- \n
- severe traffic spikes on your websites ????.<\/li>\n
- a sh!tload of new followers on social media ????.<\/li>\n
- getting featured in tech media like TechCrunch or TheNextWeb.<\/li>\n
- fresh product ideas ????.<\/li>\n
- new business relationships.<\/li>\n
- a meowntain of new customers ????.<\/li>\n
- money raining down on you from nowhere ????.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image2.gif\")
\u00a0This won\u2019t work if you have a shitty product.\u00a0Good thing Product Hunt will tell you why your product is shitty, so you can make it into a good one.\u00a0This won\u2019t work if you\u2019re not willing to put in the work.\u00a0This guide is long for a reason. Launching your product on Product Hunt is a one-time opportunity that can turn out pivotal for your business. You\u2019ll only get one shot at this and I will tell you exactly what you need to do to make the most out of it. This is me giving you a head start. It\u2019s up to you to hit it out of the park.\u00a0I\u2019ve included TL;DRs (Too Long; Didn\u2019t Read) at the end of every section so you can get a quick recap before you move on.<\/p>\nWTF is Product Hunt? ????<\/strong><\/h3>\n
If you\u2019ve never heard of Product Hunt, I\u2019m gonna guess you\u2019ve been exploring Mars in search of alternative fuels. In that case: could you slip me Elon\u2019s number real quick? ???? Don\u2019t worry about the Product Hunt thing, I got you covered ????.\u00a0Product Hunt is the little baby of\u00a0Ryan Hoover<\/a>. Ryan is one of those guys that just friggin\u2019 loves everything that\u2019s new and cool. Not just for fun. For Ryan, new products are an opportunity to learn and, most of all, a way of connecting with like-minded people.\u00a0Back in 2013, Ryan was looking for a one-stop-shop to discover the hottest new tech products. As he didn\u2019t find anything, he did the entrepreneurial thing and started it himself. In its cute early days as an MVP, Product Hunt was a\u00a0mailing list<\/a>, build on this one question:<\/p>\n
What cool products are you using?<\/h5>\n
It\u2019s a question we all ask and it turned out to be one hell of a community builder. Within two weeks, Ryan\u2019s little mailing list had 170 subscribers devouring discoveries from 30 hand-picked contributors, consisting of startup founders, VCs, and prominent bloggers. Ryan was on to something.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image12.gif\")
\u00a0Ryan Hoover, founder of Product Hunt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Today, Product Hunt is Silicon Valley\u2019s favourite little playground. A tightly-knit community of like-minded geeks who bond over anything hot ???? and the new \u2728. Not just tech, but also books, podcasts and games \u2014 you name it. The site kind of works like reddit, with users posting products and the community making or breaking them with comments and upvotes.\u00a0More upvotes will get your product higher on Product Hunt\u2019s frontpage, getting you some solid street cred with a community packed with early adopters, curious investors and avid entrepreneurs. It is the ultimate startup launchpad ????.\u00a0TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
- \n
- Product Hunt was founded by Ryan Hoover.<\/i><\/li>\n
- as a one-stop-shop to discover the coolest new products.<\/i><\/li>\n
- it\u2019s a tightly-knit community of early adopters, investors,\u00a0and entrepreneurs.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
OK\u2026 And why should I care again?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Ever heard of the Product Adoption Curve?\u00a0It\u2019s one of those gazillion frameworks they show you in marketing class you then instantly forget about.\u00a0I did anyway.\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/1_image18-1.png\")
\u00a0The reason you should care is that you want people to start using your product.\u00a0You want this because, well, everyone building a product wants this.\u00a0To get there, you need to understand how a new product finds its way in the market and makes its way to new users.\u00a0The Product Adoption Curve is something all new kids on the block have to go through. Facebook, Slack, Uber and DVDs (still ring a bell?) \u2014 heck, even underwear at some point must have gone through it (hope those do ring a bell?). Some go faster, some go slower. Others just die along the way because they fail to understand how it works.\u00a0The people you need to get on board first are innovators.<\/p>\nWhy?<\/i><\/h5>\n
Because these are the ones willing to take your product for a spin when it\u2019s still a baby. They\u2018re okay with it still shitting the bed from time to time ????. They look beyond the bugs and spartan features to see if your product deserves to exist. They\u2019ll share their findings with the world and, if they like what they see, may even end up promoting your product.\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image14.jpg\")
\u00a0Innovators will get you across the\u00a0chasm<\/a>, which is the big wide gap sitting between you and your target masses. Or push you in. Whatever happens, you\u2019ll be smarter than you were yesterday. It\u2019s make or break.\u00a0Sink or swim.<\/b>\u00a0This is how Facebook, Uber and Slack became big fellas. Think about it. All three started out targeting a small group of users and ended up leading their markets. Facebook grew from popular-hungry Harvard, Uber from open-minded San Francisco and Slack from tech-savvy companies wanting to beta-test.<\/p>\nInnovators are like the first pin on a bowling alley. Knock it down and the other pins will fall along.<\/em><\/h5>\n
Now for the good part.<\/i><\/p>\n
???? Product Hunt is one big club of innovators and early adopters.<\/em><\/h5>\n
It\u2019s a rocketship waiting to take your product to the stars \u2728.\u00a0If you want to launch a tech product or service, launch it on Product Hunt.\u00a0Oh, did I mention\u00a0Product Hunt was acquired by AngelList<\/a>\u00a0back in december? You know, the world\u2019s biggest network of angel investors ????. Doesn\u2019t hurt to get into their attention space.\u00a0TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
- \n
- Product Hunt is packed with innovators and early adopters.<\/em><\/li>\n
- these are the people you want to take a look at your product.<\/em><\/li>\n
- they\u2019ll give you invaluable feedback.<\/em><\/li>\n
- and are likely to use and promote your product if they like it.<\/em><\/li>\n
- oh, PH is also owned by the world\u2019s largest network of angel investors.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
YOLO: You Only Launch Once<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Your product can be posted once. Once. You get one shot at getting this right. Make it count.<\/p>\n
Look. If you had one shot. One opportunity.<\/i><\/h5>\n
To seize everything you ever wanted. In one moment.<\/i><\/h5>\n
Would you capture it? Or just let it slip?<\/i><\/h5>\n
(Eminem \u2014 Lose Yourself)<\/i><\/h5>\n
I\u2019m your man on the inside. I\u2019ve been to the Product Hunt. I\u2019ve seen things. I survived and I thrived. And now I\u2019m here to help you do the same and better.\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image22.jpg\")
\u00a0Do you remember when Luke Skywalker and his rebels had one shot at destroying the Death Star?\u00a0This is exactly like that. With the difference that Product Hunt doesn\u2019t do sequels like Star Wars does. You don\u2019t get to destroy the Death Star twice like Luke did.<\/p>\nDoes this make me your Master Yoda? Yes, exactly what it means, that is.<\/em><\/h5>\n
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/1_image10.jpg\")
\u00a0Now, Product Hunt doesn\u2019t do sequels. But it\u00a0does<\/i>\u00a0do spin-offs. You can in fact launch a new feature of your product if it\u2019s cool enough to be marketed on its own and provides real value to the early adopters. In the end, it all comes down to how you sell it (as always).\u00a0A full-blown launch of your product is more complicated. You can\u2019t launch your product twice unless its essence is so new and\/or improved that it can be considered a new product. Think of it as a reboot of a franchise.<\/p>\nA second shot at destroying the Death Star you might get after all, young Jedi.<\/i><\/h5>\n
TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
- \n
- you only have one shot at lauching on Product Hunt (sort of).<\/i><\/li>\n
- do or do not \u2014 there is no try.<\/i><\/li>\n
- I am Yoda.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Play #1: Get in the tribe. Act as if you belong ????<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Know your audience.<\/b>\u00a0Before you even think of launching on Product Hunt, you should first experience first-hand what it is all about. What makes these early adopters tick?\u00a0Sign up, immerse yourself and play ball. Dive in headfirst. Get to know the ins and outs of the community by becoming part of it.\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLet\u2019s cover some basics first:<\/h5>\n
- \n
- The Daily Hunt ????<\/b>\u00a0Product Hunt\u2019s frontpage showcases products according to the number of upvotes they got (and more \u2014 there\u2019s\u00a0a secret algorithm<\/a>). The product that ends on top at the end of the day is the winner. At 12am PST the page refreshes and the hunt starts all over again.<\/li>\n
- Upvotes ????<\/b>\u00a0Upvotes are Product Hunt\u2019s equivalent of Facebook\u2019s likes. If you like a product, you can vote it up and push it up the page. The more votes, the higher on the page it will end up at the end of the day.<\/li>\n
- Hunters ????\ufe0f<\/b>\u00a0Hunters are members with special rights to hunt products and post them on Product Hunt. Their special powers were given by them by other hunters, making them the chosen ones of the community.<\/li>\n
- Makers ????\u200d????<\/b>\u00a0These are the members who created the product.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Once you got the basics figured out, have your curiosity take the lead. Lurk around, check out similar products to yours and learn about their launch strategies. Spy on titles, taglines, logos, screenshots, comments and general wording. Steal with your eyes ????.\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image15.gif\")
\u00a0TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n- \n
- immerse yourself in the PH \u2014 community.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- get to know the basics: upvotes, hunters and makers.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- lurk around & steal with your eyes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Play #2: Hunt down your Hunter<\/strong><\/h3>\n
No Hunter = No Product Hunt Launch. You already got that.\u00a0There\u2019s hunters and there\u2019s hunters. What you want is one of the\u00a0uberhunters<\/i>. These are the top of the pack. The cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me. The chosen ones among the chosen ones.\u00a0Things to take into account to finding the Frodo that will take your One Product To Rule Them All all the way up the Product Hunt mountain:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Numbers of followers ????.<\/li>\n
- When a Hunter submits a product, all of his\/her followers will be notified. The more followers, the more visibility, the more likely you are to get shot to the top of the page.<\/li>\n
- History of successful posts.<\/li>\n
- So you know he has game.<\/li>\n
- Affinity with your type of product.<\/li>\n
- So you know he gets why your product is awesome.<\/li>\n
- (we\u2019re going to assume yours is, in fact, awesome).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Having a good hunter on your side is like being in pole position on the starting grid of a Formula 1 race. Your chances of finishing first are significantly higher ????.\u00a0
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/1_image28.gif\")
<\/p>\nNail your pitch ????<\/h5>\n
You choosing a hunter doesn\u2019t mean the hunter chooses you. You may be madly in love with your product, your hunter probably isn\u2019t (yet). It\u2019s up to you to make him\/her fall for it.\u00a0Top hunters get pitched multiple times a day. Don\u2019t waste their time. Make sure yours is on point.\u00a0Pitching is an art: it takes time to perfect.\u00a0Good thing you\u2019ve been doing it ever since you got started with your idea, right?\u00a0Still, I guess it doesn\u2019t hurt to refresh your memory with these 6 golden pointers from top hunter\u00a0Bram Kanstein \u270c\ufe0f<\/a>:<\/p>\n
- \n
- First and foremost: show enthusiasm and make your pitch personal!<\/li>\n
- Tell about the problem you\u2019re solving ????<\/li>\n
- Be voil\u00e0 ???? show your solution<\/li>\n
- Show early results if you have them ????<\/li>\n
- Why are you the man\/woman\/team that\u2019s going to take this to the moon? ????<\/li>\n
- How can the person you pitch to help you? Asking for specific feedback is also good. It\u2019s difficult to help when your question is simply: \u201cwhat do you think?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These are from Bram\u2019s killer article\u00a05 ways not to pitch your product<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a must-read if you\u2019re looking to get your pitch right.\u00a0Bram is not just any hunter, he is the hunter who launched the\u00a0#1 most upvoted product of all time on Product Hunt<\/a>.\u00a0This product,\u00a0Startup Stash<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 a carefully curated directory of startup tools and resources \u2014 also happened to be his own product.\u00a0Bram was #1 on my list to hunt Salesflare and reading through his articles was part of my strategy to get through to him.\u00a0Rules like this don\u2019t mean you can\u2019t get creative with your pitch. My idea to hook him was to pitch Salesflare in the exact ways Bram tells you not to in his article. Something like this:<\/p>\n
Hi Bram,<\/i><\/h5>\n
You\u2019ll be amazed by this. We built the Uber of Sales! It\u2019s a unique CRM that is going to change the way sales is being done. We\u2019ve been working our asses off for more than 2 years but now our baby has finally been born. Everyone we showed it to loved it! It\u2019s going to be yuge!<\/i><\/h5>\n
This was just to get his attention.\u00a0I believe in standing out.\u00a0I also tend to do the opposite of what people tell me to. I would have gone on and pitched Salesflare the right way after.\u00a0Thing is I never needed to.\u00a0You see, Bram had just pinned this on his Twitter wall:\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image23-300x282.png\")
\u00a0I guess he was kind of sick of emails like the one I was going to send him.\u00a0Tweets are something else. We decided to just send him our video.\u00a0(This one: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LD3XkOtCpFk)<\/p>\nHe went for it! ????<\/b><\/h5>\n
Remember to show your solution and be\u00a0voil\u00e0<\/i>? ????\u00a0Well, nothing is more\u00a0voil\u00e0<\/i>\u00a0than a video.\u00a0We had a video in the making for about 2 months and it was one of the crucial factors in deciding when to go full-in on our Product Hunt Launch. Not only does it help you pitch to hunters \u2014 it\u2019s also kind of a must for your Product Hunt page once you actually get hunted.\u00a0TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
- \n
- score yourself a top hunter.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- he\/she will give you a head-start in your race to the top.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- look for (1) numbers of followers (2) history of successful posts (3) affinity with your product.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- nail your pitch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- get your product a video.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
3. Cook up your Product Hunt Starter Pack ????\u200d????<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Now that you\u2019ve found yourself an experienced general, it\u2019s time to gear up for battle.<\/p>\n
Essentials to prepare:<\/h5>\n
Name of the product ????<\/b><\/h5>\n
Pretty straightforward. But you can still make a difference here. We made it Salesflare CRM to make sure people could easily find us when searching for a CRM on Product Hunt afterward.<\/p>\n
Correct website URL (+App\/Play Store URLs) ????<\/b><\/h5>\n
Throw them all in there. If you don\u2019t have a website yet, you can just create a landing page with general information on your product and a download link if possible.<\/p>\n
Tagline \u261d\ufe0f<\/b><\/h5>\n
Catchy and clear. We went for\u00a0Intelligent sales CRM for startups who thrive on technology<\/i>.\u00a0Sales CRM<\/i>\u00a0to clearly define our position within the CRM space,\u00a0intelligent<\/i>\u00a0as our main differentiator and\u00a0startups who thrive on technology<\/i>\u00a0to indicate who we built it for. Resist the urge to be overly creative here, you don\u2019t want to confuse people.<\/p>\n
Logo<\/b><\/h5>\n
Sure, you can just put your logo. But this won\u2019t exactly get you points with the Product Hunt cool kids. Make it move. Like Jagger. We had a Salesflare Product Hunt cat pop up in our logo and combined this with some conceptual animations. It doesn\u2019t have to the next Star Wars movie, just make it move.\u00a0People are attracted by moving things. Especially when they\u2019re quickly scanning a front page filled with all kinds of stuff.<\/p>\n
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image19.gif\")
\u00a0Salesflare\u2019s Product Hunt logo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Maker Product Hunt Profile URLs ????\u200d????<\/b><\/h5>\n
Make sure team members considered to be makers of the product are all on Product Hunt prior to the launch so your Hunter can list everyone as Makers. This is not just to make you look good. Being listed as a Maker will get you commenting rights, crucial for engaging in conversation with the community.<\/p>\n
Video\/Screenshots<\/b><\/h5>\n
<\/b>Your chance to be\u00a0voil\u00e0<\/i>. Don\u2019t just stop at the video (yes, it autoplays) \u2014 your screenshots should be equally engaging. We put up animated GIFs showcasing different Salesflare features. You don\u2019t have to put GIFs. I\u2019ve seen great Product Hunt pages with static screenshots. Thing is GIFs just provide more value because\u2026 well, because they move and people love stuff that moves.\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image6.gif\")
<\/p>\nPrepare your intro comment ????<\/b><\/h5>\n
It\u2019s up to you to kick off the conversation on your product once it\u2019s live. You don\u2019t want to be putting something together in a rush at the very last minute, so make sure you write something beforehand you can just copy-paste when the time is right. Start off with why you built the product and lay out some of its core functionalities.\u00a0Specify what kind of feedback you\u2019re looking for. Mention the special promotion you have in store for the community (more on that later) and don\u2019t forget to give your hunter a shootout for hunting you.\u00a0This was ours:\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/1_image16.png\")
<\/p>\nTags ????<\/b><\/h5>\n
Make your product easy to find by adding relevant tags. Some examples of tags we chose for Salesflare include tech, sales, customer communication, chrome extension and web. Don\u2019t worry if you don\u2019t get them right from the start, you can make changes afterwards. Product Hunt does closely watch these tags and may remove them they don\u2019t agree. Feel free to chat with them if you think they made a mistake. We had a few tags removed and then put back again after we explained why we thought they were relevant for Salesflare.<\/p>\n
Launch date of the hunt ????<\/b><\/h5>\n
As a rule of thumb, Product Hunt\u2019s busiest days of the week range from Tuesday until Thursday (I guess early adopters in California party from Friday till Sunday and then die on Monday \u2014 fair enough). Busy means more competition, but busy also means more people to upvote, try your product and leave you with valuable feedback. Ending up on top may be very exciting, quantity of users getting in touch with you is probably more valuable for your business on the long-term.\u00a0Tuesday is arguably better than Wednesday because you\u2019ll have 24 hours more to be upvoted and make it into Product Hunt\u2019s weekly digest. With all this in mind, we chose Tuesday and took about one and a half week to prepare our launch as soon as we got the green light from our hunter. You could easily do with less, but gathering support pre-launch while continuing to attend to every-day business stuff is no walk in the park. You don\u2019t want to skip any of your shuteye time prior to your launch either\u2014 it\u2019ll get kind of crazy once you\u2019re live.<\/p>\n
Launch time of the hunt ????<\/b><\/h5>\n
A new hunt is launched every day at 12am PST. People typically say to post immediately after midnight, but this is probably not the best way to go. Product Hunt\u2019s secret algorithm is said to penalize age in ranking products, so you\u2019re probably better off waiting a few hours as the US\u2019 awakening comes closer.\u00a0This is if you\u2019re confident your own network can help you get initial traction in the first hours, so you\u2019ll be pretty high as soon as first New York and then San Francisco crawls out of bed. For Salesflare we initially proposed to be posted around midnight to our hunter but he said he found posting around 3\u20134am PST (12\u20131am local time here in Antwerp) to be the most effective. This gives you enough time to push yourself up in the first hour and be right where you should be as Product Hunt\u2019s core members start checking their smartphones hanging over their morning coffees.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Once you\u2019re done, send everything over to your hunter in a nice email, well in time before D-Day.\u00a0Use a Google Drive folder to share your screenshots and other media so you can still make last-minute changes if needed.<\/p>\n
We sent a Google Calendar Invite to set date and time to avoid any confusion for everyone involved.<\/em><\/h5>\n
TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
- \n
- prepare essentials for your launch.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- name \u2014 clear & easy searchable.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- tagline \u2014 catch & clear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- logo \u2014 make it move.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- video \u2014 just have a video.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- screenshots \u2014 make them stand out (by making them move).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- prepare your intro comment \u2014 why, what, thank hunter, promotion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- set a day \u2014 (1) somewhere between Tuesday and Thursday (2) take your time to prepare.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- set a time \u2014(1) after midnight PST (2) before the US wakes up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- hand everything to your hunter, on a silver platter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
4. Gather your fans<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The secret formula to a successful Product Hunt launch is made up of two things:<\/p>\n
- \n
- a great product (duh).<\/li>\n
- initial traction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Both things you can control. If your product is not great, stop reading now and come back once it is. Don\u2019t worry too much about some features not being entirely on point yet. Remember, these are early adopters \u2014 they\u2019re okay with your product still being an infant and will happily help you find and kill early bugs as long as they see some real value.\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/1_image4.gif\")
\u00a0You may have the greatest product the world has ever seen\u2014 if people don\u2019t have it in front of them, they won\u2019t upvote it. Don\u2019t make yourself any illusions: even early adopters won\u2019t scroll endlessly to find your product. It has to be right there as soon as the site or app loads.\u00a0Slap \u2018m in the face with it.\u00a0![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image26.gif\")
\u00a0This means you\u2019ll need a fair amount of upvotes as soon as Product Hunt rush hour kicks in.\u00a0Having a top hunter on your side will get you a long way already, but remember that battles are won by soldiers, not by generals.\u00a0Now, you cannot just ask all of your friends and family to upvote you. Product Hunt was built to make it easy to discover the world\u2019s greatest new products, not to force-feed your own stuff to whoever.\u00a0It is precisely this that makes Product Hunt so great at showcasing the best things out there. Not only should you respect that, Product Hunt\u2019s algorithm will also increasingly push down your product if too many votes from brand new accounts come rolling in.<\/p>\nSo, what can you do? Here\u2019s a few ideas:<\/h5>\n
1) FIND YOUR FRIENDS ON PRODUCT HUNT ????<\/h4>\n
Chances are you already have some friends on Product Hunt. Product Hunt syncs the people you follow on Twitter so your first move should be to check who of them could be willing to show some support and notify them of your upcoming launch.<\/p>\n
2) ASK YOUR OTHER FRIENDS ANYWAY ????<\/h4>\n
You\u2019d be surprised how many people know about Product Hunt without having an account. Maybe they\u2019ve been peeking from time to time without really getting into upvoting. Or maybe they know about it but didn\u2019t take the time to take a proper look yet. Your launch may very well be the perfect occasion for these people to sign up.\u00a0I know it says friends but what I really mean is network: friends, family, customers, business contacts, your dog,\u2026 Anyone you have a direct line with. We went through our contact lists and started asking people we thought of as early adopters if they had a Product Hunt account. If they did, we told them about our launch. If they didn\u2019t, we told them about the community and how awesome it is. If it\u2019s their jam, they\u2019ll make an account and you have them onboard. If it\u2019s not, you\u2019ll leave them be.\u00a0While Product Hunt is not just a marketing channel for you to exploit, you can still tell people about it. In fact, Product Hunt needs this kind of visibility to keep on growing. Many of my friends have been active users since we introduced them to the community. Just make sure to do so ahead of your launch and not the day itself.<\/p>\n
3) MAKE A GOOGLE SHEET AND FOLLOW UP ????<\/h4>\n
Now you\u2019ll have tens or even hundreds of people lined up to support your launch and it\u2019s your responsibility to make sure they come through. Keep track of the people you contacted so you can effectively follow up on the big day. Include name, channel (Messenger, WhatsApp, Twitter,\u2026) and status (did they vote already?).<\/p>\n
4) GET ON THE RADAR OF PEOPLE WHO UPVOTED SIMILAR PRODUCTS ????<\/h4>\n
Hunt down people who upvoted products similar to yours and make sure they know you.\u00a0You can actually scrape upvoters of products posted on PH by using\u00a0this little tool<\/a>. Just put in the URL of the product and your Developer Token (head over to API Dashboard under your Product Hunt profile to get this) and you\u2019ll get the Twitter handles of all the upvoters for that given products.\u00a0There\u2019s tons of things you can do with this. For starters, you can follow them on both Product Hunt and Twitter. You can also tweet them or even target them with emails or Facebook Ads (you\u2019ll need to do some data enriching first though).<\/p>\n
5) LOOK FOR SOCIAL GATEKEEPERS<\/h4>\n
Give special attention to people with a lot of followers and try to get them to share your Product Hunt launch with their network.<\/p>\n
6) CHAT IS KING ????<\/h4>\n
The magical word at this stage is chatting. Remember you need these people to commit twice: you need them to sign up beforehand and you need them to upvote you on the big day. This is why a channel like email will be far less effective here: it doesn\u2019t allow for a direct, engaging dialogue. Sure, you can send an email a week beforehand and another one on launch day but you\u2019ll have zero control over people really making accounts and being active on Product Hunt prior to your launch. This may negatively affect your page ranking. We chose not to take that chance. You can think of Product Hunt\u2019s frontpage as a Google Search Results page \u2014 only the top gets clicked and visibility goes downhill fast as you go down the page. It\u2019s like a snowball effect \u2014 make sure you have a big ball already once the heavy snow starts falling down. If your product really is great, the community will take over and make sure you stay on top. We did all the chatting manually. That means asking them three-four days up front if they were willing to give us a vote and telling them about Product Hunt in the process. If they said yes, we would add them to the Google Sheet and follow up with them on Launch Day. If only we would have had this tool to automate Facebook Messages that day…<\/p>\n
BONUS: Thunderclap \u2014 it\u26a1????<\/h3>\n
Don\u2019t know what\u00a0Thunderclap<\/a>\u00a0is?<\/h5>\n
Thunderclap is a platform you can use to create social media campaigns built on the strength of your network. You\u2019ll basically have your friends and followers support a purpose of your choosing by means of Facebook or Twitter posts. Write up a message, set a date and invite your friends.\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image25.gif\")
\u00a0As soon as the campaign starts (once you\u2019re live on PH) \u2014 tweets or Facebook status updates will go out from all the people who joined your campaign. At the same time. Needless to say, this will seriously amplify your reach.\u00a0I\u2019m going to be straight with you guys here: we didn\u2019t do Thunderclap.\u00a0Why not? We forgot.\u00a0We just forgot.<\/i>\u00a0TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n- \n
- great product + initial traction = great success on PH.<\/i><\/li>\n
- find friends on PH.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- ask your other friends if they\u2019re on PH \u2014 if they\u2019re not, tell them about it ask if they want to be.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- create a Google Sheet for follow-up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- scrape upvoters of similar products on PH => target.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- find yourself some influencers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- chat with everyone you know to tell them about your PH launch.<\/li>\n
- set up a Thunderclap campaign.<\/li>\n
- !! don\u2019t forget to set up a Thunderclap campaign (like we did).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
5. Butter up the community ????<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Make the Product Hunters feel special.\u00a0Why?\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image27-300x271.jpg\")
\u00a0We\u2019ve been over this.<\/i>\u00a0Because they\u2019re\u00a0innovators\u00a0<\/i>and because you need their help\u00a0to cross the chasm<\/b>.\u00a0Besides, as you are in the early stages of your product, their feedback will be invaluable. The more, the merrier.\u00a0It\u2019s common courtesy to offer Product Hunt members special deals. If done right, Product Hunt will be a gift that keeps on giving. It\u2019s only right you give something back. For Salesflare, we gave the club 3 users for the price of 1 \u2014 3FOR1MEOW.\u00a0TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n- \n
- make the Product Hunters feel special and loved.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- by giving them an supercalifragilistic deal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
6. Become a cat person ????<\/strong><\/h3>\n
In case you haven\u2019t noticed: Product Hunt loves cats.\u00a0One day Product Hunt fan\u00a0Jesse Thomas<\/a>\u00a0offered to design a t-shirt. The Glasshole Kitty was one of the ideas he sent in. The Product Hunt team liked it so much they ordered a bunch of t-shirts and stickers and started sending them to early community members. These, in turn, would share their Kitty gifts on social media, sparking the idea of the Kitty mascotte.\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/image11.jpg\")
\u00a0While Product Hunt never really changed their logo, the kitty is everywhere. It\u2019s big in social media posts and has been adapted to launch several Product Hunt projects like books, podcasts and their Snapchat account.\u00a0![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/1_image24.png\")
\u00a0So if you\u2019re looking to get that meowntain of upvotes from the community, you\u2019ll better put turn into a crazy cat lady for the day.\u00a0TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n- \n
- Product Hunt likes cats.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- \n
- for some reason.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
7. Dress up your website for the big day????<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Your Product Hunt launch is a day of celebration so it\u2019s only right your website looks all nice and pretty for the occasion, don\u2019t you think?\u00a0It\u2019s also a great chance to once again highlight that special Product Hunt deal you prepared for your fans. Shine bright like a diamond! ????\u00a0
![\"BAMF](\"http:\/\/bamf.lovelacecreative.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/1_image5.gif\")
\u00a0You can use\u00a0IntroBar<\/a>\u00a0(yes, it\u2019s free) to put up a nice-looking welcome bar on top of your website when people click through via your PH-link (this will end in \/?ref=product hunt).\u00a0Here\u2019s what Salesflare\u2019s website looked like on her big day.<\/a>\u00a0TL;DR<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n- \n
- make your website shine for its big day.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This playbook will hand you actionable tactics, tips, tricks and hacks to get you on top of Product Hunt \u2014 Silicon Valley\u2019s favorite little playground.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[112,172,114,589,268,3253],"tags":[148,237],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/image2.gif","author_info":{"display_name":"Houston Golden","author_link":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/author\/bamfmedia\/"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bamf.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- make your website shine for its big day.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
- for some reason.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Product Hunt likes cats.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- by giving them an supercalifragilistic deal.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- make the Product Hunters feel special and loved.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- find yourself some influencers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- scrape upvoters of similar products on PH => target.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- create a Google Sheet for follow-up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- find friends on PH.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- great product + initial traction = great success on PH.<\/i><\/li>\n
- hand everything to your hunter, on a silver platter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- set a time \u2014(1) after midnight PST (2) before the US wakes up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- set a day \u2014 (1) somewhere between Tuesday and Thursday (2) take your time to prepare.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- prepare your intro comment \u2014 why, what, thank hunter, promotion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- screenshots \u2014 make them stand out (by making them move).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- video \u2014 just have a video.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- logo \u2014 make it move.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- tagline \u2014 catch & clear.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- name \u2014 clear & easy searchable.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- prepare essentials for your launch.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- get your product a video.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- nail your pitch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- look for (1) numbers of followers (2) history of successful posts (3) affinity with your product.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- he\/she will give you a head-start in your race to the top.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- score yourself a top hunter.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- lurk around & steal with your eyes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- get to know the basics: upvotes, hunters and makers.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
- Upvotes ????<\/b>\u00a0Upvotes are Product Hunt\u2019s equivalent of Facebook\u2019s likes. If you like a product, you can vote it up and push it up the page. The more votes, the higher on the page it will end up at the end of the day.<\/li>\n
- do or do not \u2014 there is no try.<\/i><\/li>\n
- these are the people you want to take a look at your product.<\/em><\/li>\n
- as a one-stop-shop to discover the coolest new products.<\/i><\/li>\n
- Product Hunt was founded by Ryan Hoover.<\/i><\/li>\n