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Why Tyler O’Shea Invested His Entire Acquisition Budget Into beehiiv Boosts
Why Organic Growth Beats Paid Ads for Building a Loyal Newsletter Following
Kanishka Kumawat & Linda Hwang
August 7th, 2024
Have you ever wondered why Tom Brady, a former football quarterback who played in the NFL for 23 seasons, is such an inspiration?
Brady was pick 199 in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL draft.
Despite being a late draft pick, he went on to become one of the greatest football players of all time, winning seven Super Bowls.
Inspiring stories happen in every sport, and many times, these stories never make it to mainstream media outlets.
That’s where Tyler O’Shea and Joker Mag come in.
Tyler O'Shea, the creator of Joker Mag and The Underdog Newsletter, has been on a journey to build a dedicated readership and share inspiring stories in sports.
During my chat with Tyler, it wasn’t just his unique niche that stood out, but his unwavering passion for SEO and ads that has fueled his journey for years. Right now, he’s channeling his entire acquisition budget into Boosts.
If you’re aiming to grow, scale, and thrive with your newsletter, you’re in the right place.
Table of Contents
- Kanishka
The Birth of The Underdog Newsletter
Tyler launched Joker Mag in 2017 with a focus on showcasing underdog stories in sports.
Recognizing the potential of email marketing, he began to grow his newsletter audience.
What originally began as a testing ground to learn SEO has grown into 50,000+ monthly pageviews and 14,000+ engaged newsletter subscribers.
The Underdog newsletter is an extension of Joker Mag, highlighting inspiring underdog stories in sports.
To Tyler, it is not just about growing his newsletter, but also using it as a funnel to grow his website. His expertise lies in these channels:
Leveraging SEO
15,000 followers on Facebook
Facebook Ads
Today, in his own words his side project ranks higher than
ESPN
The Sporting News
MLB dot com
Fansided
And more.
Why beehiiv
The idea of owning his audience influenced Tyler to start a newsletter.
During this time, he was also following Tyler Denk (CEO of beehiiv), and that influenced him to choose beehiiv for his newsletter.
“[When I started], I didn’t really know how to get readers. I learned a little bit about every corner of digital marketing and trying to get yourself out there and promote your brand,” reminisced Tyler.
Tyler switched to beehiiv after trying several other email service providers. He was impressed by beehiiv's responsiveness to user feedback and its comprehensive set of tools to scale your email list.
“Since making the leap [to beehiiv], I’ve gone heavily into growing my newsletter audience just because the tools are there. Everything is there for you. It made me confident that I’m definitely sticking around for a long time,” added Tyler.
Leveraging beehiiv Boosts for Growth
Tyler mentioned that when he first started his brand, he used Facebook ads to grow his audience.
“I really tested and experimented with Facebook ads, and I got around 2,000 subscribers,” he said.
But, a few weeks later, Tyler realized not all of these Facebook ad followers were engaging with his content. He had to go through his follower lists and remove those who weren’t engaged—basically cleaning up his email list.
“It was really overwhelming, and organically growing social media is really hard.”
When he switched to beehiiv, one of the key features Tyler has embraced is beehiiv Boosts. This tool has become a significant driver of growth for The Underdog Newsletter.
Here's how Tyler is using Boosts effectively:
High Engagement Rates: Tyler reports an impressive 57% open rate and 15-20% click rate from subscribers acquired through Boosts.
Targeted Audience: Boosts allow Tyler to set parameters for subscriber acquisition, including geographic targeting, ensuring he reaches the right audience.
Organic Feel: Tyler particularly appreciates the ability to include Boosts within newsletters, making them feel more organic and resulting in better-quality subscribers.
Personal Connections: Boost-acquired subscribers often respond to Tyler's welcome emails, allowing him to form meaningful connections with his readers.
Learn more about having a welcome email here:
To improve his Boost results further, Tyler is eager to invest more in Boosts, recognizing the value of acquiring engaged, newsletter-loving subscribers.
Tyler is also monetizing his newsletter with Boosts currently.
Favorite beehiiv Feature
Segmentation
Tyler emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balance between growing your audience and keeping them engaged.
Tyler particularly appreciates beehiiv's segmentation capabilities.
He uses beehiiv's segmentation features to ensure he's "delivering the right message to the right people at the right time.”
This feature has been crucial in addressing deliverability challenges and maintaining engagement rates, especially considering recent changes in email providers like Gmail and Yahoo.
Ad Network
In Tyler’s words:
The ability to customize the ad opportunities that beehiiv’s Ad Network offers is quite surprising.
The ad network has been more rewarding than I anticipated. Right now, I send out my newsletter four times a month because of time constraints and a full-time job.
As beehiiv’s ad network improves and email monetization catches up to advanced website monetization, the growth potential is huge. I’m excited about landing more flat-rate deals and maybe even securing long-term sponsorships.
Key Takeaways
For somebody who has been growing his brand organically as well as with ads, Tyler’s story has a lot of takeways, but here are the top ones:
Audience growth: beehiiv has contributed significantly to Tyler's subscriber base, with about 2,000 subscribers coming through various beehiiv channels.
Engagement: Tyler reports a 57% open rate and 15-20% click rate from beehiiv Boosts, indicating high-quality, engaged subscribers.
Monetization: While using Boosts for monetization, Tyler emphasizes the importance of balancing monetization with reader experience.
Platform growth: Tyler values being an early adopter of beehiiv and growing alongside the platform.
When asked what advice Tyler could give newsletter starters, Tyler offered a few pointers:
Provide great content week after week, even though it can be challenging.
While research is valuable, practical experience is crucial in understanding your unique newsletter needs.
Try to get 1% better every day or week.
Prioritize one-on-one connections with readers over vanity metrics.
The beehiiv Impact
Tyler's success with beehiiv demonstrates the potential for newsletter creators to engage a dedicated audience using the right tools and strategies.
If you're looking to start or grow your newsletter, consider trying beehiiv.
In Tyler’s words, “I have seen my subscriber report grow over months and with that sort of growth in engagement, why would I not choose beehiiv and invest in Boosts?”
With its comprehensive features, robust analytics, and focus on user feedback, beehiiv could take your newsletter to the next level.
Ready to elevate your newsletter?
Sign up for beehiiv today.
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