At Browser Media, we’ve been doing outreach for longer than most digital marketing agencies because we’ve always believed in a PR-led approach, way before Google’s algorithm became this way inclined.
For anyone new to this area of work, you might find our PR & Blogger Outreach Cheat Sheet useful. It will help you approach journalists and bloggers in the most effective way possible in order to get the best results.
The key to successful outreach is building relationships and just in the same way that you wouldn’t approach everyone at a party with the same one-liner, you need to tailor your approach appropriately. Make sure you know something about who you’re targeting, why you believe it’s relevant to them and what makes you a good source of information on the subject.
If you’re able to speak to someone it can save you a lot of waiting time, wondering if your email has arrived, actually been read or replied to. In fact if you’re planning to pick up the phone and have a conversation, you’re probably already a step ahead of your competitors, many of whom will send out promotional, spammy emails which will probably be sent straight to bin.
Even if your targets are more hobby-bloggers than professional media outlets (which means you are less likely to be able to speak to them), you still need your main messages to be loud and clear within an email. There’s usually a fair amount of information to squeeze in to a readable word-count, so cutting to the chase with a brief synopsis of your idea and some information that renders you credible is the best approach. A sign off which demonstrates you mean business and includes questions about deadlines and article length will be well received.
There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to PR and outreach, so if you’re the type of person who measures success in terms of output then be my guest – throw enough mud at the wall and some of it will stick. However, if you’re looking for a more thoughtful and long term relationship with journalists and bloggers, then take your time to approach each person or site individually and you’ll be able to measure results in terms of outcomes because you’ll generate higher quality coverage and online content.
Ready to conduct your outreach with a PR-led approach?
