You have 2,400 followers on Instagram. You post a new class, a new menu or a sale, and a few hundred of them see it. Which few hundred is up to Instagram. If the account is locked tomorrow, or the app changes what it shows, those 2,400 people are gone with it.
An email list is the same people, on a list you keep. You decide when they hear from you, and the message goes to their inbox, not a feed. This post shows four ways to move followers onto that list, in the order I would set them up, with the words to use and the rules for consent.
Why bother with email when you already post
Email is old and it still pays. In the Litmus State of Email 2025 survey of nearly 500 marketers, most companies that measure it say each dollar spent on email brings back $10 or more. Litmus puts the average at $36 for every dollar. Those are marketing teams at larger companies, so read it as a direction for a small business, not a promise. Numbers checked 28 September 2026.
The reason is plain. A post competes with everything else in the feed for a few seconds. An email waits in the inbox until the person opens it, and it reaches the people who asked for it.
First: what consent means here
Before any of the four ways, get this part right, because it decides whether your emails land in the inbox or in spam.
In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act does not require people to opt in before you email them. The FTC's compliance guide says every marketing email must include your valid postal address and a clear way to opt out, and that you must honor an opt-out within 10 business days. Each email that breaks the rules can cost up to $53,088. In the EU and the UK the rules are stricter: in most cases people have to say yes first.
The simple rule that works everywhere: only add people who asked, and let them confirm. That is called double opt-in. Someone gives you their address, gets one email with a button, presses it, and is on your list. A typo, a fake address or someone signing up a friend never gets that far.
What does not count as asking:
- A follower who never gave you their address.
- A customer who paid once and never said yes to email.
- A list you bought or got from someone else.
Way 1: Ask for the email in a DM
This is the one that fits Instagram best, because the conversation is already happening. Someone comments a keyword under your post, or writes to you, and the reply asks for their email.
Here is how a flow for a yoga studio could read:
Comment: GUIDE DM: Hey! Want the 7-day stretching plan? Reply with your email and I'll send it to your inbox. Person: anna [at] example.com DM: Thanks Anna! Check your inbox and press Confirm, and the plan is on its way.
In Postfjord, you build this with a DM automation. The steps from the Automation help page:
- Open Automation, press New automation and pick Comment to DM (or Keyword reply for people who write to you).
- Pick the post, and type the keyword, like
guide. - Keep or edit the opening DM.
- On the link step, open Add-ons and turn on Ask for their email in the DM. Edit the three texts: the question, the thank you, and the message when the answer is not an email.
- Save and test it from a second account.
Postfjord checks each address before it saves it. A typo like gmial.com, or a domain that gets no email, counts as not an email, and the person is asked again. After a second miss, the automation moves on without the address.
In workspaces with postmail, Postfjord's email part (in testing), the switch Send a confirmation email so they can join your email list is on by default. The person joins your list when they press Confirm in that email.
One thing to plan for: if the DM sends the link right after the email question, people get the guide before they confirm. So send the guide in the welcome email instead (see Way 3), and the guide becomes the reason to press Confirm.
If you run a café or a shop, the same flow works from a QR code. The Link or QR code template gives you an ig.me link that opens a chat and starts the automation. Put the QR code on the counter with "Scan for 10% off your next visit" and ask for the email in the chat.
Way 2: A signup page in your link in bio
Your profile has one link. Some people will tap it, and a signup form should be there when they do.
The quick version is a signup form page. In Postfjord every signup form gets its own page, with your name and logo at the top and your postal address at the bottom:
- Go to Email, Campaigns and press Email settings.
- Under Signup forms, press New form.
- Open Edit the form and write the heading, the text and the button. Pick a tag, like
instagram, so you know where people came from. - Save a sender at the top of the same page. The form takes signups only once a sender is saved.
- Copy the form's link and put it in your bio.
The better version is a link in bio page with the form on it, next to your booking link and your menu or schedule. Add a Signup form block, and people can sign up without leaving the page. Your page lives at your own address, like sunrise-yoga.postfjord.page. Landing pages are open to a few workspaces in early access.
Tell people why to tap. A bio that says "Free 7-day stretching plan, link below" gets more taps than a bare link. Say it in your stories too, and pin a post about it.
What to write on the form:
- Heading: what they get. "A new class schedule every Sunday."
- Text: how often. "One email a week. Unsubscribe any time."
- Button: the action. "Send me the schedule."
Way 3: A free guide, a code or a class
People give their email for something. That something is called a lead magnet, and for a small business it can be small:
- A yoga studio: a 7-day stretching plan as a PDF.
- A café: 10% off the next coffee.
- A salon: a short guide to making color last longer.
- A coach: a free 20-minute call.
- A shop: early access to the holiday sale.
Two ways to deliver it in Postfjord, both after the person confirms:
- Thank-you gift on the form. Under Edit the form, write a short text, like a discount code. It shows on the page right after someone confirms, never before.
- A welcome email. Under Welcome email on a form, press Write a welcome email. For addresses from a DM, open Email, Automations and pick Someone confirms an email they gave in a DM as what starts it. Put the link to the guide in that email. The email automations help page has the steps.
A welcome email for the yoga studio might read:
Hi Anna, here is your 7-day stretching plan: [link]. Each day takes about 10 minutes. On Sunday you get next week's class schedule from us, and you can unsubscribe with one tap at the bottom of any email.
Then keep the promise. If the form said one email a week, send one email a week.
Way 4: A form on your website
Some followers check your website before they book. Put the same signup form there.
- Copy Code for your website from the form.
- Paste it where it should go, for example in an HTML block in WordPress, Squarespace or Wix.
If your site already has a form, you can point it at Postfjord instead: set its action to the link of your form page, its method to POST, and name the email field email. Signups then come straight into your contacts.
Good places for it: the footer of every page, the page with your schedule or menu, and the page people see after they book.
Already have a list somewhere?
If you collected emails in Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Shopify or a spreadsheet, you can bring them over. The import help page covers each tool. You will be asked how the people signed up, and a bought list or customers who never said yes cannot be imported for email. People who unsubscribed come in as unsubscribed, and nothing is sent when you import.
A plan for the first month
- Week 1: Set up the signup form and put it in your bio. Write the welcome email.
- Week 2: Turn on email capture in one comment-to-DM automation. Post something people want, like the guide, with "Comment GUIDE".
- Week 3: Add the form to your website footer. Mention the list in two stories.
- Week 4: Send your first email to the list. Keep it short: what is new, one photo, one link.
You can see in pricing how many emails each plan sends a month, and the postmail page has the rest of the email tools.
FAQ
How do I start an email list for free?
Make a signup form, put its link in your Instagram bio, and give people a reason to sign up, like a guide or a discount code. Many email tools have a free plan to start with. In Postfjord, email (postmail, in testing) comes with every plan, including Free.
Can I get the email addresses of my Instagram followers?
Not directly. Instagram does not share your followers' addresses with you. Each person has to give you their address, for example in a DM, on a signup page in your bio, or on your website.
Is double opt-in required?
In the US, CAN-SPAM does not require opt-in at all, but it does require an unsubscribe link and your postal address in each email. In the EU and the UK, people in most cases have to agree first. Double opt-in proves they did, and keeps typos and fake addresses off your list. Postfjord asks everyone who signs up through a form, or gives an address in a DM, to confirm by email.
What is a lead magnet?
Something free you give in return for an email address: a guide, a checklist, a discount code or a first class. The best ones are small, useful right away and close to what you sell.
How often should I email my list?
As often as you said on the form, and no more. For most small businesses, once a week or twice a month is a pace they can keep. Pick the one you can keep for a year.