4 ways to grow your email list through TikTok

Have you considered growing your email list through TikTok? Especially when it’s considered one of the best platform to grow your following. With more than one billion users, your content has a huge reaching potential.

Ever since 2020 and right into the COVID-19 restrictions period, new marketing techniques resurfaced to draw consumers in. With that, various digital platforms blew up, TikTok being one of them.

TikTok has already reached over 1 billion users, which was predicted for 2025, while its growth in one year alone was 15.4%. This means this social media platform is a vital, growing digital place where more than most of your users could be.

TikTok is a very versatile and lively digital platform with users with various interests. The various “tribes” of TikTok – like emailtok or hairtok for example – make it the perfect place for mixing raw content, niche advice, and fun, brand-building videos.

This is why TikTok marketing is one of the best tactics to help you elate your content and move users to profitable places – like your email list, for example.

And this is what we’re going to examine in this article. So, let’s see how you can build your email list through TikTok.

Why build an email list through TikTok?

As mentioned above, TikTok is a social media platform best known for short-form video content. Short-form and engaging is what your email content should be as well – at least for the better part of your email campaigns.

Not trying to build an email list through TikTok is like leaving money on the table for a number of reasons.

Expanding Reach:

First of all, video content provides a lot of engagement, and TikTok has millions of active users. It allows marketers to find an interested audience, reach it, and engage with it. And this includes demographics they wouldn’t normally reach through traditional channels, like LinkedIn or Facebook.

Algorithmic Advantage:

TikTok’s algorithm also boosts engagement and reach. It’s designed to promote content that can resonate with users. Another fantastic pro of TikTok’s algorithm is that it’s tailor-made and designed to appeal to each user specifically, hooking them even further.

Creativity and Storytelling

Both TikTok and email marketing promote creativity and storytelling. Emails can showcase your brand’s personality in relation to the user with segmented, tailor-made content, and TikTok can hook prospects enough to make them want more. Both mediums allow you to pique your audience’s interest in unique and visually appealing ways, with great results:

Cross-Platform Synergy

Combining email marketing and TikTok’s powerful algorithm can boost your cross-platform marketing efforts as well. TikTok can easily be linked with a “link in bio” feature to your blog, landing pages, or website as a whole. Like this:

Promoting your brand on TikTok can bring about more traffic and a better-segmented audience and help you reach a broader user base in general.

Creating videos that are informative and visually appealing will have users wonder if opting into your email list will give them more. This question alone can make TikTok a valuable email list-building tool, so long as it’s part of a comprehensive marketing strategy.

So, let’s see what the tactics of email list building through TikTok are and why you should follow them.

4 ways to build your email list through TikTok

Email marketing has an undeniably favorable quality, apart from its price and ROI: It doesn’t depend on changing algorithms. Meaning that if you play your cards right, you’ll be able to reach your subscribers every time.

You can create a TikTok video or an Instagram post and it could never catch the right user’s eye. A dedicated newsletter or even a cold outreach campaign will surely generate the interest you’re after. Think of it as renting and owning something. Social media profiles are rented space, whereas you own your email lists.

So, what are the ways you can utilize to make the most out of your TikTok profile and get more interested leads in your email list?

1) Participate in a viral trend

Participating in a viral trend means that you’ll have a better chance of getting noticed by your preferred audience. The good thing about TikTok trends is that they’re easily adapted to your niche. Joining trending sounds, templates, or topics can increase your visibility and attract more traffic to your website and more leads to your email list down the line.

Apart from visibility, participating in a viral TikTok trend can expose you to wider audiences that resonate with a specific topic that could be a part of your niche. Users nowadays prefer the more human side of a brand and they’re all about personal approach. A viral trend that features a favorite topic or content type will help you interact with the specific interests of your TikTok community and increase two things:

• The likelihood of your content being shared around 
• The likelihood of users relating to your brand and interacting with it

In both cases, your content is more likely to go viral. This increases your chances of drawing the perfect segment in and engaging them with niche-specific, tailor-made content through your email list.

2) Use lead magnets

As marketers, we all know and use lead magnets as part of our marketing plan. TikTok should be no exception.

A lead magnet is a lucrative freebie or offer that your audience will surely love and take advantage of. Start using lead magnets and gently lead users further down the marketing funnel.

It doesn’t have to be anything too fancy that will break your bank. A giveaway or contest that will give users a freebie, provided they stitch your video and subscribe to your email list for the results, will do the trick. A whitepaper or an ebook will work just as well. Or perhaps a free session for their favorite service with your brand will work just as well.

In this case, you skip promotion and put all of your efforts into having your audience engage with your content directly. You can use compelling CTAs like “Stitch this video and find the results in our next newsletter”. As you see, this phrasing doesn’t promote your email list directly.

Instead, you’re presenting it as a tool for users to know whether they won or not.

Of course, now you’ll be wondering how to make users more interested in your lead magnet. At this stage, you can create a series of teaser videos. Let’s say you’re promoting an ebook as a lead magnet. You can start by saying, “In chapter one of my book…” and create a series of videos that will lead to a huge revelation.

Engaging captions and visuals will have them wolf down the entire series, while an actionable CTA will show them where to go to access the lead magnet in full.

If you decide to use this method, don’t forget one thing: Users lose interest pretty easily. So, each time, make sure to pinpoint the benefits and value of your lead magnet. Use phrasing that they’ll easily find on your landing page as well, and convey the solution you’re bringing into their lives through visuals.

3) Use the pinned video feature

One of the best ways to have users watch just the content you need them to is to use the pinned video feature TikTok provides. When you pin a video on your TikTok profile, it remains displayed at the top of your TikTok profile, making it a great way to expose your desired content without having users look for it. This can capture a user’s attention and encourage them to take action.

Check out what influencer Emily Mariko did here:

Let’s see what this video is about:

This marketing idea is fairly simple, and perhaps this is the appeal of it: The star of the show sitting in a car performing simple, day-to-day activities and using simple phrasing to promote their newsletter. It’s a fantastic way to get users interested in your email list and, eventually, subscribe to see more of you.

The pinned video could be anything, you could pin your YouTube channel’s trailer, for example, if you need more traffic there before building your email list.

Just create some compelling content that is worth viewing, engage with your audience’s comments and likes, and incorporate a strong and actionable CTA. Tell users why they should subscribe to your email list or have them visit a landing page, your website, or your blog.

In our example, the influencer says, “The link is in my bio, so you can click the link in my bio and sign up”. It’s that actionable and that simple.

4) Use TikTok live

Using TikTok’s live feature is like creating a webinar or a virtual event to boost engagement, exposure, and, in the end, conversion. Going live on TikTok can be a very effective way to build your email list, as it allows you to engage your audience in real-time.

Of course, there are some steps to follow before you even go live to ensure your audience will love your brand.

• Plan your live session and ensure your topic and theme align with your marketing and business goals and your audience
• Promote your live session using your TikTok feed or TikTok stories
• Share snippets of exclusive content you’re going to talk about in your live session
• Leave some time for some Q&A to boost engagement

Now, let’s assume that you are live and that your audience is there, interacting with you. Don’t forget to put together a compelling story that users will want to hear again. Tell them that this story is to be found in your email list, and mention the benefits of users subscribing to it. Think of an offer or a benefit that will improve your sales conversion rate down the line.

Pinpoint your email newsletter’s value and make sure to showcase how they can sign up for your email list. Mention things you’ve already mentioned in previous email campaigns. If someone wonders, interact with them by telling them where to find the whole story.

After your live session is over, follow up with users with a post or a story. Thank them and ask them what they found most beneficial and interesting about your live session and track and analyze results.

Going live on TikTok helps you engage with your audience and put a human face to an otherwise faceless brand. Which is a huge deal, especially in 2023.

5)Bonus: Use a social media scheduling tool

To effectively grow your email list through TikTok, one key strategy is to maintain a consistent presence on the platform.

A valuable tool in this endeavour is a social media scheduling tool like Hopper HQ. With Hopper HQ, users can plan their TikTok content well in advance and schedule it to be automatically posted at optimal times. This level of automation not only saves time but also ensures that your content reaches your target audience consistently.

By establishing a regular posting schedule, you can strategically build an acquisition strategy for your email list, gradually engaging your TikTok followers and encouraging them to join your email community. Consistency is the cornerstone of successful email list growth, and with Hopper HQ, you can seamlessly integrate TikTok into your broader acquisition efforts.

The takeaway

Email list building through TikTok is one of the tactics brands can utilise to have users search for more content. It boosts engagement and gives brands a more human touch and a feeling that the people behind the brand are the same as the audience.

Don’t hesitate to create videos that promote a viral trend – and don’t forget to talk about this in your email newsletter. Use lead magnets to promote growth and pin videos that could be beneficial for your audience and your email list.

Finally, a TikTok live will surely boost engagement and help your brand reach a wider chunk of your intended audience.