Why do people follow?

I've recently joined Product Hunt. I signed up a few months ago, but I only started actively exploring it about a week ago, so I'm just beginning to understand how it works. It seems that an user can't post a product on his profile unless it's ready for launch (a sort of "I'm working on that"). The only way to attract followers who will be notified when the product is ready to launch is through the community. So, that's what I'm doing. I engage in topics that interest or challenge me and only talk about my product where it's relevant. Since I'm interested in getting feedback even before the launch, if the topic allows, I also include the product website address. However, I'm wary of being seen as a spammer, so I'm very careful to only do this where it's genuinely relevant. But is the community truly the only channel to generate interest in a product that hasn't been scheduled for launch, or are there other channels on Product Hunt that I'm missing?