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7 Crucial Parts of a Successful Outreach Strategy

Posted By Guest Blogger 21st of September 2015 Blog Promotion 0 Comments

7 Crucial Parts of a Successful Outreach Strategy on ProBlogger.netThis is a guest contribution from Jonathan John.

If you’ve been reading how-to blog and content marketing blogs for very long, then you’ve no doubt come across this buzzword: outreach.

Nowadays, all the big guns are talking about outreach and how it’s gonna revolutionize content marketing and take your latest blog posts from 0-100 real quick.

But what exactly is outreach?

Well, in short, outreach is the art of getting others to share or link to your posts. You’re basically leveraging other people’s blogs or social media followings to increase the popularity of your own.

And get this: the people who say that outreach is an effective content promotion strategy are 100% right. Outreach is a very powerful way to quickly get traction to your latest blog posts, an ideal traffic strategy for new bloggers.

That is, when you do it right.

In this post, I’ll discuss seven of the most crucial parts of a successful outreach strategy, and how you can leverage outreach to boost traffic to your blog posts.

1. Begin with the End in Mind

Before you begin your outreach process, you need to plan. You need to begin with the end in mind.

Ask yourself the following questions:

What are my goals?

Outreach is a great strategy to accomplish several things: increased traffic, more connections with influential people, better backlinks from quality sites, etc..

You need to know your goals (always try to write them down as well) before you start the actual process of outreach.

How much time do I have to dedicate to outreach?

Here’s the one pitfall of outreach. The impact from one successful outreach email (e.g. getting one blogger to share or link to your blog post) isn’t particularly high, especially in the short run. So in order to see significant results, you typically have to send out a lot of emails.

Case in point: Brian Dean from Backlinko emailed 160 websites to promote his post on Google ranking factors. Because of the backlinks and visibility he’s gotten as a result, Brian now ranks #1 in the SERPs for “google ranking factors”, which is by no means a low-competition keyword.

Google-Ranking-Factors

Now don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that you need to email 100+ people for every post you write. Due to time restrictions, that’s an unrealistic goal for many of us, particularly me.

But my point is that a successful email outreach strategy will take up a significant amount of time. So when creating a plan for your outreach strategy, you need to budget time appropriately.

2. Pick the Right Bloggers for Outreach

Here’s what doesn’t work in email outreach: randomly sending out emails to 100+ blogs that “seem” to fit your niche.

Picking the blogs you plan to do outreach to is a very delicate (and time-consuming) process. To be successful at outreach, you will need to spend time creating a list of blogs you’ll reach out to before each post is published (ideally before the post is even written).

Here are a couple ways to find the right blogs to reach out to.

Find Blogs that Have Linked to Similar Content

This method calls for Ahrefs Site Explorer, one of my favorite blogging tools. Site Explorer basically crawls the web to discover all the inbound links for a particular website or webpage.

So let’s say that you run a food blog, and your next post topic is on the dangers of excess soft drink consumption. A quick Google search will reveal several popular blogs that have written on a similar topic.

Finding-Blogs

Pick one high-ranking post (I chose this one from Wellness Mama) and run it through Site Explorer to find the sites that have linked to the post.

Finding-Blogs2

You know that these sites have linked to a post on the dangers of soft drinks already in the past. Consequently, they are much more likely to link to your post on the same topic, provided that you ask nicely (more on how to do that later).

Find Influencers Who Have Shared Similar Content

This method works best with Buzzsumo, an incredibly popular content research tool. Buzzsumo allows you to see the exact people who have shared specific posts on your topic.

Let’s say that this time around, you’re on a digital marketing blog, currently writing a post on generating content ideas. You can use Buzzsumo to identify popular posts on this topic.

Finding-Blogs3

Buzzsumo then allows you to drill down and see exactly who has shared this post on Twitter.

Finding-Blogs4

Apply the same concept from the previous method here: since these people have already shared blog posts on content ideation before, they could be quite willing to do it again.

3. Do a Favor for the Influencer Beforehand

Email outreach is all about asking favors. When you send an email to an influencer asking for a tweet, a link, or a Google plus, you’re basically asking them for a favor.

Now, I want you to think back to the last time you did a significant favor for a stranger who’d come to you out of the blue.

No, seriously. Think about it.

Don’t worry, I’ll wait…

If you’re like me, then you probably can’t remember the last time you did so.

And guess what: the influencers you’re reaching out to probably can’t remember the last time they did such a favor, either. So when you ask them for a favor as a total stranger, how likely do you think you are to get the share/link?

Not very.

The key here is to make sure that by the time you send your email, you’ve already performed a favor or two for the blogger beforehand.

For instance, you could comment on 1-2 of the blogger’s latest posts. All bloggers love getting relevant comments on their posts, because comments prove two things to them:

  1. People are reading their content.
  2. People find their content engaging enough for them to take time out of their day to leave their thoughts.

However, DON’T just leave a generic “Great post, thanks for sharing” comment like a hundred others before you have already.

It’s easy for bloggers to see through this sort of comment; they know that it hasn’t taken any sort of real effort on your part.

Instead, leave a thoughtful, detailed remark about what you thought of their post — one that will set you apart from the other commentators to the post author.

Blog-Comment

Questions in particular make great comments because they coax a response from the post author. Besides that, all bloggers (you and I included) get an ego boost when people ask their advice.

A couple other things you could do is to share their post on social media or even link to it from the post that you are writing.

4. Write the Email

Here comes the difficult part: actually writing the email. You can find several email templates on the web for this step, but I recommend testing a few ones of your own to see which works best for you personally. What’s more, the email you send will also typically depend on what you’re asking for in your email: a link, a share, etc..

For instance, asking for a link from a well-known blog requires a very different email than a share request from an influencer with a mid-sized following.

But regardless of the type email you’re sending over, there are a few rules to keep in mind.

Keep it Short

Nobody wants to wade through a 50-sentence email when a five-sentence email would have done just as well. Least of all the busy bloggers who have a hundred-and-one other tasks demanding their attention.

I personally try to keep all my emails no more than five sentences long, although I’m often guilty of forgetting to cut down and instead sending in 6-7+ sentences. I’ve found that shorter = better 99% of the time.

Talk about What You’ve Done for Them

In my email, I typically reserve at one sentence close to the beginning to talk about what I’ve done for them (i.e. I linked to their post, shared it on social media, commented on it, etc.).

Always talk about what you’ve done for them before you discuss what you want them to do for you. Once the blogger realizes that you’ve taken the time to do something for him/her, they’ll be much more receptive to the request that’s about to come.

Be Informal, but Professional

You always want to be professional — especially if you’ve never emailed this person before.

There’s no need to be overly formal (ten dollar words won’t score you any points), but at the same time don’t let your inner-goofiness get too much out of reign.

Also, be sure to use their first name in your opening line (that way they know right off that your email is addressed specifically to them).

5. Contact via Multiple Channels

The biggest mistake I made in my early days of outreach was limiting my contact to one channel only: email.

While email is still the best way to get a response from share/link requests, it’s most effective when used in combination with other contact channels like social media.

Nowadays, whenever I send out an outreach email, I also tweet the blogger beforehand to let him/her know that I’m sending in an email.

This helps to create awareness of your coming email. Most influencers will be getting hundreds of emails per day, so it’s very possible that your email could slip through the cracks. When you reach out to them via social media before sending the email, though, they’ll be keeping an eye out for your email.

So instead of ignoring or overlooking your email when it comes in, they’ll instead think:

Oh yeah, this is the guy/gal who tweeted me about their coming email. I think he/she also commented on XYZ post I published a couple days ago. Hmm. I wonder what he/she is emailing about.

This contact strategy just plain works — I highly recommend that you try your best to get in touch via multiple channels (Google Plus, LinkedIn, or even Facebook can be good options depending on your industry). It’s helped me to nearly double my response rates, and I’m sure it will do the same for yours.

6. Time Your Contact Appropriately

I live in India — but since most of the bloggers I contact live in the US, UK, or Australia, I have to be sure that I’m keeping track of time zones. Otherwise, my email is likely to get lost in the pile of email that accumulates overnight.

I try to get my email in around 8-9 AM in the morning their time. That way, by the time they start their work day, my email is close to the top of their inbox.

I personally use Boomerang to schedule all my emails because I love its simplicity, but SideKickRightInbox, and Streak are popular alternatives.

For tweet-scheduling, I’m a huge fan of Buffer, but HootSuite is another excellent option.

7. Follow Up

The last step in the outreach process is to follow up. If your email doesn’t get a response within a week, I recommend sending either one email or one tweet as a reminder (not both).

I don’t recommend sending any more than one follow up, though; if a blogger hasn’t responded by then, it typically means that he/she isn’t interested in sharing or linking.

And if that happens (which it most certianly will), don’t worry about it. Just shake it off, and move on to the next blogger.

Wrapping Up

Outreach is a powerful content promotion strategy. It has the potential to take your latest blog post from 0-100 in no time.

However, outreach certainly isn’t an easy strategy to implement, and if you don’t do it correctly then you’ll end up spending a lot of time for little result. So the next time you’re promoting a post, remember these 7 crucial steps, and I guarantee your success rate will the better for it.

Do you have any questions about outreach strategy — or any tips of your own you’d like to share? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Jonathan John (@JRJohnWrites) is a freelance writer for hire and a digital marketing enthusiast. He helps business leverage the power of content marketing and blogging to increase traffic and boost brand authority. 

About Guest Blogger
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Comments
  1. Finding right bloggers for outreach is a task that takes patience and time. I believe your tips are always helpful and working. Doing favor is always helpful to build strong relationship. Sharing is caring so sharing also work sometimes.

    • Hi Gaurav,

      Agreed — finding the right bloggers is definitely one of the most time-consuming parts of this strategy. Building up rapport (e.g. doing favors) can also take quite a bit of time, but it’s definitely worth it in the end!

  2. JR, you got it man! Good to see you on Pro Blogger.

    The favor one is big; I like building friendships with top bloggers to do outreach effectively. Friends help out friends. If you reach out, promote someone, comment on their blog, email them with your support and if you ask how you can help folks you’ll open doors for yourself.

    All fab opportunities that have flowed to me did so because I helped successful bloggers. My help turned into friendships, and those friendships prospered me and my blogging buds ;)

    Thanks for sharing!

    Ryan

  3. Great article Jonathan,
    I had never thought of link history strategy that you mention in this piece. I am going to implement it on some of my client content, to see if I can get greater ‘traction’ from future blog posts. Thanks again

    • Hi Mark,

      No problem, glad I could help. I’m a big fan of Buzzsumo as it can has some pretty awesome functionality besides just the link history search. Ahrefs and SEMRush are also two good alternatives.

  4. Great post Jonathan,
    Blogger outreach has really become the best method of building links and also connecting with the influencers on your niche.

    Its not always easy but once you perform your assignment very properly, the reward can be very enormous.

    Thanks for sharing.

  5. It helps to plan ahead so that you know who you are targeting before you even attempt to begin with the outreach.

  6. Jonathan, this is a great article that you have posted because I have a blog and want to spread the news about it and outreach and network with other people. This post is really helpful, and has helped me to understand how to connect and build blog presence.

    It’s time consuming, but I’m sure it will pay of in the end. Thanks.

  7. Awesome article, Jonathan. Great tips. Timely follow up is certainly a great way to build trust and eventually it will result in better engagement rates. Thanks, Niraj (Founder at hiverhq.com)

    • Jonathan John says: 09/30/2015 at 10:32 pm

      Yep, timing is definitely very important. My response rates went up considerably once I began taking time zone differences into account.

  8. Hey John, Great article indeed……. And Backlinko was worth to be mentioned.. Thanks so much..

    • Jonathan John says: 09/30/2015 at 10:33 pm

      Thanks for the kind words. And I totally agree – Brian’s blog is one of the best around!

  9. Great post! We find that if you’re targeting businesses with your content marketing the first step is finding a topic that’s useful to your audience

  10. I read a lot about buzzsumo. Is it really worth it? I mean, a free account doesn’t show much.. What do you recommend? I have been thinking a lot about it recently, is a pro account worth for starters?

    Thank you and have a great day!

    -Melanie

    • Hi Melanie,

      Agreed, Buzzsumo’s starter price ($99/month) is a little high, and I would also have like a slightly cheaper option to accommodate more low-budget bloggers. But still, $99/month could definitely be worth it for you IF you’re really committed to outreach and plan to use the tool heavily.

      Btw, Ahrefs Content Explorer is also a great alternative you might want to check out: https://ahrefs.com/content-explorer/.

      Cheers,
      Jonathan

      • Melanie says: 09/25/2015 at 7:44 am

        Hi Jonathan!

        Thanks for your reply, I’ll definitely check ahrefs.com.
        All the best!
        -Melanie

  11. i fully agree with this and have been doing similar, but why are you spreading all the secrets :/ lol oy vey

  12. @Melanie
    Same question here. I am a starter as well an I really see the added value of the Buzzsumo pro version, but is it really worth the $99 a month? Aren’t there alternative ways to measure the same?

    Anyway, Jonathan’s point is clear. Apply outreach strategies is really crucial and important. Big thanks for this inspiring blog!

    • Jonathan John says: 09/30/2015 at 10:38 pm

      Hi Britt,

      Thanks for commenting. Buzzsumo’s pricing seems to be a little bit of a hurdle for a couple others here, so I’d like to reiterate: $99/month will probably only be worth it if you’re *really committed* to outreach.

      Example: if you’re only doing 5 emails per post and you publish 4 posts per month, then that’s close to $5 you’re spending per email. And if you get a 50% conversion rate on your emails, then (more significantly) it’s $10 per result.

      On the other hand, if you’re send out 50 emails per post, then you’re paying only $1/result.

      Remember, outreach is something that can always be outsourced to a well-trained VA — so if you personally don’t have the time to play the numbers game then remember that there are others you can pay to do so!

      Good luck!

  13. I have been also following the same method for one of my blog and the results are pretty good.. ;)

  14. I have found that I have much more success if I can answer “yes” to these two questions before reaching out to someone to request that they share or link to a post:

    -Am I offering them something of value which will help them?

    -Am I motivating them to link/share?

    • Hi Thomas,

      Those are great tips — it’s always important to remember that they need to see value in the email if they’re gonna respond.

      Cheers,
      Jonathan

  15. Buzzmo is too cool search for these influencers, however the most important for me, is to catch these people using shocking, surprising and interesting email that will able them to respond in my email.

    I like this post and this is almost the same with my practice.

  16. @Jonathan John

    Nice work Jonathan. I like the couple of points very much.
    #Doing a favor and also #time your contact appropriately.

    Regards
    Priyanka

  17. Awesome post! Thanks for sharing. Also thanks for your comment on my recent blog post.
    Apprieciated.

  18. Awesome post! Thanks for sharing.

  19. Boston Mike says: 12/28/2017 at 7:01 am

    Did you try Bitrix24? Best free CRM for outreach IMHO.

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