What did you misunderstand about launching your product?

Hi, I'm actually preparing our launch (6th of July, search for Plezi One in the upcoming products :p). And I was lost with the hunter/no hunter thing. Using the Ship feature they encouraged me to "schedule launch", which I did. I ended up with my product page created, as well as the launch page. And I couldn't go back or I'd loose the shiny URL... Not a big thing, but as everything's new, I feel like loosing time and not being efficient. I guess Product Hunt is really a long term game now, so let's do this first launch, there are 3 products coming after this one, they may be better 🤣

That we needed to wait until things were perfect before we launched. We missed out on an opportunity to launch early because we wanted to add just one more feature, which turned into 10 more features. We should have just launched right away, and then launched again six months later.

I misunderstood the prep pre launching and how to take advantage of the new adoption. In future I would engage with potential adopters prior, engage with the community more, ship fast. Something I am trying prior launching my next project this week

I am yet to launch my first product, so not sure if I am qualified to comment, But I been through the discussion on this thread. There are few things I would like to add - 1. Producthunt copy - This is amiss in many many product launches, and I have seen copies with even grammatical mistakes. This is super important for the first impression. Keep your copy super simple, crisp and make sure your product USP is easily understood by your target audience. 2. Landing page - Why do you direct the traffic to a landing page or generic home page? How much time does it really take to set up a PH specific landing page? 3. Objective of launching the product - I see many founders are confused about why they need to launch on Producthunt. Are you looking for few first customers, then create a launch offer. Are you looking for feedback on your product, then offer a free trial and clearly ask for feedback. Are you looking to just create awareness about your product or educate the market - Add educational videos and content on your landing page. Better not to mix multiple objectives I feel.

For me, it was probably more of an opportunity to promote than actually making sales. I did get some momentum. I just did it without a lot of planning. There is a place for that for sure. I may do it again, and I would be more strategic. I have heard of others launching again on PH, so that may be something I do. I think a big issue is product / audience fit. A lot of folks on PH are tech/entrepreneurs and my product had nominal appeal.

Customer engagement is everything!

No preparation before the launch/not creating a hype around the product. I thought so many product launches everyday, who would care about us! I launched WhiteLabel - Branded games for businesses without any preparation. Two days later, saw a sale and started wondering where it came from. We didn't do any marketing or paid ads. Logged in to PH and saw 75+ upvotes. PH is truly an amazing platform to get early adopters.

I think we'd better launch manually one time rather than leave it to automatic launching as it turns out to miss the time and lose the heat.

During the first launch, we focused too much on getting everything ready and making sure the tech works and didn't get a chance to plan the alunch itself, build a community for it or think what to do with the traffic we would get once the product is announced. Since then, we've learned it's important to plan, set goals, and have a mapped out customer journey.

Great discussion. We're just about to launch our app Plezi One and we're organizing the last details before we'll market it here on Product Hunt... can't wait! I guess launches never happen the way you expect them and that the whole secret is to be very attentive during the first days + keep track of things happening (numbers, feelings, top reactions...). Also to "dedramatize" the "one and only launch" - instead, do several "launches" each time you release a new feature, with a retro time with the team to challenge the ways things were done and learn for the next releases ;) #test&learn

We didn't prepare enough so didn't have a proper understanding of Product Hunt and what it can do. We were shocked (and excited!) to see that so many new users came from PH.

Actually, today is my first-time to submitting my product on PH. I once thought PH was a place for product managers to communicate but now I realized it was a platform for finding valuable products for living or working. I've always worked for AI-based image editing tools like BGremover and AI image upscaler. If you are photographer or designer, you shouldn't miss out!

In my next launch need more marketing activity when you only started. Because you need to be in TOP 5 all day. TOP 5 products have a lot of organic traffic

I uploaded product on producthunt, however, I can't edit or create process flow.

For our most recent product launch, we learned that we needed a clear definition of MVP upfront and early; development started while requirements were still being defined. Date-based goals were our driver, requiring key tradeoffs to ensure team size and staffing levels enable success. We needed to continue to strike the right balance between product scope and speed-to-market. Finally, we missed an opportunity to more clearly set aligned goals for launch that make it easier to assess ROI.

That it is an expensive paid service..

Honestly, we launched on PH and waited for people to upvote and try it out... This time we will try to be more proactive. Understanding the PH playground, connecting with other makers, asking for help from the community, and more...