Your business is always at risk.

If your best social media platform changes its algorithm, your followers–and all your hard work –could evaporate overnight.

This is exactly what happened to Joe Spieser, the founder of the media company Little Things. Spieser told Business Insider that his business lost 90% of its traffic and $100 million in revenue when Facebook changed its algorithm in 2018.

Your social media account is also vulnerable to security issues that are beyond your control. According to Statista, 22% of users in the US have had their social media hacked, and 14% have experienced this more than once.

You can wipe out most of this risk by converting your followers into email subscribers. You own your list, and a new algorithm isn’t going to take your list away.

Social reach is rented. Email lists are owned.

Even if your following is 10x your subscriber count, your email list is what drives predictable growth, retention, and revenue.
When you hit “send,” you know exactly who gets it — and you’re not paying for visibility.

So let’s break down what actually works in 2025 to convert followers into subscribers.

Aside from the security, there’s a huge upside to increasing your email subscribers on social media.

Unless you’ve been busily growing your list for a long time already, your followers probably outnumber your subscribers. Imagine the revenue you could gain if a solid chunk of those followers were also receiving your email.

So how do you do it? Here are seven ways…

If you don’t have a link to a subscription form in your bio, add one as soon as you finish reading this article!

And consider that the bare minimum.

If you want to maximize the number of followers who convert to subscribers, then ask your followers to sign up. Consistently.

Anytime you have a new lead magnet, a cool guest on your podcast, or some important and interesting information, it’s important to announce this on your social media.

And once you're announcing all your great new content, the logical next step is to ask your followers to sign up for your newsletter. That way, they can see all the great content you’ve been talking about.

You will have to be a little bit cautious about this strategy because most social media platforms penalize you for creating too many links that lead away from the platform.

However, as long as you're not putting a link to your signup form in every post, you shouldn't have to worry about this too much.

Another tactic that works on most platforms is to post your content and then leave a link in the comments.

Don’t assume followers will find your signup link — ask directly.

Once someone has clicked through to a signup form, don’t give them any reasons not to sign up.

The easiest forms will only have two fields: The subscriber’s first name and email.

This is all you need to add someone to your list. If you need a phone, address, company name, or other data, you can always capture that later. Don’t lose subscribers who are daunted by filling out a long form.

The strategies we’ve described so far will work on any social media platform, including Instagram. However, there are a few other tactics you should know about.

By the way, while you’re working on turning Instagram followers into email subscribers, don’t neglect Facebook.

For just a few dollars, you can “boost” an individual post. Instagram will show your post to people who match the demographics you specify. Some of them may turn into followers.

If the boosted post includes a link to subscribe, you will turn some of these viewers into email subscribers.

More importantly, if you boost a different post every week, your overall visibility will increase. Over time, your followers will see more of you, and they are more likely to become subscribers.

When someone leaves a comment, acknowledge them. Write a reply if you can, but even just liking their comment will show them that you’re listening.

If you just spend 15 minutes a day doing this, you’re going to build a stronger bond with your followers. As a result, many of them will subscribe when you ask.

Everybody likes a few pics about your family, your travels, and even your food. But most of your posts should be helpful or entertaining.

Share your best tips. Answer questions. Or at least make your followers laugh out loud.

Do these three things often enough, and your followers will want more. That’s when they will subscribe to your newsletter.

Okay, this might sound like a green light to share your favorite dad jokes and videos of your cat. Well…it is, but there’s more to it than that.

Share your struggles. Be vulnerable once in a while, and people will find you more relatable.

If you want to do a post where you’re reclining on your yacht, cuddled up next to your gorgeous spouse, and bragging about the multi-million dollar deal you just closed, that’s fine.

But more of your followers will be cheering for you if they know what you had to go through to get to that point.

This is where beehiiv does the heavy lifting.

Every growth lever mentioned here , referrals, recommendations, magic links — already lives inside the platform.

When you stack these together, you turn your audience into your distribution engine

Converting visitors from your blog or your website is different from converting subscribers from social media channels. It’s easier.

Your website can have signup links or embedded forms in multiple locations all over every page. You can include inline calls to action (CTAs). You can even have pop-ups that prompt visitors to sign up.

Here are a few more tactics to grow your email list.

Monetizing a large and engaged list is the holy grail.

If you want to maximize your marketing efforts, you have to walk a tightrope.

You need to keep your readers entertained and informed, while also asking repeatedly for the sale or the appointment that will lead to the sale.

Here are a few types of content that will help you convert email subscribers to customers:

Converting email subscribers from social media channels is a powerful growth tactic, but it should never be your only one.

beehiiv was built for growing your list. The platform includes a large recommendation network, so you can gain subscribers who are already reading similar content. Magic links speed the process along.

We also offer an automated referral program, making it easy for your readers to recruit new subscribers for you, and automatically receive incentives for doing so.

If you want to rapidly grow your subscriber list, start a beehiiv newsletter.

Right now, X (Twitter) and LinkedIn perform best for direct conversions, but Instagram drives top-of-funnel awareness. Use all three with tailored CTAs.

Once a week directly, but weave it into your content naturally. Every post should reinforce why your newsletter exists.

Anywhere from 2–5% is solid. If you’re below that, your signup flow has too much friction or your value proposition isn’t clear enough.

Yes — lead magnets, exclusive reports, or early access to new content all perform well. But make sure they align with your newsletter’s core theme.

beehiiv automatically attributes subscriber sources. You’ll see which posts, platforms, and referral links actually drive conversions.