Good promotion strikes a balance between promotional and fun. The goal is to bring people who genuinely care about your product to your launch page, so they can try it and tell you what they think. This article covers what to do before launch day, what to do on the day, and the few hard rules you need to follow.
Before launch day
Build your audience early
The makers who do best on launch day usually started weeks earlier. Be active on Product Hunt: comment on other launches, answer questions in the Forums, and help other makers. When it's your turn, those people will remember you.
Outside Product Hunt, share what you're building as you go. Posts about progress, roadblocks, and decisions give people a reason to follow along and show up on the day.
Use your pre-launch dashboard
Once your launch is scheduled or drafted, your pre-launch dashboard helps you get ready. From there you can grab your launch link, add a badge to your website, and start a thread in the Forums to tell the community what's coming.
Give your people a heads-up
Tell your team, your users, and your newsletter subscribers when you're launching.
Ask your co-makers to set up their Product Hunt accounts ahead of time.
Prepare your email, social posts, and any in-app banner before the day, so you're not writing them at 1 AM.
Get your website ready
Add a Product Hunt badge or embed to your homepage or a banner.
Consider a landing page for Product Hunt visitors, with one clear call to action.
If you have a Product Hunt offer, put it front and center.
On launch day
Share your launch link everywhere your audience already is: email, X, LinkedIn, your community Slack or Discord, and inside your product. Communities where you're already active are great. Communities you've never posted in before are not the place to drop a link.
Have fun with it. Some makers start a friendly rivalry with others launching the same day, or post playful social content. Personality travels further than a generic "we're live" post.
When you ask people to check out your launch, ask them to try it, comment, and share feedback.
The rules
Never ask for upvotes. Asking people directly to upvote, or running anything that requires or rewards upvotes, breaks Product Hunt's rules and can get your launch removed.
To keep your launch safe:
Don't ask for upvotes. Ask for feedback, comments, and help spreading the word instead.
Don't run contests or giveaways tied to upvotes. A giveaway on launch day is fine. A giveaway that requires or rewards an upvote is not.
Don't pay for upvotes or comments. Bought or low-quality engagement is easy for us to spot, and it can get your launch removed and your account banned.
Don't spam. Mass DMs, scraped email lists, and copy-paste messages to strangers backfire. People report them to us.
Don't use fake or extra accounts. Every account should belong to one real person.
If you're not sure whether something crosses the line, email us at hello@producthunt.com before you do it. For the full rules, see our Community Guidelines.
Common mistakes
Inviting your community to Product Hunt only on launch day, instead of weeks before
Not preparing your website, emails, and posts ahead of time
Thinking you need a famous hunter to post your product
Setting no goals, or treating Product of the Day as the only one
Next up
You're ready. Here's what to do during and after launch day.