ph-community-outreach

Promote a Product Hunt launch on Reddit by participating in relevant subreddits for 2-4 weeks first, building karma through helpful comments. On launch day, post value-focused content customized per subreddit rather than dropping identical links everywhere.

The best subreddits for launching a startup product include r/SideProject, r/startups, r/Entrepreneur, and r/InternetIsBeautiful for general products. Niche options like r/SaaS, r/nocode, or r/webdev work better when matched to your product category.

Write a Show HN post with the format 'Show HN: Product Name – Brief description' and a link, then add technical context in the first comment. Hacker News requires technical substance, thoughtful responses to criticism, and never asking for upvotes.

Start community outreach 2-4 weeks before a Product Hunt launch by joining target communities and commenting on 10-20 posts. This builds the reputation needed so your launch post is received as a member contribution rather than spam.

Hacker News is not suitable for every launch; it works best for developer tools, technical products, and novel technology. Products without technical substance often receive harsh feedback, so Reddit or Indie Hackers may be better channels.