Launching a SaaS product can be exhilarating — and overwhelming. You’ve poured months into building the backend, fine-tuning the UX, and now it’s time to get users. But how?
Enter the pre-launch landing page: a lightweight, high-impact tool that can build your initial community and generate buzz before your product even goes live.
Whether you’re a solo developer or part of a small team, this article will guide you through the process of creating a viral pre-launch landing page to grow your waitlist and kickstart product momentum.
What Makes a Great Pre-Launch Landing Page?
The purpose of a pre-launch page is simple: capture interest and convert it into intent. That usually means collecting emails, social follows, or referrals.
Here’s what the best ones have in common:
- ✅ A clear value proposition: What problem are you solving? For whom?
- ✅ Clean, focused design: Don’t overload with features or screenshots. Clarity beats complexity.
- ✅ A single CTA: Usually “Join the Waitlist” or “Get Early Access.”
- ✅ Mobile-optimized and fast: You have seconds to hook the visitor — use them wisely.
Tech Stack for Developers
You don’t need a CMS or a complex backend to get started. Some fast ways to ship your page:
- Static site generators: Jekyll (great for GitHub Pages), Hugo (blazing fast), or Next.js (React-based and SEO-friendly)
- Email capture: Services like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or Buttondown can handle subscriptions with little code
- Hosting: Vercel or Netlify make deployment painless and include HTTPS out of the box
A clean landing page can be done in a weekend — and can yield real results.
Make It Go Viral with Smart Incentives
Now let’s talk about growth.
Many developers ship a great landing page… and wait. But a landing page with no traffic is like a party with no guests.
This is where incentives come in — ways to get your early visitors to become evangelists.
You’ve probably seen it before:
- “Move up the waitlist by referring friends.”
- “Win 3 months of premium by sharing this link.”
These are viral loops — mechanisms that drive exponential growth.
How to Run a Giveaway Campaign
One of the most effective ways to kickstart virality is through a giveaway. It’s a tried-and-true tactic for building email lists, social engagement, and word-of-mouth traction.
But as a developer, you don’t want to hand-code all of this. That’s where tools like Gleam.io come in.
With Gleam, you can run a giveaway campaign directly from your landing page. Visitors earn entries by joining your list, referring friends, or following your brand on social media. The whole process is automated, fraud-protected, and customizable — all without building your own infrastructure.
You can either embed Gleam’s widget with a simple script tag or use their API for more tailored integration.
Best Practices and Pitfalls
Before you jump in, here are a few tips:
- Be honest about your giveaway: Don’t bait users with rewards you can’t deliver.
- Comply with privacy laws: Make sure you clearly explain how emails will be used.
- Don’t over-incentivize: You want genuinely interested users, not prize-hunters.
The goal is to build trust from day one. That trust compounds.
Conclusion: Developers, Think Like Marketers
A good product doesn’t sell itself — distribution is half the battle.
Your pre-launch landing page is more than a placeholder. It’s your first impression, your first funnel, your first test of product-market interest.
By combining clean development, smart incentives, and the right tools, you can build momentum before you ever write a single onboarding email.
And who knows — maybe your first 1,000 users won’t come from Product Hunt… but from a giveaway you ran two months before launch.
This was a sponsored post.