Slay.so

Most creators and small business owners think the only way to collect emails on Instagram is to tell people “link in bio.”

But that’s outdated. You can now automatically collect email addresses right in the DMs—no forms, no link tree, no friction.

Here’s exactly how to do it using Slay.so, plus how to auto-subscribe those contacts to your newsletter using Zapier.

✅ Step 1: Set Up a Free Slay.so Account

Head over to slay.so and start a free 10-day trial—no credit card needed.

Once your account is connected to your Instagram, you’ll be able to create simple DM automation flows that trigger when someone messages you, replies to a story, or comments on a post.

✏️ Step 2: Create a New Automation Flow

Inside your Slay.so dashboard:

Go to Messages > New Flow
Choose a trigger:
For example, “When someone sends my account a direct message with the word newsletter”
Add a “Collect Email” step that says something like:

“Hey! Want in on the email list? Drop your best email address and I’ll add you 💌”

This will automatically grab the next email they send and store it.
Set your flow to active and make sure it's saved!

🔗 Step 3: Connect to Zapier via Webhook

Now it’s time to send that email to your newsletter platform (Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Flodesk, etc.). Using Webhooks in Slay.so to connect your DMs to your Email marketing platform

Go to Message > Contacts > Manage Webhooks
Paste in a Zapier webhook URL (see below)
Save ✅

🔄 Step 4: Create a Zap in Zapier

Trigger:
Choose “Webhook → Catch Hook”
Zapier will give you a unique URL—paste that into Slay.so.
Test it by sending yourself the keyword via Instagram to trigger the flow.
Action:
Add a step for your email platform:
- For Mailchimp: “Add/Update Subscriber”
- For ConvertKit: “Add to Form” or “Tag Subscriber”
Use the email data from Slay’s webhook payload.