Exposure for your material begins long before you click “Publish.” The following information will help you create an effective pre-outreach plan. Traffic is everything in the realm of digital marketing. Additionally, a high volume of visitors typically indicates that you have effectively promoted your content to get links and social media shares.
But occasionally, even the most well-known bloggers need help with this. Seriously, even the most seasoned digital content producers with the most attentive viewers sometimes need help to obtain the necessary engagement.
In most cases, this is a two-way street where you collaborate with someone to promote their work, and they do the same for you.
What’s impressive about it is that it’s not only for blogging. Pre-outreach may also integrate social media marketing, email marketing, SEO, and influencer marketing efforts.
Even when you are not publishing fresh material, your traffic gain will be steady if your pre-outreach approach is successful.
Remarkable, isn’t it? So let’s start developing and putting into practice a pre-outreach plan that can drive links and shares for your material.
Before we begin, you should know that a pre-outreach plan may only be an effective use of your time, if your company needs more awareness. The best course of action would be first to concentrate on raising your profile. Then, when you’ve finished, go back and review your first outreach strategy.
First, check your circles.
Whenever I begin a pre-outreach campaign, I compile a list of the experts and partners I often work with on content promotion. This may be discouraging if you operate a tiny blog. What chance do you have that your grandma’s cheesecake recipe will become viral if Seth Godin’s postings aren’t being shared? Sure, it’s the finest cheesecake ever made, but how do you get people to rave about it and spread the word about it in their social circles?
A pre-outreach plan is a quick trick that I’d like to share with you.
Why is that, you ask? After you release the content, the effort you put in before it drops will pay off. It is building connections with journalists, editors, other bloggers, and business leaders in the sector. This step is fast and straightforward if you have contact details with their names and information or a CRM system like Nimble or Pitchbox.
Reviewing your current subscription and social media following list is advised. Some of them would be interested in spreading your material. My contacts were divided into two lists when I created this spreadsheet.
The folks on the first list are the ones I will ask to share and promote my article on their channels. The second list of individuals is the group to whom I will talk about the likelihood of a connection back.
I always remember that I’m asking for a favour, so I need to make sure it will be simple and advantageous for them to assist me in both situations. Nobody enjoys doing a favour for someone who is tough to work with or gives nothing in return. So I constantly inquire about their desire for product promotion.
Emailing random strangers is considered by some to be the finest method for obtaining links. However, this is not something I advise. According to recent research, cold outreach emails only get 1-5% of responses. My own experience supports that statistic. To acquire one link, I had to send roughly 40 cold emails. My general policy is only to ask individuals to link to my article if I already know them and have previously worked with them to develop links. I can quickly select people from my pre-outreach list with those with whom I still need to establish ties, thanks to Pitchbox.
I like to carry out pre-outreach personally, even though I sometimes utilise automated email outreach funnels. This lets me ensure I’m sending it to the proper person and personalise each email. It’s also important to note that, as a result of the Digital Olympus conference, I have a sizable network of digital marketing influencers who are always eager to spread the news about my posts once they go live. Launching your event or podcast is terrific because it may help you network with influential business people.
I’ll use Jason Barnard’s show as another example. By including the individuals he invites as guests to his programme, this platform—from which he covers SEO, copywriting, and other topics—allows him to market his work successfully.
Last, if you’re fortunate enough to be connected to businesses that bulk email their subscribers, this might be a gold mine.
The reasoning behind it is relatively straightforward: Request to be included in their mass mailings in exchange for an offer to mention their article in your email marketing campaign. Your chances of obtaining connections and social sharing increase the more individuals you have a strong working relationship with. After you have contacted all of your contacts, let’s look at what to do next.
It’s essential first to provide value and advantages to the contacts you’ll pre-outreach so they feel like they owe you.
However, if you are still familiar with your industry’s expertise, this procedure may take a lot of time.
These are the actions you need to implement:
Locate Subject Matter Experts Who Publish Guest Posts Frequently on Various Blogs
Consider looking through websites that allow guest posts to compile a list of contributors.
Alternatively, you might visit BuzzSumo and use the “Top Authors” function to run a report. Here, you may search for authors using any term associated with your pre-outreach material.
The next step is to locate writers who contribute to several sites by looking through the list of authors.
Make A Vibrant Value Proposition
Making a solid value proposition is crucial since most of us are less well-known than Rand Fishkin or Matthew Woodward.
In our situation, the most straightforward course of action is to request the following from prospective linkers: Add their quotations (if they’re interested and have the time to do so).
Share your final document with them if they have a post they want to refer to.
Both solutions provide value to them and enable you to build a mutually beneficial connection.
Check out this piece, which will also help you improve the response rates to your email outreach.
Here’s a hint: I just discovered my new piece would be published while doing a roundup with several experts. I thus urged the writers to think about linking to my most recent essay. As a result, I received 10 links immediately since they wanted to prolong our pooled connection by being helpful.
Providing value to individuals you don’t know is the key to working with them.
Cold emails to a large group of people may seem more approachable, but spending time and effort cultivating connections with specialists will pay the return. In the future, you two may even collaborate on link development.
Begin cultivating gratifying connections
So all that’s left to do is implement your pre-outreach plan now that you know what it is.
It’s more complex than it seems, as you’ll quickly learn. You’re going to hit a lot of roadblocks, where supposedly ideal connecting partners don’t get back to you through email, or you need to get the shares you were hoping for.
Please resist giving up. You’re taking a long view. And you will create the network and get the exposure you need if you approach each individual with a proposal that will benefit them.
