Instagram

Email is one of the oldest yet the most effective ways for small businesses to communicate with customers. In fact, the number of email users is predicted to reach 4.3 billion in 2023. Thus, it can be a great idea to start building your email list today.

Do you use Instagram for growing your small business? You can make the most out of Instagram for your small business and use this platform to build your email list. Here are three main reasons why Instagram is the right place to collect emails:

  • Your audience is active on Instagram: Back in June 2018, the Instagram community hit 1 billion monthly active users. The number of users is constantly growing which means your target audience is active on Instagram.
  • Users want to interact with brands: According to Business Instagram, 90% of users follow at least one business on the platform. In fact, people follow businesses on social media when they are interested in learning more about the company and find out new products or services. In other words, your potential customers are ready to start a conversation with you on the platform.
  • You have many ways to collect emails: Instagram is one of the fastest-growing social media networks with the most engaged user base, so it’s no wonder that the platform rolls out new business-specific features to help brands interact with their target audience. From using an email contact option to promoting lead magnets via Instagram Stories, there are many ways to collect emails on the platform.

So, wouldn’t it be great if you could turn your Instagram followers and visitors into email list subscribers? If you want to build your email list with Instagram marketing, here are four proven ways to achieve your business goal in-app:

1. Provide Customer Support via Email

Whether you like it or not, modern people use social media for customer support. As specified in one research by GetVoIP, 35% of customers have reached out to companies through social media channels at least once in a lifestyle and 52% expect resolution within a day via social media.

When it comes to Instagram, your followers and visitors also may want to get in touch with you. If you want to build your email list, it’s a great way to collect their emails. How? Add your email as a contact option below the bio section and ask people to reach out via email. Not only does it help to keep track of all customer requests, but it also allows you to get more email signups.

2. Promote Your Lead Magnets

Lead magnets have always been a powerful marketing tool to bring your business to the next level. When you offer your Instagram visitors something valuable, they are happy to share their email addresses in exchange for it.

Moreover, you can use your bio section to add a link to your lead magnet and then use posts and stories to draw attention to it. Why? No matter how many followers you have, you can add one Instagram bio link.

Here are lead magnet ideas for small business owners:

  • Case studies
  • Newsletters
  • Ebooks
  • Online learning courses
  • Brand freebies
  • Free trial/subscription
  • Templates, etc.

3. Run an Instagram Giveaway

It’s no secret that social media users love giveaways and contests. It has been proved that Instagram giveaways boost user engagement and organic reach, attract new followers, and increase customer loyalty.

For small business owners, it’s a cost-effective way to spread the word about your company and achieve your business goal fast. Want to know the best part? Instagram giveaways can help you collect email addresses as everything depends on the entry section. Planning your next giveaway on the platform, include “sign up for our email list” as one of the participation requirements.

4. Team Up with Instagram Influencers

Working with niche Instagram influencers is one of growth hacks businesses of all sizes and shapes use these days. If you haven’t reached a solid following on Instagram, Instagram influencers can help you achieve your business goals.

Influencers come in different sizes, so you can work with mega influencers (who have more than 10k followers) to ask them to add a clickable link in Stories or team up with nano-influencers (those who have less than 1k followers) to promote your email list among engaged users without paying much. For example, you can sponsor a contest or ask for a brand mention to attract new potential customers who will be happy to join your email list.

The Bottom Line

Instagram offers many opportunities for small business owners to build an email list in an interesting and engaging way. Moreover, Instagram users are open to communication with brands which means you can achieve your business goal and increase the number of email list subscribers with ease.

Hugh Beaulac is a content strategist behind MC2 who also contributes to different digital marketing blogs. Having over 7 years of experience, he claims that keeping an eye on trends is a proven way to help small businesses achieve better results on social media. Hugh often writes about Instagram marketing and you can find his latest blog posts on Twitter.

Instagram stock photo by Antonio Salaverry/Shutterstock