What (not) to expect when launching on Product Hunt?

We launched www.notionapps.com last month and got #2 Product of the Day. While preparing we had a vague goal of “let’s get more signups, if possible a top 3?”. But looks like there is much more to it. Here are 8 questions to ask before you launch on Product Hunt. 1️⃣ Is your target customer active on Product Hunt? Product Hunt is a community of tech and product enthusiasts. Are you building a dev tool? You should plan a launch. Are you selling sneakers? Maybe not. 2️⃣ Is it a marketing channel or a marketing event? If your audience is active on Product Hunt, maybe think beyond your first launch. Make it a routine to contribute to discussions and launches if PH is a potential marketing channel. 3️⃣ How will you handle an unsuccessful launch? If the launch does not go well, it isn’t the end of the road. Be ready to go back to writing content, working on SEO, building a community, and other marketing tasks. 4️⃣ How will you handle a successful launch? If the launch goes well, it still isn’t the end of the road. Be ready to go back to writing content, working on SEO, building a community, and other marketing tasks. 5️⃣ What specific metric are you aiming to improve? It is essential to know beforehand if you want to improve signups, end-user activity, revenue, or some other metric. It could also be just to get feedback. 6️⃣ How important is a top 3 badge? A Product of the Day/Week badge will add credibility to your product, but a section with real customer testimonials does too. 7️⃣ What is the right stage to launch on Product Hunt? Considering you have the right expectations, you can launch on Product Hunt at any stage. For instance, in a pre-launch stage, optimize for feedback and not upvotes. 8️⃣ How much time is worth spending on Product Hunt? If you are launching for the first time, be wary of the time that goes into Product Hunt outreach. If you are still early, maybe you shouldn't prioritize it over building and talking to users. ----- Feel free to share your thoughts on how you prepared (or are preparing) for your Product Hunt launch. Even if you are a small team of 2 and have limited time and resources, with the right preparation you can make the most of Product Hunt. A successful launch is no rocket science (pun intended). Follow me for my upcoming post where I will write a list of tips for a successful Product Hunt launch.