A Kickstarter pre-launch page that builds your audience

Your own page, the platform's page, or both

Crowdfunding platforms may offer their own pre-launch page where people can ask to be notified. That's worth having, but the followers belong to the platform's notification system. A Kickstarter pre-launch page on your own site gives you something the platform's doesn't: email addresses in your own tool, so you can write to people before, during and after the campaign, and again for your next product. Most creators use both and link one to the other.

Before the page

The one-line description. What it is, who it's for, why it's different. "A cast-iron camping stove that packs flat into a rucksack lid."
Real images. Prototype photos, sketches, a short clip hosted on a video site. Honest work-in-progress beats polished renders that oversell.
A rough launch window. "Spring" is fine. Promise only what you'll keep.
An email tool. Set up a list in Kit or Mailchimp and write the welcome email first.

Building and filling the page

Describe it to Anticode in a sentence: "a pre-launch page for a flat-pack camping stove, with photos, what makes it different, and an email sign-up to hear when the campaign goes live." The design engine lays out a landing page with the newsletter form, which takes an email address, as its main action.
Add your photos, as entries in a CMS collection whose image field holds hosted addresses or uploaded to an app build, and replace the model's draft words with your own. Remove any claim about results or reviews you don't have yet.
Connect the email tool. Newsletter sign-ups go to Kit or Mailchimp as they arrive; with Mailchimp, people confirm through Mailchimp's own email first.
Make the button honest. "Tell me when it launches" says exactly what happens. If you plan an early-bird reward, say what it is and how many there are.
Publish and test with a fresh address.
Share it wherever your future backers are: maker forums, your own social posts about the build, newsletters in your niche, friends who'll pass it on. Link videos from the page; published pages can't embed them.

While you prepare: updates

Write to the list every few weeks from your email tool. Anticode doesn't send emails to your list. Good updates are short and concrete: the first casting, a test in the rain, a decision about colours with a question for readers. Replies tell you who your most committed backers will be.

Keep the page in step with the updates. When the launch window firms up, change the line on the page with a change request or in the visual editor. Recent versions are kept in history, so you can see how the page has changed lately.

Launch day: the switch

Prepare the change the day before. Write the change request you'll use: "Replace the sign-up section with a button to the live campaign at [the campaign's address], and change the headline to say the campaign is live."
When the campaign goes live, make the change and publish. The same address now sends visitors to the campaign, so every link you've shared still works.
Email the list from your tool with one link and one sentence. Then post everywhere you shared the pre-launch page.
After the campaign, change the page again: "Campaign funded, here's how to pre-order or get updates", and keep collecting sign-ups for the next stage. Note the pre-launch version's number: history keeps the most recent versions, up to your plan's number, so it can be restored while it's still in the list.

What goes wrong

A big list that doesn't back: Sign-ups came from giveaways or unrelated audiences. Share where people have the problem your product solves.
The list went cold: Months of silence. Short, regular updates keep people expecting the launch email.
The page still says "sign up" after launch: Prepare the switch the day before and make it the first thing you do.
Sign-ups never reached the email tool: Each submission is sent once, without retries. Compare Anticode's submissions with your list each month.

How you know it worked

In your email tool, check how many people opened and clicked the launch email. On the campaign platform, look at how many backers came in the first days and from where. If the list was large but clicks were low, the problem was usually the months in between, not the launch email.

Limits

Anticode builds the page, sends sign-ups to your email tool and lets you switch the page on launch day. It doesn't send emails, take pledges or payments for the campaign, embed the campaign's widget or video, or track backers. See the waitlist launch strategy, the pre-order page builder for after the campaign, and Kit.

Questions people ask

How early should I start a crowdfunding pre-launch page?

As early as you can show something real and promise regular updates. A list gathered over a few months, with steady updates, is usually more engaged than one rushed in the final week.

Can my page show the campaign's video or progress bar?

Not embedded: published pages can't embed outside content. Link to the campaign and the video instead.

Do I need a new page when the campaign goes live?

No. Change the same page with a change request so it points at the live campaign; the address stays the same.