Building an email list isn’t just an item to cross off on your crowdfunding checklist. List growth is more than adding names to a database. It’s part of growing the community around your product, and that should happen from pre-launch, through crowdfunding, to retail and beyond.

As with most aspects of bringing a product to market, it takes hard work. But the payoff can be huge, too. We’ve found that email outreach is the most effective way to raise money for your campaign: the conversion rate from email is 34% higher than other forms of outreach.

As you plan your campaign, get inspired with these ideas to kick-start your list growth:

Start early with a pre-launch landing page.  

Most campaigns that hit their goal have great momentum at the start. A healthy email list is a big driver of this momentum. Before your campaign begins, launch a landing page with a “sign-up” or “be notified at launch”call to action  – Indiegogo’s Coming Soon is a great way to do this. This way, you can capture emails from early supporters and notify them the day you go live. Once your landing page is live, be sure to direct people to it: Include it in your email signature, share it on social, and encourage friends and family to spread the word.

Collect email addresses at offline events.

Any time you attend an event, conference, or meet-up, offer a sign-up sheet to collect email addresses. If you have a table at an event, consider offering a giveaway to incentivize people to share their contact information.  

Enlist the help of your current subscribers.

Don’t forget about enlisting your current fans to spread the word for you! Include an “Email to Friend” option and social sharing on every email to your list. Once the campaign is running you can also incentivize your backers to refer friends for the chance at a product discount or bonus perk.

Boost sign-ups through social media.

While organic posts are an excellent way to engage fans, consider applying a small budget to extend your reach beyond your immediate followers. Schedule a basic tweet that promotes your campaign and contains a link to your email signup form. Or, boost a Facebook post that drives visitors to your Coming Soon page. Just remember, your page should offer a healthy mix of content types – promotional and otherwise.

Host a Twitter Chat.

A Twitter chat is when a group of tweeters get together for an hour or so to discuss a certain topic. Do a little research to find chats that might be relevant to your industry, and let the organizer know you’d love to lead a chat or join as a guest. If you’re producing a wearable, you might join a fitness chat. If you’re producing a new phone accessory, you might join a group of people chatting about Apple. Use this opportunity to connect with tweeters whose interests relate to your product , and of course, drive them to your sign-up.

Offer something.

People are more likely to share their email address if the exchange is mutually beneficial. Offer free swag or an online resource (such as an eBook) as part of sign-up to tempt their sign-up.

One more for the road: Always be testing.

Experimentation is core to marketing. Try new channels and compare performance. Test out different versions of your landing page call-to-action. Create and test new content techniques for engaging subscribers. This type of approach allows you to optimize your chances for success.

While there’s no one super-secret-special way to grow an email list, employing a variety of techniques can help raise your subscriber numbers substantially.

For more email strategies, download our free Email Marketing Guide.