How to get to No. 1 on Product Hunt
With over 630,000 monthly visitors, launching your company or product on Product Hunt is a surefire way to get a ton of attention. But securing the golden “No. 1 product of the day” spot isn’t easy — especially if you end up launching on the same day as a new Apple release or cryptocurrency app.
Thankfully, it’s not all down to luck. Having recently secured the top spot for our new automatic time tracking feature Memory AI, I think we’ve cracked the recipe to success. Follow these 5 tried-and-tested steps to get your app to No. 1 on Product Hunt:
1. Be visual
Not all of us are blessed with a super simple UI with intuitive, sugary buttons. If you made a product that needs some degree of explaining, do so — and make it very visual. Create a video or infographic, record a screen walkthrough, write blog articles and go heavy on the graphics. Just remember to keep it simple: they should all act as elevator pitches in their own right.
2. Use every platform
Contact anyone that’s on your (GDPR-friendly) mailing list to help create some buzz (you’ll be amazed by how supportive people are!). Then push that enthusiasm to your social channels. Go live on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit and get some help from your followers and other supportive communities. You get bonus points by tagging @ProductHunt on their social channels, so they can share your product launch.
3. Pester your network
Every launch should be a team effort, so get everyone in the company to share, like and retweet. It not only boosts the social media posts; it shows that you’ve got people that believe in your product. It doesn’t hurt to spam your friends and family to do the same for you. We’ve all got that cousin with a billion followers on Instagram — it’s time to work that unconditional love.
4. Play up your success
Ever hear that saying that success breeds success? Try getting a front-page Hunter to give your launch more visibility. Then share the news when you reach a milestone! It doesn’t matter if you’re just getting started on Product Hunt or if you’re number two at noon. Celebrate what you’ve got and ask people for the extra boost. You can always share a fun video of people dancing around the office.
5. Crack the algorithm
If you follow launches on Product Hunt for a few days, you’ll notice there is something I like to call “the recency factor”. It seems that the number of votes is not the only deciding factor; when the votes were cast is also important. Make sure you send waves of voters to your listing throughout the day. You can send promo emails according to time zones or set up a banner on your site redirecting to the launch page. Then make sure you talk to the people who comment on your listing.
Bonus extra: these 5 tips can give your Product Hunt launch a boost, but remember to follow the platform’s guidelines. They’re pretty easy to follow.
SO, Start preparing your launch and get in touch if you have any questions. I wish you a smooth, Apple-less launch.