Best Practices to Promote SaaS on Product Hunt

How to use Product Hunt to promote SaaS products

An effective and popular way to promote products in today's digital-first world is via websites like Product Hunt that already has engaged audiences especially for categories like SaaS. It's a platform where one can vote for various products, however, what's attracts many to the platform is it's interactive nature. As it's a highly popular platform among marketers today, a bunch of new product are added to the site each day. From day one, they compete for upvotes and the day's top page ranking, thereafter the same continues. A huge advantage about Product Hunt is that it increases visibility of your product manifolds and attracts enquiries while driving a great amount of brand awareness. 

How PH works- lets take a look at the nitty gritties

You get a single chance to launch one product on Product Hunt, however, you can release subsequent versions later. So, it's crucial to make the best of this one-time opportunity. You can always launch another product in the future, but not this one.

It is desired and is highly beneficial that you appear on the Product Hunt homepage for the day. This will drive a huge amount of traffic to your product hunt page and also to your website. 

Making into the top 10 is a great way to be featured and ensures an official mention on their Twitter handle and in their newsletter with descriptions like how you are building the product. That means lot of visibility at once which is great.

If you make it to the top 5, this means that you will appear on the homepage of the site for a day and you will be embellished with a "Product of the Day" badge. This badge will be on the profile forever and is a good bait for visitors and clicks.

All products compete for the top position. There’s a good chance that your submission will appear in the Product Hunt Daily Digest newsletter. As people like to interact on the product pages, you can expect lots of comments and queries flowing in. In turn, the number of demo enquiries will also shoot up.

Prepare in advance (and why that matters)

Before the launch of your product page, you need to prepare a list of who all you will reach for checking out the page and upvote. Since, timing is quite crucial, it's always suggested to be ready well in advance.

How about connecting with few influencers for a shout out? That can make a good difference. Build a rapport and notify them at the time of the launch.

Prepare your creatives like videos and descriptions keeping in mind the target keywords and also your competitors. Create attractive, engaging and target group specific content.

How to build a network on PH

Product Hunt is no short-term engagement. Success depends on how well and consistently you nurture the community of your audience. It definitely requires time and effort to cultivate and engage a healthy community. Plan your launch in such a way that you have a scheme in place to attract and engage audience to the page, or else you might miss making the best from the opportunity.

It's easier way to build a follower base than using Twitter or Reddit. People hunting for products they need, do stumble upon your page and discover your website too.

It's an obvious fact that people are attracted to products that work great and solve problems effectively. So, the best way to build a community and network is to build a good product and showcase it well with the right messaging. Keep the efforts consistent. Also, don't forget to reply to and engage with audience on the platform. That helps in them remembering you.

Finally, let’s look at the “Don’ts” 

Of course, you would reach out to your supporters and email lists. But make sure, the messages are far from spammy and also don't ask upvotes directly. Instead, create curiosity to check out the product page and also request feedback. This way people will be more likely to visit the page and thereby likely to vote. 

Unsolicited messages are a big NO NO. It can tarnish the rapport that you already have with them. Be gentle and engaging with your messages. 

Don’t forget to provide the right link to your product page, not to the website- ProductHunt.com. Your audience shouldn’t have to search and find the product. 

Conclusion- 

Back your Product Hunt launch and promotion plan with good research on the leading products. Get in touch with mentors for effective positioning and messaging.

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