How to Reach Out to Influencers Effectively
The startups who crack the ‘word-of-mouth code’ and get referrals from their users and industry mavens are ones who know what to ask for. And how to ask for it. The last part is crucial because you may know exactly what you want to achieve with your outreach and who to contact to make it happen.
However, in order to get influencers to care, you need to know not just what to ask but how to broach the subject. Influencer outreach is an interesting combination of PR, SEO and audience development. So if your message is lackluster then that alone can stop your influencer marketing campaign dead in its tracks.
If the outreach email is so crucial, why do so many startups get it wrong? Why are so many growth hackers’ attempts at influencer outreach end up yielding minimal-to-no results? Because they use the wrong messages. Read below to find out how you can hack such messages.
* The success of your outreach emails rests on two components: effective copywriting and some PR know-how
* As far as copywriting is concerned, the following can help you write emails that get read:
* Your subject line is the most important part of your outreach email. If your subject line copy is drab then what you write in the email itself won’t matter as no one will ever open it
* Personalize the email subject as much as possible
* Make it simple so that it communicates your message clearly. If you get all fancy-shmancy then the effectiveness of your subject line will suffer. Remember, always go for clarity over cleverness
* Use the ‘cliffhanger principle’ to get your subject line to build suspense and make the reader want to know what comes next
* Make it seem urgent and use language that is actionable. Your goal is to get the influencer to open your email
* Once your influencer has clicked into the email, your job is to seal the deal:
* Think of your email as a landing page. As with a landing page, there needs to be a high degree of message match between your subject line and your email copy
* Make it personal. For influencer outreach this is especially important as, unlike other marketing tactics, you’re looking to establish a one-on-one relationship
* Sell the benefits of your content and how this can be of interest to the influencer’s own audience
* Keep your email brief, don’t waffle
* Use bullet points in order to make the copy even more digestible
* From a public relations standpoint, here are some hacks that you can use:
* This may seem obvious but do reference relevant content on their blog or publication – you want to somehow tie in your content with this. This is part of establishing context for why you’re reaching out to that influencer specifically
* If possible, provide exclusivity to the journalist or blogger. If this isn’t possible, then think of another way to sweeten the deal
* Don’t give away everything – your job is to captivate the influencer in order to follow up with you
* Make your call-to-action crystal-clear – tell them what you want them to do with your content
* If you use all of the above to reach out to targeted influencers then your success rate is bound to be high
* Before you know it, you’ll be rubbing shoulders with the mavens in your industry and referrals will be pouring in
* That’s the power of a well-crafted message!
