A Guide To Getting Email Subscribers from Social Media

Your email list is a high-value resource. It’s your way of putting your brand and content directly in front of a captive audience, of reaching your leads where they live and work without vying for immediate attention. And when you own your email list, you’re free of the whims of the various algorithms that govern what our audience sees on social media. 

They’re the advantages an email list has over social media posts, but that’s not to say the two can’t benefit each other. 

The key to a great email marketing strategy is to grow and maintain a high-quality subscriber base. It’s no small feat, and it’s definitely a process, but social media can be put to good use to help you get there. What’s more, it’ll actively turn your followers into subscribers and conversions. 

Want to know how? Well, you’re going to have to read on for that. This blog post will tell you exactly how to get email subscribers through social media, as well as the role lead magnets and ScoreApp play in simplifying email list building.

Let’s kick off with what might be a controversial statement…

Why email subscribers matter more than social media followers

Social media has grown at a scale that is frankly boggling if you stop to think about how little time we’ve actually been using it. Because of the surge in users and ways to engage with an audience, it’s fair to say that social media enjoys an inflated sense of importance.

We’d actually argue that email subscribers matter more than social media followers, and you should focus on how to use social media to increase email subscribers. 

Here’s why:

• Email lets you keep control and own your audience – Who hasn’t been left frustrated by changeable algorithms restricting accounts? Your email list is free of these irritations, remaining under your control and more effective for it. 
• Email has a higher engagement rate – Did you know that social media engagement rates often fall between 2–6%? That seems low, but then there is a lot of content fighting to be seen at any given moment. In contrast, email open rates generally fall between 15–25% and come with the benefit of being sent to warm leads. 
• Emails lead to more sales – As we’ve said, your emails are often being seen by a more receptive audience, especially if you’ve built up a strong list packed with high-quality subscribers. That’s why email marketing has an engagement rate that’s so much higher than what social media can give you.
• Email gives you superior segmentation and easy personalization – If social media feels like shouting at your entire potential audience all at once, email gives you the chance to get personal and specific. Create audience segments in your email list (or get ScoreApp to do it for you if you use a quiz lead magnet), and you can create campaigns that appeal to each. Personalized engagement will also beat generic messaging.

Step-by-step: How to get email subscribers from social media

Convinced yet? Glad to hear it. Here’s everything you need to do to successfully use social media to increase email subscribers.

1. Create a compelling lead magnet

If you’re going to get people to join your email list, you’re going to have to give them a good reason. A lead magnet is the best way to entice potential leads to get involved, by giving them a piece of content or engagement with real, quick-acting benefits.

Guides to specific pain points always perform well when targeted properly, especially if they’re kept short and easy to digest. Quizzes where the results offer insight into hot-button issues are also popular, not least because they’re interactive. 

In any case, you can use the draw of the lead magnet to sway leads into signing up. At ScoreApp, we have a few ideas about the kinds of lead magnets that have the most success: 

• Quizzes & assessments – Provide your audience and sales team with unbeatable insights, via a quiz or assessment. You can use our templates to make one in minutes, with feedback that has a lasting impact.
• Mini-courses – Show your mastery of a topic with a mini-course. It doesn’t have to be intense, just a quick look at a specific topic and the solutions you offer.
• Exclusive reports and PDFs – Get involved in the lead’s metrics by giving them something to use. A free report or PDF that shows business growth is one example, and it can be made quickly and effectively using ScoreApp. 
• Surveys – A well-put-together survey will yield insights that illuminate the lead and give your team personalized marketing opportunities. 

2. Use social media bio links wisely

Your social media bio can do more than tell visitors who you are. It can also drive sign-ups, as long as you use it wisely. 

Most social media platforms will allow you to use a linking hub, like Linktree, to direct the audience to multiple sites. Think about your other social media profiles, your website, and your email sign-up. 

While that’s certainly one way to go about it, you could also keep things direct with a single link to a landing page or lead magnet. That way, there are no distractions—just a clear path from visiting your profile to joining your email list. 

In fact, you can use your bio as a CTA. How about:

• Sign up to get your free [subject] ebook.
• Take the quiz and find out your [x attribute score].
• Join our email list for more tips. [X amount of subscribers] can’t be wrong!

We’re sure you can come up with something better than that, but let the profile viewer know what they’re getting and why they should click. 

3. Pin an email sign-up post to your profile

The very nature of social media means that fresh content keeps coming, pushing older posts swiftly and inevitably into the digital history books. That’s no good when you want people to find something specific, like the sign-up page for your email list. 

Thankfully, the major social media platforms all give you the option of pinning a post to the top of your profile. Pin a high-promoting post that links to your lead magnet, and you can direct visitors to sign up to your email list as soon as they’ve landed on your feed. 

Pinning an email sign-up post is different for each social media platform, but here’s what you need to know:

• Facebook: You need to pin a post on your business page to start to build an email list on Facebook.
• Instagram: Sticking with Meta platforms, using ‘Featured Posts’ is how you build an email list on Instagram.
• LinkedIn: Much like Facebook, LinkedIn lets you pin an article or post to your company’s profile page. 
• X (formerly Twitter): X users have been taking advantage of pinned tweets since long before it ever changed its name from Tweet. Find your best lead magnet and put it pride of place at the top of your feed. 

4. Run email-exclusive content promotions

What better way is there to grab people and get them to sign up to your email list than by giving away something exclusive? Promoting content and bonuses only available to subscribers will help you get email subscribers from social media, whichever platform you do it on. 

Exclusive tips and insights, early access to the latest content or event waitlists, and even discounts for subscribers—use them all and tell your followers to get email subscribers from social media.

5. Leverage social media competitions and giveaways

Running a promotion on social media that requires email sign-up to enter is a surefire way to bulk out your email list. Prizes can be whatever you like, but we’d recommend something linked to your business to keep those leads relevant. 

How about: 

• A free course or downloadable book.
• A 1:1 coaching session.
• A one-off discount or bonus, either for use with a specific item or site-wide. 

Once you’ve decided on your giveaway, use social media to build interest. Daily updates will get momentum going, while a deadline and countdown will create a sense of urgency. If you want to take things a step further, partnering with other business leaders and influencers will increase your reach. 

6. Use Instagram and Facebook stories for email sign-ups

Social media may come with a lot of noise, but you can use it to build an email list on Facebook and Instagram. Stories can be a better hook than regular posts, as anyone who chooses to view them is already engaged.

The first task is to regularly promote your lead magnets in your stories, using polls and questions to spark conversation and engagement from followers. Stage two is to follow up with a direct message, thanking them for their input and extending an invitation to join the waiting list. Always highlight the benefits of being part of your email list. It’s only polite when you’ve just jumped into their DMs. 

7. Convert engaged commenters into email subscribers

Anybody who has left a comment on one of your posts has shown their interest. This is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. Make sure you have further resources on the same topic and offer access (in exchange for email sign-up) in a reply or DM. 

Obviously, you can reply to comments manually, but chatbots are available to automate the process.

8. Host live video sessions with email sign-ups

Hosting video sessions and webinars gives you another way to engage with a captive audience. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn have live video streaming services for spreading your wisdom and your email sign-up link. 

Mention signing up throughout the session, not just at the end, and sweeten the deal by offering exclusive content to attendees who go on to sign up.

9. Use LinkedIn and Facebook Groups strategically

LinkedIn and Facebook groups are your chance to show off your knowledge and thought leadership. Drill down into topics and solutions, promoting your lead magnets with your posts, and you can build an email list from LinkedIn.

Once you’ve built a community, you can offer exclusive benefits to anyone who takes the extra step and signs up to your email list.

10. Repurpose video content for email growth

There’s no such thing as one-and-done content. Anything you create—whether it’s a written resource, a webinar, or any other video—should be reused and redeployed. 

If you’ve been using YouTube shorts, Instagram reels or TikTok, then you’ve got a platform for reusing your video. Take segments from your courses or sections of your webinars and repurpose them into attention-grabbing shorts. Remember to use a verbal CTA that promotes your lead magnets and freebies to gather those sign-ups. 

How ScoreApp helps you convert social media audiences into email subscribers

When it comes to email list building, ScoreApp opens up more ways to convert your social media audiences into email subscribers.

How do we do it? It starts with engaging lead magnets. 

• Quizzes and assessments can be made in no time, bringing in high-quality leads and generating insights to build campaigns on.
• Using those insights to segment your email list gives you the power to personalize nurturing sequences for a better success rate. Those sequences can also be automated for efficiency and relevance.
• Short, targeted video guides (mini-courses) can also be sent out to relevant segments or used as lead magnets to secure sign-ups. 
• When your email list is up and running and sequences are being sent out, it’s important to keep track of their performance. ScoreApp’s analytics show you what’s working and what needs changing to optimize conversions. Instant A/B testing means you’ll get the right balance in no time.

Get email subscribers from social media and ScoreApp

As well as giving you the chance to instantly interact with your audience, social media is a seriously powerful tool for growing an email list. When it comes to building an email list from social media, the key is a good strategy.

To successfully get email subscribers from social media, you need to focus your efforts in key areas:

• Lead magnets that draw in an audience, entertain them, and butter them up to join your email list.
• Engagement strategies that give leads something valuable in return for signing up. 
• Putting your sign-up and lead magnets front and centre with pinned posts on every platform. 
• Repurposing content into new forms.
• Replying to interactions with engaged audiences.

It sounds like a lot, but ScoreApp is here to simplify and streamline the process. 

With ScoreApp, you can create quizzes that engage and entertain leads, as well as landing pages that inform and encourage email sign-up. Meanwhile, ScoreApp’s automation tools make reaching out to anyone who interacts with your lead magnet instantaneous.

By combining these social media best practices with ScoreApp’s quizzes, templates, and advanced tools, it’s easier than ever to get email subscribers from social media.

ScoreApp makes email list building a breeze. Try it for free, and start building your email list today.