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They say people won’t remember what you do, but they will remember how you made them feel.
That’s at the heart of what Phil Pallen does every day as a brand strategist. It’s not just about logos and colors, but about amplifying who you are.
“I help companies position, build and promote their brands, specializing in personal branding for coaches, experts, doctors, media personalities, you name it,” says Phil. “I also do a lot of education and teaching.”
Phil Pallen is a brand strategist, consultant, and teacher.
Email is one of the strongest expressions of your personal brand. Because the inbox is such a personal space, it’s one of the marketing channels that requires attention to detail and authenticity.
With more than 300 clients hailing from 30 countries, Phil knows a thing or two about building an audience with intention. In the last four years, he’s gone from 900 subscribers to 30,000 after switching to Kit.
“I’m a huge fan of Kit. I’ve been using it for four years and it’s changed everything for me,” says Phil. Here’s how he did it:
1. Master the anatomy of a good email
Most creators know that the quality of the content they produce directly translates to growth. The same is true of email. The most important element to get right first, before investing in growing your list, is the email itself.
“My audience knows that when I send something, it’s going to be useful, and it’s going to be short,” says Phil. “I don’t want people to feel like they’re one in 30,000. I want them to feel like they’re hearing directly from me.”
That starts with building emails that look like emails, using a classic, plain text style without much embellishment:
Phil keeps his emails simple in design and in length.
Says Phil, “The biggest push for me to switch from MailChimp to Kit was the desire to send emails that look like emails without being fussy about the designs. I realized I needed to simplify my emails and Kit really helped with that.”
Now, Phil’s emails follow the same format for every send:
- Subject line: Choose a catchy, short subject line with a similar style for every send. For Phil, that means an emoji. “Ideally, my subscribers should be able to cover up the name field and still know it’s an email from me,” he says.
- Greeting: Customize your greeting using merge tags, using first name if you collect that information (but don’t forget a fallback option!)
- Body: “I write my emails how I talk in real life as much as possible,” says Phil. That includes making his emails short and to the point, often challenging himself to chop an email in half after a first draft.
- Email Signature: The only difference between his email signature for his branded emails and his personal ones? An unsubscribe link. “Everything I do, I want to feel authentic,” he says. That means no extra promotions, links, or anything beyond his title and social handles.
Phil typically sends two to four emails per month, but he doesn’t have to reinvent his format every time. Instead, he uses a Kit template, customizing elements as needed.
2. Build a library of high-quality freebies
Once your email template is finalized, you’re ready to put together a few enticing offers to convince members of your prospective audience or your existing followers to trade their email addresses.
“What really helped me grow was getting better with my freebies,” says Phil. “I use multiple offers, with different formats, since I’m a big believer in trying different things to see what works.”
Experiment with different content ideas and formats for your freebies.
Start by thinking about the information your audience needs and try a few different formats to give them that information. That might look like single-page PDFs or checklists, worksheets or diagrams, a long-form ebook, or access to a mini-course or pre-recorded webinar. “My best performing freebie is all around evergreen content ideas,” says Phil. “I didn’t even think it would perform that well because it wasn’t my favorite to make. But it’s been downloaded over 22,000 times.”
Once you create your freebie, make it easy to download using a Kit landing page. You want to showcase the offer front and center on the page, clearly demonstrating the value for the subscriber.
Keep it short and simple, with a clear call-to-action to download.
Then, distribute that freebie using blog posts and social media. For example, Phil ties all of his freebies into dedicated YouTube videos. “I post twice a week on YouTube, and I have one video that took off with 400,000 views, all about content creation. That sends subscribers to me every single day and has for years.”
- AnswerThePublic visualizes Google search results, so you can see what people are searching for related to your business.
- AlsoAsked shows you the questions people search for specifically, so you can directly answer those questions with content.
- And then using autofill features on Google, YouTube, or TikTok searches can give you a sense of what people want to know.
No matter what, Phil recommends making sure your freebie is high quality. “You need to convince someone to exchange their email address, which is of high value these days. It’s like a form of currency,” he says. “You need to make sure it’s a good value exchange for your freebie to work.”
3. Use automated sequences to grow 24/7
Then, automated email sequences keep the flywheel turning, deepening the relationship with existing subscribers and drawing new ones in through word-of-mouth and referrals.
A snippet of the automations Phil uses to keep his audience engaged and grow his business.
“Kit makes it easy to automate all kinds of sequences, especially for the courses I run,” says Phil. “I integrate Squarespace and Kit, which brings over purchase information, I connect it to Teachable to send all of my emails for my students, and keep everything interconnected. It’s so helpful to keep everything in one place.”
In addition to consulting and coaching, Phil offers a series of self-paced courses like this one.
Start with a welcome sequence. For his freebies, Phil uses a simple three-part email series:
- The first email should deliver on the promise of the freebie. That means linking to the freebie, thanking them for the download, and letting them know they’re on the list.
- The second email links the freebie a second time in case they missed it, and then builds on that idea with one new concept or lesson.
- The third email flips the script and starts a conversation. “I say, ‘I want to hear from you. Tell me about what your biggest challenges are,’” says Phil. “I get a good number of replies that way.”
The first email in Phil’s welcome sequence delivers the freebie with personal flair.
You don’t have to do anything fancy or complicated. But if you think through how your audience engages with you and the work you’re currently doing to return that engagement, you’ll likely find opportunities for automation—in a way that feels authentic to you. “Email should complement what I’m doing in real life, not replace it or make it feel impersonal,” says Phil. “That’s exactly what I love about Kit. It’s a tool that allows me to have a seamless brand experience.”
Kit makes creators’ lives easier
The best advice to grow your email list? “Communicate consistently and communicate in a way that’s true to how you communicate day to day,” says Phil. “If I meet you in real life, it should be the same, even with digital scale. That’s a beautiful thing.”
But you don’t have to overthink it. Kit offers a suite of powerful but easy-to-use tools that help you connect with your audience and grow your email list.
“It’s so easy to get tripped up nowadays with marketing software, where it feels like it adds items to your to-do list instead of helping you, says Phil. “Kit is the best tool to keep your life simple. I love it because it’s made my life easier.”
Kit’s features make it simple to scale and grow your business. Sign up for free today.
