The Six Best Practices for launching on Product Hunt in 2021
You arrived at this article probably because you googled “How to launch on Product Hunt”, “Product Hunt Launch Guide” or “How to become Product of the Day?”
First of all, let me tell you that there is no magic path-to-success for a successful Product Hunt launch. That said, there are certain elements that will make your chance of succeeding much higher once you get them right. Why not learn from the best, most successfully launched products? 😎
Based on dozens of articles, I decided to aggregate the six most important best practices for thumbnails, images, videos and first comments so that your next launch will be much more successful and who knows — it will probably end up in the Top 5 Products of the Day 🤫
Since I know, that you don’t have all the time of the day, I will cut to the chase and provide you with the six best practices condensed into 2–3 actionable sentences. If you are looking for examples and inspiration from the best launches, read until the very end to find out how 😉
Title, Tagline and Description
Successful product titles vary in terms of length. Just make them memorable and use your business name. Try to be very precise with your tagline. You should treat it as your product’s elevator pitch. The description is an excellent opportunity to provide a more detailed explanation of your product and the unique value it provides and encourage users to ask questions and provide feedback. Don’t overuse emojis here and just explain your product’s value prop in 2–3 sentences. Make it short, snappy and memorable.
While these three elements are crucial for your launch, keep in mind that they should be seen as your launch’s solid base. The following four elements are the ones that will move-the-needle and can help you to stand out in the crowd.
Thumbnails
The thumbnail is your product profile picture and is the first thing visitors will see on PH. It’s used to describe the product with a single visual element. You can use a static image or a GIF. Choose the one which will communicate your value prop the best.
Best Practice:
🔥 Attention Grabbing
Make your thumbnail as eye-catching as possible. This can be your business logo or animated GIF.
↔️ Optimal Size
Use 600x600px or bigger and keep file size under 3 MB to ensure optimized image quality.
📸 No flashing GIFs
Don’t make GIFs too distracting, you don’t want to cause someones epilepsy.
💎 Product Value GIF
Showcase your product’s value i.e if your product boosts website speed show a fast motion animation.
✨ Product Highlight GIF
Highlight your product in action i.e if you remove image background show a before–after comparison.
🌐 Product Purpose GIF
Emphesize your products purpose through GIF i.e if you are nomad membership site show a spinning earth animation.
Images
A picture is worth a thousand words and these images give you a huge opportunity to grab the attention of potential users and tell them why your product is exactly what they have always been looking for.
Best Practice:
🌟 Extra effort for first image
Make sure to make your first image extra crisp as it will be used as a preview card on Twitter, Facebook and other Social Networks.
↔️ Optimal Size
Use 635x380px ratio and keep your file size under 3 MB each.
🖼️ Minimum of two images
Upload at least two, at best between six and eight, high quality images.
💎 Show benefits not features
Features are great, but the benefits these features can have on users lifes are far more valuable. Show how it solves certain problems your users have.
👩💻 Show product in use
Especially useful if your product is used in a rather unconventional way. Highlight just how easy and straightforward it is to use.
✍️ Be descriptive
Consider adding a clear, concise piece of text to your images. A first time viewer of your product may not immediately understand what’s going on in the image.
Videos
There is no better way to grab the audience’s attention than an informative and engaging video. Videos have both visual and textual content, so it’s on of the best possible way for outreach. Your video should be pitch-perfect.
Best Practice:
🙋♂️ Appears first
If you decide to add a video, it will be the first element shown in the gallery. Therefore, make sure to put extra effort into making it.
🔇 Engaging without sound
Your product video is muted by default. Your selling propositions and functionality of your product should be communicated effectively without being reliant on sound.
💎 Most impactful message
Your video will auto-play. Make us of that by showing your most impactful message in the first 4 seconds to really hook the visitor.
🎯 Don’t forget the CTA
Once you convinced a visitor to view your video make sure to use a powerful Call To Action at the end of your video to optimize your conversion.
🎓 Product Demo Video
A very common approach is a ‘How To Use’ video by the maker showing the product’s key features in action. Keep it between 1 to 5 min. The shorter, the better.
🌟 Product Highlight Video
This one is very attention grabbing. It highlights the product’s key benefits and is usually accompanied by fancy animations and an engaging audio track. Keep it under 45 seconds.
First Comments
This is your opportunity to introduce yourself, your team, and the product you created. Your maker comment will appear right below your product gallery. It’s highly visible. The most important indicator of your success is the number of comments your product gets.
Best Practice:
💬 Immediately post comment
You, the maker, should be the first to comment on your post. Make it interesting and engaging to open up a thoughtful discussion.
🙏 Thank your hunter
In case your product got posted by a hunter, show him/her some appreciation for taking the time.
🙇♀️ Provide some background
Briefly introduce yourself, the team, and the problem that you’re solving. In a total of 3–4 sentences, explain what the value prop is, who it’s for, and why you are building it.
😊 Engage with community
End your comment with an interesting question that could start a thoughtful discussion. Be helpful and humble — and less promotional. Answer every comment.
2️⃣ Launching an update?
If this is the second time you’re launching on PH (i.e. a big product update or huge feature announcement), explain what’s changed.
🏷️ Highlight your discount
Think about creating a special discount for the PH community and make sure to mention it clearly at the end of your comment.
Inspiration and Launch Examples
Now, after reading these tips, you are probably thinking “Ok great, I think I know how this works in theory but I would love to see some actual examples — get some inspiration”.
Look no further, my friend. All of these tips are an excerpt of ProductFlair.
In essence, ProductFlair is an inspiration board for ProductHunt launches that provides you with a hand-curated list of hundreds of examples that match these six best practices. Additionally, you can 🔎 filter through various custom tags, narrow down your research and make use of additional resources that make your launch even more productive and successful.
ProductFlair helps you to find inspiration on engaging GIF designs or images, how to properly structure your product video, or how you can write a killer first comment that will get your product to the top. This, and much more 💪
There is no magic path-to-success for a successful Product Hunt launch, but there are certain elements that will make your chance of succeeding much higher once you get them right. Why not learn from the best, most successfully launched products? 😎
▶️ ProductFlair is live on Product Hunt today here:
https://www.producthunt.com/posts/productflair
🔗 Get inspired and ready for your next launch with ProductFlair here: