6 influencer outreach tips to get started|林子超博客

6 influencer outreach tips to get started

These best practices set the foundation for effective communication + ultimate success with influencer outreach.

1. Start with good content people will actually want to help promote and link to

Let’s get this straight: In order to earn shares and backlinks, your content has to be better than anything else out there on the topic and keyword.

Period.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

So… how can you do that?

Brian Dean at Backlinko pioneered a framework he calls the skyscraper technique. It’s a great guideline to get you started on actually creating really good content:

1. Come up with an idea around a keyword that is link-worthy (something people actually want to consume and will seek out on their own volition),
2. Read every one of the 10 pieces that rank on the first search engine result page for that keyword to include some of the core concepts you see over and over, but also PLAN how to include more value in your content by noting what those sources missed,
3. And then reach out to the right people.

By the way, did you notice Brian just earned a backlink? Good content! 😉

2. Find influencers who are relevant to your audience

As the ever-wise Brittany Berger advises:

“You’re working with influencers in order to take advantage of their clout and audience. But if that clout and audience is in a field that has nothing to do with your brand, you won’t get much of an advantage.”

Lucky you, Mention has the perfect tool to help you find influencers who care about the keywords (and topics) you’ve included in your keyword cornerstone shortlist.

Simply use the influencer tools in Mention and search for the keyword to find the top influencers who have cred and followers.

#Easy.

3. Ensure there’s mutual benefit to the partnership between your brand and the influencer

As you begin sifting through the list of influencers you’re seeing in Mention, put yourself into the shoes of each person you’d reach out to and ask yourself:

“What’s in it for me?”

Why should they care about your outreach? What’s the benefit to them?

Obviously, you have something to gain. Understanding why they’d care will help you draft great, personalized outreach emails that actually connect.

We do this at CoSchedule by drafting what we call “speaking points”. We essentially go down the “why” rabbit hole. If I were to reach out to an influencer to earn shares or backlinks for this blog post, I would start by brainstorming something like this:

• What’s in it for them?
  • They wrote a blog post about this topic that references sub-par content. They could link to my stuff that’s better (or at least add my resource somewhere).
• Why do they care?
  • They want to reference better information.
• Why do they care about providing better info?
  • Good references are a reflection of credibility.
• Why does cred matter?
  • Their audience needs to trust that they’re providing advice backed by factual and current best practices.
• Why would they care about that?
  • They need to keep their audience coming back.
• Why do they want their audience to come back?
  • When their audience comes back, they build more trust—a repetition loop that can help them convert more of their audience.

From there, use the ideas toward the bottom of your “why” list to draft your message for them (you could send that through social media, an email, a blog comment, etc.).

4. Start small and work your way up

A helpful framework to use here is website domain authority.

Moz’s MozBar helps you understand how authoritative websites are. The higher on their scale of 1-100, the better.

For example, The Huffington Post has a domain authority of 98. Alternatively, a local marketing agency in Fargo, North Dakota, has a domain authority of 71.

Then you can look at your own domain authority to help you understand which sources are more likely to work with you on your outreach. Do you think I stand more of a chance with The Huffington Post or with CoSchedule’s hometown marketing agency?

Do I even need to answer that?

Another method that works well here is a simple gut check.

For example, if I’m reaching out to marketers to earn links back to this blog post, I stand much more of a chance asking marketers in similar niches to Mention who seriously care about influencer outreach rather than someone “marketing famous” like Gary Vaynerchuk or Seth Godin.

More often than not, your gut is right.

5. Work with people you already have existing relationships with, if possible

The previous tip makes this one super obvious: You have friends in your industry already. Leverage your existing relationships to help each other out.

Some people who may want to help are your:

• Vendors
• Manufacturers
• Retailers
• Investors
• Publishers
• Local friends
• Integrations (if you’re a software company like CoSchedule)

For example, CoSchedule hosts a weekly podcast where we feature guest talent. Those conversations work really well for establishing a relationship that later blossoms into mutually beneficial outreach opportunities from both parties.

Just saying… you probably have friends like that, too.

6. Tailor your outreach email to each influencer, using templates only as a starting point

You just put a ton of time into creating amazing content, researching the right people, and going down the “why” rabbit hole to really understand these influencers will care.

Don’t mess it up with a noticeably canned outreach email template.

Trust me. I see the same copy from about three different marketers every single day. Everyone knows.

So tailor your outreach email for each person.

Just to get you started, here’s an outreach template/guideline (but again, PLEASE write your own):

Hi,

My name is {Your Name}, and I’m the {Your Title} at {Your Company}, a {describe why you’re a credible authority on the topic} company.

I recently conducted some research to see what folks are talking about when it comes to {Keyword} (a topic near and dear to our hearts here). In doing so, I found this post on your site:

{URL}

Would you consider including {Your Company} in this post? Our {Product/Service} would be a great fit, and it might be a good excuse to refresh this content.

If you’d like to try our product free, we offer a two-week trial here.

Thanks in advance,

{Your Name}

And because I’m feeling generous, here’s an email outreach template to help you earn an unlinked brand mention:

Hi there,

My name is {Your Name}, and I’m the {Your Title} at {Your Company}. I recently noticed you mentioned us on your blog here:

{URL}

However, we noticed there is no link directing to our homepage. Would you consider adding a link to {Your Website’s Homepage URL}? This might help your readers find our site more easily.

Thanks again for writing about us. We appreciate it!

Best regards,

{Your Name}

Bonus Tip: Can’t find the influencer’s email address? Use Datanyze Insider. You’re welcome. 😉