{"id":649,"date":"2017-11-21T03:30:47","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T22:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.kmbrian.com\/?p=649"},"modified":"2020-12-03T22:33:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T04:33:45","slug":"customer-kevin-miller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kmbrian.com\/blog\/customer-kevin-miller\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kevin Miller Uses Mailshake to Promote Better and Generate Hundreds of Customer Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin Miller<\/a> knows a thing or two about digital marketing.<\/p>\n

He was previously the Director of Growth at Spire<\/a>, and spent over two years at Google, working with SMBs and high-potential clients to grow their business and maximize their reach online. While there, he was consistently in the top 5% of North American performers.<\/p>\n

In his current role as Director of Growth at Open Listings<\/a>, he\u2019s focused on content marketing<\/a> and link-building<\/a> for the company.<\/p>\n

But that focus led to the realization that he had a problem: because of the success of content marketing<\/a> and link-building, everyone else was focused on those things, too; and the competition was stiff. It was increasingly hard to stand out and get noticed through content and links alone.<\/p>\n

What Kevin needed was a unique way to combine those two tactics and whip up a digital strategy that would earn accolades and attention.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After some searching, the answer he found was two-fold:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Better promote and share the content you have.<\/b> Most of us typically spend too much on creating new stuff, and not enough on promoting old stuff. Derek Halpern suggests a jaw-dropping 80\/20 ratio<\/a>: spend 80% of your time promoting, and only 20% of it on creation. Why? It\u2019s easier and more effective to get more eyes on you and your existing content than it is to constantly be creating new pieces.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Customer<\/p>\n

    Image Source<\/a><\/p>\n

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    1. User reviews.<\/b> It\u2019s no real secret that customer reviews are crucial to online success<\/a> these days, but too many aren\u2019t giving them the time or attention they deserve. 97% of consumers say that customer reviews influence their purchase decisions<\/a>, and 88% trust them as much as a personal recommendation<\/a> from a friend or family member.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Kevin recognized and believed in the significance of both, so he went looking for ways to streamline and combine everything into one central workflow.<\/p>\n

      And he found it all with Mailshake<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      The Mailshake Appeal<\/h2>\n

      Before taking a closer look at how Kevin uses Mailshake for specific tasks, I asked him what it was about the tool that most appealed to him at first.<\/p>\n

      In a word: simplicity. \u201cThe more complex providers demand too much time to set up, to build in the logic, and get going,\u201d explains Kevin.<\/p>\n

      He was looking for a solution that was straightforward and easy to use for outreach<\/a>, that would quickly integrate with Gmail, and that could deploy basic but effective emails. He wanted to use it specifically to: 1) send out emails for link-building, promotion, or soliciting reviews, 2) schedule automatic follow-ups, and 3) A\/B test everything<\/a> to find out what worked best in each case.<\/p>\n

      Mailshake checked all those boxes.<\/p>\n

      Mailshake and Guest Posting<\/h2>\n

      Kevin also quickly realized that Mailshake could work perfectly for content promotion and<\/i> link-building via guest posting<\/a> on other sites.<\/p>\n

      He could spread brand awareness, better share his content, and get quality links to improve SEO and organic traffic (thereby getting more eyes on his stuff), to say nothing of the \u2018borrowed\u2019 traffic those links would bring from the authority and related sites he posted on.<\/p>\n

      Kevin has a strict rule about only contacting blogs that he follows in real life. That way, he can genuinely personalize the subject and first few lines – how long he\u2019s been a subscriber, some recent posts that he enjoyed and\/or thought could have been improved with the addition of X – to deliver an irresistible message.<\/p>\n

      By only focusing on blogs in his space with some sort of professional relevance, Kevin has found success. \u201cTake Credible<\/a>, for example,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re a student-loan debt refinancing service about to expand into home mortgages, and one example of a new guest posting relationship I\u2019m developing. They might post about how refinancing could lower someone\u2019s debt-to-income ratio for a better mortgage when they\u2019re looking to buy a home. I followed them first, noticed some commercial content overlap and similar audience (millennial first-time buyers), and reached out via Mailshake.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Kevin is able to do this outreach efficiently by taking advantage of Mailshake\u2019s templates and keeping part of each email the same no matter the recipient: who he is, and an introduction to Open Listings<\/a>. \u201cThe templates save a ton of time<\/a>,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m only adding about 25% personalized content. The middle is the stock version, and it can be quickly duplicated for guest-blogging outreach.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Kevin says overall, guest posting outreach is more about relationship than volume; and Mailshake allows him to nurture and expand those relationships whenever he sees an opportunity.<\/p>\n

      Mailshake and User Reviews<\/h2>\n

      As good as Mailshake is for guest posting outreach, the number one reason Kevin uses and loves it is to generate customer reviews.<\/p>\n

      \u201cCustomer reviews are absolute gold<\/i>.\u201d ~Kevin Miller<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      A diehard advocate for the power of reviews and ratings, Kevin has been using them as a key tactic for years. And with good reason:<\/p>\n