigate it? All the pre-launch build-up can make it nerve-wracking when it comes to actually submitting a product. You don’t want your hard work of the past few months to go to waste.

To avoid this, there are certain things you should consider. This includes the timing of your post, how you engage with the community, and the amount of effort you put in. Let’s see what the experts think.

Michael Sieb’s time tips at Type Studio

“Since the Product Hunt servers are located in the PST time zone (GMT-8), a new day starts exactly at 12:00 am PST. So your product should go live right at the beginning of the day to take the whole 24h with you and get to the top as fast as possible.”

Timing is everything, and Product Hunt actually talks about this themselves. Because the leaderboard resets every 24 hours, scheduling your post for 12.01 am is your best bet. However, this is only if you’re targeting a global audience. You should decide on the best time based on your specific goals and audience.

As for the best day to launch, there are pros and cons. Product Hunt advises that launching during the work week is always a good idea. Unless you’re a smaller business with a more personal product, like a customized-jewelry maker, where a weekend might suit your audience better due to more spare personal time. Check out how the amount of upvotes for the product of the day differs depending on the day of the week:

Spyros Tsoukalas engagement advice at Growth Mentor

“Product Hunt favors accounts that are active and engaged with the community. To show you’re active, ensure you spend your launch day engaging with people who vote.”

It’s no good launching your product and then sitting back to relax and expecting your notifications to blow up. You need to be actively communicating with your followers. Take the time to thank people for voting and ask them what they think of the product.

Even though it’s tricky to guess what Product Hunt’s algorithm favors, we know engagement is high up on the list. A successful Product Hunt launch day should be just as busy, if not more, than any of your other prep days. 

Max’s maximum effort tip from 100 Days of No Code

“If you get a good start to your campaign in the first hour, you’ll automatically be on the front page.”

Your launch day needs to be full-steam ahead from the word go until the day’s over. The first few hours are super important but don’t get lulled into a false sense of security. You may be flying high initially, maybe even achieving the product of the day, but if you take your foot off the gas, then you could soon fall from the top positions.

This means your whole team needs to be putting in some elbow grease. Everyone should continue to hustle for votes until the very end. Remember to:

• Never get a team member to vote (you could be penalized for this)
• Share updates of your launch on social media to attract a wider following
• Answer people’s questions

Samuli Phekonen’s failure-first insight at Flowrite

“After internalizing what we should do with our launch, we wanted to grasp what we specifically shouldn’t do when launching on Product Hunt.”

There are so many voices and opinions out there when it comes to launching your product that, inevitably, some won’t be the best advice. Rather than only talking to people who nailed launch day, chat with those who were less successful. Consider the following questions.

• What didn’t work for them? 
• Was it struggling from the start, or did something they do cause a downturn? 
• How did they try to remedy it?
• What’s the latest with their product now? 
• If they could give one piece of advice, what would it be?

 Learn from their mistakes rather than your own. 

Anand Patel’s update advice at Appcues

“Product, company, or investment updates are also terrific ways to reward the people who have invested time and energy into following your product.”

For those upvoting your product, keep them in the know. If you provide regular real-time updates throughout the day, people will remain invested, and you’re less likely to be forgotten. Followers will appreciate interesting and honest insights. If your team is celebrating a new investment in your product by cracking open a bottle of champagne, let people know! They’ll be pleased for you, and it will gain traction.

Post Product Hunt launch tips

The launch day may be over, but that doesn’t mean kicking back and relaxing. Like with every lead generated, you have to nurture them. People who were invested in your progress won’t be too happy if you drop off the face of the earth the next day.

It’s important to show them that your interest in the community wasn’t just to get what you wanted and leave. Instead, keep being an active and interested member. 

Janna Bastow’s reassuring take at ProdPad

“At the end of the day, when you flop on Product Hunt, no one cares. Like mostly everything on social platforms, it’s wiped from memory in short order. Don’t take it too hard. Instead, move forward and focus on building a great product.”

Your first launch didn’t go to plan? It’s not the end of the world! It’s important to remember that the majority of product launches aren’t incredibly successful straight away. It’s as much a learning process as it is a form of promotion. 

So, don’t hide away. Get proactive. Gather your feedback, and go back to the drawing board. Ask yourself the following questions:

• What was successful?
• What did people like about the product?
• What did people dislike about the product?
• Why didn’t it get much attention?
• What did you gain from your launch? For example, an increase in website visitors, visibility among your target audience, insightful metrics?

Userpilot’s essential stats

“Remember, one or two factors can’t decide the success or failure of your product. Take all possible reasons into account, strategize and execute accordingly.”

Metrics are key. Spend time digging through all the stats that might explain your success or failure. They are all important. Once you’ve done this, you’ll know exactly what users want from your product and how to adapt your service to ensure they get it.

Some metrics to keep an eye on include:

• Rank
• Upvotes
• Comments
• Engagement

Karthick Sridharan’s gracious advice at Mention

“Celebrate and thank your community.”

It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement and forget the next day after your launch should be focused on thanking those that have supported you. Not only thanking but communicating with early adopters and new users of your product. By being proactive, you’ll become more trustworthy.

It’s also a good time to focus on nurturing the leads you have created. Consider special offers and product hacks to show you care about each follower.

Case studies of great launches

Now we’ve covered everything you need to know about launching, let’s take a look at some stellar case studies to inspire your own product. 

Customerly

Customerly is a SaaS company that offers knowledge base software. Their product is simple, easy to use and implement, and useful. When they launched, they ended up in the top 5 products of the day. This resulted in:

• 50 signups only from PH traffic
• $500 in MRR (monthly recurring revenue) in the first 30 minutes of the launch
• 600+ more visits on the landing page daily for 3 days

This is clearly a great success story. So, let’s take a look at why their launch worked so well.

• Great free product. The product was clearly useful, and it was free. This meant it was super easy to convert traffic into customers. 
• Product presentation. Customerly stressed the importance of ensuring the product is presented in an eye-catching and fun way. For them, this included a GIF icon, easy-to-read description and title, videos, and first comment. 
• Importance of community. When they launched, they asked for sincere feedback and comments, not upvotes. This kind of engagement created a community that was invested in supporting and improving the product.
• Special offers. Despite Customerly’s knowledge base service being free, they offered 50% off their other customer service products with every sign-up. 
• Be creative and have fun. Customerly decided to use the phenomenon of cats in marketing. A fun and engaging article that described their product in the context of it helping cats find mysterious lights went viral, kickstarting their successful launch. 

NinjaOutreach

NinjaOutreach, in their second Product Hunt launch, was motivated by a want for people to see their redesign and complete rebranding. Their first launch wasn’t successful, as people disliked the clunky UX. Because of this, users weren’t able to understand the value of the product.

Despite having a small product marketing team and a low budget for their second launch, they made it to number 1 on the Product Hunt homepage and finished the day at number 2. This is how they did it:

• Social media banners. NinjaOutreach’s design team was tasked with the project of creating specific social media banners announcing their launch and celebrating specific milestones, like 100 upvotes. This meant their socials reflected their progress and kept followers engaged. 
• Newsletter announcement. An announcement in their newsletter that 10k people were already subscribed to was a great way to get the launch out there. 
• Team member support. NinjaOutreach encouraged all of their team members to share the launch on their personal social media accounts, which brought in a lot of traffic.

Marketing Examples

Marketing Examples does what it says on the tin. It’s a website dedicated to showcasing great marketing examples, breaking them down, and explaining why they were successful. Their launch went incredibly well:

• More than 2000+ upvotes
• 1st product of the week
• 2nd product of the month
• 2nd product of the day

This is how they did it:

• Created an initial following. Before launching, they set a goal of 1000 email subscribers and 1000 Twitter followers. This meant that when they did launch, they had a good base of fans. 
• Website banner. On the day of the launch, they added a website banner advertising that they were currently live on Product Hunt. This meant any organic traffic would hopefully click through to see the product.
• Post on forums. Marketing Examples posted on the Startup School Forum. These forums are useful because the user base is familiar with Product Hunt.

Flow-E

Flow-E is a solution for managing emails for small businesses. They managed to get 1st product of the day and 5th product of the week. This is how:

• Use Product Hunt Ship. Flow-E posted on upcoming pages to build anticipation and knowledge of their launch. This meant people could keep an eye on their page and remember to check it on launch day. 
• Ask for feedback. By asking for honest feedback, Flow-E encouraged their following to engage with their product. They could also respond to the comments and use the feedback to inspire future changes. 
• Keep social media live. On their launch day, they posted/tweeted every 2-3 hours. This may sound like a lot, but it meant followers became invested in their progress. 
• Post to groups. Flow-E recognized the importance of posting to relevant audiences in groups. These included Slack, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Be sure to join the groups at least a week before the launch, and avoid posting spammy messages to hundreds of groups unrelated to your industry.

Ready to launch?

We know that was a lot of info. And it may seem daunting heading into your first product launch with so many dos and don’ts. But the bottom line is to always keep it simple. Keep your post engaging, to the point, and easy to navigate.

It’s clear that the Product Hunt community is a key pillar in achieving success. But don’t underestimate the power of being a kind, engaged, and interested human talking to other humans. Respond to questions, keep them updated, and have fun!

If you’ve put time and effort into your product, do it justice by having a well-researched launch strategy. If you follow the advice in this guide, we’re sure you’ll win.