How can you promote your launch when the "Coming soon" page is not longer available?
Yesterday, @rohanrecommends noticed some changes on this Platform – the "Coming soon" page is gone.
There's no reason to panic because you have plenty of options to be visible, for example:
You can place the PH badge (button for support) on your landing page.
You can send a reminder email or push notification to your supporter.
You can set up a LinkedIn/Facebook virtual event where you insert the link for your launch.
You can use PH forums with relevant categories to make announcements if you have previously launched, for example, p/Google, allowing you to use the platform directly. 😉
... just to name a few that came to my mind at the moment.
How do you plan to "change strategy" when the Coming Soon page is not available?
Feel free to share your POV on this change and your solutions.
Replies
FuseBase
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@je_suis_yaroslav Why did you perceive it like "useless"? :D
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@je_suis_yaroslav Hmmm, in these terms, yes. The amount of messages I receive daily is not bearable. But to be honest, I upvoted for launches when I hit the Notify me button first.
Uxia
Product Forums (/p) definitely are the new Coming Soon pages.
See examples:
@Raycast for iOS introduced in this thread
@Supabase's Launch Week 15 announced
@v0 by Vercel for iOS pre-launched here
Hope it inspires!
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@fmerian Exactly. I perceive it as a place for journaling.
@fmerian how would you go about using the Forums/Threads? Just start a new thread with some info to get some initial traction/folllowing?
exactly. you could start by introducing yourself in /p/introduce-yourself and/or run an ama session in /p/ama. if you're building an X for Y-type product, you could start a thread in the X forum.
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@fmerian I think that /p/ama is only for selected (asked) people. Because I couldn't choose the option from categories.
@fmerian @busmark_w_nika Hi, can I create a product thread two months before the launch date?
absolutely! when posting a product, you can create a draft. you'll have your own Product Hub and Product Forum (/p/). from there, you can start posting and building hype around your upcoming launch.
take @Layercode for example, @aidanhornsby is crushing it. hope it helps!
@fmerian thank you so much!
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@fmerian @olga_scry Go for it. You can also have a "journaling" approach to jotting down what is new, updates, milestones, good tips that were useful with your launch, etc.
This is really bad news. Honestly.
A big part of the campaigns we ran was built around the teaser page. Not for any other reason, but because we’d always start marketing weeks before the actual launch. That’s how people discovered the campaign. That’s how many new users signed up. And now this completely shifts the focus.
The whole idea was to have a strong, month-long campaign right here on Product Hunt. Not on social media. Not in someone’s inbox. The goal was to drive them here.
But now, aside from launch day itself, there’s no real reason for anyone to visit the site. Which could also backfire if too many new accounts get created on the same day as the launch. For me, that’s just bad news.
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@byalexai We need to discover other ways to "promote" the launch because, as I understood from the discussion in Rohan's post, there are no plans to return them back.
@busmark_w_nika I know. And it’s not a problem . The rules are the same for everyone.
I just think this decision is mostly a loss for Product Hunt itself. Because now, before launch day, there’s really no reason for projects to drive users to the Product Hunt site. The only incentive left is to share the link on launch day itself.
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@byalexai Aaaa, got it. Because when you send / share the "Notify me" page, you can drive there users "multiple times". RIght?
Nourish - Feel better, informed.
Has it gone on purpose? Anyone know why?
I would have thought it was a solid way to democratise the launch pattern ... 🤔
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@jimbomorrison I do not know directly about one, but people discussed it yesterday here.
Not a fan of the recent changes. The teaser page and the “launching soon” tag next to the name were both helping to bring in more organic traffic. They contributed to the network effects that are important for the platform’s growth. Even the “Notify Me” button was raising awareness among people who hadn’t yet heard of PH. The launching soon tag prompted me to checkout the maker's profile to see who they are and what product they are launching.
Yes, there are ways to raise awareness for a launch, but these changes don’t really help makers. That said, there must be a good reason for them, and I’d like to understand the thinking behind the change.
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@ash_grover First, I thought that these Notify me pages were not relevant in terms of traffic, but with more people commenting it, I think that traffic could be quite good from them.
NoteUX Chrome Extension
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@nabeel_khan You were really lucky! :D Cool!
Good thing I took time to look around before starting to work on our launch 😅
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@betsykittu You are a lucky one! :D
A great idea is to create a waitlist Google form.
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@phoebe_marshall Where do you wanna promote/publish it?
Agnes AI
So I'm exploring a way of 'notify' - I am organizing a weekly online demo show, so that products makers who will launch soon could roadshow their features and attract potential votes.... hope it will work!
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@cruise_chen Where will that "roadshow"? I think that I need more details because I didn't get it.
Agnes AI
@busmark_w_nika oh sorry its happening on online meeting platform like zoom etc... i will organize it weekly and let those people whose products are launching on PH the following week demo their product!
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@cruise_chen Cool! Where do you promote that roadshow? I didn't catch that so far.
CloudFunnels AI
The Coming Soon page was garbage. It was the reason why you had an 'industry' of people who promoted launches with fake engagement and charged money for it.
Getting rid of it is one of the best things Producthunt has done.
When they create garbage things like this which can be skewed it forces regular founders to give those leeches money in order to not be lost among all the other launches who are propped up with fake engagement and grafts.
... Next
Still can't fathom why Producthunt thinks it's a great idea to give a higher value of an upvote from other founders?
What's happening is, we have to canvas all day to ask everyone to support each other.
Just a circle jerk of 'help'
Lame
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@cyriljeet Wait, in what terms did they charge money from the "Notify me" page? Like creating it? Honestly, I would be more pleased if people vote for products they naturally find useful rather than gaining "begged" votes.
CloudFunnels AI
@busmark_w_nika Nika, I've had a certain consultant tell me he charged $1500 to manage launches on producthunt. Apparently he uses his connections to get more upvotes from right people. Knowing that most of the people who publish on hunt are solo founder, this guy is just an exploitative leech.
Not just that, every time I post a product on Producthunt I have multiple people coming out to me and telling me they will get me votes from their network for money.
Is this what Producthunt was designed for?
The people who buy this trash often get more votes and higher rankings. Then when everyone jumps on board the entire platform is reduced to garbage.
I am not sure you got what I meant... So just saying this again in clear terms.
Notify me page - Good riddance!
Less money for the exploitative 'influencers' and 'managers'
Raycast
@cyriljeet any time you gamify or add metrics to something, there will be cheaters and "leeches" that show up to assist people in getting ahead.
While I'm aligned with your sentiments towards cheaters and leeches, I'm curious if you have any ideas or suggestions for maintaining the integrity of the "game" of Product Hunt's leaderboard?
CloudFunnels AI
@chrismessina I agree with you Chris. This is the nature of gamification.
Producthunt is a discovery platform by allowing it to be gamed that cause was being hurt.
What it really should be is a platform where products get discovered by an audience. There should be discussion around them.
I think one of the ways this can be done is adding more Directory and categorization features. Like showing related products on product pages.
The listings are more or less permanent, they can be veered towards a more marketplacy approach.
Product categories and navigational systems where products show up in search.
Instead of a push for daily wins, I think the platform should be more long-term.