Welcome to our blog! In this guide, we will take you on a journey to discover the power of building and maintaining a mailing list to keep your customers engaged. As business owners, we understand the challenges of staying connected with your audience in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape. That’s why we have compiled our expertise and insights to provide you with a comprehensive roadmap to success. So, come with us as we dive into the strategies and tactics that will help you build a thriving mailing list and foster meaningful relationships with your customers. Let’s get started!
It’s not enough to just acquire customers; you need to keep them engaged and coming back for more. One of the most powerful tools at your disposal for achieving this is the creation and management of a robust mailing list.
RESOURCES & LINKS:
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Answer the public: https://answerthepublic.com/
Ubersuggest: https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/
Revolutionizing Marketing with AI: The Future is Here: https://youtu.be/l_U4aQTj6Mg
New to Digital Marketing- 10 Essential Tips for a Strong Start: https://youtu.be/4abNIEHj-10
My Secrets To Creating an SEO Friendly Website: https://youtu.be/5I1hXX_xz7c
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Customer engagement goes beyond the initial transaction. It’s about building a lasting relationship with your audience, one that is based on trust, value, and communication. Engaged customers are more likely to be loyal customers. They not only buy from you repeatedly but also become brand advocates, spreading the word about your products or services to their friends and networks.
A well-curated mailing list serves as the linchpin of your customer engagement strategy. It allows you to directly reach out to your audience with tailored content, promotions, and updates. Here are some key reasons why creating a mailing list is crucial:
With a mailing list, you can personalize your communications. You can segment your list based on customer preferences, behavior, or demographics, ensuring that your messages resonate with each subgroup.
Regular emails keep your brand in front of your customers. By providing valuable content and information, you can maintain a constant presence in their lives, increasing the likelihood that they’ll turn to you when they need your products or services.
Mailing lists are a powerful channel for promoting sales, discounts, and special offers. Engaged subscribers often look forward to these exclusive deals, driving both immediate and long-term sales.
You can use your mailing list to gather valuable feedback from your customers. Surveys and polls can help you understand their needs and preferences, allowing you to refine your products or services.
Customer engagement is the lifeblood of any successful business. Creating and nurturing an effective mailing list is a strategic move that can significantly boost your engagement efforts. By delivering value and staying connected with your audience, you can turn one-time customers into loyal brand advocates, driving long-term growth and success.
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– If I show them some really
cool tactics or strategies Or show them ads on what
they could be doing better, Or if I try targeting them for a webinar That breaks down how
to solve some problems And provide value first, That's much more likely to do better. (soft upbeat music) – You're really known
for your SEO tactics. SEO is search engine optimization For anybody who doesn't know that acronym. (bright music)
What are entrepreneurs Getting wrong about SEO today? – What they're getting wrong about SEO Is they believe that the
key to winning is like, "Hey, you need more links,
you need better on-page code, Or you need better, you know, load time." And don't get me wrong. Those are actually factors
and they're important factors, So I'm not trying to downplay them, And you need to do them to rank higher. But when you do a search on Google, Have you ever thought to yourself, "Man, this result should be number one When I'm searching for cars," Let's say I'm trying to buy a new car. You're like, "Yeah, this
result should be number one Because that's a million backlinks And the number two result
has only 500,000 backlinks." It doesn't cross your mind. No one cares which site has more backlinks Or less backlinks or better on-page code Or worse on-page code. Now, don't get me wrong,
fast load time, more links, All these things are signals,
and you do need to do them,
And they will help you with your SEO. But the key to really
ranking high in the long run Is building amazing product or service. If someone goes to your website, No matter how fast your website loads Or how good your content is Or, you know, any of those factors, If they don't find what
they're looking for, They're going to go back
and go to the next site. And if everyone keeps going back And they don't find what they're looking For on your website, even
if you're ranking right now, Your rankings in the
long run will decrease Because it's user signals that Google And Bing are picking up
and it's telling them, "Hey, other people prefer
other types of content." – Mm, so don't just focus
on the tactics to rank, Focus on keeping people on your page And having a good
content and good product. So you mentioned on-page SEO. For those non-marketers out there, What's the difference between
on-page SEO and off-page SEO? – Yeah, on-page SEO is
the stuff you're doing To your own webpage that you can control, Like speeding up your website load time, It shouldn't take a website
five seconds to load. Or making sure they have
keywords on your page, Because if people type in dog food, But there's no mention
of dog food on your page, You're not really going
to rank for dog food. Off-page is signals from
other sites to yours. So a great example of
this is, it's like votes. Person will win in a presidential election Based on how many votes
they typically get.
Typically, the more votes you get, The more likely you are to win. And the reason I say typically
is it depends on the country. Like in the United States, It is one person takes
a whole state, right? So there's a winner. You know, you may not have the most votes, But if you have the most votes In the states that matters,
you can end up winning. But similar goes with Google. If other websites are
linking to your website, It's kind of like a vote. Someone saying, "I vote
for Neil, I vote for John, I vote for Cassidy, or New York Times, Or I vote for whatever site there may be." Another aspect of a vote is
the person voting for you. So if Trump or Obama or Biden say, "Hey, you should vote for Neil," Whether you like those
political figures or not, It's another politician
saying, "Vote for Neil. We endorse his political viewpoints, And he knows what he's doing." That's more relevant than Joe the Plumber Or Sally the Plumber saying vote for Neil When it comes to politics. The same thing goes with SEO and rankings. If I'm trying to rank for
marketing related terms, It's more effective for another
marketing website to say, "Hey, Neil's amazing,"
or authoritative website, Like a New York Times or
CNN saying vote for Neil, Versus a small mom and pop plumbing site Linking to my website and say,
"Neil should rank higher." – Mm. I know, you mentioned keywords,
And I know when it comes to SEO, There's like lots of talk about keywords, And a lot of people sort
of overdo it with keywords. So is there a right way and a wrong way To think about keywords
when it comes to your SEO? – Yes, you don't need to
shove in tons of keywords In your content. Google and Bing understand
what you're talking about, You know, from a topical standpoint, As long as you have
some keywords in there. The key is, you need to find
the right keywords to target. What are the ones that drive revenue? What are the ones that have
a lot of search traffic? So what you want to do
is you want to use tools Like Ubersuggest or AnswerThePublic. They both have tons of free plans, Where you can type in any keyword, It'll tell you what's popular From a search volume perspective,
what's not competitive, And what has a high cost per click. So a CPC stands for cost per click. The higher that number,
that means more people Are willing to spend
money more on paid ads, Which means that keyword
tends to drive more revenue. – Mm. Okay, and Ubersuggest, we'll
put the link in the show notes. You own that website, right? – I do. Thank you very much for that. Appreciate it. – Yeah, of course. So let's talk about if you had
a choice between organic SEO And investing in Google
Ads as an entrepreneur. Would you suggest that people, Like where should we start first?
Should we try to optimize
organically first Or should we just go straight to paid ads? – You can try either/or. There is no right answer for that. It varies per market and
also varies on your skillset. If you think you're going
to struggle with SEO And you also don't have the time to wait, Then paid ads is the best approach. If you think, "Hey, I don't," Or if you're in a circumstance Where you don't have the money, But you have the time, SEO
is a great first approach. Or if you have both and you're
a venture funded startup Or you have capital from
previous ventures or parents, Then you can do both at the same time. Generally speaking in
marketing, one social channel Or one pay channel or one SEO channel, One's not really better than the other. It's you leverage all channels As long as they can cause you
to grow in a profitable way. – Awesome. Okay, so let's move on to email marketing. Everyone and their moms is
trying to grow their email list. It's a really popular thing. Email still has really great ROI. And I know you're full of creative ideas When it comes to growing your email list. So what are some of your most
innovative creative tactics When it comes to actually
getting people to subscribe And opt in to our email list? – My favorite one is
giveaway a tool for free. So you can go to sites
like codecanyon.net, Find tools in any industry,
mortgages, cars, automotive, Whatever it may be,
Buy them for like 10, 15, 20,
50 bucks, and it's white label, So you can put it on your website And pretty much say it's your own. And as people keep using the
tool, if they use it once free, If they use it twice, have them collect a, Or collect an email
address, have them register, So that way you can keep
generating more emails. And we do that with
AnswerThePublic and Ubersuggest, And we generate close to 300,000
email addresses per month From that strategy, new emails. And it's one of our favorite strategies That not too many marketers use. – Wow, so what is the name Of that website that gives the tools? – [Neil] CodeCanyon, codecanyon.net. – Mm, I love that. I've never heard of that
before. Really Cool. And let's stick on lead generation And go a little bit wider now. What are some creative
ways to generate leads? Now, I know, I've heard you
on an interview in the past Say that you've even acquired companies To generate leads for your agency. So I'd love to hear some
of the creative ways That you've generated leads in the past. – Yeah, so great example of this, February, we're in 2023 right now, But February, 2022 we bought
a tool called AnswerThePublic For 8.6 million bucks. And AnswerThePublic was this
tool similar to Ubersuggest, Which accounted for roughly 40% Of our consulting revenue at NP Digital. At the time, I think AnswerThePublic Had around 60% of the
traffic Ubersuggest did,
But they only monetize it
by charging for the tool. We felt, A, there's more money in services And marketing and we've
seen that ourselves. If you look at any of the
marketing software companies, None of them generate anywhere
near the amount of money As a marketing services
companies like WPP or Omnicom. So we're just like, "Wait, It's similar to our Ubersuggest tool. They don't even monetize
this from a lead perspective. Giving away free tools
is a much better approach To generating more and more leads." And again, you can use that
same strategy from CodeCanyon. Buying tools drives a lot
of traffic organically. You don't have to do tons of marketing Because people love free tools, And you generate leads from there. Another strategy that we
love doing is LinkedIn Ads. You can end up going out there Targeting the specific company
type and person and job title And show them ads and only them ads And get really qualified leads from that. We also love doing webinars, going live, Doing podcasts with other people. Omnichannel, of course, just
being on all the platforms Helps generate a lot of leads. Another unique strategy that we do Is we speak at conferences,
and then instead of charging, So I used to charge money
for speaking at conferences, Now we're like, "Ah,
don't care for the money," But what we love doing is
having the conference organizers Set us up with the right meetings. So great example of this is, I was in Brazil speaking at event, Got set up with meetings with
Michelin, the tire company.
One of the biggest marketplaces Is like their version of eBay down there. Got set up with one of their biggest Life insurance companies in Latin America. So what we'll do is, again,
speak at some of these events And then get set up with
meetings like Whirlpool, right? Whirlpool's a global company. And it's been an amazing strategy
to help us get customers. You can also then B2C. Like if you're selling nail polish, Speak at an event where you can
meet potential distributors, Or the event organizer can set you up With the introduction
to, let's say, Walmart Who can carry your nail polish
and put it in all the stores. – Yeah, these are such great ideas, And I love that you
pointed out LinkedIn Ads Because too often I feel like When we're thinking of social
ads, it's just meta, right? It's Facebook and Instagram, And nobody's really
thinking about LinkedIn Or the other platforms. So I think it's really
cool that you mentioned That there's some really
good targeting on LinkedIn. So back to email, I'd love to understand The importance of
cleaning up our email list And how we can actually make sure That our emails hit the
inbox in the right folders. – The simplest thing to
think about with emails is, If someone keeps sending you
emails and you never open them, And a lot of other
people get similar emails And they don't open them
from the same people, Even if you don't mark them
as spam, Google and Outlook And all these email providers
will start putting them In the other inbox or spam box
And less and less people see them. So what you want to do is scrub your list. A lot of emails solutions
have this option. Like for example, I use ConvertKit. ConvertKit has cold subscribers,
and they label them as cold Because they mean when
you send them emails, They don't open and they don't click. So what we do is, we look
at our cold subscribers On a monthly basis and we
delete them, that simple. So we always send emails to
the people who are engaging, And that ensures that our
emails stay in the inbox And have much better deliverability. – Mm, I know a lot of
people are doing this thing Where they're scrubbing emails Or scraping emails off LinkedIn And in other ways where people
are not actually opting in. What's like bad about that strategy Or what would you say about that strategy? – You want, you can do it, But you're going to run into a
lot of privacy and legal issues, So I would definitely
recommend avoiding it. Even if it was legal,
I would still avoid it Because they're not opting in And they probably don't care
for what you have to offer. Instead, you want to engage with them In a way where they're
interested about your products Or services and they're
much more likely to convert. So for example, we sell into
all CMOs and VPs of marketing. For me to just go and
just email all of them, People are going to get
irritated and hate me. But on the flip side, If I show them some really
cool tactics or strategies Or show them ads on what
they could be doing better, Or if I try targeting them
for a webinar that breaks down
How to solve some problems
and provide value first, That's much more likely to do better Than if I just go and start
spamming people and say, "Hey, pay me money for
marketing services." – Yeah, it's totally a turnoff, Can hurt your brand reputation, I agree. So let's say we do it the right way. We have a legit email
list, people have opted in, We're scrubbing our list, And our emails are hitting the inbox. How can we actually get
people to open our emails? What are your suggestions? – Casual subject lines is
one of the biggest thing. When a friend emails you, It's not all capitalized and proper. It just could be as
simple as something like, "Hey, what's up?" Or "Neil, you got to check this out." And all lowercase. And basic things like that What we found really
help boosting open rates. In addition to that, make
sure your emails provide value And you're not selling all the time. So like 90 plus percent of the
time we like providing value. You can go down To 80% of the time providing
value, 20% selling. That also helps with open rates. The other thing that we like doing Is making sure you're scrubbing your list, Which we already talked about, That helps with opens and deliverability. And lastly, make sure every
time you email people, I want you to respond to them
when they ask you a question. So a lot of times you
when you send emails,
You're going to get responses back Or replies back with questions. And you can encourage more of that By just putting a question in your email, And people be like, yes or no. It adds you to their
address book a lot of times Depending on the email provider, But also causes people to engage with you And build that relationship. So they're much more likely
to remember your name, The company name, open up
the emails, and buy from you. – Wow, these are really good tips. Like I'm just thinking About our own email marketing
campaigns and I'm like, "Wow, we're not doing enough, you know, Educational content in the emails." And we have so much educational content That we could just repurpose for emails, But we've just been selling. So that's really eye-opening. And I think the casual
subject lines make sense Because no matter what
marketing platform you're on, Pattern disruption always works, right? So you're just breaking up the pattern Of things always looking the same. Everybody has an emoji
in their subject line. So try it without an emoji, Try it all lowercase, like you said. – That's right. And as long as you rotate things up, It really does break things up. And yeah, even if you
have a marketing tactic That works really well, If you keep doing it over and over again
And your competition all starts doing it, People tend to kind of
drown it out over time. – Yeah, sensory adaptation, totally. So one last question
about email marketing, And then I would love to move on to trends Before we close out the interview. So let's talk about what good looks like For an email marketing campaign. What are the metrics that
we should be looking at, And are there any sort of metrics Or benchmarks we should be trying to hit In terms of open rates
and things like that? – You want to shoot for 30
plus percent open rates, And you want to shoot for click rates That are at least in
the one, two percentile. If you can do that, You're doing really well and
you're doing a great job. – Do you suggest that we
have just like one main link, Or is it okay to have
multiple links in our emails? Any advice around that? – Either strategy works. You don't want to have
like 10 links in an email That starts getting overboard, But one, two, or three
links isn't too bad. And sometimes you should be
sending emails with no links. – Mm, how about emails with video And picture and things like that? Do you suggest that that's
an effective tactic? – We found that text-based
emails work the best And they have better deliverability Than when you start adding
in rich media from our tests. – Mm. Love it. Okay, so moving on to marketing trends. What would you say in the
general marketing space,
We don't have to stick to
any particular channel, What are the biggest trends That you see this year in marketing? – The biggest trend that we're
seeing this year right now In marketing is podcasting. So people look at podcasting, We survey over 8,000 companies, And we found that the two big
trends were podcasting and AI. And here's what I mean by that. When we look at the total
number of blogs out there, It's over a billion. When you look at the total
number of podcasts out there, It's less than 10 million. It's a wide open ocean, there's
not tons of competition, And companies are either, A,
starting to create podcasts, And B, they're starting
to advertise on podcasts. And what's funny is we're seeing
them advertise on podcasts To promote their own podcasts
to get more listenership, And then people are starting
to repurpose that content And use it all over the place. Because you can use the podcast content To turn it into text-based content, You can use it to turn it
into social media clips, Whether it's shorts or long form video. And what's really cool
is, when you do podcasts, A lot of times people are doing them With other people, like you and I are, And we're both going to push
this on all our social profiles And we're both going
to get play from this. So it's actually a really
amazing win-win strategy For both of us, right? So companies are really
pushing hard on podcasting, And they're pushing really hard on AI. What can they automate?
And most people look at AI like, "Oh, I can use OpenAI
to help write content, And I can use them to figure
out how to create images." But there's much more to AI from, When we interviewed companies, A big portion of what they're
looking to use AI from In a marketing standpoint is analytics. How can you have AI analyze
your analytics on a daily basis And tell you where the wastage is Within your marketing campaigns And where you can cut
costs and reallocate money? Because if you look at the
biggest expense in marketing, It's not services, it's not
writing a piece of content, It's actually spending
money on paid advertising. Look at the revenue that
Google is generating And Facebook is generating. I think Google still is like
a trillion dollar company Or somewhere around there,
depending on the month you're in. And Facebook's still a massive company. We spend so much money on ad dollars. Imagine if analytics were analyzed by AI And it told us quicker
when to cut our losses. – Yeah, AI is something that
I want to spend so much time Trying to figure out how I
can optimize my business. Especially as a marketer, I feel like there's just so
much information out there, Things that we can experiment with. There's so much to learn right now, And it sort of happened out of nowhere. And now as entrepreneurs,
we've got to dedicate time To actually learn and experiment And figure out how we can
leverage it for ourselves. And one of my favorite, Somebody, I don't remember who
told me this, but they say,
"AI is sort of like a
really good intern," right? So how can you leverage AI And use it like it's a really good intern To help you just level up
everything that you do? And I just told you I had 60 employees, Now my 60 employees all
have a really good intern That they can use to level up their work. – Yes, and they can be more efficient, Which helps you increase your margins, Which helps you give that
cost savings to the customer, Or give them better
results and spend more time On each campaign so that
way they're happier. AI is a friend. – Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about
another trend, hot topic, And that's IG verification, Paid verification,
Twitter paid verification. What are your thoughts around that? – I was reading an article, Something like 40 something million people In the first 24 hours
got the blue check mark, Which was 600 and something
million, I think 660. It was somewhere around there. It was around $600 million in revenue. That's massive. I think the problem is,
what's going to happen is, Everyone's going to start
getting these check marks, And they're not going
to mean much anymore. They're going to have
to have different colors Or variations for it,
kind of like how Twitter Has like a government official version. So then that way they
have some sort of meaning At least for some of the check marks. – Yeah, totally, but I'm happy
Because I personally am having
trouble getting verified, And I have three bot accounts That are like selling
fake crypto to my fans, And I'm like really happy
about IG verification, Even though I don't
have the capability yet. Okay, so we always close out the interview With two questions that
I ask all my guests. The first one is, what
is one actionable thing Our Young and Profiters can do today To become more profitable tomorrow? – The one thing you can
do every single day is, I would first start off right now, Doesn't matter if it's the start of year, Middle of the year, end of year, Break down what your
goals are for the year, What you need to do to achieve them, Break down those tasks
into a monthly basis, Then they take those tasks And break them out into a weekly basis, Then break them down to daily, And then break those tasks down Into what you need to do each day Within the hour to achieve them. And don't go to sleep
until you hit those tasks And complete all of them. Do that every single day. And what you'll notice is, Maybe the next day you don't make money Or the next week or next month, But if you fast forward a year, You'll notice a huge difference In your business growth or your income, As long as you're not going to sleep Without completing those tasks.
– Mm, I think that's a
really good piece of advice Because a lot of people, They're all talk and they're no action. And so this ensures that
they're taking daily action And being consistent. And I agree, that's the
recipe for long-term success. What would you say your secret
to profiting in life is? And this could go beyond
just business and financial. – So I try to be content in life. I don't think a person, like
when you're really happy, It's a state and then you
go back down to reality. I try not to be where I have
crazy ups or crazy downs. And I always realize when
things are going really well, Keep in mind someone else
has it better than you. And when things are going really bad, People have it much worse than you. There's people in this
world without a home, Without clothing, without
food and clean drinking water. Like a lot of us are so blessed When we just really think about it From the grand scheme of things. And I try to stay really
content and levelheaded Because then allows me to think logically And appreciate what I have. – Mm, and I think that's
really great advice For entrepreneurs because
as an entrepreneur, Life is a rollercoaster And a lot of my listeners
are entrepreneurs, So you got to keep an even keel In the highs and the lows, like Neil says. Neil, where can our listeners
learn more about you And everything that you do? – neilpatel.com is where I blog. NP Digital is my ad agency.
– Awesome. Thank you so much for
all of your wisdom today. It was an absolute pleasure. – Thanks for having me.
How to Keep Your Customers Engaged: A Guide to Building and Maintaining a Mailing List
Introduction
Are you struggling to keep your customers engaged? Do you find it challenging to connect with them and provide valuable information about your products or services? If so, then building and maintaining a mailing list could be the solution you’re looking for. An effective mailing list allows you to communicate directly with your customers, providing them with valuable content, updates, and promotions. In this guide, we will walk you through the steps of building and maintaining a mailing list that will keep your customers engaged and eager to hear from you.
Why Building a Mailing List is Important
Before diving into the all-important process of building and maintaining a mailing list, let’s take a moment to understand why it is crucial for the success of your business. Here are some key reasons:
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Direct Communication: A mailing list provides you with a direct line of communication with your customers. Unlike social media or other platforms, where algorithms may limit your reach, a mailing list ensures that your message lands directly in your customers’ inbox.
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Targeted Marketing: By segmenting your mailing list based on customer preferences and interests, you can tailor your marketing messages to specific customer groups. This allows you to provide personalized content that resonates with your audience.
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Increased Engagement: When customers willingly sign up for your mailing list, they are expressing a genuine interest in your brand. By consistently providing them with valuable content and offers, you can keep them engaged and build a loyal customer base.
Now that we understand the importance of a mailing list, let’s explore the steps to build and maintain one that will keep your customers engaged.
Step 1: Choose the Right Mailing List Provider
The first step in building your mailing list is to choose an email service provider that suits your needs. There are various providers available, such as Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and AWeber. Consider factors like pricing, ease of use, and available features before making a decision.
Step 2: Create Opt-in Forms
Opt-in forms are essential for capturing email addresses and growing your mailing list. Place these forms strategically on your website, blog, and social media platforms, making it easy for visitors to subscribe to your mailing list. Offer incentives such as exclusive content, special discounts, or free resources to encourage sign-ups.
Step 3: Segment Your Mailing List
Segmenting your mailing list ensures that you deliver relevant content to specific customer groups. Divide your list based on demographics, interests, purchase history, or any other relevant criteria. This allows you to send targeted emails that resonate with each segment.
Step 4: Provide Valuable Content
To keep your customers engaged, it is essential to consistently provide them with valuable content. Write informative blog articles, create helpful video tutorials, or curate industry-related news. The key is to offer something that your customers will find useful and look forward to receiving in their inbox.
Step 5: Use Automation and Personalization
Automation tools, offered by most email service providers, can help streamline your communication process. Set up automated welcome emails, birthday greetings, or follow-up emails based on customer actions. Additionally, personalize your emails by addressing subscribers by their first names and tailoring the content to their preferences.
Step 6: Analyze and Optimize
Regularly track and analyze the performance of your email campaigns. Look at metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to gain insights into what is resonating with your audience. Use this data to optimize your future campaigns and improve engagement.
Conclusion
Building and maintaining a mailing list is a powerful way to keep your customers engaged and informed about your brand. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can create a mailing list that delivers valuable content, fosters customer loyalty, and drives business growth. Remember, consistency, personalization, and relevant content are key to building a successful mailing list that keeps your customers coming back for more.
And that’s it! With these strategies in mind, you’re well-equipped to start building and maintaining a mailing list that will help you keep your customers engaged and excited about your brand. So, what are you waiting for? Get started on building your mailing list today!
