Blogger outreach is the process involving contacting top publishers and incentivizing them with content to post and link to you. This is a popular SEO strategy employed by successful businesses both locally and nationally.
Blogger outreach is also known as guest posting – however the industry has obtained a bad name in the past from low quality operators that take advantage of uniformed customers.
This guide will walk you through the exact steps needed run your own successful blogger outreach program.
As publishers are in the business of providing content, it can provide a win-win where the writer retains some editorial control and the publisher receives free content.
More specifically, blogger outreach is often used in SEO as there is value in having an authority site link to you. The SEO value of blogger outreach, and more broadly, guest posting is cited as one of the most effective ways of boosting SEO through organic traffic.
Like anything in life there are low quality and high quality approaches. The highest SEO value comes from sites that do not accept money for posts, that have real visitors, and are somehow related either geographically or thematically to your site. There are also other factors, we will write up a guide soon on on what makes a great placement for a guest post.
Here at OutReach Frog we’re happy to provide you with steps on how to contact sites and place your own guest posts. We know from experience just how time intensive this type of work is, and it really benefits from a specialist with relationships and robust processes in place.
Blogger Outreach Explained
Blogger outreach involves convincing publishers to writer about your site and link to you.
When done from a SEO perspective, there is a tremendous amount of value that can be obtained when relevant content is posted on quality sites.
Influencers have the trust of your audience and they are quite possibly the best way to spread the message about your business products or services. They can help you grow your audience and increase your engagement with them which is certainly not want Jurassic World, After Earth, Star Wars The Force Awakens, and Iron Man III did!
However, blogger outreach is more than a simple mail to influencers asking for a leg-up. This is where ‘Content’ comes in.
Invaluable and Authentic Content
Promoting your business through blogger outreach is a lot about creating content which can be considered truly valuable. Influencers have come to their present position and follower numbers through content which is useful and helpful.
The only way you will get a back link is through a reciprocal exchange of offering content that is utilitarian enough for people to want it.
Your content should be able to engage the influencer. If you cannot attract the attention of industry influencers, then you are sure to not be able to connect with target audience either.
Guest posting can only be successful when you develop relationships with the right people using your content as the medium, which helps in opening up new opportunities. It is important to introduce your content in the most natural way possible.
Hence, the first step in massively growing your brand’s target audience through blogger outreach is finding the right bloggers and offering them the right posts.
How To Start With Blogger Outreach
Before you begin your hunt for the best industry bloggers for outreach, you need to identify the niche you are targeting. Why is this? Because relevancy is an important factor in how the link to your site passes SEO value.
Typically, brands reach out to people within their space who are not directly competing with them.
The right publisher is someone who shares your target audience, but offers them something different from your products or services. You also need to be able to offer the influencer something they require for a mutually beneficial relationship (like valuable content).
What is Pre-outreach?
Pre-outreach can be summed up as testing the waters and warming an publisher to your presence. You basically want them to have an inkling of your brand before your first email.
Most cold emails are not even opened, which makes pre-outreach a critical part of any successful blogger outreach program.
There are a number of things you can do to engage with them, like commenting on blog posts, sharing or retweeting their posted content, tagging them in your posts, targeting them with brand awareness campaigns, and replying to updates or shared content.
These things will ensure your opening email is received a little warmly and at least read. The best way to have a shot at succeeding is to start by visiting the blog of an influencer and selecting a post that is most relevant to your content.
Leave a comment after reading the post and make it specific to some aspect that you found interesting. Make sure the comment is genuine and insightful. Refrain from leaving an extra-long comment, no matter how tempting. Once done commenting, share the post and tag the author.
It is possible for the influencer to reply on your comment, which can get you an instant interaction. However, there is no reason to panic even if you do not. This is pre-outreach and the idea is to simply make your presence known before you attempt at building a relationship.
Once you feel you have your foot in the door, it is time to send that email.
How Best TO Send Emails With Blogger Outreach
While there are some publishers that make it easy to contact them, some influencers might not make their email address publicly known. So… how do you get in contact with these publishers?
In SEO – the harder a link is to get the more valuable it will be. That’s why you want to be contacting publishers (mostly) that are not in the business of doing this. That way their outbound link profile is cleaner, and their links are more valuable.
Luckily, there are a few tools, like Hunter that pulls the name and email addresses of everyone associated with a website. Other tools include Clearbit Connect that allows you to look up a company from within your inbox.
The next step is to personalize the outreach email. Remember, you are looking to build a relationship and not promote your brand here. There are some other things you need to keep in mind while drafting your email.
1. Outreach Email Glut
Publishers get a lot of outreach emails in a day. Higher the blogger level, more emails they get. The content marketing industry is estimated at an annual $1.7 billion globally in 2020. Hence, you know publishers and site owners are busy and that your email really needs to stand out (even after pre-outreach).
2. Personalization is the key
The best way to warm up a cold lead is to personalize the email. Make sure you are specific and use their name. Keep it simple and direct. Let them know why you are contacting them, how you have interacted with them in the past, and why your content matters.
You need to personalize the email in the best possible way and really keep it genuine. There is no template that will get you the influence you want. People are different as are their needs. It is important to be true here because if you cannot engage with an influencer, then there is no way you shall be able to attract the targeted audience.
3. Follow Guidelines
There are some niche websites that get so many pitches in a day, that they have set guidelines posted on their websites. Look out for these directions and make sure you follow them.
4. Email Content
Personalization goes a long way in connecting with someone. Your email should consist of some specific factors, like a subject line that makes your intentions clear and a compliment that shows you are an audience member and not just some random person.
Also, you are more likely to get a reply when you complement them, because it is rude to ignore a direct compliment.
Make sure you are clear about why your topic will benefit their audience and how you personally connect with the topic. You should give links to some other top blog posts on your website, which shows that you are an expert in your area.
It’s a sagacious idea to end with a line that states you are ok if they are not willing to share your content on their website. However, make sure you request for their thoughts and opinions on the content as that shows you are humble and sincere.
Not Sure How To Get Started? Take a look here at “How to Choose The Right Blogger Outreach Service”.
How Best To Follow Up
It is possible that you do not get a reply after the first e-mail… or maybe you do but it is not specific. While you do not want to stop after the first email, it is important that you do not pester the influencers. However, make sure you send at least 2 follow up emails to double check if they received your first email.
It is best to send the first follow-up after a day of no reply and the second follow-up after 3 – 4 days. It is best to keep your follow-ups personalized as well. However, you can get away with a template since a ‘no-reply’ generally means the influencer is not interested.
If a blogger does respond to you then show your appreciation and try to take the relationship to the next level. Keep your requests short and mindful, like asking them to review content on your blog. Also, ask whether there is anything you can help them with.
Outreach programs are a two-way street and can be used for partnerships and joint ventures. They are also good to create industry specific friendships and jobs.
Keep Trying To Get That Placement
It may not be possible to grab a publisher or bloggers attention on the first try because of the competition . However, blogger outreach is on the rise and by following them on social media, commenting on their blog, and tweeting at them, you are sure to make a success of it.
Have Us Do Blogger Outreach For You
Blogger outreach is undeniably the most effective online marketing technique when done well. Where clients fall into issues is not knowing what types of publishers to use and the right content to post. Most providers operating in this space offer very little or even negative value.
Outreach Frog specializes in blogger outreach and guest posts. We know exactly what works and how to build these types of links in a completely white hat and sustainable way – to helps your site rank higher. Be it your own site you want to climb the rankings in, or you are an agency looking for reseller seo, we have a plan and package to suit your budget. Contact us today.