2024 Product Hunt Launch Guide
How to launch your product on Product Hunt and get #1 Product of the Day, Week, and Month
Overview
This artifact is for early- and growth-stage startup marketing teams to prepare for their Product Hunt launch.
I’ve used this artifact to launch 3 products on Product Hunt and reached #1 Product of the Day every time.
July 2021, Qatalog: #1 of the Day, #4 of the Week
August 2023, Recast: #1 of the Day, #2 of the Week
Dec 2023, FuseBase: #1 of the Week, #1 of the Month, Golden Kitty Award Winner
Product Hunt launches are great for:
Driving organic traffic and signups on launch day
Gather community feedback from early adopters to inform the product roadmap
Being picked up by newsletters and PR outlets for coverage and backlinks
Build a long-term SEO high-quality backlink of organic traffic
How it works
This artifact strives to give you all the tools you need to operate your Product Hunt launch, and it’s split into three parts:
Gather your key strategy assets
Set your goals
Find your Top Hunter — a notable Product Hunt member who’ll vouch for you
Set your launch date
Gather email lists — customers, investors, friends and family, collaborators
Create your Product Hunt profile
Copy assets
Creative design assets
Technical assets
Create distribution assets ahead of and for launch day
Emails, social, and community messaging
Timetable for the team to manage launch day
Create distribution assets for post-launch day to keep momentum
Product Hunt newsletter
Post-mortem posts
Creators & niche PR
Advertising
Let’s dive in!
1. Strategy assets
Gather your key strategy assets for a successful Product Hunt launch:
Set your goals
Find your Top Hunter — a notable Product Hunt member who’ll vouch for you
Set your launch date
Gather email lists — customers, investors, friends and family, collaborators
a. Goals
For a successful launch, you’ll need to track these KPIs across the PH funnel:
Upvotes on your PH listing (similar to social likes)
Comments on your PH listing
Traffic to your site from PH (source = product-hunt)
Signups from PH
Conversions to paid plans from PH
To aim for a successful launch — meaning being nominated #1 Product of the Day, which should drive all the above metrics — you should aim to:
#1 of the Day: Get 50-100 upvotes in the first hour from launch
#1 of the Day: Get 600-1000 upvotes in the first 24 hours from launch
#1 of the Week: Get 1500-2000 upvotes in the first 7 days from launch
#1 of the Month: Get 2000 upvotes in the first 30 days from launch
These metrics are indicative and depend on comparable top launches in your market category. You can check Product Hunt categories to benchmark other #1 Products of the Day/Week/Month.
You can also check Product Wars to benchmark daily launches and set daily goals based on top launches each day.
Setting goals for the rest of your funnel is highly dependent on your growth motion, UX/UI, pricing, and target user. However, it’s recommended that you launch on Product Hunt with:
A working product
That has a self-serve motion (eg. users can signup on their own)
With a free/freemium tier (eg. users can reach an aha moment without paying)
b. Top Hunter
Your Top Hunter is one of the most critical assets of your launch. This is a notable Product Hunt community member with a large audience that will vouch for you and “hunt” your product in front of the community.
Ideally, your Top Hunter has:
A large audience on Product Hunt (eg. 5000+ followers, lots of badges)
Has recent activity on Product Hunt (super important for relevance)
And on other social networks like X or LinkedIn
Affinity or experience with your product and market category
A network of other influencers in your market category to bring into the launch
You can identify your Top Hunter by:
Asking your founder, investors, or collaborators network
Searching directly from Product Hunt, leaderboards, Upvote bell, or X lists
If you’re coldly outreaching your Top Hunter, make sure you create a Hunter kit (eg. slides, one pager, or just email) to send them including:
Name of the product and homepage URL
Descriptive tagline (max 60 characters) answering what your product does
The platforms your product runs on
5-10 images showcasing core product UIs and use cases
What giveaways do you plan to give to the Product Hunt community
For the Recast launch, we managed to get hold of Ryan Hoover through the founder’s network.
c. Launch day
Once you identify your Top Hunter, ensure you agree on your launch day/time. To maximize your results, set your launch date:
Early in the month to maximize the window to rank #1 Product of the Month
Early in the week to maximize the window to rank #1 Product of the Week
At 00:00 AM Pacific Time, to maximize the window to rank #1 Product of the Day
Choose the right month/week also based on competitors’ launches — if a large competitor has launched in the same month/week, then you should be sure to beat them.
d. Email & community lists
Another critical asset for a successful launch is to have a large email list to mobilize on launch day and drive upvotes and traffic to your site.
First things first, get your whole team a Product Hunt profile and get them to engage with the community. Active profiles are better for the Product Hunt algorithm (on the contrary; new, inactive profiles are seen as bots!); so ensure these profiles are filled and actively upvoting/commenting ahead of launch to ensure you get these upvotes.
Then, create a sheet — with one tab per each of the categories below — listing all your lists and communities you can mobilize on launch day to ask for an upvote.
Customers (newsletter list)
Friends (investors, agencies, network, freelancers)
Influencers
Slack groups (find relevant channels on Slacklist)
Twitter lists, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups
Related subreddits
Collections curators (on Product Hunt)
List as many emails or communities as you can.
The more active Product Hunt members you can reach on launch day, the more potential upvotes you can collect, and the higher the likelihood of getting to #1 Product of the Day. It’s key to
Balance volume and quality. The more people you can count on for an upvote on launch day, the better; but also, ensure that these lists have a high likelihood they will upvote promptly on launch day.
Bring onboard 1+ influencers. Getting more than one influencer, other than the Top Hunter, to sponsor your Product Hunt launch can be very powerful in driving upvotes on launch day at scale. Consider this tactic if it’s in your budget.
Below is a snapshot of how your sheet could look like.
2. Product Hunt profile
Create an outstanding Product Hunt profile to drive understanding and upvotes:
Copy assets
Creative design assets
Technical assets
a. Copy assets
When you have found your Top Hunter and locked down a launch date, you can start creating your Product Hunt profile. You can create and save this as a draft, but you should be able to set your launch date a maximum of one month in the future.
Create copy assets for your Product Hunt profile. Optimize for:
Be short and descriptive: Product Hunt users are de-sensitized to marketing “branded” copy; stay as practical and simple as possible. Ensure your copy passes the Grandma test.
Be playful and snappy. Use short, impactful sentences exemplified by an emoji to get users to stop scrolling, pay attention, and drive genuine understanding.
Focus on capabilities. Product Hunt users get tons of adjacent and comparable products every day. To stand out, tell them exactly what your product does and/or how it’s better/different from comparable, known alternatives.
Here are all the copy assets you need to come up with to fill your Product Hunt profile:
Product name. Your brand name.
Homepage URL. Your website.
Tagline (60 characters). Keep it descriptive.
Product Description (260 characters). Keep it focused on capabilities.
Topics & Categories. Choose up to 3 Category AND Subcategory pairs.
Pricing. Select among the options provided.
Promo code. The offer for the Product Hunt community.
Press. Links to your press releases.
Financing. How much you’ve raised and your backers
Makers. Get your whole team an active Product Hunt profile; then, name them as makers of your product.
Launch day/time. Ensure you schedule for 12:01, am PST.
Social links. Links to your social profiles.
Collections. Create a relevant "collection" of related products.
Hunter’s note. The first comment under the Product Hunt profile (by our Top Hunter).
Founder’s note. The second comment under the Product Hunt profile (by our founder)
b. Creative design assets
In parallel to copy assets, you can create your creative design assets. It’s best to work with your product or visual designer to create these assets.
Here are all the copy assets you need to come up with to fill your Product Hunt profile:
Product video. Shown as the first item on the gallery (via Youtube).
Logo gif thumbnail. Eye-catching and descriptive of the product.
Product gallery screenshot. One screenshot and copy one-liner, one for each key product capability.
Ship landing page (optional). Create a landing page to drive pre-launch traffic to the Product Hunt list.
I’ve reported below the assets used for Recast’s launch.
c. Technical assets
In parallel to the copy and design assets, you can create the below technical assets. It’s best to work with your engineering team to create these assets.
Promo code capabilities. Enable promo code redemption capabilities in your product.
Site banner. Create a top-site banner to welcome users coming from Product Hunt.
PH site badge. On launch day, embed the Product Hunt badges in your hero section.
Check marketing site/analytics. Your website may spike in traffic during your PH campaign. Ensure it’s bug-free.
Want to grab the exact copy, design, and technical assets I’ve used to repeatedly achieve #1 Product of the Day? Including guidelines and examples?
3. Announcement assets
Now that you have identified your Top Hunter and created your Product Hunt profile, you can gear up for launch day by creating your announcement assets.
Distribute across all channels. Prepare assets to distribute to engage all your email and community lists, but also your social channels.
Engage across multiple touchpoints. You need to start engaging your network 7 days before launch, with multiple touchpoints on launch day, and keep the momentum in the 7-30 days post-launch to maximize your engagement across all your people.
Be strategic about time zones. Because you’re launching at 12:01 am PST, start DMing first your contacts/communities/customers in Asia Pacific, then move on to Europe, and finally the US ones, depending on their wake-up time. If you have a large network in Asia, engaging with them will give you an edge over competitors with US-only audiences, as Asia can drive upvotes when most of the US is still asleep. Distribute your launch day messages accordingly and optimize by time zones where possible.
Optimize for upvotes. The CTA for all of these comms is to:
Ahead of launch: get people to create a Product Hunt profile if they don’t have one, and/or help you spread the word. You can get them to “show interest” in your Ship page or Product Hunt teaser ahead of launch.
Launch day and post-launch. Focus all your CTAs on upvoting and leaving comments. A mix of both is ideal; ensure comments are thoughtful and genuine, not just a simple “This looks cool!”
Social bios. Start updating your social bios 3-4 days ahead of launch to get your followers aware of the imminent launch. Then, on the launch date, use your bio to announce the launch, and switch your core social link to your Product Hunt listing, to maximize your upvotes for the day.
Be fun and on brand. Use visual design to align your brand with Product Hunt’s logos, love for cats, and geeky community. The more you use the community's visual language and appeal, the more you’ll strike a resonance and hit a nerve with the Product Hunt community.
Ask for support, not upvotes; and don’t spam. When engaging with your audience, ask for “support”, not for upvotes directly. And try to position your launch as something useful for your audience instead of just asking for their support.
On launch day, you’ll need to be strategic when activating your channels.
Start with your 1-to-1 email list — get all your team to upvote first, then engage your friends and family, investors, and collaborators; based on their timezones.
Engage your 1-to-many email lists — activate your customer and community lists with dedicated messages. Don’t forget to have your CTO re-share on HackerNews as well; keep that announcement as plain and neutral as possible.
Announce the launch on social — share the news on all your social channels with dedicated creatives. Have one person dedicated to maintaining social channel comments, and keep the feeds updated with new posts as you hit upvote milestones throughout the day. Optimize for comments and reshares.
Switch your focus to Product Hunt — once the core of the announcement has been made, have one person dedicated to replying to Product Hunt comments.
a. Email (1-to-many)
Send an email sequence to your customers to make them aware of the launch and get them to upvote on launch day. Having a large email customer list (eg. newsletter) is one of the biggest factors in a successful launch.
Make sure you plan for at least these email touchpoints:
T-10 email. Ten days before launch day.
T-5 email. Five days before launch day.
T-1 email. The day before launch day.
T-0 email. At the start of launch day.
T-0 email (12h in). Half-way through launch day.
T+1 email. The day after launch, to thank them for their support.
b. Email/DMs (1-to-1, for friends & family)
Send DMs to your network of friends and family, investors, and collaborators to make them aware of the launch and get them to upvote on launch day. Listing down a large personal network is key to a successful launch.
Similarly to the 1-to-many emails above, plan for at least these DM touchpoints:
T-10 DM. Ten days before launch day.
T-5 DM. Five days before launch day.
T-1 DM. The day before launch day.
T-0 DM. At the start of launch day.
T-0 DM (12h in). Half-way through launch day.
T+1 DM. The day after launch, to thank them for their support.
c. Twitter & LinkedIn
Announce the launch on your social channels at least one week ahead of launch. Use creatives to make the announcement fun, and update your social bios and links to increase awareness of your launch and drive people to your Product Hunt teaser/page.
Similarly to the emails above, plan for at least these social touchpoints:
T-10 post. Ten days before launch day.
T-5 post. Five days before launch day.
T-1 post. The day before launch day.
T-0 post. At the start of launch day. Have multiple posts on launch day to keep your followers up-to-date and engaged with your launch. For example, plan for posts like:
50 upvotes
100 upvotes
200 upvotes
300 upvotes
400 upvotes
500 upvotes
T+1 post. The day after the launch, to thank them for their support.
d. Instagram & TikTok (Reels/videos)
If you have the resources and if it resonates with your audience, plan for fun short-form videos like Reels and TikToks.
Similarly to the static social above, plan for the same touchpoints and creatives.
e. Community (1-to-many, for Slack & Discord)
Send DMs or public posts on the communities you’re member of in your list. Introduce your product and tap into other founder’s or team’s solidarity to pique their interest, and get them to upvote on launch day.
Similarly to the 1-to-many emails above, plan for at least these community touchpoints. Be a bit more conservative depending on the community guidelines in order not to spam their members.
T-10 post. Ten days before launch day.
T-5 post. Five days before launch day.
T-1 post. The day before launch day.
T-0 post. At the start of launch day.
T+1 post. The day after launch, to thank them for their support.
Want to grab the exact emails, social, and community assets I’ve used to repeatedly achieve #1 Product of the Day? Including guidelines and examples?
f. FAQs for Comments
Now that you’ve launched on Product Hunt, you have to:
Reply to comments on your PH page as soon as you can
Send a thank you note on Twitter/PH to everyone who upvoted.
Make the message as personal as possible. Add audio when possible.
Tweet to people who upvoted similar products on Product Hunt.
A mix of upvotes and comments is the single biggest thing that the Product Hunt algorithm loves; the more of both you’ll drive, the higher your chances to be #1 Product of the Day.
You can prepare some standard FAQs to help you scale your comment replies.
g. Product Hunt discussions
You can also use Product Hunt discussion to drive awareness and engagement with your launch by initiating discussions related to your product.
4. Post-launch strategies
Most people stop on launch day with the promotions. However, if you want to grab a #1 Product of the Week/Month, you need to keep going.
a. Product Hunt newsletter
If you end up in the top 10 products of the day, you’ll automatically enter the following day’s Product Hunt newsletter which goes out to 100,000+ subscribers. This is a great way to get more eyeballs and compound upvotes during launch week.
b. Post-mortem posts
Regardless of how the launch went, you should follow the same cross-channel distribution approach to engage with your network post-launch.
Thank you message. Thank every single person who interacted with your launch across every channel.
Continue replying to comments. Keep an eye on your Product Hunt page, and keep replying to comments as soon as they come in. Share social posts with the most thoughtful comments and tag your users on X or LinkedIn; specifically, be specific about how you’re using this feedback to inform product roadmap and updates.
7-days reflection. After 1 week from launch, share some impact metrics and reflect on how the launch went. Do this via both short-form (eg. social/email) and long-form (eg. by writing a dedicated blog post). Product Hunt audience loves hearing individual learnings and impact metrics, so invest in taking a moment and celebrate this.
Playbook creation. If you had a successful launch, consider investing in creating a detailed playbook of how to launch on Product Hunt (eg. like I’m doing here now). Product Hunt changes over time, so no worries if there are already publications on the topic. It’s a great way to keep your audience engaged on the topic and your brand top of mind.
c. Creators & niche PR
If you had a successful launch, you might have some niche tech PR and newsletter creators reach out to cover your launch and share the news with their audience.
You can also use platforms like Passionfroot to actively scout influencers and creators to help you reach more audiences post-launch. If you center the angle of your partnership around your launch — and keep your CTA on Product Hunt profile — you can keep accumulating upvotes over time that will increase the likelihood of getting your Product of the Week/Month.
d. Product Hunt Advertising & Marketplace
If you have the resources, you can consider advertising your Product Hunt profile on their display network, newsletter or marketplace. I haven’t considered these alternatives when launching Recast as these campaigns starts at $5,000.
Closing thoughts
Most founders and teams think of Product Hunt as a one-time launch, make-it-or-break-it experience. But that’s where most folks get it wrong.
Product Hunt is building a muscle and a brand; it’s a medium-to-long-term investment that will get you in tune with an engaged community of early adopters and will help you build a genuine, humane, customer-led brand.
Every time you have a new feature, rebranding, or substantial upgrade, launch it on Product Hunt. Use this playbook to refine your launches and add new learnings every time.