Teardown
How The Sourdough Mama added 2,000 emails in a few months
Katrina Niesen had 2,500 emails after four years. Then a DM flow beat that pace in months.
The short answer
Katrina Niesen, known as @the.sourdough.mama, built a welcome DM for new followers: a hello, a get-to-know-me reel, a free recipe and a yes or no email invite. She added at least 2,000 emails in a few months, after reaching about 2,500 in her first four years.
By the Postkey team · Published
The numbers
Numbers are from the published case study and are self-reported. Results vary, and the tool used in the study was not Postkey.
- About 2,500 emails in four years
- At least 2,000 more in a few months
- About 6 million views on her red bow loaf reel, with the keyword red
What each new follower gets
- 01
A welcome DM.
- 02
Her get-to-know-me reel.
- 03
A free recipe.
- 04
A yes or no invite to her email list.
- 05
The recipe, even if they say no.
Why email
After having her Facebook hacked for six months, she calls email "a safety net for if anything goes away."
A note on triggers
Her flow starts when someone follows. In Postkey, build the same idea from a comment: people comment a keyword, get the recipe and are invited to share their email.
Build it in Postkey
Postkey is the most agentic DM automation tool. It works on the Free plan, and you can set this up by hand or ask ChatGPT or Claude to do it for you.
- 01
Connect your Instagram professional account with Meta's own sign-in.
- 02
Open DM automations and start a comment-to-DM automation. Choose one post or any post.
- 03
Type your keyword, then write the DM that sends your free recipe or guide.
- 04
Switch on Ask for email and say what they'll get and what you'll send them.
- 05
Switch it on, then comment the keyword from a second account to see it work.
Questions
Katrina sends it anyway. Nobody leaves empty-handed, and they still follow you.
You don't own your followers. You keep an email list if an account has problems.
Yes. The email is saved on the contact.