How to Combine Instagram and Email Marketing

Written by Owen Baker

Instagram is one of the social media platforms you can use to create more awareness for your business and grow your brand.

With about 1.35 billion users on this visual platform, you are sure about reaching a wider audience.

Email marketing is one powerful marketing tool as well. For every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an ROI of $40.  Email helps you remind customers about the value they get from your business.

So, the question is this: Which marketing platform should you use for your business?

Answer? Both. You can combine the powers of Instagram and email marketing to supercharge your marketing efforts. That said, here are five foolproof email marketing Instagram tips to follow.

1. Collect Email Addresses from Instagram Followers

You can use Instagram to grow your email list. Just leverage your Instagram bio so more people can subscribe and receive your marketing emails. The link to the sign-up form should be placed in the bio because it’s probably one of the first things people see.

This is exactly what Girlfriend Collective does:

When active users click on the link,  the first thing they see is a prompt to sign up for email newsletters:

Because Instagram allows you to have only one link in your bio, you can use link-sharing tools like Linktree or Lnk.bio so you’ll have room for more links.

Note that when you collect email addresses, you should let your audience know why you want their information and that their personal data will not be misused. Ideally, you should also have a link to your privacy policy on the sign-up form so that leads feel safe about sharing their emails and other details with you.

As you grow your list, you’ll need to verify email addresses regularly to ensure they’re the right ones and are active. When you keep a healthy email list, you can rest assured your emails will reach the intended recipients.

2. Segment Email List Based on Interests Shown on Instagram

You can use Instagram to gather the data you’ll need to segment your email list. Just think about it. The people who follow you on Instagram are more likely the same people who subscribed to your email list (emphasis on “more likely”). So, you can use the data you can learn about your Instagram audience to segment your email list as well. It’s one of the email marketing Instagram tips worth implementing.

But why is email list segmentation important? Segmenting your email list will help you ensure that your audience receives emails that they’re interested in.

Because Instagram only allows you to see limited information about your followers, it’ll be smart to determine interests based on their engagements on the social platform. So, to make your Instagram email list segmentation more efficient, use your Instagram Insights dashboard.

Just click the menu from your Instagram profile, and go to “Insights.” This is where you’ll see the data that can come in handy for your email marketing campaigns.

Pay attention to specific products or topics that are generating the most likes, comments, and shares, and use this information to segment your email list. Look at the content format they prefer, too.

For instance, some of your Instagram followers may like videos more frequently than posts. Others may prefer long-form posts to infographics. That can give you an idea of the types of email content you should send as well.

You can also glean the top location and gender of the majority of your Instagram followers through Instagram Insights. Check out the screenshot above to see how that looks on Instagram.

These are the demographics of the people interested in your Instagram content. So, based on this data, when you create email content, you’d probably have an email campaign for those from the US, one for those in Australia, one from those in India, and so on.

3. Cross-Promote Content

Another foolproof idea on our email marketing Instagram tips list is cross-promotion. This means that you’ll share snippets of your email on your Instagram pages and do the same with your Instagram posts via emails.

With this strategy, you can achieve several things. Email subscribers can connect with you on Instagram where they can leave comments and send DMs at will. Also, Instagram followers can subscribe to your emails so they can get in-depth information about your brand.

Urban Skincare Centre, for instance, shares email teasers on its Instagram account. These help entice its target audience to subscribe for the full content.

You can also use engaging Instagram reels or carousel posts to spark more curiosity about your email content.

You can share your Instagram content via email, too. This is exactly what MeUndies does:

This is a great way, not just to promote your Instagram content, but to get Instagram followers as well.

Additionally, add your Instagram icon which links to your profile within your email campaign content. Leads can easily click on this icon and land on your Instagram page. Here’s an example from Dogo:

Overall, the idea behind cross-promoting is to let your audience know that they can access your brand on their preferred platform.

4. Announce Instagram Contests and Offers via Email and Vice Versa

People love being the first to get juicy deals and details. Use this to your advantage.

You can run an Instagram contest or giveaway program, then share this with your email subscribers and encourage them to join. See how Snif does this with the “go to our Instagram” call to action button below.

Simple photo or hashtag contests will work, depending on the nature of your brand. Just make sure you set the guidelines for each contest or giveaway clearly.

You can also announce email offers to your Instagram followers. Here’s a good example from Uptown Girl Media.

In the above Instagram post, Uptown Girl Media makes it clear that subscribers will get free resources, playlists and downloads. Uptown Girl Media also makes it easy for its Instagram followers to subscribe to its email list. They don’t have to fill out long forms. All they need to do is send the company a private message or their email address.

Here are other exclusive offers you can announce on Instagram to gain email subscribers:

• Email courses – teach subscribers something new based on tailor-made email courses. This can be in the form of an email series where you educate your subscribers.
• Industry updates – share the latest trends in your industry and give your audience business or marketing tips on how to adjust to them. You can also share new statistics and data that will keep your audience informed.

Additionally, you can offer an incentive to entice potential subscribers. This could be a discount, free product, and so on.

For this strategy to work, remember to offer something valuable and suitable for your brand objectives. Remember that your ultimate goal as a company is to generate sales. So, you need to attract the right people to your Instagram and email channels. These should be people who are more likely to buy from you.

In other words, don’t offer an incentive or a reward everyone will more likely want. If you’re selling online courses, for instance, an ebook on tips on how to create a course is a better incentive than an Amazon gift card. With the first, there’s a chance those who subscribe to your email list or become your Instagram followers will make a purchase from you (they’re already interested in online courses, after all).

5. Use Instagram Stories and Polls to Gather Feedback from Email Subscribers

Collecting feedback doesn’t only help you engage with your audience. It’s also one way to understand your audience better and meet their needs. This is the feedback you can use to improve your content strategy, if you are also into affiliate content creation.

Instagram has features you can use to gather this feedback from your email subscribers.

You can create Instagram Stories about your newsletters and allow subscribers to share feedback. For instance, craft Stories in the form of a questionnaire using the poll sticker. See the example below:

You can also get them to vote on which ideas from your newsletter they’d work with.

This strategy will help you in two ways. First, you’ll learn the benefits existing subscribers get from your emails. Secondly, you can use positive feedback as social proof to lure potential subscribers. You can highlight these Stories with positive reviews about your email content on your Instagram page, too.

In Closing

Combining Instagram and email marketing can help you supercharge your marketing efforts, and reach and engage with your target audience. You learned email marketing Instagram tips that can help you maximize the platforms effectively.

To recap, collect emails through your Instagram account, segment these emails based on interests, and cross-promote content. You should also run contests and offer incentives on one platform, then announce these on the other. Finally, use Instagram Stories and polls to gather feedback from email subscribers.

Now that you know these tips, go ahead and give them a try. You’ll reap the marketing benefits soon enough. Good luck!

About Author

Owen Baker is a content marketer for Voila Norbert, an online email verification tool. He has spent most of the last decade working online for a range of marketing companies. When he’s not busy writing, you can find him in the kitchen mastering new dishes.