In order to become a successful online marketer, you have to do a lot of outreach. There are simply no “ifs”, “buts” or “maybes” about this.

Outreach is one of the most effective ways of creating a buzz about the content, product, or service that you are trying to promote. We have already disproved the theory of “content is king.” Just because you are coming up with great content does not mean that people are going to be interested in it.

As a result, you must find new and innovative ways to get your ideas or products in front of a large group of people. This is where email outreach comes in.

Whether you are reaching out to other businesses or influencers within your target niche, outreach is one of the best decisions you could make. It can produce amazing results for your business and help you build amazing relationships that can help your brand grow. For example, a recent study shows that when an influencer shares content, it generates 16 times more engagement than any other organic or paid alternatives. If that is not reason enough to up your outreach game, we’re not sure what is!

That brings us to the issue at hand: how can you ensure that your email outreach program produces the results that you want?

As a marketer, creating awareness among your target audience is the main goal. It should come as no surprise, then, that the easiest way to tap into any large demographic is by riding the wave of an influencer’s success. The reason for this is simple: working with someone the audience already trusts is the fastest way to build your own credibility within the industry.

So, how do you get these influencers and successful businesses to work with you? Through email outreach, of course!

But it is important to remember that outreach is not just about asking for shares, guest posts, or link building. It should primarily be about building mutually beneficial relationships with people who can help your business grow. Going into the process with this mindset is the first step in winning over important influencers through any email outreach program.

Now that we have highlighted the importance of outreach, we also have to touch a bit on the technicalities. Despite its importance, a lot of online marketers have a tough time at conducting any successful email outreach program. Looking at the numbers, it seems that an open rate of 24 percent is the norm. But this drops even lower when it comes to the click-through rate (CTR), which typically comes to about four percent! You can have a more in-depth look at these statistics here.

The question then becomes, can you still consider yourself a good marketer if the only thing stopping you from building these mutually beneficial relationships is an email? Well, the good news is that you do not have to worry about that answer! We have some great email outreach ideas that will help drive up your success rate.

Many marketers today ask this particular question and you can get the answer in a pretty simple way: observation. There must have been many times that you looked at a campaign and thought, “Boy, I wish I’d thought of that for our company!” In the same way, there are other campaigns that must have made you groan on the inside, right?

The answer here is that we simply learn from observing. So we used the same tactic to come up with the “secret sauce” that makes all successful email outreach programs tick:

This step seems almost counterintuitive and doomed from the start. How are you supposed to summarize a complex pitch in one line? Well, if there is one thing Twitter has taught us is that 140 characters are more than enough.

As much as you would like to bypass this step – well, you can’t. According to research, at least 33 percent of everyone you reach out to will open your email based on the subject line alone. It is all about giving the influencer a sneak peek at what your message will be talking about. So you will have to devise some pretty creative ways to ramp up their interest.

So, how do you come up with the perfect subject line? The best way to do this is by being honest. Do not mislead or overhype anything just to get people to click on your messages. Granted, the little white lies may increase your open rates in the short run. But it will also annoy the influencers you are reaching out to and give you an unflattering reputation in the industry. That is definitely not the way to go for long term success!

Here are some more effective ideas you can use to craft a great email subject line:

Can you see the common thread running through all these subject lines? They are short, sweet, and straight to the point. They are honest and show that you are willing to start a meaningful conversation and not just go for the one-off ask.

Most importantly, they do not read like clickbait or spam! If you have ever written an outreach email, you know that the line between the two is very thin. Avoid crossing it at all costs!

If you are looking for more ideas to improve your email subject lines, you can find them here

Influencers are incredibly busy people. That is great for them but not so good for you. It means that you will most likely get one shot to prove yourself to them if you are gunning for a guest post. You have to give them a reason to care about what you have to say. How will it benefit them and their audience? Focusing on the value is a good step in the right direction.

It should also be obvious that your work must be top-notch. No influencer worth their salt will waste time with content that is mediocre. Remember, they have spent a lot of time, energy and resources to build up a large audience. A certain level of trust between the content creator and their audience comes with that. So you must ensure that your work matches the standards they have already set on their channels.

You can do this effectively through email outreach. Make sure to include a brief outline of some of your biggest milestones as part of your introduction. Remember, the influencer may not know you – especially if you have not been in the game for a long time. But the magic of the Internet ensures that they may have seen or heard of your work, so make sure to leverage that properly.

Whether you are asking for a chance to guest post or work together in some other capacity, it always pays to show your work. This move only strengthens your value proposition and shows the influencer what you have to offer.

Effective email outreach succeeds at making the influencer like you and what you have to offer. Think about it: are your outreach emails relatable? Do they hit the influencers’ main pain points? What solutions are you offering for their top challenges? Cover these bases and your email outreach program will be golden.

On the flip side, coming off as arrogant and condescending will only hurt your chances of success. In the wise words of Joe Putman, “…fanboyism is a total turn off.” Regardless of your experience or lack of it, both you and the influencer are professionals. Even as you strive to be relatable, this tip must always be running at the back of your mind.

So what does this mean? Well, first you have to get rid of the “sirs” and “madams” to start off your emails. A little basic research should have given you at least the first name of the person you are contacting. Using their first name is also a great way of keeping that all-important balance between professionalism and making the email personal enough to get their attention.

Also, keep the praise limited to their work lives. Everyone loves a good compliment, but it should not cross over to crazy fan town! For example, the influencer might have posted or tweeted about how mortgages suck. If you can relate to that situation, you could incorporate the pain point into your next outreach email to them like this:

Hi (Influencer’s name),

Just reaching out to ask if it would be okay to send you a couple of article ideas for a guest post on (name of their channel)?

P.S. Mortgage payments are a painful and confusing mess! I feel your pain. {{link to post}}

Have a great week ahead.

Best,

(Your name).

Emails like this shows that you are already actively following the influencer because you are genuinely interested in their work. It also helps you relate to them in a friendly way that only serves to further build your rapport. Even if they already know that is what you are trying to do through the personal remarks, they will still recognize that you took the time to do a bit of background research.

We have already talked about why marketers should always keep their emails on the short side, but it should be repeated one more time.

No one likes to read a long-winded message while trying to clear out their inboxes, especially from people they do not know.

If you are reaching out to an influencer for the first time, you must keep the pitch short! A lot of online marketers make the mistake of bombarding the recipient with too much information from the get-go.

Doing this will only overload the influencer and you will get lost in the shuffle of emails or, even worse, get relegated straight to the trash folder. This should never be the case.

Even before exchanging value, the first contact should be all about gauging the influencer’s interest. If you play your cards right, you should be able to start an ongoing conversation with the influencer and get the chance to share the nitty-gritty of your pitch at a later date. Here is how a great first email should look like:

Hey (Influencer’s name),

Are you looking for contributors to write for (influencer’s channel)? If so, I have some great ideas for a post that would go over well with your audience on (influencer’s channel).

I have already written some original content for (name some top-tier places that your work appears), and a couple of other sites. Those posts have usually gotten at least (specific number) shares on different social platforms.

These are some of my latest posts:

•    Link to post 1
•    Link to post 2
•    Link to post 3

Let me know if you are interested and I’ll send some of my topic ideas your way.

Thanks,

(Your name).

This type of email works very well because it is concise and straight to the point. If you are looking for some other great templates that you can use for this, find them here.

Outreach email templates are a great tool, especially for marketers who are just starting out with outreach. They can even work quite well when used effectively. Many people see them as a safe and surefire way of connecting with influencers.

But, they should not be the only thing that you use and reuse throughout any email outreach program.

Why? Email templates are simply not 100% personalized. Apart from making it more difficult for you to stand out from an overcrowded inbox, it could also potentially read as spam to the influencer.

Think about it: if every marketer is using the same email template to reach out to the same influencer, how will your email get the right attention. Even if you follow all the tips laid out here, your chances of success will keep falling with every similar email that the influencer receives.

The only solution for this is customization. Not only will this let you personalize every outreach email to a specific influencer, but you will also be able to inject a little bit of your own personality.  This approach will turn even the most generic email template into an effective outreach and marketing tool. Below is a great example of how you can do this:

Subject: (Influencer’s name), a few questions about (specific topic)

Hey (influencer’s name)

I loved going over your thoughts on (specific topic) in your recent post. It was a fantastic read that delivered what it promised and more!

I had some questions about some of the details that you pointed out. Would it be okay if I sent a few of them to you?

P.S. Let me know if I can help you out in any way. I always look forward to connecting with another online marketer.

Regards,

(Your name).

This is an example of a public email template that we took and customized to our needs, with a specific influencer in mind. The point is that such templates are a great starting point, but adding a bit of personality will always work better for you.

The first rule of email outreach is that you will never get something for nothing. In every interaction with an influencer, you will ultimately ask for something like a guest post, link, or share. But you must also provide something that will benefit them in return.

What are you offering? Is it quality content or in-depth knowledge for the target audience on a particular topic? Whatever the case, important people will only work with you if your value proposition makes sense to them.

Undoubtedly, most of these influencers like meeting other professionals all the time. But if you want more than a few words of encouragement, you will have to present a mutually beneficial arrangement to them.

“What is in it for me?” is a question that you must answer clearly if you want your email outreach program to succeed.

Even if you think that you have nothing of value to offer, you could always make your advice and support available to the busy influencer. But such offers are only as valuable as your follow through. Which brings us to the last point…

Did you know what works even better than a great first outreach email? A kickass, well-crafted follow-up email! It might not seem as mind-blowing as the lead up makes it seem, but this is one email outreach idea you cannot afford to ignore.

Follow ups should be an integral part of any email outreach program. Remember, influencers are incredibly busy people. Just because they do not respond to your first email does not mean that it is a firm “no”.  Because of the popularity of cold emails, many people have simply learned to ignore emails from people they do not know. So if you want to get noticed, you will have to go the extra mile.

A good follow up email is simply a reminder. It gives you another chance to get your pitch noticed. Apart from that, you will also be able to expand on our value proposition by addressing more pain points. Even more importantly, it shows that you actually care more than other marketers who may not have taken the initiative to contact the influencer again.

Here is a great example of a simple and polite follow-up email:

Hi (Influencer’s name),

Just a quick follow up in case you missed my last email.

If you are short on time right now, just let me know so that I can stop bombarding your inbox!

Best,

(Your name).

But it is also important to keep some follow-up rules in mind. Give it at least 72 hours after sending the first email to follow up with another. The goal is to be persistent but not annoying!

With these helpful email outreach ideas, you can now change your email outreach for the better. Stop shooting yourself in the foot with generic email templates and spam-like messages. If you always keep in mind that you are talking to a real person on the other end of the screen, your emails will only get better with time and lots of practice.

Another thing to remember is value. How will the influencer benefit from this? Every communication must have a solid value proposition that will draw the influencer in and hook them into your campaign. You can do this quite easily by making sure every outreach email is backed by solid research on the influencer.

Knowing what they are about, the challenges they face, and what they need is a great starting point to capturing the interest of any influencer. Adding a touch of personality into this customization mix will send your response rates soaring and help you build meaningful relationships with awesome influencers.

Last but not least, be confident! You will certainly need it to go after some of the “big fish” within your niche successfully. Getting an influencer to respond to your email outreach can be a bit tricky, but it is not very hard.

Do you have any other email outreach ideas to share with us? Any tips or tricks that you have used for great results? Make sure to leave a comment below and tell us about it!