How far in advance do you prepare your launch on Product Hunt?
Sometimes I wish I had a clear answer to this question, but... I don't :D
A lot of people ask me in DMs what to do and when the best time to start.
I know people who prepared 6 months in advance and were not featured.
Then I know a guy who set up a page literally 3 hours before and got into the top five promoted products. 😀
Sometimes the power and usefulness of the product outweighs distribution.
However, the combination of both can do a lot.
(For example, a few years ago, we prepared for the launch of a minimalist phone app for about 5 months, including platform observation, but you probably know this story already.) :)
How long before the launch do you prepare, and what does that involve on your part?
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findable.
We didn’t spend months prepping, just a couple of focused weeks working on the message, the PH page, and paying attention to how things work around here before we launched Findable (SEO Toolkit, currently #2 on Product Hunt).
Honestly, I’ve seen both sides too, people who plan for ages and get buried, and others who wing it and land in the top five.
Feels like there’s no guaranteed path, but being active here before launch definitely helps. The forum gives way more insight than you’d expect :)
Fun fact: We started prepping the launch for @Kilo Code exactly 5 days ago. 5 days. Launching today. Let's see how it goes.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@fmerian What was your plan to get the most upvoters? 👀
good q! we kept it simple, posting and reposting in existing channels (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Discord). FYI I published a behind-the-scene post in /p/kilocode
minimalist phone: creating folders
@fmerian currently reading it :)
Actually I'm not here for launch. I haven't been in this community for too long, and thanks to Nika, @busmark_w_nika I've been able to learn about everyone's pre-release to preparations. I've skimmed through everyone's comments and in general the preparation time before launch is a month or more.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@jiamei_liu I am so happy that you are still here :) Sorry for the late reply on the comment, I haven't noticed notification :)
Sparrow
Last year, I remember we created a internal chat group a month prior to our launch, stood 4th in days ranking. I believe, 30 days is good enough time to prepare and roll out the marketing content in a strategic way. I type this as we gear up for our 2nd launch, this month.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@nayan_lakhwani Cool, when do you plan to create a "Notify me" page?
Sparrow
@busmark_w_nika Coming Monday since we are planning the release on Thursday.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@nayan_lakhwani That's one day before the launch? :D
Sparrow
@busmark_w_nika Actually we thought, it would be better to do it a little earlier so here it is,
https://www.producthunt.com/products/sparrow-4/
Velocity: AI User testing
minimalist phone: creating folders
@kevin_mcdonagh1 Finally, someone who got the concept of this platform.
I knew people who treated Product Hunt as the whole (and only) marketing strategy. After they didn't succeed (or weren't featured), they cancelled their attempts and closed their projects. 💀
Velocity: AI User testing
@busmark_w_nika Silly! Marketing needs to find and speak to their market, unlikely to be the size and shape of the niche PH users. Whats great about PH is that anyone active on here is genuinely enthusiastic and engaged with cutting edge tech products. Product Hunt is the direct channel to speak to these earliest adopters, a place where great love stories and early entrepreneurship journeys begin. If they can't get it, the rest of the growth curve are going to be a bigger struggle.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@kevin_mcdonagh1 This! ☝️
Great question! I think the timeline really depends on both the complexity of your product and your overall launch strategy. Some founders I know start laying the groundwork 3–6 months in advance by building an audience, creating teaser content, and engaging with communities like Product Hunt. Others go with a lean approach and prep just days before and still do well if their product solves a real pain point.
A useful resource I’d recommend is this site on successful Product Hunt launches which breaks down practical steps like pre-launch community engagement, optimizing visuals, and timing your post. It’s worth a read if you’re figuring out your own strategy!
How far in advance are you currently planning for?
minimalist phone: creating folders
@keara1122 I would preferably plan 3 months before the launch because I have build audience over 3 yrs :)
We plan our launch 8 weeks in advance, and wow, it’s quite the process.
Researching top launches, fine-tuning our message, creating visuals and videos, warming up our community, just like all those articles recommend.
Can’t wait to share Mark with PH community soon and hear your thoughts.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@lina_huchok So, when is the exact date of launching? :)
@busmark_w_nika September 20. It’s getting real 😅Nika, I spent some time today diving into your threads, amazing content, thoughtful questions, and such rich discussion. So much to learn from. Thanks for sharing!
minimalist phone: creating folders
@lina_huchok Lina, appreciate that! :) Hope we will see there more often :)
I usually start preparing about a month or two before launch.
The real starting point tends to be when the MVP is ready enough to show.
And now… I’m starting to feel the pressure of promotion 😅
I’m thinking a lot about this:
How can I make it stand out?
What could be that edge -the thing that grabs people’s attention right away?
minimalist phone: creating folders
@bunzeewithai When is your next launch? Something inside me is whispering it will be soon :D
Wow, thank you for your post. Reading the comments provided really helpful insights. I'm new to all of this, and I was planning to launch in one week, but this has made me shift my thinking to maybe taking at least more time. Thanks :)