Being an email marketer, you would have, at some point (if you’re honest) envied the reach and followers of a social media marketer.
It’s natural, especially in a time when many marketers believe the myth: “Email is dead.”
But that’s far from the truth. As per a Radicati Group report. There are 2.760 billion email users worldwide, including both businesses and consumers, with numbers still on the rise.
In fact, emails and social media platforms are two sides of the same coin. Both have their individual value, but combining them can spell wonder.
One such social platform that’s caught our attention is Instagram. With over 600 million Instagrammers—more than 300 million of whom use Instagram every single day—it’s one of the most popular social platforms today.
Then why not fuel sales by blending Instagram marketing into your email list?
Instagram for email list growth! Seriously? But how?
As mentioned earlier, Instagram is an extremely attractive and powerful social platform. And with its ever growing popularity, email marketers are cashing in on ways to yield best results through Instagram marketing.
Fascinating right? Let’s take a look at how it functions.
Roughly half of the businesses out there don’t know how to profit through Instagram, though many have tried. But for those who’re still confused as to how, check out the Instagram sales funnel below:
The basic process is to acquire potential leads through Instagram marketing and then nurture those leads towards sales.
Brands today have become highly active on Instagram as it increases their brand visibility, but it can also help in acquiring more leads which results in increased sales.
But how?
3 ways to use Instagram to grow your email list
1. Optimize your Instagram profile for acquiring email sign-ups
The first step to optimizing your Instagram-email marketing flow is to add a bulletproof sign-up form to your Instagram bio in the space allowed for a URL. These forms can help collect quality leads for your brand.
There are numerous email marketing services—such as Constant Contact, AWeber, ConvertKit, GetResponse, MailChimp, Campaign Monitor, and ActiveCampaign—which aid in building custom sign-up forms that you can integrate on various platforms.
Make sure your forms have slots to capture information that can help you learn more about your Instagram leads. An in-depth lead study can help you understand key information like behavior and buying patterns.
You also need to provide incentives to entice potential customers to fill in your form. Make sure your incentives are something your customers would want as well as something you are willing to offer. Things like free downloads, promo codes, discounts, contests, and product samples work well.
2. Nurture your leads with relevant content
Once you capture leads you must understand their preferences. What pages do they follow? What are their interests? What are their online purchasing habits? What are they expecting out of your brand?
Make sure to research each aspect of your new customers early on in the process. Pay attention to things like gender, interests, location, recent purchases, buying history, and patterns before gently pushing them towards a sale.
Though making a sale is going to be your ultimate objective, make sure to give your leads a good experience along the way. A good experience will not only keep present customers happy and engaged, but also attract more potential leads to your brand. Word of mouth is powerful.
3. Build email lists to drive sales
Once the sign-ups increase, you can start sending offers and deals right to your customers’ inboxes. Since they’ve subscribed to your emails via Instagram, they will likely be expecting interesting and interactive content, so, be sure to give them value, keep them engaged, and, most importantly, understand what’s relevant to them.
Make your profit-boosting flow easy and simple. Sending newsletters and offer emails to your subscribers can lead to conversions.
Newsletters are particularly important in this process, especially if your leads have come through Instagram. Most leads you capture will be from your Instagram posts, but often your posts can be missed or get buried under other posts in the feed. Thus, sending a regular newsletter with your offers and recent posts can really spice up your relationship with your leads.
The Hootsuite App Directory offers a number of email marketing apps to help you better manage email campaigns alongside your social media.