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[Case Study] How we ended up in the TOP 5 Product of the day on Product Hunt

Luca MicheliJul 16, 2023
[Case Study] How we ended up in the TOP 5 Product of the day on Product Hunt
Contents

It was our second launch on Product Hunt, but this time, it was completely different. Here is what we discovered by launching on Product Hunt our SaaS for the second time. And there is a Trello Board for you with a checklist to copy and paste for creating your successful launch. But first…

What does it mean to end up in the TOP 5 products of the day on Product Hunt?

  • 50 Signups only from PH traffic.
  • 500$ in MRR in the first 30 minutes of launch.
  • 600+ more visits on the landing page daily for 3 days.
  • 2 HUGE VC contacted us because of the launch.

I remember that day very clearly. It was so exciting.

How we ended up in the TOP 5 products of the day?

When you launch a new product is always exciting, but after launching it on PH it was completely different.

We launched a year ago our live chat on Product Hunt but it wasn’t successful like this.

This time we have been successful because:

  1. The story behind with cats
  2. A great free product
  3. Product presentation
  4. Social Media + Fans Community
  5. We had a clear offer
  6. Set your goal and achieve it
  7. Find a Hunter

The story behind with cats

First of all, I was checking the PH community. There are cats everywhere. They love cats. We love cats. Even if Gianni (one of our great devs) is allergic to cats and Matteo (our CTO) is a dog person.

Cats are famous for their power in marketing, don’t believe it? Read this: Why Cats Might Be the Key to Your Marketing Strategy

So I decided to go for a funny story behind the product built around a cat issue: Catching the mysterious lights.

The idea was simple: Telling a story by using our product as a solution.

A cat (named Katy Purry) had a huge problem by catching the mysterious lights (the laser light) and when she found a solution she decided to share with the cat world with our Knowledgebase software.

It was funny and it just worked great.

The article went viral because of it.

And it was perfect because it showed the feature we were sponsoring: the knowledge base platform.

A great free product

We delivered amazing, easy use and easy implement Knowledge base software. And of course, it’s free.

It wasn’t that difficult to convert that traffic. No hassle, No money, just value. Win, win, win.

Product Presentation

When you have to convince your audience you have quite a few seconds to convince them to click on your icon.

Here a checklist to be sure you have a great Product presentation:

  • Create an eye-catching GIF Icon
  • Use an easy-to-read and descriptive title
  • Use the tagline to tell what problem you are solving
  • Use clear GIFs or Videos for product images as well
  • In the product description use again the problem you are solving for who
  • Use the very first comment to tell a story about your launch

Social media + fans community

During the last 3 months, we have created an amazing community of fans on Facebook. The Customerly Founders Club Group is growing fast by allowing people to see what’s behind the scene of Customerly.

They helped us in so many ways. We cannot be thankful enough for their help.

When we launched the product hunt campaign we kindly asked for their sincere comment on the page. Not Upvotes. Just comment. And it worked.

A lot of them just commented sincerely, a lot of them liked the product and upvoted.

We were announcing the product launch for months and they were waiting badly for it. When we finally released, it was just an explosion 💥.

Be sure to:

  • Build a loyal community
  • Ask for feedback, not upvotes
  • Contact with personal messages your close friends
  • Ask your friends to share with friends and colleagues
  • Send an email campaign to all your loyal customers asking nicely to have their feedback
  • Change your Facebook group and page covers to announce the launch
  • Publish on your timeline asking for a sincere feedback
  • Let your team share the post

We had a clear offer

The knowledge base product it’s free but we offered a discount code for the other customer service products we sell at 50% OFF.

That was a game changer.

That brought more people to subscribe immediately for a paid plan.

I suggest you create a coupon code for the product hunt community.

Set your goal and achieve it

Last but not least, set a S.M.A.R.T. goal.

  • S for Specific
  • M for Measurable
  • A for Attainable
  • R for relevant
  • T for timely

When we decided to go for launching on Product Hunt the goal was the name of the task: 100 Signups from PH.

Setting a goal is so important to have a clear direction to focus on.

And guess what? We clearly achieved the goal and went beyond the expectation.

Find a hunter

To launch your product you need a hunter that approves you.

If you need any help feel free to contact me and I will be your Product Hunt hunter 🙂

Copy and Paste this strategy Trello Board for your launch

If you want to have my complete checklist of our launch of the important tasks to follow to have a successful launch on product hunt, please fill out the form below to receive it via email.

Luca Micheli

Luca Micheli

CEO @ Customerly

Luca Micheli is a serial tech entrepreneur with one exited company and a passion for bootstrap digital projects. He's passionate about helping companies to succeed with marketing and business development tips.

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