Ranked #3 on Product Hunt, here's everything you should know

3 weeks ago, I finally launched my SaaS on product hunt after a few weeks of planning. I'll be honest, it did take a fair bit of effort but it was worth it in the end. Proof below.

I'll first tell you the results, and then some things I learned:

Results:

  1. #3 product of the day, and the top B2B product that day (brandjet ai, launched 23rd Nov)
  2. Daily signups nearly doubled after launch day, we spent <$200 on paid ads
  3. Organically got picked up by a few newsletters, which greatly improved traffic and drove more signups
  4. Interestingly, more interest from investors - was not really expecting this one

I definitely think a launch on product hunt is worth it as long as you're willing to put in the effort. Here are some important things to keep in mind:

  1. Find a good hunter within your network or externally; this is very critical when it comes to getting that early traction. These guys have an audience native to PH, and it makes all the difference.
  2. Early traction, within the first few hours in particular, determines the rest of the day. If you don't get competitive engagement during this time, chances are you are not going to be featured at all for the rest of the day unless you're expecting your own network to be active later in the day
  3. Some things are simply out of your control, we launched on the same day as google nano banana and there's nothing I could have done to prevent this. We'd be at #2 otherwise, but this is nothing to cry about of course.
  4. Focus on getting feedback/comments/reviews if you already have users for your product. These are your brand evangelists. Get them to discuss their favorite features, what they'd like to see, how it helped them, etc - and RESPOND TO THE COMMENTS as soon as they come in. Comments help boost you in the algo, aside from the upvotes. (we had the most comments that day)
  5. Start outreach at least 3-4 weeks prior to launch day, don't expect a lot of support if you're only warming up your users and the network the day of or right around launch time. This was easier for me to do given my own product automates outreach.
  6. If you have some extra cash and really want that top spot, don't hesitate to spend on some influencer marketing campaigns. I didn't do this for this launch, but I will next time around simply because those votes you might get through them can make all the difference, not to mention the reach generally speaking. Just make sure their audience isn't completely far removed from the world of product hunt.
  7. Do not pay for upvotes. You'll get a lot of DMs offering upvotes, but it simply isn't that easy. Those votes aren't going to register, and there's a chance you ruin your reputation. You're going to waste your money, the Product Hunt algorithm isn't stupid.
  8. A low rank doesn't invalidate your product. It's not the end of the world, and I've noticed a lot of cool products don't get the love and support they really deserve. While this takes a lot of planning, it's not unfair to say there's an element of luck here.

Some other thoughts I have, but don't necessarily have the numbers to back up so take with a grain of salt: I think dev tools or adjacent stuff generally performs better on PH vs B2B SaaS, and consumer apps better than both from what I've seen.

Good luck with the launch guys, happy to answer any questions you guys might have!

Author: Lombaxfan90