So, you’ve spent countless hours developing the prototype and making sure that you have the best product to offer. When it comes to launch day, you want to get as many people interested in it as possible. Creating hype around the launch of your product is the ideal scenario, especially in a platform such as Product Hunt. This guide will show you the essential items you need to keep in mind in order to become a featured product and to achieve a higher chance of success.
Read on for the detailed product hunt launch checklist and practical tips you can implement.
First Things First…
You can follow the Product Hunt launch checklist that is provided here to a T. However, it won’t guarantee that you will be successful as there are numerous variables at play here.
For example, Product Hunt might not be the right community to promote your new product. Or it could be that there are several other amazing products like yours to compete with on launch day.
It is also important that you provide a copy and description of your product that is succinct and catchy. This will get the attention of the people within the community.
Product Hunt Launch Checklist
Now, onto the actual Product Hunt launch checklist. This guide provides you with everything you need to know to prepare for a successful launch.
Before Launch Checklist
- Build an Audience
You should spend time building your audience before launch day. Set up an email list for all of your family members, friends, colleagues, fellow community members, and anyone you personally know who can support you in your product launch. You can also search within the Product Hunt community or those people within your social network that have an interest in or affiliation with Product Hunt.
Use this opportunity to gather your troops so that you can establish a connection with them prior to your launch day. Start building those connections so you can get them to rally behind you during the launching.
Once your email list is set up, you can use it to send an email blast about two days before launch day. The email should provide details of the launching on Product Hunt and other essential information that they need to know. Make sure to provide links and a call to action so they know how to support you. Don’t forget to encourage them to sign up to Product Hunt so they can show their support.
Build Your Product Hunt Launch Strategy
This is where your real work begins. One of the most important things you need to know about your Product Hunt launch checklist is the date of the launch. Make sure you have a specific date pinned for the launch and refrain from pushing it back. This will give you enough motivation to get your product ready for the projected deadline.
About a week before your launch day, you can begin your promotion. Monday to Thursday are considered the busiest days of the week at Product Hunt; therefore, launching during these days will bring you higher engagement. However, launching your product from Friday to Sunday will also give you a higher likelihood of getting featured. Build your strategy around that and decide on the day of launch that is in alignment with your goals.
Launch Day Checklist
The launch day is the most important – and busiest – day of the Product Hunt launch. It is important that you clear your schedule for the day so that you can implement the launch without any hiccups.
Before the actual launching, do some final tests on your product to ensure that it is ready to go. It is also important to set up your infrastructure so that you can accommodate any increased influx of visitors, signups to your newsletter, or orders.
If possible, you should have prepared a product demo or video. This is an interactive way for the audience to get detailed information about the product. Aside from the demo video, make sure you have other marketing collaterals ready such as your logo, product images (at various angles), and PDF files with an instruction manual or background information about the product. Make sure to provide a link on your website and social media pages to the Product Hunt page showcasing your product.
Make yourself available during launch day so that you can respond to any questions or inquiries about your product. The more questions you get and respond to, the higher the engagement on your product launch. It should also give you time to encourage followers and people within your community to share about your launch.
Keep sending reminder emails to the people within your community. Double up on your effort to direct people from your website to Product Hunt to create more buzz and bring higher engagement towards your product launch. You can also leverage your social media to create buzz about the product. Keep monitoring your social pages for any mentions so that you can share them too.
After Launch Checklist
Your work does not end when you have completed the launch day at Product Hunt. Use this opportunity to draft a ‘thank you’ email to those who supported you during launch day. Send this email to the people on your email list and on social media too. Express your gratitude to everyone that purchased, shared, engaged, and got involved during your product launch.
If you got new sign-ups to your email list, take advantage of them. Even if you won’t be able to convert all of them, maintaining communication and keeping them engaged will benefit you in the long run. You can also leverage the new users to obtain feedback about your product. This will help you implement improvements or changes to the product, if necessary.
Continue to monitor your Product Hunt campaign. There are some users on this community that will check products sporadically, so you can still get new leads or conversions even when it is a few days past your launch day. Make sure to stay active on the community so you can get upvotes, comments, and other forms of engagement.
This is also a good time to measure the overall metrics of your product launch campaign. You can use any data that you gather to gain insights into what can be done to improve future campaigns and launches.