How to launch on Product Hunt like a pro

Retable launched on Product Hunt on April 19, and it became:

• The #1 product of the day 🥇
• The #1 product of the week in productivity category 🥇
• The #2 product of the week in SaaS category 🥈
• And the #3 product of the month in SaaS category 🥉

We owe this success to everyone supporting Retable on the launch, and to you, who made it possible for us to keep going.

So now, it is time for us to return the favor and help you with your launch.

Table of contents

• What is Product Hunt?
• Step-by-step Product Hunt launch checklist
• Conclusion
• Frequently asked questions

What is Product Hunt?

Product Hunt is a platform for businesses to showcase their launch, gather support, and create awareness about their products. The rules of Product Hunt are simple: if you either just created a product or are preparing to launch a new version and need awareness, you create a launch on Product Hunt and ask for people to upvote for you.

If you get enough upvotes within 24 hours, you are awarded the “Product of the day” badge. The same with weekly and monthly badges. You get the drill.

But that is not all about Product Hunt.  

It’s not only about the badge.

By joining the Product Hunt community, you get the chance to let thousands of people know that your product exists. And if you do well enough on the launch, you get a spot on their newsletter – which reaches all Product Hunt members.

But a Product Hunt is not an easy marketing campaign for sure. It requires great preparations in advance that will take maybe months.

So, should you do a Product Hunt Launch?

Let’s see:

Is launching Product Hunt worth it?

The basic answer is, if it is your first launch – or fi you have made such significant changes to your product that it is now something new, then yes. You should do a Product Hunt launch.

“But Product Hunt is full of AI tool launches and my tool won’t stick out”

Well, it’s not about AI, it’s about the effort you put into your launch that will make you stick out.

And there is more value than harm in launching on Product Hunt. For instance:

• It brings awareness about your product to vast communities,
• It creates a ground for networking in the comments section and in Product Hunt related groups,
• It helps you communicate with a new group of potential users through the comments and curious browsers.

So yes, launching on Product Hunt is free, and it can be a better marketing strategy than paid advertising – if you meet the launch criteria.

So, let’s focus on how to launch, and Product Hunt launch best practices:

Step-by-step Product Hunt launch checklist

Here are the 10 most important steps in our Product Hunt launch guide:

1. Get on Product Hunt early on

Product Hunt is like a social media account for your business. You create an account (for the launch), you get people to follow you, and they support you when you launch.

Product Hunt is almost a “you get what you give” platform. The more businesses and launches you support prior to your launch, the more support you will get when your product launches.

So, in short, getting on the platform early on allows:

• Your product to be seen by people even before the launch,
• And you to see other products, upvote them, comment on their products, and get the same support later.

2. Optimize your Product Hunt page

So, we mentioned that the Product Hunt page is its social media profile, right? Just like LinkedIn, just like X (Twitter), and just like many other platforms; your page must clearly communicate who you are and what your product does.

Here is Retable’s profile for reference:

Let’s point out what’s done right:

• What the product does is written clearly,
• All links, social media, and downloadable platforms are listed,
• There is a deal special to those that find out about Retable on Product Hunt,
• And there are images that support everything else you see on the screen.

3. Build a strong community and a mailing list

Cold outreach and email marketing is fading away for sales – but it still thrives for gathering a community that will support each other.

You must have a strong community before you launch on Product Hunt. This community can be a mixture of email addresses, a community on Slack or Discord, groups on LinkedIn. Without a community to support each other, it will be very difficult to rise to the top with your launch.

So, what are you going to tell your community?

4. Prepare what you are going to say in your emails

Well, not only emails but also community messages. You should reach out to your communities at least 4 times:

• 10 days or a week prior to your launch, send them your Product Hunt page and ask them to follow it so they will be notified by Product Hunt when you launch.
• A day before the launch, remind them that their support is crucial, and give them an incentive to upvote (if you can). You can offer a discount, a free add-on, or you can promise to help them with their launch that is coming soon.
• Twice on the day of the launch, one as soon as you go live and one about 12 hours later – to ensure you are at the top of their inbox no matter which time zone they are in. On this mail or message, just remind them of your email the day before, and ask for their upvotes and comments – along with a promise to help them as well.

Here, you can check Retable's email sample;

5. Join communities and help others as well

As I mentioned above, Product Hunt is a “get what you give” platform. If you help them, and ask them to return the favor, you will most probably get better results than just asking for one sided support.

Go on different launches, upvote them, ask them a question or compliment them on the comments, and then reach out to them via LinkedIn or email saying something along these lines:

“Hey! I loved your product, especially the xx aspect of it. I upvoted and commented on your launch – I know how much it means. We are launching xx on xx, and I would appreciate if you could support us as well!”

6. Spread word of your launch before the day comes

As Retable, we had an email list at hand from current users, partner companies, and friends of ours. On top of that, our whole marketing team joined Product Hunt groups and supported others with their launch.

And each time we interacted with someone that knows Retable, we would ask them to support us when the day came.

Why?

Because if they didn’t have Product Hunt accounts, it is best to open one before the day of the launch so that they don’t get marked as “bots”.

So, apart from your email one-month prior to your launch, don’t hesitate to ask friends, networks, old colleagues to open Product Hunt accounts before the day to support you.

7. See how Product Hunt’s timing works best in your favor

In Product Hunt, your product launch is showcased for 24 hours the day you launch. This 24-hour timer starts at 12am PST and is not in your own time zone.

Depending on where you are in the world, make sure to take that into account. While you schedule your launch, check the world clock to make sure you launch at (or shortly after) 12:01am PST to not lose any valuable minutes invisible on the platform.

As for the best time to launch on Product Hunt, if you want to get “product of the day” more easily, then launch on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or a Thursday. But if you want the most upvotes and overall, more interaction, then you should launch on a Monday or Friday since those are the days with the most competition.

8. Let's not forget about the comments

I cannot stress this enough but here it comes:

Don’t. Just. Ask. For. Upvotes. Valuable. Comments. Are. Just. As. Important!

It’s not about the “congratulations!” comments, it’s about those that prove the value of the product and leaves room for discussion.

At Retable, we prepared 50-100 questions and answers, and asked our close communities to comment for us. We also shared our own opinions on the product so that there would be open ground and some ideas on the floor for further discussion with others.

9. Focus on organic growth instead of paid promotions

On the day of your launch, your emails are going to be flooded with “I can sell you upvotes and comments” mails. Some of those might be true, but the price is usually pretty steep.

And the most dangerous part about those emails is the fact that most of those upvotes you paid for will be bots, and Product Hunt reduces the number of bot votes from your total votes.

In short, you will have paid for nothing. Don’t fall for those scams.

Product Hunt values organic votes that are from real people, and its engines can pick up bots easily. Your community is a stronger tool, you don’t have to “pay” for upvotes.

10. Be active and engage with the community during the launch

This might look like a no-brainer, but you have to be active on the day of your launch!

There is a lot to do:

• You need to answer comments,
• Check your LinkedIn and email inbox all the time to reply to questions and requests, and send out emails to get more support,
• And you also need to keep an eye on your team that has worked restlessly for the past few weeks to make this launch a success.

Conclusion

All in all, launching a product successfully on Product Hunt isn’t difficult, but building everything that leads to that success takes time, dedication, and some knowledge about how and what to do.

I hope this content could help you understand how you can build a better product hunt launch strategy, and good luck with your launch in advance!

Frequently asked questions

Let’s answer the most frequently asked questions about product launch tips on Product Hunt:

How do I launch my product on Product Hunt?

To launch on Product Hunt, you need to create a free Product Hunt account, create a page for your product, and collect upvotes on the day of your launch. But you need to prepare well in advance to get the most upvotes and comments of the day. You can find the product launch best practices right here.

How to publish on Product Hunt?

Once you create an account and a page for your product, the only thing you need to do is set a launch time for your product, and it will show up on Product Hunt automatically. But to get featured and collect more upvotes, you can read our product launch guide.

Is launching on Product Hunt free?

Yes, launching on Product Hunt is %100 free. You can purchase visibility packages in Product Hunt, but you don’t have to.

When should you launch on Product Hunt?

If you want to get “product of the day” more easily, then launch on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or a Thursday at 12:01 AM PST. But if you want the most upvotes and overall, more interaction, then you should launch on a Monday or Friday at the same time - since those are the days with the most competition.