Launch To Do List

Use these on your website and as part of your marketing efforts. It’s also a chance to start to let users know that you are thinking about a launch on Product Hunt and to find out if there are any bugs that should be addressed before launching.

Don’t rely solely on social media for spreading the word about your launch. Invest in building an email list too so that you are not at the whims of social media algorithms. Plus, depending on the service used, you will have analytics and the ability to segment your audience.

Find a community and engage by sharing ideas and helping others. Look to communities of other indie developers, but also communities where your customers / users spend time. NOTE: Your product’s users may not be active on Product Hunt.

You don’t want to get blindsinded with negative comments on your Product Hunt page. Find out what may be lurking and address ahead of time. Remember: Sometimes flaws can be transformed into benefits. Not everyone likes a complex product. Sometimes a simple use case is best. This can also be a chance to collect testimonials for use in marketing and launch materials.

By publicly building and sharing your journey, your network will be aware and know about your upcoming Product Hunt launch. https://twitter.com/howdy_miguel/status/1553793371201835012

https://twitter.com/ArnaudBelingaCX/status/1478320323246313473

A question you will likely here is “What’s next?” Give some thought to having some kind of public feature road map that you can share.

Product Hunt is a community. Schedule time to regularly engage and connect with other members. As you invest time in the platform, you’ll gain valuable knowledge and connections. As you prep for your own launch, analyze what others are doing and what is working: What kinds of logos are being used? How and where are gifs being used? Videos? What format and size of screenshots are being posted? What makes for a successful description? What kinds of comments are being posted? What and who typically posts the first one? What do the landing pages look like? If you miss a day, use Time Travel to look at past days on Product Hunt. Use your time on Product Hunt to also engage with other users who share similar interests. Like many social platforms, Product Hunt will notify users when someone new follows them.

Your product’s audience may not be active on Product Hunt. You may need to slowly educate your audience about what you are doing, what Product Hunt is, and how it works. You may also need to think whether or not it makes sense to do a launch there if your audience isn’t there and if there isn’t an appropriate category for what you are building. https://twitter.com/arvidkahl/status/1538656404826882048 https://twitter.com/NafetsWirth/status/1519740723947520000

Are you creating a product or service that will do well on Product Hunt? Not everything is designed to do well. Make sure you are creating something that users will want to support — if you want to launch on Product Hunt.

Timing Advice from Product Hunt Do research about current trends for your niche. Also check the calendar to see if it is an American holiday or if another major launch may be going on at the same time. Launching on a busy day isn’t necessarily bad — it can mean that there is already activity on the site and your content may be seen. https://twitter.com/d__raptis/status/1352564712685391872 https://twitter.com/d__raptis/status/1352564714920939520 https://twitter.com/tdinh_me/status/1471500642497613824

If you are going to launch on Product Hunt, you’ll need an account. Use this time to also see if all key collaborators are on Product Hunt too. https://help.producthunt.com/en/articles/5473018-how-to-post-getting-your-account-set-up

Verify Product Is Eligible If you have previously launched on Product Hunt, there are limits on when you can launch again. https://help.producthunt.com/en/articles/3539992-why-was-my-comment-or-post-removed https://twitter.com/tomjacquesson/status/1480137438869741569 https://twitter.com/NotechAna/status/1508731906908635140 https://twitter.com/bagelsangranola/status/1478857884783898624

View content needed according to Product Hunt Additional Info for Launch from PH As you work on your launch materials, ask yourself: Do your screenshots explain the product well enough for folks to upvote right away? If not, are they interesting enough to get folks to keep reading and then upvote? If you made a video, does it convey the product in 30 - 45 seconds? Does your Product Hunt description clearly explain in 1 - 2 paragraphs what the product does? Don’t rely on jargon or regurgitate your existing marketing materials. Make sure your write-up speaks directly to the Product Hunt audience. Does your first comment focus on you, your background, and why you built the product? This isn’t a time to repeat the product description. Be relatable. Tools to help with your launch page https://previewhunt.com/ https://www.thelaunchchecklist.com/tools/feed-preview https://twitter.com/sobedominik/status/1618564497266061312 https://twitter.com/sobedominik/status/1618564467780096000 Sharing progress about creating your launch page is another way to talk publicly about your launch (and possibly be alerted to potential mistakes) https://twitter.com/bagelsangranola/status/1477871734225190914 https://twitter.com/RoxCodes/status/1499944613674512387 An example of funny launch video, and the story behind it. https://twitter.com/arvidkahl/status/1604902819823292421 https://www.indiehackers.com/post/launching-a-startup-in-3-days-a-story-about-fighting-founder-procrastination-685fa39639

How to Add a Promo Code Discount codes are not required. If you decide to offer a promotion, decide what it should be and set it up. Don’t forget to test that it works!

Don’t let timezones get in the way of a successful launch. Make sure you are scheduling your launch for the right time. Double check that you are not scheduling around a timezone change if you are outside of the US. It’s also best to be active on the system right after your product posts.

The person who creates the post about the product is the “hunter.” This can be you or someone else. There are some schools of thought that a Hunter with a strong following can potentially result in your launch being seen by more people than someone who doesn’t have a large and / or active following. Working with a Hunter on your first launch is an opportunity to learn things you can use for follow-on launches. Learn more about Hunters on PH https://twitter.com/ModernAfflatus/status/1554990827017064453 https://twitter.com/FounderKyle/status/1430614131384721409 https://twitter.com/benln/status/1542294928218329089 https://twitter.com/mubashariqbal/status/1743266791969681490 https://chrismessina.me/hunt-me https://upvote-bell.com/leaderboard

A few questions to ask yourself: Is the product clearly shown? Is there a clear call to action (CTA)? Can the language be easily understood? Does the site load quickly? Are there any non-functional links? Does your website function properly on mobile devices? Is your landing page / website / login experience welcoming for those signing up on Launch Day? https://twitter.com/leo_guinan/status/1517469629274365953 If you don’t have a website, look to a service like Carrd. Make sure that you are linking to an online space that you control as the link will be on Product Hunt for sometime. If you choose to pivot at any point, you will want to be able to redirect traffic.

For all that you need to do on launch day, it’s going to be hard to do other things. Make it easy on yourself by clearing your calendar, asking for help from others, planning naps and food. Create a support system too. Can others help keep an eye on your Product Hunt page for you? Can you have help fixing bugs? More likely than not, there will be some technical issues. That’s life. Be ready for technical issues and the unexpected. https://www.markup.io/blog/how-markup-became-the-1-product-of-the-day-on-product-hunt/ https://twitter.com/NotechAna/status/1509167876141375497 https://twitter.com/mfts0/status/1527636755289194504 https://twitter.com/aaronmmota/status/1527650878605369346 https://twitter.com/FounderKyle/status/1430614148707196933 https://twitter.com/d__raptis/status/1352564726128107522

Is your product and systems at a point where it makes sense to launch? It’s possible to be over-prepared and wait too long. But launching prematurely can happen too if you let yourself get overly excited and stop to truly assess where things are before the official launch. https://twitter.com/SamDeBrule/status/1510974267139055617

What do you hope to achieve with your launch on Product Hunt? Is launching on Product Hunt on your bucket list? Are you looking to gain experience for a future product launch? Do you have a revenue goal? or sales goal? Are you looking for new users? Is it to be a top product of the day? Make sure you are planning and prioritizing tasks to reach your goals. https://twitter.com/d__raptis/status/1352564618233831425

Email existing users: Your existing users know your product best and will be able to share the most honest feedback about your product. Make sure that they know about your launch. If you worked to learn about the current bugs as seen by users, you shouldn’t discover unhappy customers during your PH launch. Post on social: On social, send DMs asking for support. It’s important to use the right language here... Don’t ask for an “upvote,” which is a violation of Product Hunt’s policies. Make a list of your top followers and users. Are your champions on Product Hunt? If you have key supporters on PH, make sure they know about your launch. https://twitter.com/anitakirkovska/status/1519460809100992512 If you tease your launch out in advance, don’t forget to remind folks when you do launch. https://twitter.com/robertodigital_/status/1507252465233645569 https://twitter.com/HainingMax/status/1562008346739212292 https://twitter.com/_lhermann/status/1529061285001822208 https://twitter.com/linuz90/status/1519973082546417664 https://twitter.com/5harath/status/1553784659229696003 https://www.twitter.com/thisiskp_/status/1635793802559635457 Teaser tweet on 3/28/2022: https://twitter.com/stepocampbell_/status/1508649377505628161 Follow-on Tweet on 3/29/2022: https://twitter.com/stepocampbell_/status/1508771727546925059 Be sure to follow current best practices with social posts. Does it make sense to include a link in your initial post? For example, is it better to add a link to your Product Hunt page in a follow-on tweet. Pre-launch tweet showcasing product https://twitter.com/_lhermann/status/1529061285001822208 Launch day tweet showcasing product https://twitter.com/_lhermann/status/1531534160187338753 Who in your network can help amplify your message? Don’t try to do it all alone. Who do you know that can help share your launch with their audiences? https://twitter.com/kavirkaycee/status/1613218708738179073 https://twitter.com/kavirkaycee/status/1517141123692515328

Be ready for negative comments. There will be haters. And you may make a mistakes that cause confusion. In addition to responding, follow those who have taken the time to offer feedback and ask questions. Think about different ways to say “thank you” ahead of your launch. https://twitter.com/FounderKyle/status/1430614144785453057

If you’ve been sharing updates as you build, do the same on launch day. Share public updates throughout the day on how things are going. https://twitter.com/dr/status/1536568519755636737 https://twitter.com/xavier_coiffard/status/1390201282800066563 https://twitter.com/mike_heap_/status/1605149637412851716 https://twitter.com/NotechAna/status/1604745922843402241

Don’t leave your followers in suspense! Let them know how your launch went. https://twitter.com/heyybrian_/status/1605937789731684353 https://twitter.com/peter_kow/status/1600857864150847489 https://twitter.com/HainingMax/status/1560203354768347136 https://twitter.com/clokehead/status/1497255892827484162 https://twitter.com/MichaelJNovotny/status/1559217805509246980 https://twitter.com/MichaelJNovotny/status/1542490109332885506 https://twitter.com/hdkstr/status/1555817646679105536 https://twitter.com/michwirantono/status/1532045902952534016

Check your analytics. How has the launch impacted your site analytics? How has your social and mailing lists changed? What new feedback do you have to potentially incorporate into the product? What bugs need squashing? Think about special messaging to your new users thanking them for their support and letting them know what’s next. Keep building and consider a future launch of an updated version on Product Hunt (just be sure that you allow enough time to pass and features to be added). https://twitter.com/KilianPoulinTW/status/1604760352235085824 https://twitter.com/peer_rich/status/1716402412615770474