This past Tuesday, the 500 Miles app made its debut on Product Hunt. We watched with great anticipation as our product rose to the coveted Top 5 list for the day with 475 votes (now over 600). At the end of the day, we saw a 10x increase in our website traffic and 300% increase in new user signups when compared to the week earlier. In addition, the product was featured in the daily digest email the following day which gave another boost to the metrics. But most importantly, the feedback we received from the Product Hunt community was invaluable. Here’s why.
Product Hunt Launch Day was a special day for the entire 500 Miles team; there’s no better feeling than witnessing appreciation for something you’ve made. Watching our product continuously voted up by the community was both invigorating and inspiring. But beyond just the wide exposure that is warranted by a trending product on Product Hunt, we learned that the product submission was beneficial in many other meaningful ways.
Metrics are important, but….
Exposure on Product Hunt puts your product to the test and after submitting it you will know if you have built something that people appreciate and find useful. The Product Hunt community “gets it” and they’re a huge asset to any startup or maker. You heard it here: the Product Hunt community is priceless.
Each day on Product Hunt is a competition that’s fair and democratic. That’s what makes it so great. Competition encourages makers to bring their A game and when everyone must adhere to the same rules, the products that come out on top are more deserving of their position. Huge kudos to Ryan Hoover and the Product Hunt team for building a site where these dynamics work so well.
The Power of the Product Hunt Community
People on Product Hunt don’t just vote and quickly move on; they download your app and check it out. Community members post encouraging comments about your product and ask specific questions about certain features. Often, these questions serve to inform others and peel back the layers of a product. For example:
The Product Hunt community appreciate products at a “deeper level” because many members have built products themselves or interact with many of them on a daily basis. They understand what it takes to build something for others and the attachment that an individual or team has to their product. Thus, they are tactful with their comments while still being helpful.
People like Richard and Sunil are incredibly valuable to startups. They are the type of people who will continue to talk about your app to others if they believe it has merit. The K factor of Product Hunt community members is probably through the roof. Product Hunt is an excellent way to build a fan base and grow organically.
When people asked questions in the discussion section, our CEO Viral replied to every single one. We had decided on doing this as a team beforehand as we felt it would serve us well. We felt that engaging with community members would put a face to our product which would in turn encourage others to care a bit more about 500 Miles. Additionally, answering many of the questions helped us think about the existing features of our product and its overall value proposition.
Another awesome feature of Product Hunt is that you can see everyone who has voted for the product. This made the experience more personable as we could put a face to each vote. Product Hunt is not meant to be an anonymous place and that makes it all the better.
After Viral mentioned that we had visited many campuses across the country to speak with students and tell them about 500 Miles, we had a student from Vanderbilt who asked about whether we would consider visiting his campus. Our Vandy friend (hey, Hunter) is just an additional concrete example of the power of the diverse Product Hunt community.
Ultimately, success on Product Hunt builds trust in your product because the general public increasingly knows that PH users are not pushovers or members of “the herd” but people with tons of knowledge and experience in the tech space. When people see your product has performed well on Product Hunt, they are more likely to check it out and become engaged members. Validation at its finest.
Our X Factor for Success & Key Takeaways
X Factor: We were fortunate that Hiten Shah, a friend of 500 Miles cofounder and CEO Viral Kadakia, agreed to submit our product. This made a huge difference. It helped get our product immediately in front of a lot of people as he is an influencer in the tech industry and has over 23K followers on Product Hunt. Special thanks to Hiten, our X factor, for submitting the 500 Miles on Product Hunt.
Key Takeaways: Your product screenshots and the media you provide for your submission profile are important but do not neglect your tagline. This is super important and will make or break your ability to do significantly well on PH. Our tagline was “Discover breakout tech companies and get hired by them” which basically covers our key message. If people cannot understand what you do in a sentence or less, it will be difficult to grow. Simple = better here.
Finally, engagement with the community by the makers is a must. The Product Hunt community is an inquisitive bunch and your attentiveness will not go unnoticed.
Shout out to everyone who voted for 500 Miles on Product Hunt! We really appreciate it and are hear to listen. Shoot us an email feedback@500miles.io
-Your friendly 500 Miles Team
