Tips for backlink outreach emails

In this article, we are going to look at all things backlink outreach emails and tips on how to do them right.

What is an outreach email?

Simply put, an outreach email is an approach used to get information across to people via email. When done in content marketing, there are various reasons for it, and in this case, it is to request a backlink.

Other aspects are the promotion of content or forming a partnership with someone influential in your sphere. Companies such as Pitchbox have come up with interesting facts about email outreach that are worth thinking about when getting started. 

One such example is that a majority of the outreach emails that you send out will be ignored. Less than 10 percent of what you’ll send out will get a response, and that’s on a good average.

However, another interesting fact is that the longer your subject line, the higher your chances of getting a response. Even so, you want to send follow up emails since they increase your chances of getting a response. You also want to add a personal touch to make the email sound tailored to a specific person.

The day that you send out the email also matters; Wednesday has the best response rate while Saturday has the worst. If you want people to take you seriously, then you also may want to add your social media links at the end of emails; those that have an Instagram account have the highest response rates.

Lastly, before we get into tips for your backlink outreach emails, you’ll be happy to know that emails with links, roundups, and also guest posting have a higher response rate.

Now let’s get into what you came here for.

Tips for backlink outreach emails

There are a few things we’ll expound on based on the research mentioned to give you great pointers on how to go about backlink outreach emails.

1. Know that it works

It’s not something people think about, but backlink outreach emails do work. It might be easy to believe that because a lot of some of the emails make it to the spam folder that yours will as well.

There’s been research showing that email outreach is the most effective method when it comes to link-building. The reason they work is that they facilitate the meaningful relationship you need with like-minded people and brands on your scope of work.

The result of these emails tends to be a partnership, guest blogging, and even interviews. That allows you to build content that your audience wants to see.

It is not merely about churning out content that’s all about you and what your brand is doing; people are looking for more. Want to hit the jackpot?

You can send personalized emails to journalists to get you the press coverage you seek.

2. Start with a list

To get started, you want to have a curated list of those you wish to email. To get the kind of response rate that you’re looking for, make sure that you’re reaching out to the right people in the first place.

If you’re selling car spare parts, an email to fashion influence would be a waste of time. It is, therefore, about get your email in front of the people that matter to you and the goal you hope to reach.

Creating the list begins with the goals and objectives. What is the desired result that you want to see? What can you or your team do to contribute to the overall goal?

Before sending an email to hundreds or even thousands of people, know what the desired goal is. Wanting to get covered on a blog on a petrol head would make more sense.

From there, you can curate people and brands that are in the automobile industry and reach out to them.

Remember to have links to their work that relates to what you’re doing. After, that is where the real work begins. You have to hunt online or even personal contacts to find the right email address.

For example, you want to find the email address of the specific person you want to reach, not info or a queries email. If you do that, there’s a high possibility that the person you’re targeting won’t see the email as they sort through what they have in their inbox.

The good thing is there are tools to help with that.

3. Use available templates

When starting, you need all the help you can get. However, people tend to associate templates with things you get when you don’t want to apply the necessary effort to write an email.

When used right, these templates save you a ton of time.

What’s important is you use them properly to get the result you want. Models are what allow you to take your backlink outreach emails on a large-scale. Given how the world currently works, we can’t afford to sit down and draft all different emails to the curated contact list.

What you do then is get templates that suit your needs and then customize them. From there, you’ll have a go-to email that you pull out to when you need to contact a new person.

The trick is to make it your own- you don’t want to use the template as they are.

Otherwise, they will look like what everyone else is using. The best-customized templates are those that are short and also have a touch of your personality, preferably humor.

Pro tip: use the template as a guide, then throw it out the window, especially when dealing with gurus. Run the email by someone; does it sound specific to the person or another generic email? If it fails that test, you’re doing the email outreach wrong.

Otherwise, if you can summarize the email in one line, do it. That way, when someone sees the subject, they have an idea of what you’re asking.

You also don’t want to turn the email into a click-bait- that might work against you.

4. Create alternatives

Email blast emails nowadays have an AB option. That means you can use a small demographic to test what works best before the winning template goes out.

Play around with the models to get what best sounds like your brand and represent you.

From there, you can do a split test and know what template to settle for. We don’t always get things perfect the first time; it takes a bit of tweaking and experience to know what to go forward with.

There’s also the reality that you might have cases where you need to deviate from the norm. It happens when you’re dealing with a specific situation and want to address it as such.

With the general format in place, you can still create something that sounds like you, if you ever need to do follow-up emails. Remember to go further with the personalization.

Using the name is not enough; you want to use information that shows you’ve researched about them.

5. Engage

Where you can, interact with the brand or influencer before reaching out to them. If it’s natural for you, leave comments or compliments, and even share their work.

If you’re doing things on a larger scale, then this might take a while, but it’s worthwhile.

When you show that you’ve done your research and know what the person or brand is all about, they are more likely to engage. However, remember to keep things natural.

You also don’t want to appear that you’re trying too hard. Even with that, you have to ensure that you’ve done your due diligence if your customized template is to make sense.

Keep in mind that engaging when sending an email outreach for backlinks doesn’t mean that you write essays. The person who gets the email is likely busy already.

That’s why you must get to the point. You’ll likely get a better response rate when you keep things short and concise. People like to know that you respect their time as well.

In essence, when you’re writing an email, get to the point quickly. Use the inverted pyramid approach where you keep the essential parts of the email at the beginning and complete with the rest.

Whatever the case, make sure you get your message across.

6. Follow up, but once

If there’s something that would indicate “I ignored you fine the first time” is when you do too many follow-up emails. You have two choices when it comes to this.

You either flow up once or not at all. Something journalists, and even the average person, doesn’t appreciate is too many emails from the same person. However, if you take the route of a follow-up, add information that you might have missed out in the first email.

You still want to go straight to the point, but at this point, you have nothing to lose. You’re also welcome to give the person you’re emailingan option on how to go about what you’d like.

Let them know that they still have a choice, but you want to direct them toward the kind of action you want. Beyond that, you know to leave the person alone and redirect your efforts elsewhere.

Anything more and your contacts may get marked as spam.

Wrap up

Rejection is not the end, it’s the beginning of learning. In time, you’ll be a pro.