Viewst to Boost. History of Entering the Product Hunt

Be careful! It is a long read which can make you have your own launch on the Product Hunt.

Fail as a Kick for Takeoff

Last spring Viewst tried to enter the Product Hunt by launching the product page. But as they say, ‘the first pancake is tricky” … just 12 upvotes. But for the Viewst team there are no “stops” and “give ups”, so the decision has been made to launch an efficient product.

Why Even We Wanted to Enter the Product Hunt

There has been a lot of discussion recently on the appropriateness of the Product Hunt entering. Some say it is worth the effort (and there are plenty of them for a good launch). Others consider it just a waste of time because of non-target traffic, lack of leads and getting into the top due to bot’s traffic. But, and there is always a but. First of all, you have to answer the question “What for?” And then everything will fall into place.  We were well aware of what we wanted, that is, in particular, to make the first conscious and evident step towards the American market without spending the advertising budget, receiving feedback, traffic and leads. And, no doubt, to get the Product of the Day badge so that to be included in the   PH mailing.

Preparation

The preparation period has been approached seriously and thoroughly. It took about a month and a half, but it could be more, as we know. As for the launch materials, we coped with this pretty fast, since that legendary video was prepared long ago. 

It was followed by more serious and routine work on developing the grow of voices basis. The algorithm for the Product Hunt rating and grow of voices can be compared to a mean girl who gives meaning to many things for her total pleasure. That is why the Viewst team (15 persons) voted and made comments on the products with a view of boosting their accounts. All social networks have been boosted by new posts, short-term advertising campaigns, growing numbers of likes, followers, etc. aimed at upvotes growing on Day X.

A separate line of work was the product presentation for FB groups for entrepreneurs, startups and upvotes for the Product Hunt. Making a decision on the launching date was of special importance, as well as on hunter’s assistance.

Hunter is a person hunting a project on the Product Hunt. Any registered user can launch his product. It is also possible to ask for launching any more experienced community member with a significant number of both points and followers. While the product launching each follower gets a notice, and a number of points give weight to a hunter’s voice.

ATTENTION! Hunters are not allowed to take money for launching products on the platform.

On Product Hunt the “hottest“ days for well-known products are Tuesday and Wednesday. That is why a strategic decision has been made to ask an experienced hunter to launch us on Thursdays. A day before launching we posted a badge on the site for our visitors. On Day X our team members, including Vika Duben, CEO, clearly defined the channels and the persons responsible for posting the information, agreed to be in regular contact so that to plan even growth of upvotes.

Day X, or Everything Was Funny, Exciting and, Finally, Successful

First, a piece of advice 

Tip #1. Remember, the launching time on the Product Hunt begins at 0:00 PST and lasts for 24 hours. You can choose any time, BUT it is better to have some time to catch up.

The thing is, that our product appeared on the platform in time, but we began boosting the product only 6 hours later. Yes, it was my fault, as I was confused at 12.00 PST and 0.00. PST. Just from this moment we started our marathon (till the next morning), including groups, channels, chats, personal messages, responses to the comments and thanks for each upvote. 

Tip #2. Distribute your support requests properly, try to avoid “empty hours”, i.e. without upvotes growing. Owing to the well-coordinated teamwork we have not had any hour lacking at least 10-20 upvotes.

Tip #3. (You should not follow my advice, if you are ready to take a risk): do not buy upvotes for the first launch. It is utterly important not to be banned for boosting and get at least a number of feedbacks and leads.

4 hours after the start of the product boosting we were Product of the Day #5.

Figures, Figures, Figures and Anything Extra, or What Have We Achieved

Spent funds: $ 0.
Time spent for preparation: quite a while, but with pleasure.

Outcomes

24 hours
Product of the Day #5 and 381 upvotes
PH Site traffic: 431
Leads/registrations: 100+

Day 3
Product of the Day #5 ad 575 upvotes
PH site traffic: 781
Leads/registrations: 160+

7 days
Product of the Day #5 and 620 upvotes
PH site traffic: 932
Leads/registrations: 339

Moreover, it is equally important, that after entering the Product Hunt we received a number of requests relating the Viewst launching on various platforms, along with the social networks coverage growing, not to mention the requests of the US investment funds.

Summary, or What Matters for a Positive Result

Possibly, the key conclusion is the following: the team is half the success. I have never watched such coordinated and efficient team work these days (and it was not even my third launching, I should admit!) And the product, of course.