10 Blogger Outreach Templates Proven to Work
When it comes to digital marketing, you need to reach out to people who can help promote your brand. In any successful content marketing campaign, many of these people should be influencers—usually bloggers who can spread awareness of your brand to a wider audience, and act as impartial third parties who endorse your content.
Don’t underestimate the importance of this kind of “influence peddling” either—stats from Visual.ly suggest that content promoted by influencers receives engagement rates that are, on average, 16 times higher than those earned by paid media or a brand’s own sponsored content, and more than 60% of brands use influencer marketing in their strategy.
Therefore, your question as a marketer should be: how can I reach out to the influencers I need?
There are plenty of professional ways to tackle blogger outreach that are demonstrably more effective than cold-calling or emailing with no particular strategy in mind. Here are 10 of the best:
Initial Outreach
Your overture should always be straightforward. Introduce yourself, describe how you came across the influencer, and ask for what you want. Here’s an example:
Hi [name of influencer],
[short sentence about who you are and how long you’ve known of the influencer.]
I really appreciated your recent blog post on [topic]. It seemed like something my audience would connect with, so I shared it with my social media followers and email contacts.
I’d love to speak with you in more detail about [topic], and see if we can work together on a similar project. If you’re interested, let’s set up a phone call to discuss potential collaborations that would benefit both of our audiences.
Best wishes,
[your name]
Curation
The above format is fairly effective across the board, but you’ll want to tailor it in certain situations—for example, if you want to ask an influencer to contribute to your content. This requires tweaking it into a ‘curation template’, which asks if you can feature the influencer in a blog post.
Hi [name],
I’m wondering if I can feature you in a blog post.
I’m reaching out to some major names in the [topic] field for an advice piece, and I think your input would be very valuable. I’m also planning to mention you in the post, so this could be great exposure for you!
Here are my questions for the piece:
[insert question(s)]
I know you’re probably quite busy at the moment, but if you have time to help with this I’d really appreciate it. It would be great if I could get your responses by the end of the week.
Thank you,
[your name]
Influencer mentioning
Featuring an influencer in your content means you want them to notice and spread the message to their audiences. Make sure you thank them, include a link to the post, and subtly ask them to share it. You can even ask them for a bit of feedback—”I’d love to know your thoughts”, etc.
Hi [name],
Thanks so much for contributing to my post. I got a lot of wonderful responses, including yours, and I think it’s going to bring my audience a lot of value.
Here’s the link to the published post:
[insert link]
If you have time, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the piece! It would also be wonderful if you could comment on it, and share it with your followers.
Thanks again,
[your name]
Guest blogging
Another great way to connect with influencers is to offer to write content on their blogs. The standard format should look something like this:
Hi [name],
My name is [your name] from [company], and I’ve been a big fan of your blog since [year]. I particularly appreciated your recent post on [blog topic].
However, I see that you haven’t had a post on [your topic idea] in quite a while. I’m very familiar with [your topic idea] and I’d love to write a guest post about it. I think I could bring a lot of value to your audience this way.
I’ve included a few headlines below that I think could really captivate your readers:
[headline 1]
[headline 2]
[headline 3]
I’ve also included some samples of my previous writing:
[link 1]
[link 2]
Thanks for your time,
[your name]
If you’re going to try this method, be sure to look at the guidelines for the blog you’re pitching to first. You’ll want to make sure that your content fits their format, or else you might look sloppy and poorly researched.
Invitations
An invitation template asks the influencer to review your product. You’ll want to let them know you admire their organization, that you have a product you think their audience would appreciate, and that you can offer them free samples—ideally, one for them and a few to give away to their followers.
Hi [name],
My name is [your name] from [company].
I’m writing to you today because I think your audience would really appreciate [your product]. If you’re willing, I’d love for you to test and review it.
I’d be happy to give you a free sample for your review, as well as [x number of] additional samples that you can give away to your audience.
If you’re interested, please let me know as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
[your name]
Share and Comment
A share and comment template basically introduces you, lets the influencer know that you’ve created similar content to theirs, and asks them for feedback. At the end, include a line like: “if you enjoy reading this, I’d really appreciate a comment or share.”
Hi [name],
I’m [your name] from [your company], and I’ve recently created a post on [your topic]. I see that your blog has featured similar content in the past, and I’d love to hear your feedback on my recent piece.
Here’s a link to the post:
[link]
If you enjoy reading this, I’d really appreciate it if you could comment on it and share it with your audience.
Thank you,
[your name]
Link Building
If you see that an influencer is already linking to other content in their work, it’s appropriate to send them an email that mentions this, and asks if their next link could be to your content. “I was hoping you could use this as a resource to connect with your audience” is a great line.
Hi [name],
I’m [your name] from [your company], and I’ve been a fan of your blog since [year]. Your recent post on [topic] really resonated with me, and I noticed that you included a link to [source].
I know quite a lot about [topic], and I was hoping that you could link to my content in your next article on this subject. I think it would be an effective resource to connect with your audience.
I’ve included a relevant sample here:
[link]
Please let me know if you’re interested. Thanks, and have a great day!
Sincerely,
[your name]
Roundup Posting
In roundup posting, you contact a number of influencers that you’d like to reach, and collect their responses to a single question. For example:
Hey [name],
I’m creating a roundup post on [topic] and I’d love for you to be involved. I’ve brought some big names on board already, and if you’re able to contribute I know this will provide excellent exposure for your brand as well.
My question for the post is: [insert question].
I know you’re busy, but if you have time to contribute to this I think it would bring a lot of value to both of our audiences. Thank you for your consideration!
Sincerely,
[your name]
Submitting to Roundups
You don’t always want to put the roundup together yourself either. Sometimes, you want to find a roundup that already exists and pitch yourself to it.
Hi [name],
I noticed that you’re putting together a roundup post on [topic]. I know quite a lot about [topic], and I think I’d be able to add a lot of value to this piece. I’d love to contribute to it.
I’ve included a few samples of relevant work below, along with short descriptions:
[link] – [description of link]
[link] – [description of link]
[link] – [description of link]
Thank you for your consideration. Please let me know if you’re interested!
All the best,
[your name]
Following up
You’ll want to use a totally different template for follow ups. Here’s an example:
Hi [influencer],
I’m [your name from your organization], and I contacted you [number of days] ago to ask about [project]. I know you’re work well, and particularly admire [example of their work].
I think you’d be great to work with on this because [reasons], and if you’re interested I’d love to discuss the finer points in more detail.
Let me know if you’d like to speak further about this. I’m free [provide convenient times].
I’ve also included links to a few of my past projects, so that you can get a better idea of my work and see how serious I am about doing this: [insert links].
Best wishes,
[your name]
Conclusion
All of the above templates work because of a few key things: they’re straightforward, succinct, and they provide opportunities for relationship building. Provide your influencers with clear incentives to work with you, and you’ll find that both your network and your subsequent engagements may grow faster than you thought possible.
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