Product Hunt is only for launching your product!

I've been preparing for our PH launch and researching the dos and donots for the launch... There seems to be a sentiment these days that the only people utilizing the platform are those who are promoting their product only, and less than 1% look up products here. They say that the only boost to the platform is during the launch, and eventually, it just fades away... What do you think is true? How are you utilizing the platform?