How To Turn Followers Into Email Subscribers. 13 Examples.

Let’s steal 13 examples of how top creators promote their email lists on social media

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How To Turn Followers Into Email Subscribers. 13 Examples.
Do not index
Do not index
You don’t own your audience.
With just a single click at Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram's HQ, your entire business could be wiped out in an instant. I've witnessed creators lose their entire social media following in the blink of an eye.
Building a business on social media means you're building it on rented grounds.
The landlord (👋 hi Elon) can show up any day and kick you out. That's why it's crucial to OWN your audience aka build an email list
But with such high risks involved, why do creators still focus on growing audiences through social media?
The answer is simple: it's much easier to capture attention there.
Smart creators play the game like this → They get attention where it’s easiest (social) and then transfer it to somewhere they own (email).
And you should do the same.
In today’s post, we’ll explore 14 different ways you can turn your social media followers into email subscribers.
Let the heist begin!

Before the tactics - Email capture

The mechanics of transferring people to your email list are simple. It involves three steps:
  1. Attract traffic on social media
  1. Direct people to a specific link (using the tactics we'll discuss below)
  1. Make your “Give me your email” pitch on a simple landing page
For that landing page, a simple website builder like carrd will do the trick (I used it for The Steal Club for years. Great tool, and cheap!).
Then, on that page, you need:
  • A headline stating the benefits of subscribing
  • A subheadline explaining how you'll provide those benefits
  • A subscribe button for easy sign-up
Here’s an example of how Justin Welsh does it 👇
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We won’t go too deep here on building a proper email capture landing page (that’s a post for another day). Instead, I wanted to give you a few pointers on what makes a good email capture.
This way, when you put into practice this post’s tactics, your email capture will be in good shape to capture that traffic.
But now to the big question, how do we turn followers into email subscribers?

13 tactics to turn followers into email subscribers

#1 - The Teaser

A big lesson learned during my time as a creator: you need to promote yourself, or no one else will do it for you.
This is what this first tactic is all about.
The concept is simple - tease your work before publishing (usually a day in advance) to generate excitement and encourage people to sign up.
Someone that excels at this is Chenell (from the amazing Growth in Reverse newsletter) 👇
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I’ve heard from her that she gets around 50 subs every time she does one of these posts.
To find success with this tactic, think of your post as a Twitter thread or LinkedIn hook. Do it right, and you’ll get reactions like these:
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If you have to steal this tactic from someone, do it from Chenell.
🕵️‍♂️
Thief tip: Especially on Twitter, it’s important you DO NOT put the link to your newsletter on the first tweet (so you don’t lose reach). You first hook, then add your call to action.
This one it’s kinda obvious yet so many creators overlook it: your link in bio is one of your best bets when it comes to getting new email subs.
When you are on social media, you need to think of your profile as your business card.
People there see who you are, what you do (your bio), and where they can get more (your link in bio).
Use this space to promote your newsletter, just like Matt McGarry does here:
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🕵️‍♂️
Thief tip: On Twitter, you can use the “location” space of your bio to write a call to action

#3 - The good old Call to Action

A simple call to action pointing people to your newsletter will take you a long way.
The thing is, how are the top creators doing it? And where are they putting these calls to action?
→ On Instagram
James Clear is a great example of turning followers into subs. In most of his Instagram posts, he does the following 👇
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You see the content and then a little banner at the bottom pointing people to your site.
Simple.
Someone else that does this well on Instagram is Janis Ozolins, who posts amazing visuals there.
He cleverly places the visual first, then adds a second slide containing a call-to-action for his newsletter. This approach makes it easy to follow and understand while keeping user engagement high.
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Instagram doesn’t allow for links on their content formats (only on stories), so the idea there is to capture the attention first, then redirect people to a link.
→ On LinkedIn
As it happens on Twitter, LinkedIn seems to give less reach to posts that include links. That’s why many creators include their call to action in the first comment.
They simply point readers to their post to check the first comment, just like Jesse does here 👇
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But what about other popular content types on the platform like carousels?
You can do it just like Joe does here 👇
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Include a mention on the last page of your carousel for people to check either your link in bio or the link on your first comment or post.
→ On Twitter
What about Twitter? Very similar to LinkedIn, the way creators use Twitter content to get more subs is to draw people in with good content, then make their pitch.
This pitch is usually done at the end of threads 👇
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A new trend that might gain popularity is using visuals when pitching your newsletter. Sahil Bloom is someone who has already begun implementing this approach.
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Let’s see if it sticks.

#4 - The ad break: get people while they are hooked

You know when you are reading a really interesting blog post and then there’s an email capture right in the middle of the text? Or a pop-up comes up?
It's more likely for people to provide their email when they're already hooked on your content. So the “middle” of your content is often a great place to pitch your newsletter.
Why not apply this strategy to social media content as well?
This is what Abhishek Shah used to do with his threads:
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It’s like an ad break when people are hooked. It works and it’s easy to apply to other platforms!

#5 - With automation: Auto-plug and Auto-DMs

Automation has recently become a valuable addition for creators, with auto-plugs and auto-DMs being the most popular features you can use.
→ Auto-plugs
Auto-plugs are a very simple way to pitch your email lists without much effort.
The way it works is simple: A tweet gets posted automatically once the “parent” tweet gets a certain number of likes.
Once it does, a tweet like this gets posted 👇
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If you don’t abuse the feature, it’s a great way to get a handful of new followers without much effort.
→ Auto-DMs
Similar to Auto-plugs, Auto-DMs are automated DMs that get sent once the audience performs a series of actions on the “parent” post (like commenting, liking or RTing).
These types of tweets are great for distributing lead magnets. The key is to make an interesting offer, then clearly state what the audience needs to get done to get the DM.
Just like this 👇
🕵️‍♂️
Thief tip: Tools like Tweet Hunter (proud affiliate) allow you to do this
Automation is powerful, but it shouldn’t be overdone. It’s easy to annoy your audience if you are constantly fishing for subs. Use it with caution!

#6 - Testimonial screenshots

Are you getting replies to your emails? Tweets talking about it? Maybe stories sharing it?
Screenshot ALL OF THAT.
Then put it in a nice template and post it again with a link to subscribe to your newsletter.
Katelyn Bourgoin does it all the time 👇
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“When you say it is marketing. When others say it is social proof”

#7 - Your profile header

Just like the link in bio, the header of your profile (on Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube) is another place of internet real estate that most creators overlook.
It’s a great place to pitch your email list. You can do it with a simple visual (like I do) 👇
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Or make your pitch straight up like Jaisal does here:
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#8 - DM new followers

Not everything is automation and growth hacks.
Justin Moore used to manually DM each one of his new followers with a link to his newsletter:
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I’ve seen other creators replicate this tactic too (blurred for privacy):
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In general, you should pay attention to your DMs. If you get questions, reply with a link to your newsletter archive and prompt people to sign up.
I reply to most questions in my DMs with a link to a tweet, thread, or newsletter issue.
This not only saves me time but also gets people into my "content funnel," which eventually leads to subscribers.
Manually DMing people is not scalable in the long term, but it’s a great opportunity to get your first subs.

#9 - UTM tags

If you run a newsletter that posts links to other people's sites, you're missing out on a great opportunity if you aren't properly tagging these links 👇
This won’t directly translate into new followers, but it will put you on those people’s radars, which leads to a relationship and that creator knowing you.
Then, they’ll share something of yours in return, and THAT will lead to new followers.

#10 - Use Reddit

I’ve heard great things from Reddit when it comes to getting new email subscribers.
I’ve also heard they are very anti-promotion. Here’s how Eric from Exploding Ideas does it 👇
Again, tread carefully when you go to Reddit. It’s easier than it seems to get banned for promotion.

#11 - Plug your newsletter when it makes sense

If you don’t talk about your newsletter, who will?
That doesn’t mean you need to mention it EVERYWHERE. That will only lead to audience burnout.
What you need to do is to be aware of opportunities like this one (cc @thisiskp_)
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Someone who does a great job at plugging his newsletter is Jaisal from startups.fyi.
His newsletter is curation based, so whenever he spots a curation opportunity, he makes a public pitch 👇
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This not only gets the original poster’s attention but also other people scrolling the feed see his reply and click on it. Smart!

#12 - Run a webinar

Are webinars still a thing? Very much so! And they are a great way to get newsletter subs through the door.
On a recent pod interview, I heard Shaan Puri say they had around 4,000 people signed up for this webinar 👇
Now this webinar seems more directed at getting people to buy the service they are promoting, but I believe it’s a very valid tactic to get newsletter subs. You just need the content to be interesting enough for people to sign up!

#13 - The social loop

We often think of social media as a way to drive traffic to our newsletters.
That’s where most of us stop.
I’ve only seen a handful of creators drive traffic the other way around. Josh Spector is someone who does it very well.
He includes links to his tweets in every issue of his FTI newsletter.
This makes people click the link → which boosts his tweet → which gets to more people → who then join his newsletter (because of his CTA)
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This creates the perfect newsletter growth loop.
So if you have a newsletter, maybe try using it to boost your social media and see how it works. It does wonders for Josh!

Platform risk is real. Turn your followers into subscribers.

The key takeaway here is balance and adaptability.
By diversifying your online presence, leveraging email marketing, and using social media strategically as a value transfer device, you are maximizing your chances of success
Platform risk is very real, even if we are seeing attempts of platforms to change that 👇
But, as it is right now, your best bet is never to put all your eggs in one basket.

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