🔥 I got 2000 new subscribers from my Product Hunt launch …

Last week I launched Marketing Examples to Product Hunt.

✔️ 1,500+ upvotes
✔️ Product of the Week
✔️ Email list grew from 1,300 to 3,300

This is the step by step account of how I did it

Step 1 - Don't launch straight away

23rd May 2019 Marketing Examples v1.0 went live. The site had a few case studies, several bugs, and an email box which didn’t convert well.

The old version of me would have thrown it on Product Hunt straight away. But I decided to wait.

Why?

1) I didn’t want to waste my “turn” with the very first iteration of my site.

2) I didn’t want to launch in a vacuum. Product Hunt multiplies current momentum. Having a small following of “fans” on launch day goes a long way.

So I set myself a target.

✔️ 1000 email subscribers
✔️ 1000 twitter followers

And then I would launch. 70 days later I hit my target.

It was showtime.

Step 2 - Define your goal

The goal of a Product Hunt launch is not upvotes. I can't stress that enough.

Upvotes are a means to an end. They are coupons you exchange for traffic. It’s what you do with that traffic which matters.

So, what was my goal?

I wanted to maximise email subscribers.

I spent the day before launch making sure my site was in the best possible shape to collect emails.

100 upvotes and 100 email sign-ups is more valuable than 1000 upvotes and a site which can’t convert anyone.

Step 3 - Schedule

Now I had the foundations in place it was time to schedule my post. I chose 12:01 AM PST and Wednesday (the next day).

New products hit the homepage at midnight so this would give me the full 24hrs of exposure. I’d also avoid the weekend traffic lull.

I filled in the description, added some images, wrote a first comment, and my friend, @janadesomer, made a nice GIF for me.

Things were starting to take shape.

Step 4 - Banner Time

The next morning I woke up early, excited for what lay ahead.

The first thing I did was add a banner to my website. This would give anyone coming directly to my site an easy route to support my launch.

Step 5 - Leverage

The next step was to leverage the audience I'd built in Step 1.

I tweeted from @GoodMarketingHQ and from @harrydry.

Product Hunt will use the first image in your post as the meta image. So it’s worth putting effort into this one.

Next, I shared with my email list.

Beforehand, I clarified with Product Hunt that this was within their rules.

They told me it was, but that “multiple new accounts signing up and voting one product in the same period of time may trigger our spam detection.“

So as a precaution I told subscribers to only support if they “already had a Product Hunt account.“

I also scheduled emails throughout the day to avoid a rush of upvotes in one go.

The results:

Emails Sent: 1345
Open Rate: 633 (47%)
Click to Product Hunt: 208 (15%)

Step 6 - Bigger Forums

Next, I posted on the @startupschool forum and also added a Milestone to my @IndieHackers product page.

Both posts sat at the top for the whole day.

Why were my posts so well received?

Well, I wasn’t just screaming, “Everyone look at me!” at the top of my voice.

I also included some tips on how best to launch to Product Hunt. And I think people appreciated the balance.

Step 7 - Telegram & Slack

There’s thousands of Telegram and Slack groups out there for startup folk.

These are great places to share your launch because of the crossover with Product Hunt. I was a member of about 10 groups myself, so I worked through them one by one.

I quickly realised that the level of support I received directly correlated to my level of contribution.

In groups where I'd helped others, others helped me and when I hadn’t, well … I got ignored.

Product Hunt launch is the day your karma comes full circle.

Step 8 - Relax

Finally, I kicked back and spent the rest of the day replying to comments, tweets, etc.

Previously, I would have tried to hunt down more upvotes. Posting on Facebook, badgering friends, etc.

But I can assure you this stuff does more harm than good.

📋 Results

Over the next 7 days, direct referrals from Product Hunt totalled 4,361. But the real benefit came from 2nd order effects.

1) Direct traffic increased 4x
2) Twitter referrals increased 8x
3) Marketing Examples was featured in Tympanus

In summary:

I'm not sure there's a right way to launch to Product Hunt, but if you:

1) Build an audience before you launch
2) Prioritise conversions, not upvotes
3) Support others throughout the year

you won't go far wrong.

“How I got 2,000 new subscribers from Product Hunt“ 👉 https://t.co/KY5KFgdH4Y

For more real world marketing examples 👉 https://t.co/7gnJQydfDz

If you like the threads following @GoodMarketingHQ is appreciated ❤️

Thank you to @EmailOctopus for sponsoring

Over and out - Harry 🙌