To grow an email list from Instagram and TikTok, put a sign-up form on your link in bio page, give people a specific reason to join, such as a free guide or early access, and mention it in your content at the moments when viewers want more from you. Then send a welcome email straight away and keep sending something useful on a steady rhythm.
That's the method in one paragraph. The rest of this guide explains why it matters more each year, how to choose an offer people actually want, where and how to ask without sounding pushy, and what to send once people join so they stay.
Key takeaways
Social reach is shrinking: Socialinsider's 2025 benchmark put average Instagram reach at about 3.5% of followers per post. An email list reaches everyone who signed up, and it stays yours if an app changes or an account has problems. The most effective way to grow it is a sign-up form built into your link in bio page, paired with a small, specific free offer. A prompt welcome email and a consistent, useful newsletter keep people subscribed and turn them into customers.
Why an email list matters more than followers
Followers feel like an audience, but you only reach a small part of them at a time. Socialinsider's analysis of posts from May 2024 to May 2025 put Instagram's average reach at around 3.5% of followers per post, down roughly 12% on the previous year. If you have 10,000 followers, a typical post reaches a few hundred of them, and which few hundred is decided by the algorithm, not by you.
An email list works differently. When someone joins, your emails go to their inbox, whether or not an algorithm thinks they should. You decide when to reach them and what to say.
It's also more durable. Apps change their rules, features come and go, and accounts occasionally get restricted or hacked. Followers live on someone else's platform; an email list is a list of people who chose to hear from you, and you can take it anywhere.
Email also tends to be good for business. Marketers have reported strong returns from email for years; industry surveys from Litmus and the UK's Data and Marketing Association have put the average return at roughly $36 to $38 for every dollar spent, as summarised in this overview of email marketing ROI. Those figures come from businesses of all sizes and should be read as a general signal rather than a promise, but the pattern is consistent: people who chose to hear from you are far more likely to buy, book and come back.
Step 1: put a sign-up form on your link in bio page
The best place to collect emails from social media is your link in bio page, because that's where interested people already go. Put the form directly on the page, rather than linking to a separate sign-up site. Every extra tap and every extra page load loses people, especially on a phone.
Keep the form short. Email address only is ideal; first name and email is fine if you'll use the name. Every additional field reduces sign-ups, so only ask for what you'll genuinely use.
Place it high enough to be seen. If your page's main job right now is selling or booking, the sign-up can sit second. If you've got nothing to sell yet, it should be first. If you're not sure how to arrange your page, see what is a link in bio page, and what should go on it.
Step 2: give people a specific reason to join
"Subscribe to my newsletter" is easy to ignore, because it doesn't say what's in it for the reader. The fix is to describe the benefit in plain words.
A potter might say "New class dates a week before they go public". A cook might say "One tested recipe every Sunday". A jewellery maker might say "First access to each drop, 24 hours early". Each tells the reader exactly what they'll get and how it helps them.
Even better, offer something useful in exchange for signing up today. Marketers call this a lead magnet; it's easier to think of it as a small gift. It works when it's quick to consume and genuinely useful. Good examples include a one-page checklist, a short guide that solves one problem, a template, a sample chapter of a paid product, or a discount on a first order.
The best way to choose your freebie is to look at the questions people ask you most in comments and messages. If thirty people have asked which brushes you use, a one-page guide to your brushes and why will convert better than anything clever.
Step 3: mention it in your content, at the right moments
People won't find your sign-up unless you tell them it exists. The question is how to do that without sounding like an advert.
The most effective moment is right after you've given someone value. A reel that teaches one useful technique can end with "I've written up the full method with photos, it's free in my newsletter, link in bio". The viewer has just learned something from you and wants more, so the sign-up is a natural next step rather than an interruption.
A few other approaches that work well:
Tease what subscribers get. "Newsletter people got the new class dates this morning" reminds followers there's a benefit to joining, without a hard sell.
Share subscriber replies, with permission. A screenshot of someone saying a recipe from your email worked for them is social proof that the newsletter is worth reading.
Use Story link stickers. Stories let you link directly to your sign-up page, skipping the trip to your profile. Change the sticker text to describe the offer, like "Get the free guide".
Pin a post about it. A pinned post explaining what your newsletter is and why people like it does quiet work for every new visitor.
How often should you ask? Once or twice a week is plenty for most creators. If every post ends with a request, people stop hearing it.
Step 4: send a welcome email straight away
The moment after someone signs up is when they're most interested in you. A welcome email sent immediately makes the most of that.
A good welcome email does four things. It delivers what you promised, such as the freebie or a link to it. It says who you are in a couple of sentences. It tells them what to expect and how often. And it invites a reply, with one easy question like "What are you working on at the moment?". Replies tell you what your audience needs, and they also signal to email providers that your messages are wanted, which helps your emails reach inboxes rather than spam folders.
Step 5: send something worth opening, consistently
What you send matters less than sending something useful on a predictable rhythm. Monthly is fine for most creators starting out; weekly works if you have enough to say.
A simple structure works for almost any newsletter: one genuinely useful thing, such as a tip, a story or a behind-the-scenes look, and one clear thing you'd like the reader to do, such as book a class, read a post, reply or buy a product. Write subject lines that describe what's inside rather than trying to be clever; "New class dates for December" gets opened by the people who care.
Watch your opens and clicks. Over a few months, you'll see which topics people engage with, and you can do more of those.
Step 6: keep your list healthy
A healthy list is one where everyone wants to be there. A few habits keep it that way.
Always include an unsubscribe link. It's required by law in most countries, and it keeps your list full of people who actually want your emails.
Only email people who signed up. Never add people from your DMs, business cards or a bought list without their permission. Beyond the legal issues, it damages your reputation with email providers and lands your emails in spam.
Tag people by how they joined, such as a freebie, a class or a purchase. That lets you send more relevant emails, like telling past students first when new class dates open.
Common mistakes
Linking to the sign-up instead of embedding it. Every extra page loses people.
A vague promise. "Join my newsletter" gives no reason to join.
A freebie nobody needs. A 40-page ebook is less appealing than a one-page answer to the question your audience actually asks.
Signing people up and then going quiet. If your first regular email arrives three months after someone joined, they've forgotten who you are.
Only ever selling. If every email is a pitch, people unsubscribe. Lead with usefulness.
Doing this with Glee
Glee puts the whole loop in one place. You can add sign-up forms and newsletter blocks to your link in bio page; everyone who signs up, books or swaps details with your digital business card lands in your contacts with tags like Newsletter or VIP; and you can write emails in a drag-and-drop builder or ask Glow, Glee's built-in AI, to draft them, then send them from your own address through Resend, Brevo, SendGrid or Mailgun, with opens and clicks tracked for every email.
Ask Glow something like "add a sign-up for my studio letter under the bookings, with a free glaze guide", and it builds the block and waits for your approval. When you're ready to send, ask it to draft the email too.
Frequently asked questions
How do I collect emails from Instagram?
Add a sign-up form to your link in bio page, give people a specific reason to join, and mention it in your posts and Stories after you've shared something useful.
What's a good freebie to grow an email list?
Something small and useful that answers a question your audience already asks, such as a checklist, template, short guide or discount on a first order.
How often should I email my list?
Consistency matters more than frequency. Monthly is a good start; weekly works if you have something useful to say each time.
Can I grow an email list from TikTok?
Yes. Once you can add a link to your TikTok bio, send it to a page with a sign-up form, and mention your freebie at the end of videos where viewers want more.
Is it legal to add my followers to my email list?
Only if they sign up themselves. Adding people without their consent breaks the rules in many countries and damages your email reputation.
Do I need a separate email marketing tool?
Not necessarily. Some link in bio tools, including Glee, let you collect contacts and send emails from the same place.
