More and more people are turning to link building outreach as a major part of their content marketing strategy. Why is that, if it’s so hard to execute?

Today, many people see outreach as the most vital part of any link building campaign. It is also a demanding and exhausting process. But people keep doing it because it works!

In recent years, building links and marketing content has become more about building long-lasting relationships. If you are able to identify, reach out to, and connect with influencers, individuals, and organizations that are relevant to your niche, you will be able to increase your brand visibility and awareness.

To do this, you must be able to send effective, personalized outreach emails. But it is almost impossible to scale up using this model, an issue that leaves many content creators stuck in a rut. How can you avoid this? What can you do to stand out from the crowd and maximize the success rate of your link building outreach?

Here are a few fundamental components that you should always include in your link building outreach efforts. And if you do, you will be able to generate high response rates, get more backlinks, and build more meaningful relationships.

Before you send out a single outreach email, you should start by doing your research. We have already talked about how important it is to get to know an influencer before contacting them. What is their blog or website about? What are their likes and interests? Are there any challenges that keep the influencer from carrying out their tasks effectively?

Find out how to carry out in-depth influencer research to get the most relevant information for your outreach emails.

Specifically, focus on analyzing the social aspects of a particular blog or website that you want backlinks from. You can use different online tools to get a feel for the type of content a site publishes, discussions from the community, social sharing, and other social signals.

Once you have identified a prospect, you should do this type of research to understand its community. It is important to know the conversations around a site’s existing content. This will be very important, especially when you are looking for opportunities to guest post. Such data can affect your post’s  online reach and visibility.

What does this mean for you?

Link building outreach is all about using cold email to connect with prospects. As such, you will only get a short time to prove that you are worth an influencer’s attention. The good news is that you can easily clear this hurdle if you show the prospect why connecting with you will be mutually beneficial.

Any effective form of outreach is based on exchanging value. We all know what you’re after – a backlink from a big-name influencer, which will lead to more traffic and visibility for your site or blog. But, what does the prospect get out of it? If your approach is to ask for something without providing value in return, then don’t be surprised if your success rates are very low.

Based on the prospect that you are targeting, anything can be perceived as value. That is why research is so important: know the prospect and you will know what they want. Are they searching for a solution to a particular problem? Do they want to share a particular topic with their audience? Or, would they just appreciate the ego boost right about now?

These are some of the things that many people often view as carrying real value. They also serve to start a meaningful conversation with prospects. Instead of just sending your link from the get-go, this approach often works better to score you some backlinks.

So, focus your outreach emails on explaining why a backlink to your site or a guest post from you will provide value to the influencer’s audience. Use a few sentences to tell them why you would be a good fit for their existing content, and why a long-term relationship will be beneficial for the both of you.

To provide immediate value, you can start by scanning the prospects blog or site to find any broken links. Finding one and suggesting another quality link to replace it is a great way of starting a relationship on the right foot.

Using customizable outreach email templates is a great way to send more messages in a shorter amount of time. They allow you to keep your brand’s messaging and voice consistent across all email communication. And the best part? These templates ensure that you will be able to personalize every outreach email easily and quickly.

Before settling on any particular template, you have to test each to see what works best for your pool of prospects. You can use our outreach management tool to track the success rates of each email template. This information will then help you create the most effective templates for your brand in a more careful and strategic way.

We’ve said it once, but we’ll say it again: every outreach email must be customized and personalized to the prospect.

If you’re gunning for backlinks, share some other relevant sites or blogs that have already linked to your content. And if you’re looking for a chance to guest post, add a few links to other posts you have written for a similar audience. This move will only add to your credibility.

In any case, it is always a good idea to touch on the prospect’s website. Did you like a particular post that they published recently? Is there anything about their website or blog that you appreciate? Then use one or two points to highlight this.

It shows the prospect that you understand what their work is about and what their audience needs. That is a great way to soften the influencer up and make them more receptive to your request.

Follow up is always an important part of any link building outreach campaign. That is because it can improve your open and response rates significantly.

Studies show that sending a second and third email to the same prospect can drive up your response rate by up to 60 percent! That is pretty impressive, right?

If you are struggling with the follow-up, Roojet can make the whole process easier. This will let you automate your follow up emails so that you will never forget to send one.

Social media has already changed the way we connect with other people and how we share and take in information. Now, it is transforming the business landscape. It has become the number one way of reaching out to and engaging with influencers and other prospects.

Because social media has become so accessible,, many brands have begun flooding authoritative websites in their niche with outreach emails. It seems that everyone wants a link or guest post these days! So, you have to find ways to stand out in an inbox that is crowded with similar requests.

With that in mind, you can now see why it is important to organize your link building outreach activities. Apart from email outreach, you have to integrate social media as part of your outreach strategy. This is a great way to cut through the noise and get the right people to notice you.

To do this, you can start off by finding every influencer you intend to contact on their social media channels. Make a point to comment on their Facebook posts or retweet their tweets. You can also become a regular commenter on their newest blog posts.

That way, the prospect will be somewhat familiar with you when the time comes to connect via outreach email. This could play a big part in the influencer deciding to reply to your message or not. When you’re playing on such a crowded field, every little trick could help!

Even with these tips, many people will still struggle with link building outreach. So it is important to know what actually works for the process. Here are the most important tools that will make your outreach campaign less grueling and more likely to succeed:

Unique research makes influencers eager to reference it. It provides value by being different, offering something that no one has talked about before. And the best thing about such research is that it needs a citation. That is why it performs so well four link building outreach.

To optimize your research to the max, make sure that it also has bite-sized takeaways and visual elements like graphs and infographics. These will provide greater value and make your content more “shareable.”

Despite the recent warnings about guest posting by Google, guest content still does very well in general. It almost always includes a backlink. The key here is to provide a lot of value for the influencer and their audience.

All you have to do is convince the prospect that your content will perform well with their audience. If you can accomplish this and actually get the chance to create content on a big influencer’s site, you will be able to push your own website to the next level.

If you are going to reach out with visual content like infographics, then you have to ensure that it is a high-quality and customized illustration.

When you think about it, how many people already send outreach emails with a link to the “next revolutionary” infographic? They have been very saturated, especially in niches like tech and marketing. Sending out a generic infographic just won’t help you stand out!

Instead, customize any visuals that you use. You can also try and switch it up once in a while by moving away from infographics to using customized elements like photos, drawings, illustrations, charts, and graphics. When used right, they can also be very valuable to link building outreach.

It can be very hard to build APIs (application programming interfaces) and business development data. But it works very well, especially with large organizations that always have a need for such data.

You can go after a co-branding deal with a backlink and – if it provides enough value – the prospect will link back to you. This could potentially lead to more traffic for your site and bigger sales. It might be hard to do, but the payoff is worth it.

Using embeddable content is actually a pretty genius move because it naturally acquires a backlink. If you have developed a tool (even a calculator or calendar!) that the prospect can embed on their site, you can automatically score a link as part of the embed. How great is that?

It is important to note that embeddable content used to be the biggest fad on the internet in the early 2000s. It has seen a decline in recent years, but that is why we think it works so well. After all, no one else is doing it. That mere fact that you are using it will make you stand out even more.

For example, you can create content that offers in-depth research into various players in a particular niche. Then, highlight how the prospect’s company, product, or service stands out from the rest.

This essentially plays to their ego by saying that the prospect is one of the best in their field. Who would refuse to backlink to such content, especially when it is backed by data? That is why this kind of content works very well for link building outreach.

But this can only work if you already have a well-developed platform within the niche. If you are already considered a thought leader or influencer, it is much easier to convince bigger influencers that people will trust your perspective. So, it is important to focus on building up your platform first. Once you have a significant following, you can easily leverage your clout to get guest blogging opportunities.

The goal here is to come across as personable and relatable in your email. But not so much that you invade the prospect’s personal bubble!

A little digging can help you find something personal to help you build rapport with the prospect. This approach works so much better than just going in for the kill and explaining why your content would be a great fit for their site. Adding small incentives can also boost your response rate:

Hi (Prospect’s name),

I recently came across (mention prospect’s blog or site) and saw (mention relevant and recent information you can use to connect, such as recent tweet/post).

That’s something I’ve also faced from time to time. But I found a great resource that has helped me (solution to specific pain point). If you’re interested, let me know and I could send (mention name of resource to you!

Cheers,

(Your name).

This is a great way to start a conversation. After the prospect responds, you can then send this email:

Hey (Prospect’s name),

Thanks for getting back to me!

Here’s the link to (mention name of resource) as promised. (Insert relevant URL)

I was wondering: do you accept guest posts on (mention prospect’s site). It’s about (pitch your content in one sentence). I think it would be a great fit for your site. It will also help your audience (mention specific benefit).

In case you’re interested and want to get a feel for my writing style, here are a few of my other posts that have been published on (mention two to three other relevant sites):

•    Link 1
•    Link 2
•    Link 3

If you have any questions on this, just let me know and I would be happy to get back to you.

Cheers,

(your name).

Take a look at some of the posts on a prospect’s website. Can you identify any links that were used in the text but don’t work anymore? That’s good news for you! Fixing broken links is a great way to reach out and provide value at the same time.

Hey (Prospect’s name),

I was looking through (mention relevant post/page) on (mention prospect’s blog or site) and noticed a couple of broken links. Let me know how to get in touch with the webmaster and I’ll send a list their way.

But if you’re open to suggestions, I think (insert your relevant URL) would also be a great fit. They (mention how this link would be relevant to their site).

Best,

(Your name).

In most cases, the webmaster will probably be the person you’re already contacting. But that sentence creates a buffer that prompts a response from the prospect. Once get a response (and hopefully the backlink) ensure that you deliver on your promise: send the list!

You can read more about building broken links here.

If you are offering something in return, it might be a good idea to reach out to local businesses. You can say something like this:

(Prospect’s name),

My name is (your name) and I’m the (mention your role or job title) at (your company’s name). We’ve recently developed a tool for (mention specific industry) businesses to help (pitch your product or service in one sentence).

If you’re interested, here’s a demo that will help you understand its features better: (include URL to product demo).

Since we’re located out of (mention specific area), we are offering this tool to local businesses in the area for free for a limited time. Would this be something that (mention prospect’s business) could benefit from?

Let me know if you have any questions or need some help to set it up. I’d be happy to help!

Thanks,

(Your name).

You can use this method as a last resort if you can’t find any contact information on a particular website or blog. The most important thing is to avoid naming your client publicly!

Some influencers don’t like it when companies and brands reach out to them via a blog comment. So, you do not want to create a situation where the influencer is bashing your client publicly!

Hi (Prospect’s name),

I was wondering if you accept any guest posts on (mention prospects blog or site)? I couldn’t find your email address on the site. If you’re interested, you can get in touch with me at (your email address). I would really appreciate it!

Thanks,

(Your name).

Of course, you can easily avoid this situation by using easy tools like RooJet. This will help you find anyone’s email address.

You can use this method for the more unique and competitive links, such as .edu sites. Simply put, you open with a “soft” cold email before launching into your complete proposals. This approach can also work well for pitches that need a long or technical explanation.

Hi (Prospect’s name),

I’m trying to get in touch with the person in charge of (mention prospect’s blog or site).

I would really appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction.

Either way, thanks for your time!

Best,

(Your name).

After receiving a response, you can then go into the full pitch. And since they are already interested in having a conversation with you, the prospects are more likely to read through the whole email instead of just skimming through.

We all know that getting lots of high-quality backlinks is the best way to make your website or blog rank higher in search engines. This is especially true when it comes to very competitive search results.

We also know that it is not possible to get these kinds of links by just publishing your content and sharing it on social platforms, Unless you have already built up some authority in your niche or have an audience that is always ready to link, it’s just not going to happen.

So, what do you do to get those all-important links?

That is where link building outreach comes in. But you have to note that it can be an incredibly long, hard, and involving manual task. It is a simple fact of the game, but the process can lead to a payoff that makes it all worthwhile.

It can also be very fun to build up new relationships with high-placed influencers. But you have to put in the time, energy, research, and persistence to make your efforts succeed. Incorporate these link building outreach tips into your strategy and you will see a huge increase in your email open, response, and success rates.