Want to grow your email subscribers list and sell more?

If you want to grow your email list fast, you need more than just a great freebie—you need a smart, timely, and strategic approach that makes people feel like they need to sign up right now.

In the first quarter of this year, I have 12,780 new email people opt into my email list in 3 months for my business, @yoursocialteam. 🤯

That wasn’t just luck. It was a thoughtful strategy, doubling down on what has worked in the past.

In fact, this same approach helped me grow over 20,000 email subscribers last year.

So, what did I do differently? And more importantly, how can you use some of my strategies to grow your own email list?

Let’s break it down.

1. Create a Timely, High-Value Lead Magnet

A good freebie will always help you grow your list, but a timely freebie will supercharge it. I created a digital product that my audience needed to start the year, but didn’t know how to create themselves. It was the perfect fit for the beginning of the year.

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How to apply this strategy: Think about key dates and deadlines in your industry.

Tax season → Free tax checklist or bookkeeping guide
Summer → A social media content plan for vacation season
Back-to-school → A productivity planner for busy parents
Holidays → A holiday sales template or marketing plan

If you create something that feels timely and needed right away, people won’t wait to download it!

2. Make Your Freebie Stand Out from the Crowd

No one needs another generic checklist or basic template. I made sure my lead magnet had a unique approach that wasn’t already flooding the market.

How to make yours different:

Add a twist to a popular topic (e.g., instead of "Instagram Tips," try "Instagram Growth for Busy CEOs")
Offer a resource that fills a gap in your industry
Create something highly actionable (e.g., a planner, challenge, or email template pack)

When your freebie feels fresh and one-of-a-kind, more people will want it!

3. Promote It HARD (Like It’s Your Best-Selling Product)

Most people create a freebie, post about it once, and call it a day. That’s not how you grow fast! I pushed my freebie harder than I push my paid offers.

✔️ Posted multiple times about it on Instagram

✔️ Included it in nearly every social media post

✔️ Used Instagram Stories daily to remind my audience

✔️ Turned my best-performing Reel into a repeat post (yes, I posted the same Reel multiple times in the same month!)

✔️ Repurposed the content on different platforms (TikTok, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and blog posts)

PRO TIP: If you’re not constantly talking about your lead magnet, people won’t know about it. Treat it like your most important offer!

4. Boosted Visibility with Ads (Without a Huge Budget)

Once I saw that my freebie was performing well, I put some small ad spend behind it to amplify results. We didn’t spend a lot, but those ads helped bring in new leads and even resulted in direct sales.

🔥 How to use ads wisely:

Always set them up in the Facebook Ads Manager and not just clicking promote on the Instagram app
Start small (even $5/day can make a difference!)
Test different creative (static image, carousel, or video)
Retarget people who engaged with your content but haven’t signed up yet

Facebook and Instagram ads can speed up your list growth, but only if you’re already getting good organic results first!

And if you don’t know how to create ads or don’t have a budget for it, it’s totally fine to just go organic until your business grows a little more.

We are also not big on doing ads (right now we have no ads up), but when we do what works best for us is to create Reels for the ads and push our lead magnets, not our paid offers. So we can get them in our email list and nurture and promote to them later.

If you need help with ad creative, we have had a lot of success with these Reels Canva templates for our ads.

5. Kept Promoting Other Lead Magnets Too

Even though I focused on one big freebie, I didn’t stop promoting my other lead magnets.

✔️ Pushed 3-4 additional freebies throughout the month ✔️ Used every opportunity to mention a freebie in my social media posts ✔️ Rotated CTAs in my IG Stories, captions, and carousels

The lesson? If you have multiple freebies, don’t just rely on one. When you have more than one lead magnet, you’re more likely to attract more people that may not be interested in a specific one.

6. Used Automated Link Delivery (for More Conversions!)

One of the best things we did was automate link deliveries using ManyChat. Instead of just saying, "Go to my link in bio," I set up a “comment for the link” call to action.

🎯 Why this worked: