How to Grow Your Email List with Instagram - Klaviyo
2026-03-10 20:55 Diff
https://www.klaviyo.com/blog/grow-email-lists-with-instagram

Most marketers have been in this bind: you know how important a robust social media strategy is, but it’s a pain in the neck to own and measure.

Followers that you have on Monday might disappear by Friday, and the algorithms can be unpredictable and hard to keep up with. Not to mention, you’re at the whims of these social media goliaths and the cultural forces that shape them.

The key to making your investment in Instagram more effective is inviting users off of social and into your owned channels. And that’s exactly what Gatsby and Klaviyo can help you do.

Gatsby has been adding Instagram insights into customer data platforms like Klaviyo since 2018. What began as simply reporting how many followers a certain shopper has turned into reporting of Instagram UGC mentions, and, most recently, using the integration to fuel email and SMS list growth.

Traditionally, collecting email addresses on Instagram was done through a giveaway or another special offer that typically takes the user to a form submission off-platform. But that method can be cumbersome to set up and manage, and is a poor experience both for the marketer as well as the Instagram user.

As a result, most brands just run simple Instagram giveaways that encourage social engagement, such as likes and comments on posts, but many forgo the extra—and highest impact—step of collecting email subscribers from Instagram.

This means that sign-up forms on your site have been the primary way to grow your subscriber base. While that may still be true, Instagram can now be a powerful channel for growing your list even faster, especially if you have an active Instagram community and a robust and reliable tech stack.Let’s dig into how this list growth via Instagram can be achieved with the Gatsby X Klaviyo integration.

Growing your list faster via Instagram: easier than you think

Similar in strategy to a welcome offer pop-up on your website, all you have to do to kick off this process on Instagram is put a line in your bio directing visitors to DM you with a specific keyword to join your list and earn a special offer. Bailey’s CBD For Pets includes the keyword “CBD” at the top of their bio.

Image source: Bailey’s Instagram bio

Once the viewer has sent that DM with the keyword, they get an automated reply back from your brand asking for their email address.

Image source: Instagram

The viewer then gets a customizable, automated message with a button to join your list, followed by a message directing them towards their email to find their discount code.

Image source: Instagram

The entire thing takes less than a minute for your new subscriber—and it’s not limited to just your followers either. Brands like Lingua Francaconverted 1K+ Instagram users into email subscribers in under a week.

While all this is happening, your new subscriber auto populates into your Klaviyo account, where you can see their:

  • Instagram username
  • How many followers they have on IG
  • Whether or not they follow you yet
  • Email address
  • Date they became a subscriber
  • The keyword they used to DM you and become a subscriber

And more, including their UGC mentions for your brand.

Now you not only have a new email subscriber in Klaviyo, but thanks to the Gatsby integration, you have their Instagram profile in constant sync with their Klaviyo profile.

There’s a lot you can do with this social data now that is layered on top of their Klaviyo profile.

Hyper-personalized segmentation: your IG keywords at work

In addition to steady list growth from both your on site sign-up form and your Instagram account, here are some ways you can personalize your email and SMS content specifically for your new subscribers coming from Instagram:

  • Give all your ambassadors their own keyword to share with their followers. This keyword gets their followers to sign up for your list Then segment content to your new subscribers according to which ambassador drove them in.
  • Give ambassadors multiple keywords throughout the year for different product drops or product lines. Then you can segment even more specifically.
  • Segment your new subscribers by the particular keyword they signed up with, depending on different campaigns and giveaways they entered.
  • Segment your new subscribers by how many followers they have then drive new product drops with your most influential customers.
  • Segment your subscribers by when they signed up (maybe it’s a particular holiday or your products are seasonal).

Social channels and your owned lists: build deeper relationships

Forms on your site are a steady way to grow your list, but, with integrations like Gatsby X Klaviyo, they don’t have to be the only tool in your belt.Check out this short video to see the integration in action:

Some pro tips to get the most out of the Gatsby x Klaviyo integration:

  • In addition to asking for their email address, ask for the phone number to grow your SMS list (currently available in US and Canada).
  • In addition to a DM keyword, ask Instagram users to comment a specific keyword on your Instagram post to kick off the same email collection experience.
  • Access native flows in Klaviyo for the Gatsby integration. When you connect Gatsby with Klaviyo, you’ll automatically get flow and email templates that reward customers for following you on Instagram and posting UGC about your brand.

Remember, your email, SMS, and push notifications channels are the ones you have the most control over. Convert your Instagram followers into these channels so you can own these relationships. Our new Gatsby X Klaviyo integration is a seamless way to accomplish this list growth from Instagram.

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