One of my main responsibilities as a digital PR coordinator is communicating with individuals, organizations, and business owners in the hopes that they’ll post a link on their websites that connects to our clients’ websites.
I start the week every month spending a half hour or more researching bloggers and businesses and then crafting outreach emails to send to them. Since email is our main method of communication and recipients can easily delete or ignore them, these outreach emails must be crafted wisely.
Who Are Our Outreach Targets?
Each month, Stream writers craft one to two pieces of local content for a client’s website. These pieces can cover anything from local events in a client’s targeted area to businesses such as restaurants or yoga studios.
The digital PR coordinator then reaches out to each business featured in the article along with local bloggers whose blogs share the same theme as the local content. For example, if we create the piece “Best Restaurants in Denver, CO,” we would create an outreach email for Denver food bloggers.
Helpful Tips for Creating a Successful Outreach Email
A successful outreach email can be defined as one that results in gaining a link to our client’s website. And crafting an outreach email is simple if you follow the pointers below:
- Be friendly and courteous. Always introduce yourself and the client you’re representing.
- Add some personal flair. Do some research on the business, individual, or organization you contact. For example, if you contact a blogger, check out a past blog post or some bio information about them and incorporate it in your first email. For example, you can compliment their recent post or ask a question about it. Anything that starts a conversation or creates a positive, engaging interaction will only increase your chances of gaining a link.
- Remember the foot-in-the-door technique. This is defined as a compliance tactic with the goal of getting someone to agree to a large request by first agreeing to a smaller request. Therefore, when drafting the first outreach email, ask the target if they would like to view the content you’ve created (small request). If they agree to view the content, follow up by asking if they would like to link back to the content (larger request).
- Be straightforward. Reading and answering emails isn’t the most enjoyable part of someone’s day, so your emails should be concise and easy to read.
Remember to Follow Up
Based on the volume of emails that a person or organization receives, your outreach email can get lost in the shuffle. That’s why it beneficial to follow up to your original email if you don’t receive a response from the outreach target.
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