5 Amazing Outreach Templates That Get Results From Influencers

The question on everyone’s mind is how do I convince influencers to work with me.

Influencers, by nature, are extremely busy, but they are also extremely valuable.

Brands have known for a long time that a tweet, a mention, or a review from an influencer can significantly increase the traffic to one’s website. Additionally because this traffic comes with the backing of a trusted authority, customers are more likely to make purchases at your store.

Networking is generally recommended as a best practice for forming partnerships with influencers.

And I agree, that relationship building is the crux of influencer marketing.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t scale very well.

Try building 50 solid relationships in a month…

Easier said than done – right?

Therefore, the next line of offense is having an excellent outreach template.

Templates are not all created equal; a little bit of personalization here, a rephrasing of the question there, can lead to significant changes in response rate.

Luckily as part of NinjaOutreach, I have participated in many outreach campaigns, and have collected five excellent templates to use for different occasions.

Below are images combined with a short analysis of why it worked. Additionally, we have created a separate document where you can access them in text form.

Case 1: Guest Post On Sean Ogle’s Blog

If you’re trying to get the word out about your store, then guess posting in your niche is a fantastic option. For example, if you sell travel goods, there is a whole world of travel bloggers with whom you should connect

I am in the Internet marketing niche, and earlier this year, I sent the following pitch to Sean Ogle asking if he would consider a guest post from me.

It worked.

Key Features:

1. Defined the relationship by letting him know I’m a long time subscriber (6 months)

2. Request to guest post on a separate line so it would stand out at a quick glance

3. Shared my research, stating the exact articles I know his audience likes and the respective social shares

4. Pitched him my idea for a similar type of article relating to entrepreneurship

5. Explained the value to his audience

This pitch was extremely detailed and would have stood out through the amount of research I had clearly done on his blog and audience before crafting a guest post title.

Additionally, I added a bold subject title to make sure it would be opened, while also stating upfront what the contents of the email would be.

Case 2: Roundup Post Invite

The opposite of a guest post, is a roundup post. This is when you invite a bunch of influences in your niche and collect their answers around a single question.

For example, if you have a beauty store, perhaps you want to ask a bunch of fashion bloggers about their favorite perfumes.

Earlier last year I constructed a roundup post featuring experts’ answer to the question – what is the first thing you ever sold to your audience.

This resulted in 39 people being featured, and a post that received over 350 shares.

Key Features:

1. Led with the question, framed flatteringly (feature you).

2. Explained in more detail the request, as well as identified the benefits to them and why they should agree.

3. Gave a deadline on when I needed the reply, to create a sense of urgency.

Case 3: Sharing A Newly Published Post

If you have a store and also to content marketing, then you should be doing outreach to grow your traffic.

But how do you find the right people to reach out to?

It’s quite common nowadays to share relevant content with people who have been featured in it or might benefit from it.

I get these requests quite often, and usually they are people just sending me the link hoping I’ll pop over.

I have a template I particularly like to use for this, and it looks like this:

Key Features

1. Thanked him for his contribution, even if it wasn’t direct (maybe I used an article of theirs).

2. Linked the title of the post to the article, reminding them how awesome it turned out, and inviting them to come over.

3. Offered an easy way to share it on Twitter if they’re busy (that’s what most people end up doing anyways, so I use Click To Tweet).

4. Identified other places they can share the post, such as inbound, kingged, etc.

As you might have noticed this worked in combination with the previous template to increase the number of influencers who shared the post after it was published.

Given that the post currently has 378 shares, I’d say it worked!

Case 4: Guest Posts, Product Reviews, Giveaways, Affiliate Program Invites

One of the assets of having a store filled with products is the ability to give people discounts.

For example, as part of getting the word out for our new prospecting and outreach tool, NinjaOutreach, we have been asking bloggers if they have room for guest posts, product reviews and giveaways.

In exchange, we have been giving them free use of the tool, as well as a billet legs which they can give to their audience and earn a commission on any sales we get.

This template, which my partner Mark has been using, converts at over 20% and serves as an “all-arounder” for lots of occasions.

Key Features

1. Introduction followed by personalization of a relevant article that Mark found. Additionally he identified the author, proving he actually looked at it and has been following the website.

2. Clearly stated the request for a guest post.

3. Built authority through references of past features (linked)

4. Offered an added bonus of a giveaway of the tool to sweeten the deal.

Case 5: Submission To Link Roundups

Lastly, another quick win for content marketing your store, is to find some link roundups in your niche, which bloggers will often have once a week or month.

I’ll email them directly a few days or so before their link round up goes live, and let them know about some of the content I have written and how it might be a great edition to their round up. That’s how I got my Triberr post featured in Matthew Woodward’s roundup. Preferably you include recent content, as many people have restrictions that the post was published in the last week or month.

Key Features

1. Identified who I am and how I came across them

2. Informed them I would be featuring their round up in a post I was writing

3. Provided them with several content pieces to choose from, with direct links, title, and description to easily add it to the post

Conclusion

If you’re wondering what all of these templates have in common, it’s the following:

1. A clear introduction and request

2. Authority and social proof

3. Personalization

4. Explained benefits to the influencer and their audience

Of course there is no sure fire way to get featured in anything, but with a proper template even some of the busiest people can be persuaded to work with you.

The result will be more traffic to your website, and ultimately more conversions.

 

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