Product Hunt is the leading platform for discovering new innovative products. Every week, millions of people visit the site to explore fresh launches and stay ahead of the curve. They have a combined following of 900k+ across all social media platforms.
However, leveraging their social following to drive traffic posed its own set of challenges:
- Difficulty in measuring campaign impact: With a large and diverse following, it was challenging to gauge which platforms or campaigns are driving the most traffic.
- Low Click-Through Rates (CTRs): Lengthy links often reduced engagement in posts, leading to lower CTRs.
Short.io always came short
To tackle these challenges, Product Hunt started using Short.io to create trackable short links. But it wasn’t a smooth experience:
- Short.io’s user interface was outdated and difficult to navigate. Jason Levin, Product Hunt’s Head of Growth, described the link tracking experience as "messy and cluttered” even remarking that “Short.io looks like it’s from the 1990s,” summing up the overall user experience.
- Short.io’s analytics were insufficient and made it hard for the team to evaluate campaign performances and make informed decisions. As Jason aptly puts it “What you’re not tracking, you can’t improve.”
These issues highlighted the need for a more intuitive tool with comprehensive analytics and advanced filtering options, pushing Product Hunt to explore other options.
We were looking for a modern and powerful alternative and coincidentally Dub started creating waves in Product Hunt becoming the #1 Product of the Month. We gave it a shot – and it paid off!
Jason Levin
Head of Growth
Dub: Short links with superpowers
From being stuck in the 1990s, Product Hunt’s growth team was warped into the future of short link management:
1. Slick & user-friendly interface
Dub’s slick and user-friendly interface was almost therapeutic. It transformed link tracking and reporting into a seamless, organized, and neat experience:
For a more comprehensive comparison between Dub and Short.io, check out this article.
2. Powerful & insightful analytics
Dub’s in-depth analytics was loaded with AI features and more filtering options.
You can query Dub AI with requests like "What are my top-performing links this month?" or "Desktop users in the US," and it will instantly generate a customized report with the relevant filters applied. It enabled the team to make data-driven decisions with conviction.
As Jason likes to put it, “Dub is clean, fresh and intelligent!”
The Dub-Effect
Switching from Short.io to Dub was incredibly easy – from importing all 15,000 links to updating the DNS records – the whole process took less than 30 minutes.
Migrating from Short.io to Dub was super easy – it took me 5 minutes to set up the DNS record, and Jason (our Head of Growth) was able to handle the rest.
Mike Kerzhner
CTO, Product Hunt
Thanks to Dub, Product Hunt’s growth campaigns are more efficient than ever. The results speak for themselves:
- Hundreds of newsletter opt-ins: Dub’s detailed analytics and targeted insights enabled Product Hunt to scale the strategies that were most effective in driving newsletter sign-ups. For example, they used a combination of Dub and Tweet Hunter to auto plug short links under their most viral posts on X (formerly Twitter). This campaign alone drives them 100s of newsletter subscribers per day.
- Uncovered a new growth channel: Jason had never considered TikTok a viable growth channel for newsletters. However, Dub’s analytics revealed that their TikTok link in bio was receiving hundreds of clicks every single day, even without active postings. This insight prompted them to invest more effort into a channel they had previously underestimated.
The Bottom Line
Product Hunt’s story is a classic example of how an outdated product can hinder a company’s growth trajectory. By switching to Dub, they unlocked new growth channels, resulting in an 200% increase in newsletter subscriptions.
Are you also stuck in the 1990s? Maybe it’s time for an upgrade. Explore Dub’s modern link management platform today – no credit card required.
