Many people do not realize this but outreach emails work well. The thing is you need to learn how to write them in the right way. This post will highlight 10 killer tips on how to write outreach emails and the best results from them.
Successful outreach emails are a mix of marketing, sales, and technical content. Most of all, it never reads like an advertisement. Instead, it’s written with the receiver’s best interests in mind—which naturally leads to links back to your site.
This post aims to provide you with some tips on how to write these types of emails in a way that bothers the receiver as little as possible while keeping them focused on what you want out of it in terms of providing feedback and responses.
What are outreach emails?
Outreach emails are a cost-effective way to get in touch with key people in your industry and/or niche. They are a great way to make connections and offer value to others, while at the same time getting your name in front of more and more people.
If you want to stand out of the crowd, you need to send outreach emails and, what’s more, it’s quite hard to do it properly. Here are some tips on how to write outreach emails that will help you build the trust and interest of your potential customers.
1. Understand your audience
If you are reaching out to someone through email, face-to-face, or some other medium, you need to understand who this person is and what they care about. The best time to find this information out is before you begin writing the email.
If you are not targeting the right person then there is no point in writing the content. That is why it’s important to do research and to segment your audience into specific groups before doing any work.
In a word, empathy. Before you send an outreach email, you need to know your audience. Do you know what they care about? What are your prospects experiencing? Even if you’re a freelancer trying to reach out to a client, you should still be asking questions like these.
Learn more: How to find your audience’s biggest pain points
2. Express genuine interest
Even if you’re sending outreach emails, one important thing to do is express genuine interest in that person or company. Show them why they would be interested in you.
Are you a student studying their major in college and want to get an internship? Tell them about it. Are you a designer who might be able to help with their website redesign? Tell them that as well.
Go beyond the features and benefits; express an interest in the reader by including their name and what you noticed about them. Compose outreach emails in a genuine, enthusiastic tone. When you’re genuinely interested in a person or business, it shines through in your writing.
3. Ensure your subject line is interesting
A good subject line that is specific to the reader will have much more effect and engagement than a similar article placed inside the email. Just like headlines for news stories, an interesting and/or specific title will have a larger impact on whether the person opens it or not.
Crafting a compelling subject line is critical to getting opened. The eye-catching subject line you create for your email can dramatically increase the likelihood of receiving a positive response from the recipient.
The subject line is the first opportunity you have to get your customer’s attention. It should grab your reader’s attention and convince them to open the email.
4. Keep it short and sweet
One of the best ways to grab a reader’s attention and make a good impression is to get to the point as quickly as possible. Instead of trying to be flowery and show off your knowledge, just get right down to business.
If the reader isn’t interested in what you have to say, there’s no reason for them to bother reading anything more. The key is to communicate clearly and succinctly with strong points right out of the gate.
Your job at this point is to get the prospect to read your email and not to sell them right away. Stick to the point, deliver your message, and then let them know where they can get more information.
5. Personalize it with their name and blog name
Most people receive an average of 50+ emails a day. If you’d like to stand out in the inbox, rather than copy and paste your email straight into their inbox, personalize it with their name and blog name.
If you mention your prospect’s name in your first email, they’ll be more likely to respond. It shows that you have researched them, and are not just firing off emails randomly.
For example, do something like this; Hi XXX, I write a regular blog post about non-profit fundraising. All my posts can be found on the blog. You can find my latest post here and if you have any questions please call me on (PHONE NUMBER).
6. A good email outreach tool will help
Email outreach is one of the most effective ways to get links to your website. There is no better method of acquiring links to your content. However, that’s only true if you are doing email outreach in a systematic way that makes you more successful.
A good email outreach tool will help you write emails, schedule them and send them to the contacts automatically. Essentially, you can get rid of your manual work with just a few clicks and a lot more efficiency.
It should also handle “bounce-backs” – some people will just not reply. So, an auto-forward feature that allows you to enter a new email address and resend will greatly reduce your effort.
Learn more: Email marketing automation.
7. Offer something of value
Here is one of the biggest things that are often overlooked. If you can’t offer something of value, don’t bother writing. It’s that simple. And when I say “something of value,” I mean that the outreach email should solve a problem or answer some kind of need for the readers.
The way to grab people’s attention when you are in their inbox is to offer something of value or make them laugh. Sorry, it just doesn’t work if your post is about how your cat is afraid of cucumbers.
You might attract a few ‘likes’ but you won’t get any real engagement and slowly, as time goes by you will be drowned out by others who are much more interesting.
Providing an incentive to your reader will help to move your email into their “important” inbox. Incentives can be excerpts from your book, gifts, or even discounts.
8. Sign off with something interesting
At the end of your email, include something that will make them open to the last sentence. Maybe it’s an interesting fact about yourself or a link to a related article. You can also ask them a question asking for feedback on your product.
When you do have an interesting closing or signoff, use it! Everyone likes to leave on a high note. Your goal is to allow your reader to walk away from the email feeling good about your business, brand, and product.
Signing off with something interesting can be a great way to break the silence. When I started contacting bloggers, I noticed that they were complaining about being bombarded with requests that all say pretty much the same thing.
My goal was to stand out from the crowd and give them a reason to check my email and blog out of curiosity rather than obligation.
9. Drive results with a call-to-action
A call-to-action is a means to collect and drive responses to an action. It is generally displayed at the end of an ad or direct mail piece and is designed to convince the consumer to take some action such as visit a website, respond via email, or pick up the phone.
When you finish writing, write a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of the page. This is where you tell your readers what to do next. Examples of CTAs include “Read more”, “Try it today”, “Request a demonstration” or “Book an appointment”.
You could try something like this as well; want to learn more? Sign up today for free and receive your free quick guide with content, checklists, and examples behind writing a high-converting email.
Call-to-action doesn’t always mean telling people what to do over and over again. Think of call-to-action as a way to convert visitors to customers. Whenever you have a chance, you should speak directly to the visitors and ask them to do something for you.
10. Keep track of all your emails, responses, and outcomes
Since you aren’t the first person to do outreach, there’s a high chance that someone will contact you with the same request. This is why it’s important to keep track of all your outreach efforts and results in one place so that you can review who you contacted and what they responded with.
Ever written outreach emails to prospects that never respond? It’s a frustrating experience that leaves you wondering if your outreach email lacked caché, or if they just didn’t like your message.
While it can be a tedious process, putting in the effort to write an outreach email and follow up correctly will pay off in bigger audiences and more success for your campaigns.
Why are outreach emails important?
Outreach emails aids increased traffic
When promoting a website to drive more traffic, one of the best ways to do it is by sending an “outreach email” to people. By sending them the offer, they will most likely be interested in a free service or product.
What’s more, outreach email campaigns will not only drive traffic but will also help you create raving fans who will return to your website and share your content with their friends and family.
Outreach emails are relationship builders
Outreach emails are a great way to open communication and build relationships. But while they contain information about your blog, that’s not the only reason people should read them.
They also serve as a great way to say “thank you,” and to create awareness of your content. When used correctly, outreach emails can be a gateway to new readers and new business partners.
With it, you can reach out to established movers and shakers, engage influential readers, partners, and potential clients and work on building up your reputation.
Outreach emails get you known
Everyone starts as an unknown, but it’s a matter of how quickly people find out and spread the word. An email on outreach is a good way to get known.
You are probably writing outreach emails as a bridge between the content you create and getting subscribers. You might also be sending cold emails to get people to visit your page, or as an introduction after connecting on social media websites.
In short, outreach emails are written to get people who might be interested in your product or service, know you. They get you known.
Outreach email connects you to your readers and followers
To attract readers to your blog and increase traffic, you need to have a well-written outreach email. Email is a great medium to connect with both friends and followers. It grabs people’s attention in this digital era where people are busier than ever.
Outreach emails are an excellent way to connect with your readers. You can’t build a face-to-face relationship with everyone who reads your words, but you can try to get in touch with people who are interested in what you have to say.
Learn more: How to write simple welcome series for your blog
Outreach emails build trust and interest
When it comes to business and connecting with others, email is still the most heavily used form of communication. So much so in fact, that many people claim email is an overlooked yet core business tool.
Whether you’re reaching out to an influencer, a fellow blogger, or even a customer for your business, the right outreach emails will help build trust and interest almost immediately.
FAQs
Are outreach emails worth it?
Yes, they can be if used correctly. If you are not getting a lot of responses you could be overlooking these tips and maybe the approach that you are using to reach out to customers is not right.
This outreach method has helped many startups get started and brings credibility to the startup. There are better ways to sell a product, but writing outreach emails are free if done right.
Is there a respectful and honorable way to close an email?
Yes! While ending an email with a respectful closing like “sincerely” is the closest thing to a written “thank you” that we can send, there are other options. A closing reflects your company and brand as much as the email itself, so strive to find language that is both appropriately formal and personal.
If you are unsure of whether or not to use one of these closing options, always default to “sincerely”. Also, the way you close an email should be consistent with your message.
For example, if you are offering a product or service, then end by saying something like, “We look forward to working with you on this project.” If you’re thanking them for something they did, close with, “Thanks again for your help with X”.
Would direct linking work better than email marketing?
Direct linking will indeed help improve sales. However, it does not provide the level of customer service email marketing can give.
These are two different strategies. Direct linking is more sporadic and eases traffic to different pages on your site/blog. The standard email marketing campaign sends out a monthly notification to an existing list with a post-back link that leads to your homepage.
Direct linking helps boost traffic short term (great for when you want a quick increase in traffic), and email marketing helps boost traffic long term (great for when you want to build your base slowly).
Why do people sign off on emails with their names?
Salespeople who sign off with their names are perceived as more personal by customers. The customer feels like they know the salesperson and the salesperson is working for him.
This may be most likely to occur in industries where your customer is not professional buyers and more likely to make friends than buy from you.
Email signatures help create a positive, memorable impression in an often fleeting interaction. Signature lines have been shown to influence recall and recognition, which is why people opt for the use of their name in the sign-off.
When is the best time to send outreach emails?
There is no singular best time to send an outreach email. However, in my experience, outreach emails should be sent early in the morning. This is because most people check their emails in the morning.
Also, by sending it out early in the morning, you get to send out more outreach emails for the day since more people will be online and available to answer your questions.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, your email outreach is super easy to do, however, it needs a lot of time and patience. That is why you must write your emails carefully. Writing outreach emails can be so much fun if you know what to write and when.
Take a look at this list of 10 tips on how to write outreach emails and how they can be beneficial for your brand.
Furthermore, check out my guide on how to create a successful email campaign now that you know how to write the ideal outreach emails that get results. Additionally, if you are a WordPress enthusiast, you should read my post on the best lead generation plugins to boost your email list.
A post I’ve written that highlights the benefits of building an email list may also interest you if you are undecided whether you should build one or not. Thank you for reading this article. Please share it with your friends.