How we became #2 product of the day within 1.5 week preparation
Aleksandra Dikan
18 replies
hey makers :)
Huh, on May 3rd we launched Dokably app on Product Hunt and finished #2 product of the day and #3 of the week (for now) with 700+ upvotes
Well, what can I say? We are happy and what is more - we survived :) I do not remember when last time I had to work that much as before and during the launch day.
But now I know that anything is possible if you really want it.
Many start the launch prep 3-4 months in advance, have big teams and some resources.
We had me (founder of Dokably) and my marketing manager Ksenia. And no money.
So, what helped us? Or how we helped ourselves :)
Before launch:
1. We spent some time searching for relevant communities on Facebook, LinkedIn, Telegram, Reddit. They were about startups/saas/productivity/product hunt/founders/etc. - all that potentially fit you.
We joined them in advance as it takes some time to be approved.
Somewhere you have to be active for some time before you are allowed to post and insert links.
2. We made a list of influencers and contacted them 1 week before the launch. Better to contact them even earlier.
We asked them to look at our product and if they like it to review/retweet on the launch day.
3. We found a hunter also 1 week in advance. I feel our hunter helped us a lot.
4. We tried to reach as many makers on product hunt as possible and ask ed them to support us on day x. also do that in advance as it takes time for them to see your message and respond.
5. Create Coming soon page on PH and spread everywhere + ask people to get notified.
6. Create a plan for your launch day: what you gonna do every hour. plan seriously in order not to waste time on day X sitting and thinking where to start and whom to write.
7. Prepare all sorts of messages for all your channels: what you gonna write to friends/colleagues/general audience/etc on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. As for every audience you need to have a specific message.
8. Split the tasks between team members who gonna help you in your launch, in order not to do same job and waste time. Time matters :)
π Launch day
Do all according your plans!
What I did:
1. Made posts on all my personal social network accounts as I have a lot of people everywhere. And asked people to review our app.
My team-mate did all the posts on Dokably pages everywhere.
2. Then I messaged into all groups and channels I prepared in advance.
3. Then I messaged to all friends
4. Then - to colleagues and other people.
5. Then - to product hunt people.
6. Every hour I answered comments and questions on our launch page.
So every hour of the launch day was planned and used very cleverly.
And ta-da: in the end we are #2 of day.
Share your experience and ask questions if you have any :)
Replies
Ksenia Goron@xeniagoron
Socap.ai (YC W23)
Hey there, @aleksandra_dikan listed almost all you need to become the Product of the day. Unlike I'm able to add more valuable thoughts. But give it a chance.
So, I'd like to mention what helped us with such tight time terms.
- To generate momentum, we warmed up subreddits related to our product on Reddit.
During the launch day, the audience of these communities will support your to thank you for the meaningful content that you shared before. Just remind about yourself on your launch day and ask to support.
- Don't forget to set up a Product Hunt banner for your website.
- A newsletter to our current app users and collaborating with "building public" makers helped us solicit reviews of our app. Those who liked our app supported us during the Product Hunt launch day.
- Additionally, we reached out to an influencer to be featured in their newsletter.
Share
Antimetal
Congrats on the success. And this is super helpful, thanks
Socap.ai (YC W23)
@luke_button thank you for your support! Hope you gifted your upvote to us)
@luke_button happy to help! :)
@luke_button thank you, good luck with your launch!
FocuSee
Congrats on the success! Really helpful post.
@fiona_qin1 thanks! happy to help
Thanks, for sharing the actionable tips.
I'm curious were there any plans or activities that you did after the launch?
@shubhangi_sharma5 thanks! after launch we spent 1 day replying to everybody everywhere :) Also, we wrote posts on all our social networks about our achievements at PH. We had a call and analysed the launch day: what was good, what could be done better. And we asked people to support us as there is still the competition for a product of the week :)
Rapid Scrapper
Congratulationsππ₯³π
@shubham_pratap thank you :)
Fabulous post, folks. Wishing you great success with Dokably π
@narenbhandary many thanks :)
WebCurate
Thanks for sharing your valuable experience with the community and congrats on your big success! ππ
@hosseinyazdi thank you for your warm congrats!
What an absolutely fantastic list, Aleksandra & Ksenia π It is going to help so many people. My question is regarding finding a hunter and approaching them. How did you go about it?
@kaizenorder thank you :) We always try to take closer look to active product hunters and makers.. see what tools they like and review. So we had a list of the hunters for whom our product could be thematic and who might like it. And then we wrote to the person we thought could be perfect fit for us. And he agreed :)
@aleksandra_dikan Great strategy, thanks again