How We Secured 15 Badges with 9 Product Hunt Launches and Boosted Our Organic Traffic

Hi,

I’m Cem, a growth marketer at Adsby.

Like any team launching products, we’re always experimenting with every organic traffic channel out there, trying to reach our potential users.

One of our most active channels is Product Hunt. So far, we’ve done 9 launches as a team, earning 15 badges along the way. Some were huge successes, and others... well, let's just say they didn’t quite hit the mark. (and by the way, I’m also the 5th user with the highest streak on Product Hunt ??)

In this post, I’ll do my best to share what we’ve learned from these launches.

I hope you find it helpful!

Here’s the content plan I’ve put together

• What was our main strategy?
• A breakdown of each launch
• The Pros and Cons of Product Hunt
• Tips for PH Launches
• Closing thoughts

Our Main Strategy on Product Hunt

Our main strategy on Product Hunt was this: Until our main product was ready, we aimed to increase our presence in the community by launching side projects.

Each of these side projects was like a small piece of the features in our main product. Through these launches, we also wanted to gauge which features would catch users' attention the most.

And lastly, by incorporating email collection flows into these free tools, we aimed to grow our mailing list.

It’s a pretty simple and straightforward strategy, really. ??

How did we start?

About two months before our first launch, we started getting active on Product Hunt. We made it a habit to visit the site daily, trying to understand the common traits of successful launches. And, of course, we worked on increasing our visibility within the community by engaging directly with other users.

First Launch: Magnetiq Launch

Launch Date: Sep 29th, 2022

Upvotes: 1,185

Badges:

• 2nd Product of the Day
• 4th Product of the Week

Product: Magnetiq, which helps users set up Google and Meta ads more easily, was the first product we launched on Product Hunt.

Key Takeaways: The results from our first launch were fantastic. We became the 2nd Product of the Day, competing with a very strong contender. In the days following the launch, we saw traffic coming to our site from over 60 countries. Although the conversion rates were low, it was still valuable for a starting point.

First Side-Project: Ads Revenue Calculator Launch

Launch Date: Feb 24th, 2023

Upvotes: 275

Badges: 5th Product of the Day

Product: Ads Revenue Calculator was our very first side project. We developed this tool with the idea that it would capture the attention of potential Magnetiq users and provide real value. By simply entering their website link, users could automatically calculate the potential revenue they could generate from Google Ads.

Key Takeaways: In this launch, we earned another badge (5th place), but there wasn't much impact in terms of traffic or other metrics. The key takeaway here, in my opinion, was this: In our previous launch, we ranked 2nd, but it was on a day with high traffic on Product Hunt, leading to significant traffic for us. This time, we placed 5th, and there was less traffic and interest on Product Hunt that day, which directly affected the results.

The best part of this launch for us was that it demonstrated the value of experimenting with side projects. The feedback we received from users helped us refine the details and prioritize the features we would add to our main product.

The Best Launch: Free Keyword Generator

Launch Date: Nov 1st, 2023

Upvotes: 862

Badges:

• 1st Product of the Day
• 5th Product of the Week

Product: While continuing with Magnetiq, we decided as a team to create a new brand and product. Based on the valuable feedback we received from Magnetiq, we realized the need to pivot and focus on a more specific solution. This led to the creation of a new product that primarily focuses on Google Ads, helping optimize search ads—where users often waste significant time and money—with the support of AI and our marketing expertise. That’s how Adsby was born.

Once Adsby was up and running, we set up a landing page and started building a waitlist. This is where the Free Keyword Generator came into play:

1. Keywords are the most critical element for Google search ads.
2. We wanted to reach potential users for our waitlist.

The Free Keyword Generator, powered by AI, allows users to generate keyword suggestions in seconds with just a few inputs. (By the way, we later enhanced this product and launched a 2.0 version.)

Key Takeaways: Why was this launch one of our best?

1. We became the Product of the Day.
2. The product was genuinely loved and tested by users, which reinforced the importance of keywords.
3. We received traffic from over 110 countries.
4. We gained over 2,000 waitlist sign-ups.
5. Dozens of newsletters featured our product, giving us strong backlinks and boosting the SEO strength of our new domain.

Fastest Launch: Marketing GPTs

Launch Date: Nov 29th, 2023

Upvotes: 565

Badges:

• 3rd Product of the Day
• 3rd Marketing Product of the Week

Product: After OpenAI announced custom GPTs, we started creating our own GPTs, and some of them turned out to work really well, saving us a lot of time. So, we thought, why not share these with the world? :) We quickly developed Marketing GPTs with the goal of reaching potential users and measuring which features were most valuable to them.

Key Takeaways: What I can say about this launch is that it allowed us to see how traffic from different channels affected conversion rates. Users coming through GPTs had one of the highest conversion rates (starting a free trial) among all channels.

Note: You might wonder how users come to us through GPTs. We added a section in all our GPTs that directs users to Adsby. So, after finishing their interaction with the GPT, they see a little snippet about Adsby in the conversation.

Evaluate Insights: AI Ad Text Generator Launch

Launch Date: Jan 12th, 2024

Upvotes: 378

Badges:

• 4th Product of the Day
• 4th Marketing Product of the Week

Product: After the Marketing GPTs launch, we noticed that the most popular GPT was the one focused on ad text. So, we thought, why not offer this to those who don’t have access to GPTs? That’s how we created the AI Ad Text Generator as a free tool under Adsby.

Key Takeaways: It wasn't a strong launch, but the feedback was valuable to us. Discovering the challenges users faced while creating ad copy provided valuable insights that will guide us in improving our main product, Adsby.

Adsby Launch

Launch Date: Feb 20th, 2024

Upvotes: 555 Badges:

No badge

Product: As I mentioned earlier, Adsby is a tool that optimizes Google Ads using AI features. From keywords to AI-generated content and search terms, it supports users at every stage of the advertising process.

Key Takeaways: We put a lot of effort into our main product, Adsby, but the Product Hunt launch didn’t go as expected.

The reason? Product Hunt didn’t feature Adsby on the homepage for the first 3-4 hours. Being featured means your launch appears on the PH homepage. Starting late in the day naturally impacted the results, and we didn’t get the visibility we were hoping for.

New Testing: AI Ad Generator Launch

Launch Date: Mar 25th, 2024

Upvotes: 729

Badges:

• 1st Product of the Day
• 1st Marketing Product of the Week
• 5th AI Product of the Week

Product: We knew that users often struggle with ad content and keywords, so we decided to create the AI Ad Generator. With this free tool, users can simply enter their website and get ad texts and target keywords within seconds.

Key Takeaways: This launch reaffirmed that we’re on the right path with Adsby. Creating marketing assets is challenging for our target audience, and we need to make it more accessible for them. Thanks to this launch, we made significant changes to Adsby’s roadmap.

Disappointment Launch: AI Keyword Tool

Launch Date: Jun 13th, 2024

Upvotes: 110

Badges: No badge.

Product: After the success of the Free Keyword Generator and the launch of our main product, we decided to enhance this tool. We upgraded it to not only provide keywords but also deliver data on volume, competition, and more to our users.

Key Takeaways: However, something unexpected happened with this launch. Product Hunt didn’t feature the product all day. Despite reaching out, no specific reason was given. We still don’t know why it wasn’t featured.

By the way, when a product isn’t featured on Product Hunt, it’s almost like the launch didn’t happen at all.

Last Launch: AMA - AI Marketing Assistant

Launch Date: Jul 29th, 2024

Upvotes: 550

Badges:

• 3th Product of the Day
• 1st Marketing Product of the Week
• 5th Marketing Product of the Month

Product: AMA, AI Marketing Assistant , is a downloadable AI tool that can provide voice-enabled assistance for all your marketing tasks.

Key Takeaways: As a team, developing a technology we had never tried before (a desktop tool) was a lot of fun. Doing it in such a short time and achieving significant success with the launch gave us a huge boost in motivation. In addition to this motivation, we now have another tool that helps us engage with our potential users in a different way.

The feedback and traffic from the launch have excited us for the future, and we’ll be adding new features to AMA soon.

The Pros and Cons of Product Hunt

Pros

• A successful launch can drive significant traffic to your site.
• If you earn a badge, you may get featured in related newsletters organically.
• The PH community can both motivate you and provide valuable feedback to improve your product.

Cons

• While traffic is high, conversion rates tend to be low.
• You might have to deal with spam votes, people trying to sell votes, etc.
• There’s always a chance your product won’t be featured, and the criteria for this are unclear.

Tips for a Product Hunt Launch

• Be as active as possible on PH; participate in discussions, follow new products, etc.
• Choose your launch day wisely: Tuesday is competitive, with high traffic but also high competition.
• Don’t compromise with vote sellers.
• Aim to rank high within the first 4 hours after launch. (Rankings are revealed after 4 hours, and if you’re not near the top, it’s tough to climb.)
• Choose your product name and tagline carefully. In my opinion, these are the elements that catch the PH audience’s attention the most.

Final Thoughts

Despite its drawbacks, I still believe Product Hunt is a great option for promoting your product and reaching your potential audience.

Firstly, it’s completely free. While PH launches may show lower conversion rates, they offer significant value in other areas. For instance, these launches can drive substantial traffic to your site, which in turn boosts your SEO efforts.

The visibility and feedback you receive from these launches are invaluable for refining your product.

I hope this post is helpful to you. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out—I’d be happy to assist in any way I can.