Blog/Tips & Strategies

Tips & Strategies7 min read

How to grow an email list from Instagram: 7 ways to turn followers into subscribers

Turn Instagram followers into email subscribers with your bio link, comment-to-DM keywords, stories and lives, plus welcome emails. $25/month billed annually.

WithMe Team·11 November 2026

To grow an email list from Instagram, give people one free thing worth an email address and make it easy to reach from every place they see you: your bio link, a keyword they comment on posts and reels, story links, your broadcast channel and your lives. On WithMe the free thing is a Lead Capture, Instagram Auto DMs send the link when someone comments your keyword, and an email sequence welcomes every new subscriber.

WithMe is $25 per month billed annually (UK £25), with a 14-day trial and 0% WithMe commission. Stripe and PayPal fees still apply. More than 8,000 creators use it. Lead Capture, Auto DMs and email sequences are all on that plan.

Why move Instagram followers onto an email list?

You do not own your followers. Instagram decides who sees each post, and an account can be restricted or lost. An email address is a direct line that you keep.
Email is where most sales happen for coaches and course creators. A follower who scrolls past a post may still read a welcome email, a story about a client and an offer a week later.
If you sell on WithMe, the list and the products live in the same place, so you can see who signed up for your freebie and who went on to buy.

What should you offer in exchange for an email?

Something small that solves one problem the same day: a checklist, a 7-day plan, a 10-minute audio, a template or a short video. It should lead naturally to what you sell. If you need ideas, see our list of lead magnet ideas for coaches. The detailed set-up of the freebie itself is in our guide to creating a lead magnet; this post is about getting Instagram followers to it.

Which Instagram tactics grow an email list?

Use several entry points, because different followers see you in different places. These are the seven that matter most.

Bio link. Instagram lets you add up to 5 links to your profile. Put your freebie first, with a title that says what people get, for example Free 7-day meal plan, or link your WithMe hub, where your Lead Capture appears.
Comment-to-DM keyword. End a post or reel with Comment GUIDE and I will send it to you. Everyone who comments the word gets a DM with the link. This is usually the strongest tactic, because the call to action takes one tap and the comments also tell Instagram the post is getting engagement.
Stories. Add a link sticker to the sign-up page, or ask people to reply to the story with your keyword so the DM goes out automatically. Repeat it every week or two: new followers missed the last one.
Broadcast channel. If you have a professional account, a broadcast channel lets you post updates to followers who join it. Share the freebie there when you launch it and again when you update it.
Lives. Teach for 15 to 20 minutes, then tell viewers to comment your keyword for the follow-up resource. Pin the comment so latecomers see it.
Collab posts. Invite a peer whose audience overlaps with yours as a collaborator on a post, so it appears to both sets of followers, and put the same keyword in the caption.
Pinned post or reel. Pin your best freebie post to the top of your grid, so profile visitors see the keyword before anything else.

How many sign-ups should you expect?

We do not publish an average, because it depends on your niche, your offer and how often you ask. What you can do is measure it. In WithMe, the Auto DMs Overview tab shows the DMs sent and link clicks with the click rate for each automation, the Posts tab ranks your posts by how many people were messaged, and new sign-ups appear on your Customers page. Compare those numbers for two or three keywords over a few weeks and keep the ones that work.

How do you set it up on WithMe?

The whole path, from comment to welcome email, takes four pieces.

Create the Lead Capture. Add a product, choose Capture Leads, and upload your freebie under File to send. People get it on screen straight away and by email. Show it on your hub or give it its own landing page.
Connect Instagram on the Auto DMs page and create an automation. Add up to 5 keywords, each matched as Exact word or Contains, and choose whether it answers comments, DMs and story replies, or both.
Choose the posts: all posts, posts you pick, or your next post. Next post waits for the next post you publish and applies only to comments on it.
Under Link to a WithMe offer, pick your Lead Capture. Write the DM, up to 900 characters, and use {handle} to greet people by their Instagram name. You can set the text on the link button, up to 20 characters.
Create an email sequence with the trigger After Lead Capture and tick your Lead Capture, so every new subscriber gets a welcome and your next offer over the following days.
Save and go live, then post with the keyword in the caption.

What other Auto DM options help?

Follow gate: only send the link to people who follow you. A commenter first gets a short message with a button. When they tap it, WithMe checks whether they follow you and sends the link, or a message asking them to follow first.
Public reply: reply under their comment with up to 3 rotating lines, such as Check your DMs!, so other viewers see that the keyword works. It is on by default for comment automations on Instagram.
Follow-ups and reply buttons: add up to 4 follow-up messages, sent one at a time when they reply, and up to 3 reply buttons per message to ask a question before you send the link.

What is not included?

Instagram does not deliver every DM, for example to some private accounts, so some commenters will not get the message. Auto DMs on Facebook Pages are not open to every account yet, so plan around Instagram. There is no double opt-in and no marketing consent checkbox on the Lead Capture form, so say on the page what people are signing up for.

How much does it cost?

WithMe is $25 per month billed annually (UK £25), with a 14-day trial and 0% WithMe commission. Stripe and PayPal fees still apply. One plan covers courses, memberships, community, coaching, webinars, digital products, Lead Capture, email broadcasts and sequences, and Instagram Auto DMs. There is no charge per DM or per contact on the public price.

Instagram email list questions

What is the fastest way to grow an email list from Instagram?

A comment-to-DM keyword on a reel, linked to a free resource. People comment one word and get the link in their DMs, then enter their email on the sign-up page.

Do I need ManyChat to send a link when someone comments?

Not if you use WithMe. Auto DMs are part of the plan, with up to 5 keywords per automation, and the link can go straight to your Lead Capture.

Can I only send the freebie to people who follow me?

Yes. Turn on Only send it to people who follow you. People who do not follow you yet get a message asking them to follow first.

Does the DM collect the email address?

No. The DM sends a link. People enter their email on your Lead Capture, which delivers the file and adds them to your list.

How do I follow up with new subscribers?

Create an email sequence that starts After Lead Capture. Each email waits a delay you set, and leave at least 25 hours between emails, because a sequence sends a person at most one of its emails in 24 hours.

Start your 14-day trial at https://www.withme.so/become-a-creator.