It’s all about your social media numbers, right?

People always say that you should have a decent follower count or high engagement numbers. Your followers should be commenting, saving, and sharing your social media content, because it’ll benefit your business.

Growing your social following can do that. I’m definitely not telling you to quit social media!

However, your email list is actually where the magic happens.

By focusing on turning your social media followers into email subscribers, you can build that engaged audience you’ve always wanted for your business.

I’m gonna tell you how to do that.

Share great content

Your first step in converting your followers to email subscribers is to make sure you’re sharing great social media content.

Check that all of your content is providing value to your audience. Share helpful resources, interesting behind-the-scenes stories, or reviews from your customers. Start conversations, ask questions! Be worthy of following.

Use solid CTAs

I also want you to use solid calls to action in your posts and content. Your CTAs should drive toward your lead magnet. (Which we’ll talk about in a moment.)

This is how social media can help your email funnel! A thoughtful social media strategy can be the first step to finding leads for your funnels.

Have a valuable lead magnet

Now let’s talk about that lead magnet I mentioned. 

You want to create a lead magnet that’s packed with value. Something that’ll have your subscribers tripping over themselves to get.

What is something that people ask you all the time about your services or products? The answer to this question will help you create your lead magnet!

Look at which of your social posts are most popular. Or run a quick survey by your audience to ask what they need help with.

Think about how you can offer your audience a quick win with your lead magnet. It should make their lives easier or help them solve a problem that they have. It should be easy for them to sign up for your lead magnet.

This is what happened with my Pop-Up Podcasts. People literally couldn’t say no. That’s what I want for you, too.

Tips to get in front of your followers

Let’s say you’ve got your amazing lead magnet now. How do you get it in front of your followers despite those annoying algorithms working against you?

Tip #1:  stay consistent. 

Share it over, and over, and over. Share in your feed, in stories, in your Reels and TikToks. 

Share it on Pinterest. And yes, I still recommend Pinterest. I mentioned this in Episode 2 about growing your email list organically, which I’ll link in the show notes for you. It’s surprising, but it still works!

If it feels like you’re sharing your lead magnet too much, you’re probably sharing it just enough.

Tip #2: get scrappy.

Ask your followers what they struggle with most. Send people who reply a link to your lead magnet!

Tip #3: collaborate.

Work with another biz owner who shares your target audience by promoting each other’s lead magnets! You can even share each other’s lead magnets with your individual email lists, too.

I just launched a brand new free directory designed specifically for these collaborations. It is called the Collaboration Society and is completely free to join. When you sign up, you’ll create a profile to be listed in the directory, then you and other members inside the directory can connect with one another for various collabs—from podcast guest spots, to participating in bundles and summits, and even workshops or conferences. Visit thecollaborationsociety.com to sign up—and remember, it is completely free to add yourself into the directory! 

Other ways to convert your social followers

Now, maybe you’re looking for more ways to convert your social followers to subscribers other than creating posts and stories.

One idea is to host free workshops or challenges. What’s cool about these is that you can drip them out or have them live on your chosen social media platform. 

Another idea? Build a quiz and start raking in the leads. People love taking quizzes, and there are a lot of great tools that make it easy to build your own.

Finally, create audio workshops. This can be in the form of an evergreen private podcast or a pop-up podcast event.

A pop-up podcast, like I mentioned before, was how I grew my email list by 78% in one month. No lie! 

I used a private-feed podcast that was available for a limited amount of time. It was free to listen to, but sign-up was required. 

People could sign up and listen to each bite-sized episode whenever and wherever they wanted. See how I made it easy for my audience to say “yes” by signing up?

Use your links

Before I go, let’s talk about a few extra ways you can convert followers to email subscribers.

Make sure your landing page link is in your bio! 

It’s a no-brainer, but people forget to do this all the time. People will click through if you give them the link. Take advantage of those free clicks.

Likewise, put your link in your email signature. 

It’s another small thing, but think about how often you’re emailing clients, potential clients, or other people in your industry. Someone is bound to see it and grab your lead magnet.

Just ask!

Finally, just ask! Ask your social media followers if they’d like to be on your email list. 

In Instagram, for example, you could place a question box in your stories that says, “Wanna be on my email list? Drop your email here and I’ll add you!” I always get a handful of emails when I do this.

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Alright, my friends, I hope this helped you realize that you can use social media to grow your email list!

Just remember to keep things simple, okay? 

Make it easy for your audience to say yes to an amazing lead magnet. And make it easy for them to sign up. Share your lead magnet often and give them all the opportunities to sign up.

Oh, and always test to make sure that your forms, pages, and emails are working. Signing up for a freebie that never gets delivered is the worst! You don’t want your audience to get a bad impression of your brand.

It helps to remind subscribers that their lead magnet is on the way and to check their spam folder just in case. Some people need that quick reminder if they’re impatient to get their hands on your freebie.

So, what will you create for your lead magnet?

If you’re interested in the Pop-Up Podcast that I mentioned, click here to sign up for the course now!

In 6 bite-sized lessons, you’ll learn how it all works, what podcast tech you need, how to write your episodes, and more.

You’ll be growing your email list and engaging your audience in no time!

If this episode inspires you, leave a review and share your biggest takeaway with me! And while you’ve got your phone out, go ahead and do these 3 things:

1. Give this podcast a follow (click here for iTunes or here for Spotify, or look up “The School of Marketing Podcast for Digital Entrepreneurs” wherever you listen to your podcasts). 
2. Head to the Email Template Shop™ and use code PODCAST15 for 15% off your first purchase.
3. Go ahead and open up your Instagram app and come follow me: @themaganward. I’d love to hear from you and I’m known to reply back via DM, sometimes even with a voice message, so make sure you hit me up there especially if you’ve got a topic you’d like me to cover in an upcoming episode.

Want more of where this came from? Check out other show notes here.