Many first-time crowdfunding creators mistakenly believe that they can publish a project and potential backers will find their campaign page by magic. However, it is unlikely that people will see your project if you don't engage in any form of promotion or outreach. The competition is tough, people are overloaded with information, and Kickstarter is filled with great campaigns all vying for the attention of visitors. Building a quality email list of potential backers pre-campaign is the #1 way to ensure that your project gets off to a great start and builds towards success.

Remember, it’s never too early to get started building your Kickstarter email list. This should be a part of your pre-campaign plan and should begin weeks or even months before your campaign. You should collect as many emails from interested potential backers as possible, there is no such thing as too many interested people for your project. Engaging your email list is the best method to earn early backers, boost the visibility of your campaign and gain essential early momentum towards your goal. If you are starting from scratch, the task may be intimidating but here are the best, proven methods to build a campaign-winning Kickstarter email list. 

Start with a Landing Page

A captivating landing page will form the basis of your email list-building activities and be the destination for all your efforts. The landing page has one goal – to capture emails of potential backers for further marketing and communication about your project. Use best practices when designing a landing page to quickly get and hold the attention of your visitors. 

Keep it clean and simple, with excellent copywriting and a strong CTA (call to action). Use high-quality images and direct messaging that clearly demonstrates the unique features of your product. Include credibility indicators such as testimonials and recognizable trust marks to make visitors feel more comfortable participating in your call to action. Lead with value by offering visitors something in exchange for leaving an email such as a discount, informational product, or launch day deal. For more tips on designing landing pages, click here.

Promote, Promote, and Promote Again

A landing page is useless unless you can drive traffic to it. The idea is to get your landing page linked out to as many relevant channels as possible so that the greatest amount of people can learn about your project. All channels should direct traffic to your landing page with the intent of building your email list.

• Start with friends and family, close personal and business networks. Reach out to your personal networks with a special message introducing your project and encouraging them to visit your landing page. Don’t be afraid to ask them to share the project with their networks. By engaging your closest friends, you can quickly form the foundation of a great email list. 
• Submit your project to channels that have a built-in audience of enthusiastic tech adopters such as Product Hunt and Launching Next. 
• Next, expand to social media. Create accounts for your project on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn, and others. Include a link to your landing page in all your social profiles and posts. Social media can be an excellent source of organic traffic and engaging content can help build curiosity, interest, and excitement for your product launch. Keep social pages active, provide valuable information, and run giveaways that encourage sharing.
• Join Facebook groups that may be interested in your project. Find the audience that suits your niche and make them aware of your upcoming launch.
• Participate in relevant forums. For any product, project, or idea, there is a forum that is made up of interested people. Find the ones that fit your product or industry and become a participant. Have the link to your landing page in your profile or signature line and add value to the conversation.
• Reach out to influencers and reviewers. Get your product into the hands of industry influencers and product reviewers that have a well-established audience. Have them direct interested persons to your landing page. 
• Invite people to offline events such as demo days and launch parties. Many guests will bring new people, have a sign-in page at all of your events to collect email addresses, or use the event for an opportunity for a giveaway based on sharing an email. 

Advertise to Your Audience

Create targeted advertising campaigns using google and Facebook. These ads can be the best way to gain conversions and include specific demographics and targeting that can help you understand your audience. Create multiple ads with different CTAs and copywriting and perform A/B testing to see which performs better. Boost efforts in channels that are producing the best results and optimize for the best-performing ads. All advertising should direct traffic to your landing page for further engagement and email list building. 

Analyze & Optimize

As you build your list, use Mailchimp, Drip, or other 3 email marketing software to acquire proper opt-ins, manage emails, understand your audience and prepare for your email campaigns before, during, and after your campaign launches. Set up planned email campaigns with each email offering something useful, new information, or an attractive offer. Don’t abuse the list, and don’t spam your followers. All email communications should include a friendly request for the recipient to share the email with their networks, this kind of trusted sharing among friends is valuable to gain new users. Include your landing page link in all email and newsletter communications. Let your audience get to know you and build trust with each message. 

Work with the Experts

Working with a team of crowdfunding experts can be a smart move, especially for first-time campaigners. Crowdfunding agencies have large email lists of frequent project backers and can help to get the word out about your product to the people that matter most. 

Keep Growing Your List

As your project launches, keep growing your list. Don’t stop driving traffic to your landing page. You can modify the page to direct people to your campaign, offer a deal, or adjust your CTA, but continue to build your email list. This will be a valuable tool for re-marketing, future products, and special offers. As your product grows from an idea into a reality, you can use your list for future online sales and turn your campaign audience into loyal fans eager to support you in the future. 

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Even if you are new to crowdfunding and starting from zero, building a campaign-winning Kickstarter email list can be done by anyone. It just takes specific actions, timely execution, and smart communication. Get started early, build momentum and use your email list as the fuel for your successful campaign.

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