Content Promotion Tips & Posts from the BuzzStream Blog https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/category/blogger-outreach/ Mon, 03 Jun 2024 15:07:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 232036770 C.H.A.M.P. Outreach Method (That Got Me Thousands of Links) https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/champ-outreach-method/ Fri, 02 Feb 2024 14:43:59 +0000 https://www.buzzstream.com/?p=6881 Are you sending a ton of emails and waiting for responses? We’ve all been there. Unanswered emails can quickly become a complicated mess of variables. Is the subject line not grabbing them? Does the data need to be more compelling? Did I reach out to the wrong person? Is my email not grabbing their attention? After you’ve found their email address, focus on your email messaging. I’ve been sending emails for years and getting pretty good links. I’ve also had thousands of emails that have gone unread and unanswered. So, I decided to develop a handy acronym for my methods. I call this the C.H.A.M.P. outreach method. This method uses five checks to ensure your email clicks with your target audience. C.H.A.M.P. stands for: Connect Help Adapt Make it scannable Personalize With this method, an optimized email would look like this: Before I get into the details of each check, the C.H.A.M.P. outreach method is tailored towards a targeted, personalized email approach (sometimes called the sniper method) vs a bulk send (or shotgun method). However, this method has components you can apply to a bulk send approach. Without further ado, here is the C.H.A.M.P. outreach method. C – Connect Make sure your email immediately connects with the reader. Connecting isn’t exactly personalizing (as that will come later). The connection we want here is contextual. This connection should be natural. If you set out to build relevant links, for instance, there should be a clear connection between your pitch and your target. An immediate, snap connection should answer most people’s question, “Who the heck are you, and why are you in my inbox?” For example, if I write about travel and receive an email pitch, it must be immediately apparent why you are contacting me. However, depending on the type of […]

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Are you sending a ton of emails and waiting for responses? We’ve all been there. Unanswered emails can quickly become a complicated mess of variables.

Is the subject line not grabbing them?

Does the data need to be more compelling?

Did I reach out to the wrong person?

Is my email not grabbing their attention?

After you’ve found their email address, focus on your email messaging.

I’ve been sending emails for years and getting pretty good links. I’ve also had thousands of emails that have gone unread and unanswered. So, I decided to develop a handy acronym for my methods.

I call this the C.H.A.M.P. outreach method. This method uses five checks to ensure your email clicks with your target audience.

C.H.A.M.P. stands for:

  • Connect
  • Help
  • Adapt
  • Make it scannable
  • Personalize

With this method, an optimized email would look like this:

anatomy of an outreach email

Before I get into the details of each check, the C.H.A.M.P. outreach method is tailored towards a targeted, personalized email approach (sometimes called the sniper method) vs a bulk send (or shotgun method).

However, this method has components you can apply to a bulk send approach.

Without further ado, here is the C.H.A.M.P. outreach method.

YouTube player

C – Connect

Make sure your email immediately connects with the reader.

Connecting isn’t exactly personalizing (as that will come later). The connection we want here is contextual. This connection should be natural. If you set out to build relevant links, for instance, there should be a clear connection between your pitch and your target.

An immediate, snap connection should answer most people’s question, “Who the heck are you, and why are you in my inbox?”

For example, if I write about travel and receive an email pitch, it must be immediately apparent why you are contacting me.

if your target is a travel writer, the connection should be immediate

However, depending on the type of email you are sending, you might not have an immediate connection as obvious as the one in the image above. So, it’s OK to remind them about the connection.

call out the connection

Or if you’re lucky, maybe you know the person already and can remind them where and how you know them. For example, I recently received an email from someone who made a clear connection in both the subject and first lines of the email, reminding me that I tagged them in a LinkedIn post.

two clear connection points within an outreach email

You’ve gone too far if it takes 2-3 lines to connect.

If it takes more than a line to explain the connection, it probably isn’t a fit as a prospect.

H – Help

The name of the game is to provide value in some way. Your outreach strategy should never make the other person do all the work.

At BuzzStream, we use the term “Relationship stage” for a reason.

When you perform email outreach, you are building a relationship. However, some forms of email outreach, especially link building, may seem one-sided. How am I helping someone by asking them for a link?

Help can mean many different things in the context of the C.H.A.M.P. method. It can mean providing value by:

  • Pitching them a great shareable asset that they can then share on their blog, impressing their readers
  • Pitching some helpful data they can share to get more views on their story
  • Giving them a free trial to a tool
  • Offering to write an entire post for them

Help can also mean providing clear instructions for your ask. For example, in resource page outreach, broken link building, link moves, link reclamation, unlinked mentions, and other white hat link building tactics, helping means showing your target exactly where to find everything.

Tell them the exact page you are referring to on their site. If it’s a large site, provide the link. When the target page has multiple sections, suggest a section where you believe your resource would be a good fit.

show them where everything is

Call out specific stats the journalist should know if you pitch a survey or data piece. Proactively provide a supporting quote from your CEO so the journalist doesn’t need to. We’ve outlined many of these in our email outreach templates post.

The name of the game is making it as easy as possible for your target to take action.

A – Adapt

Matching the style and language within a conversation has been used in sales and psychology to better connect with people.

Tailor your tone and presentation to the type of prospect that you’re reaching out to.

So, if somebody uses very bubbly language in their blog posts, lean into it. If someone is very formal, match your tone.

match the tone

The above is an extreme example to prove a point, but the fact is that people respond better if you talk to them like a person, not a prospect on a list.

If you’re stuck finding the correct tone, AI can help with this. Copy and paste a few blog posts or stories from your target’s site into a tool like ChatGPT or Bard, asking them to analyze the style and tone.

Then, prompt them to write your email matching the target style and tone. (Don’t think it’s possible? We ran a study on using AI for pitches, and the results were very surprising.)

M – Make it Scannable

People view emails on different devices. Some might be on the train, scrolling on their phone, while others are home on a desktop with a 27-inch monitor.

It’s no surprise that users scan web pages. An American Press Institute study found that users understood 100% of the sentence, which was eight words long.

At 14 words, comprehension dropped to 90%!

Large blocks of text are immediately off-putting.

Consider the difference between these two email messages. One is on a desktop, the other on a mobile device:

comparing an email on desktop v mobile

Although both are rough to read, the mobile experience could be better. The long sentences more than double the number of lines before a paragraph break.

Some simple ways to make things scannable (and to help with accessibility guidelines):

  • Break up large paragraphs into 1-2 sentences max
  • Break up long sentences
  • Use bullet points
  • Use some bold text to make things stand out

Again, AI can come in handy with a task like this. Ask ChatGPT to take the same example email and make it more scannable.

Here is the same example from above after prompting ChatGPT to make the whole passage scannable:

comparing a streamlined email

Using bullets and bold text makes the email infinitely more scannable.

P – Personalize

Finally, we’ve come to personalizing your email. I could spin 10,000 words about the importance and impact of personalization, but instead, I’ll condense it down to a few tips for quick ways to personalize.

The cleanest, easiest personalization structure I’ve used throughout the years is to start each email with:

I saw you published [Recent, Relevant Post Title]. I really liked [specific thing you enjoyed]+ [why I enjoyed it.]. 

easy personalization technique for CHAMP

The more specific, the better. I’ll touch on this later.

Tip: This type of personalization isn’t always needed – especially when writing a media pitch for journalists.

Here are some other tips:

Read their bio. If you connect with someone based on their interests, you can easily connect there. I once found someone who was a fellow Phillies (baseball) fan, and we connected about that.

Read their most social posts. Sometimes, you can find notes about what they are working on or doing outside of work, like recent vacations. (Insights from social posts can even help prevent pitching content they might not personally agree with, politically, etc.)

Get their names right. Databases can be ancient and need to be updated. A prospect might prefer a nickname vs what appears on a public database (especially one they never wanted to be on in the first place).

People like to see their names. One study found that adding names into subject lines can increase open rates by almost 25%.

Reference a post that they’ve written recently. The most recent post is likely fresh in their memory. So you can extract information and personalize your email based on that.

Be specific. If you like something about an article your prospect wrote or shared, be specific and include details.

General statements sound inauthentic. Avoid statements like “It’s interesting” or “You do great work”.

not genuine outreach

Tip: BuzzStream gives users various ways to personalize their email easily using merge fields.

Ready to be a C.H.A.M.P.?

 

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How to Find Someone’s Email in 2024 https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/find-someones-email-address/ Fri, 05 Jan 2024 16:15:23 +0000 https://www.buzzstream.com/?p=5416 You can find anything on the internet, right? It sure seems that way. So why is it so hard to find people’s email addresses? Some people, especially freelancers, don’t like to be found (or emailed). Others may want their contact information seen but haven’t taken the time to update it. Nevertheless, with new tools seemingly being released daily, finding someone’s email address has never been easier. Whether you are doing blogger outreach, digital PR, link building, or even sales, these 12 techniques can help identify the missing piece of the puzzle. 1. Use an Email Lookup Tool Email lookup tools exist to help simplify finding email addresses —mainly professional contact information. They typically use a mix of public data, crawling technologies, and databases to find and verify email addresses. Hunter Hunter is a free lookup tool that allows you to find email addresses associated with a specific domain. One added feature we like is that if you know the website associated and the name, Hunter will suggest the most common email format used within an organization (which you can then verify!) They also have a free SEO extension. Tip: Hunter also integrates directly with BuzzStream, helping you search for emails within the search process. You need an account with Hunter for this to work. You get 25 monthly searches, and then you’ll at least need a Starter plan at $34/mo. Voila Norbert Voila Norbert is a free tool that finds individual email addresses if you know the name and domain. While it has fewer features than Hunter, it still gets the job done well. You simply enter the person’s name and domain, and it attempts to find the correct email. Voila Norbert also has a handy Chrome extension. You get 50 attempts for free. A paid account gives you access […]

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You can find anything on the internet, right?

It sure seems that way. So why is it so hard to find people’s email addresses?

Some people, especially freelancers, don’t like to be found (or emailed). Others may want their contact information seen but haven’t taken the time to update it.

Nevertheless, with new tools seemingly being released daily, finding someone’s email address has never been easier.

Whether you are doing blogger outreach, digital PR, link building, or even sales, these 12 techniques can help identify the missing piece of the puzzle.

YouTube player

1. Use an Email Lookup Tool

Email lookup tools exist to help simplify finding email addresses —mainly professional contact information.

They typically use a mix of public data, crawling technologies, and databases to find and verify email addresses.

Hunter

hunter home

Hunter is a free lookup tool that allows you to find email addresses associated with a specific domain. One added feature we like is that if you know the website associated and the name, Hunter will suggest the most common email format used within an organization (which you can then verify!) They also have a free SEO extension.

Tip: Hunter also integrates directly with BuzzStream, helping you search for emails within the search process. You need an account with Hunter for this to work.

hunter integration

You get 25 monthly searches, and then you’ll at least need a Starter plan at $34/mo.

Voila Norbert

norbert

Voila Norbert is a free tool that finds individual email addresses if you know the name and domain. While it has fewer features than Hunter, it still gets the job done well. You simply enter the person’s name and domain, and it attempts to find the correct email. Voila Norbert also has a handy Chrome extension.

You get 50 attempts for free. A paid account gives you access to features like API and bulk finder.

Get Prospect

get prsopect home

GetProspect is a platform with a B2B database of 200M prospects, with many solutions to find an email address.

A free monthly subscription is available with the ability to find up to 50 valid email addresses per month. Paid subscriptions start at $49 per month with 1,000 valid email addresses.

A few other tools:

  • Find Emails – Similar to others, this tool helps find email addresses based on a person’s name and domain. It offers a Chrome extension to find emails directly from your browser.
  • Contact Out – This tool leans on LinkedIn for contact information and has newer AI integration to help find emails. Contact Out also has a browser extension.

No, ChatGPT can’t find someone’s email address for you.

At this point, ChatGPT can’t find someone’s email address for you for obvious privacy concerns.

no chatgpt can't find email addresses for you

Some tools claim to use AI to help find addresses, however.

2. Use BuzzStream and Integrate Right Into Your Outreach Process

One of the features link builders and digital PRs like best about BuzzStream is the ability to find an email address while you are prospecting — without a secondary tool.

As you add contacts to your prospect list, either using the Chrome extension BuzzMarker or directly in the app, BuzzStream will automatically search for any available contact information and ask if you’d like to add it to the contact. Then, you can move right into writing your blogger or media pitches.

buzzmarker find someone's email

Tip: As mentioned above, BuzzStream integrates with Hunter to expand the reach of your contact-finding search.

  • Ready to streamline your outreach and link building campaigns? Start free trial
  • 3. Find the Email Format

    Many websites and companies use the same format for their email addresses. For instance, ours is [firstname] @ buzzstream.com.

    But, if you don’t know the format, you can use an email permutator tool and test the permutations.

    Metric Sparrow

    email permutator from metric sparrow

    Metric Sparrow’s Email Permutator gets its from the work of Rob Ousbey’s Google Sheet. You enter the target name, and then it spits out a list of possible permutations.

    The tool is entirely free.

    Here are a few other similar email permutation tools that work that same way if you prefer to try out some others:

    4. Verify the Format

    It’s wise to verify before you email a contact you’ve never contacted. Sending emails to too many inactive or incorrect addresses will hurt your sender reputation and get your emails directly into spam inboxes. New email requirements from Google and Yahoo make keeping spam reports low even more important.

    Luckily, several free tools on the web help with email address verification. Depending on your process, you can email an address list in bulk before you send or verify individual emails as you go.

    When verifying, here are a few results that you’ll see from a lot of tools:

    Tools for Verifying in Bulk

    These bulk verification tools typically cap the number of verifications you can do before signing up. You can sign up for one you like or stack the free ones.

    Bouncer gives five free verifications without signing up and 100 free if you sign up for a free account.

    Bouncer’s verification tool provided an accurate report of my test email address.

    Here are a few other free verification tools:

    • Emailable gives 250 free verifications for a free account sign-up.
    • MailerCheck offers 200 free verifications for signing up for a free account.
    • Proofy offers 100 emails for free.
    • Snov.io provides 50 free verifications with signup.
    • NeverBounce can verify 10 for free before booking a demo.

    Tools for Individual Email Verification

    The tools below provide quick verification for single emails if you prefer to do it on the fly.

    Tip: BuzzStream automatically finds verified email addresses only. So you’ll never have to worry about sending undeliverable emails!

    5. Use Google Search Operators

    Googling used to be my first tactic for finding an email address, but as tools have gotten more sophisticated, this has fallen on the list. But it’s still incredibly effective if you know where and how to look. Here are a few search operators:

    If you know the website:

    • site:companywebsite.com + “name” + contact
    • site:companywebsite.com + “name” + email

    If you only know their name, look for terms someone might use in an author byline:

    • “name” + “email me”
    • “name” + “contact me”
    • “name + “connect”
    googling for someone's email address

    You can also use the previously mentioned Email Permutator’s results and plug them directly into Google and see if you come up with anything.

    6. Search Social Media for Email Addresses

    The above tactic may surface email addresses on some social media accounts. But you can spend much time getting lost in social media if you don’t know these tricks. Here’s how and where to find contact info on each major social media platform.

    Find an Email on Facebook

    Many bloggers don’t include email addresses on their websites but have one on Facebook.

    To find an email address on Facebook, you can find email addresses on the page’s homepage under the intro section.

    finding someone's email on facebook

    If it’s not listed there, click on the About.

    Find an Email on LinkedIn

    Many Chrome Extensions integrate directly with LinkedIn to provide email addresses and pull contact information, but you can easily find it yourself.

    To find a contact’s email address on LinkedIn, go to the Contact Info section on their profile page.

    linkedin email address is in the about page

    Note that you need to be connected to the person in order to find their email address on LinkedIn – which has its benefits and drawbacks.

    For instance, you can connect with someone on LinkedIn, mentioned something unique in the connection message, and then email them and reference the same thing.

    Find an Email on X

    To find an email address on X, go to the Advanced Search page. Enter the account of the person you wish to search under Accounts, and then in the Words section, try words like:

    • Gmail
    • Contact me
    • Email me
    • Write me
    use the advanced search field for X

    Snov.io has a Chrome Extension, which uncovers email addresses based on the account name.

    Find an Email Address on YouTube

    Most active YouTube accounts will have an email address on their channel page in their About section, though the information could be much easier to find.

    If you’re having trouble locating the email, go to the profile page and click on the arrow next to the sentence that appears below the channel title. You’ll then see the About page pop up. Then click on the “View email address,” which will further prompt you to verify that you are not a robot.

    Youtube's hidden email finding feature

    If you aren’t a robot, it will display the email address!

    7. Ask a Company’s Site Chat

    Many brands incorporate customer service chats directly into their website. If you’re stuck, you can ask the chat to get connected to the contact you are looking for or help provide you with the proper email address.

    I like this approach because it is straightforward. For this, we’d recommend not directly revealing that you are actively pitching something; instead, say that you have an inquiry about the blog.

    chat box

    Note: Issues arise when the site’s chat is either an AI bot or monitored by a third party without all the contact details.

    chatbot fail

    In cases like the above, try to push to speak to a live person.

    8. Ask On Social Media

    Some brands are very active on social media; you can simply ask to connect to the correct person. This tactic is essentially the same as the chatbot approach but can be more fruitful if you catch an active social media team.

    The brand may not have messaging enabled on some platforms, like X. Look for it just below their profile banner. You’ll find the message option next to the Follow button on Instagram.

    asking customer service on x

    Be selective with your choices and match where the brand will listen. B2B brands are more active on X or LinkedIn, whereas B2C brands are more active on social platforms like Facebook or Instagram.

    9. Search the Company Website

    You can sometimes find an email address hidden on a company site if you know where your contact works. You will typically find individual addresses from companies with smaller teams or solo bloggers.

    Check their About Us, Team, or Contact page for email addresses.

    If you cannot find it on any of those pages, you can search their site with a site:search on Google. An alternative is a Chrome extension appropriately named Search the Current Site and search for the words “email” or “contact.”

    Our contact info can be found on our About page.

    buzzstream contact page

    Publisher sites tend to list their authors with accompanying email addresses.

    10. Subscribe to Company Newsletters

    After subscribing to a company newsletter, you typically receive an email from an active email account. In some cases, the email will come from an actual person who monitors the email responses.

    For example, below is one from Nick LeRoy who has a great SEO newsletter called SEO For Lunch. I reached out to Nick directly from the newsletter to let him know that I enjoyed it and we’ve since connected multiple times.

    SEO for lunch email address

    Smaller or newer newsletters will typically have more active listeners on the other end.

    11. Check Relevant Online Directories

    Depending on the industry you are looking for, you may be able to find a directory available online.

    For example:

    Crunchbase has a generic email for buzzstream

    You will likely run into more generic email addresses, but depending on the kind of outreach you are doing, this may be all that you need.

    12. Send To a Generic Company Email

    The generic company email address (typically something like info@site.com or contact@site.com) can still work when all else fails. You’ll have the most luck with this technique for a smaller business where general company email addresses are more likely to be monitored in real-time.

    Remember – if it’s easy to find someone’s email, they probably receive many emails. Info@ emails are the most common type of email, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear back immediately.

    using the contact form feature

    Tip: Similar to the generic company email would be the contact form. You typically find these on the Contact or About page. BuzzStream lets you easily track and add your message in the contact form.

    How to Find Email Addresses Based on Prospect Type

    Depending on the outreach campaign you are working on, you’ll most likely start to identify patterns for where your contacts like to add their email addresses.

    Here are some patterns I’ve noticed throughout the years:

    DIY, Parenting, Lifestyle, Beauty, Travel, Health Bloggers

    Most DIY, parenting, lifestyle, beauty, and other similar bloggers who don’t list their email addresses on their websites list them on Facebook.

    facebook in about page

    Simply toggle to the About tab.

    Tech, Finance, Business Bloggers

    If someone is active in the tech or B2B space but it’s hard to find their email address on their site, you’ll have the best luck trying to find them on X or LinkedIn.

    However, many thought leaders participate in guest blogging. So, you can find them via an author byline on a guest post or a former post on X. In each case, you can use search operators on Google to find them. Try searches like “name” + “guest contributor” or “guest writer.”

    finding guest contributor bylines

    The above search surfaced an author bio page from Ahrefs. My email isn’t listed there, but my X handle and LinkedIn is.

    In-house journalists

    Many in-house journalists will have their contact info right in a byline on the publisher’s site. If you can’t find it there, you can look for their email addresses right in their X bio.

    A quick search for “send me tips” uncovers a slew of journalists eager for your pitches.

    in house journalists on twitter

    Tip: These get spammed all day, so be direct and concise.

    Freelance journalists

    If you can’t find a freelance journalist’s email on the media site, look for their portfolio website.

    You may have to search the page for contact information manually. Use the aforementioned site:search or Search the Current Site Chrome extension.

    Also, note that they (smartly) don’t like to get spammed, so they will sometimes display their email address like this: vinnero (at) gmail (dot) com.

    freelance journalist

    (Note: I blurred this out so the journalist doesn’t get spammed.)

    Government Sites, Schools, Libraries

    Webmasters typically monitor resource pages for government sites, libraries, and other web pages that list many links. You can sometimes find a webmaster’s email right in the footer of the target page or site.

    webmasters in the footer
    Tip: Webmasters are very busy and can sometimes respond slowly, so don’t be afraid to send a follow-up.

    Can You Find Someone’s Email Through Their Number?

    Finding someone’s email address through their phone number is not straightforward and can be challenging due to privacy and data protection laws. However, there are a few places to check:

    Social Media and Messaging Apps: Some social media platforms or messaging apps like WhatsApp might link a phone number to a profile. You could find it this way if the person has linked their email address to their public profile.

    Professional Networking Sites: Platforms like LinkedIn allow you to search for individuals by phone number, especially if you’re already connected, or the number is associated with a business profile.

    Reverse Phone Lookup Services: Online services like NumLookup offer reverse phone lookup. These services provide information associated with a phone number, including an available email address. However, you typically end up with a person’s name, and then you can start your search from the start of our list.

    Why is Finding the Right Email So Important?

    The correct email can make or break a campaign.

    The apparent impact of incorrect emails is that your campaign will fail because you aren’t reaching the right people. But perhaps you did not get a response because you reached out to the wrong person. Or your subject line wasn’t clickbaity enough. You can go down a rabbit hole with this many variables. Start your campaign on the right foot with the correct address.

    Then, you can move on to crafting a winning email template.

    Don’t Be Afraid to Use Email Tools

    Scaling your outreach approach when finding someone’s email address, especially for link building, blogger outreach, and digital PR, requires balancing efficiency and personalization.

    There’s no need to do everything manually. It may feel more effective, but it’s not efficient.

    Ditch the spreadsheets, utilize tools like Hunter, and integrate them into your process with BuzzStream. These tools can automate finding email addresses based on names and domains, making your life easier and improving your campaigns.

  • Ready to streamline your outreach and link building campaigns? Start free trial
  • The post How to Find Someone’s Email in 2024 appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    15 Must-Have Blogger Outreach Tools for 2024 (Free and Paid) https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/blogger-outreach-tools/ Thu, 28 Dec 2023 18:26:29 +0000 https://www.buzzstream.com/?p=6644 Over 70 million new blog posts are published each month — and that’s just WordPress alone. With so much content getting produced, it’s easier than ever to find relevant blogs and bloggers open to sharing your content. However, in the ten years I’ve been doing blogger outreach in various industries, I’ve found one common theme: blog outreach can be time-consuming for the underprepared. That’s why building a tool kit is essential. Without the right tools, you’ll waste time on menial tasks and diving down research rabbit holes. Here are my go-to blogger outreach tools and some tips on how to use them effectively. Best All-in-One Blogger Outreach Tool I’ve worked at agencies, worked with agencies, worked in-house, and hired freelancers for blog outreach help. I eventually took a job with BuzzStream because BuzzStream has been my go-to blogger outreach and link building tool. Built for 1. BuzzStream – Prospecting, Emailing, Relationship Building, and Reporting BuzzStream is the best all-in-one blogger outreach tool for agencies, in-house teams, and freelancers. The tool has features that help with every step of the blog outreach process, from prospecting to emailing to reporting. Here is what stands out to me as the features that help blogger outreach teams the most: Prospecting and Blog Discovery – integrates with Moz, Ahrefs With Buzzstream, you can upload your prospects or use their helpful research tool to discover blogs and blog posts that fit your target audience. You can vet the sites using integration with Moz and Ahrefs for information like Domain Authority, number of external links, or blog publish frequency. Contact Information Discovery – integrates with Hunter Once you have your blog list, Buzzstream can find email addresses and social accounts based on what is available on the site. You can even sync up your Hunter.io account to […]

    The post 15 Must-Have Blogger Outreach Tools for 2024 (Free and Paid) appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    Over 70 million new blog posts are published each month — and that’s just WordPress alone. With so much content getting produced, it’s easier than ever to find relevant blogs and bloggers open to sharing your content.

    However, in the ten years I’ve been doing blogger outreach in various industries, I’ve found one common theme: blog outreach can be time-consuming for the underprepared.

    That’s why building a tool kit is essential. Without the right tools, you’ll waste time on menial tasks and diving down research rabbit holes.

    Here are my go-to blogger outreach tools and some tips on how to use them effectively.

    Best All-in-One Blogger Outreach Tool

    I’ve worked at agencies, worked with agencies, worked in-house, and hired freelancers for blog outreach help. I eventually took a job with BuzzStream because BuzzStream has been my go-to blogger outreach and link building tool. Built for

    1. BuzzStream – Prospecting, Emailing, Relationship Building, and Reporting

    buzzstream home

    BuzzStream is the best all-in-one blogger outreach tool for agencies, in-house teams, and freelancers. The tool has features that help with every step of the blog outreach process, from prospecting to emailing to reporting.

    Here is what stands out to me as the features that help blogger outreach teams the most:

    Prospecting and Blog Discovery – integrates with Moz, Ahrefs

    With Buzzstream, you can upload your prospects or use their helpful research tool to discover blogs and blog posts that fit your target audience.

    You can vet the sites using integration with Moz and Ahrefs for information like Domain Authority, number of external links, or blog publish frequency.

    Contact Information Discovery – integrates with Hunter

    Once you have your blog list, Buzzstream can find email addresses and social accounts based on what is available on the site. You can even sync up your Hunter.io account to help find even more contact info.

    Sending Emails – with a Chrome Extension

    Once you have your list of prospects and contact information, you can set up email sequences with follow-ups based on fully customizable email outreach templates. You can email prospects from the Dashboard, but I like using the Chrome extension Buzzmarker. Using the Buzzmarker allows you to craft emails without leaving the blog page, so you can easily reference any information from the target blog post within your email.

    Tracking Relationships and Results – within the app

    Remember, real people are receiving these emails on the other end. BuzzStream gives you complete visibility into the emails sent to websites so that you can maintain relationships and, more importantly, avoid spamming the same bloggers with multiple campaigns at one time (this is especially helpful at larger agencies or large teams).

    The app will also tell you when you’ve received coverage by looking for backlinks to your target posts.

    Pricing: Free trial. $29/mo for the Starter plan.

    Prospecting and Blog Discovery Tools

    The first step to blogger outreach is finding blogs to pitch. There are a variety of tools available.

    2. Ahrefs’ Content Explorer – Finding Top Linked Blog Content

    ahrefs home

    Ahrefs’ Content Explorer feature is a must-have tool for content marketing and blog discovery. Enter a keyword, and Content Explorer displays top posts along with information like Domain Rating (DR), number of backlinks, organic traffic, traffic value, and other helpful metrics for determining if the site is valuable as a link building target.

    Then, there are a handful of helpful filters to hone in on the content types that best fit your content strategy. For instance, you can filter by Publication Date to find the most recent content and active blogs for outreach. Or, you can filter by author if you want to identify specific content by an author to reference in your pitch.

    Pricing: $99/mo for Lite Version

    3. BuzzSumo’s Content Analyzer – Identifying Top Shared Content

    buzzsumo home

    BuzzSumo can find top-linked content, but its natural strengths are its social metrics.

    Like Ahrefs, BuzzSumo’s Content Analyzer allows you to search based on a keyword to identify top-linked content across the web. But BuzzSumo also displays social sharing data from X, Facebook, Pinterest, and Reddit.

    You can then drill down into each shared post to identify users who have shared content. With this list, cross-check to find bloggers that have shared on social media but have yet to link to it from their blog.

    Pricing: $199/mo

    4. SparkToro – Identifying Influencers

    sparktoro's home page

    SparkToro was co-created by former Moz Co-Founder Rand Fiskin and can be used in your blogger outreach campaigns to identify influencers.

    Rand and the team learned from their experience with Moz that to truly expand your reach, you should look at what your users are talking about, not what they search for on Google. So Sparktoro uses data from social networks like X, LinkedIn, or Facebook to help you identify what topics your audience follows and interacts with on social.

    Taking this unique perspective, you can pinpoint key influencers to collaborate with for blogger outreach, content promotion, guest blogging, or other partnership opportunities in a way that other tools can’t.

    Pricing: Free, $38/mo Personal plan

    5. Google w/ advanced search operators – Uncovering Guest Post Opportunities

    google homepage

    By using specific search queries, such as “topic + write for us” or “topic + guest post,” you can discover sites actively seeking guest contributors.

    But you can further level your game with Google search operators like inurl: and intitle: operators.

    The Inurl: search operator finds you URLs with your search operator, and intitle: operator finds pages whose title includes your search operator. In each case, you can more definitively uncover blog posts related to the topic of your choice.

    Tip: Use Google search operators when building your Research lists in BuzzStream. Our tool de-duplicates all pages, collects contact info, and provides metrics.
    search operators into the research phase as a link building tool

    Pricing: Free

    Blog Validation Tools

    As you build your outreach list, shaving down your target list is critical to generating responses from bloggers. These are some tools that make the validation process quicker and more efficient.

    6. Moz – Measuring Site Authority

    moz

    Moz’s Domain Authority (DA) is a widely used industry metric built to help SEOs understand a site’s ability to rank. It isn’t the same as how Google ranks pages, but it has shown to be very directionally accurate.

    DA is one way to assess a website’s perceived strength and credibility for a blogger outreach campaign. Simply enter the target site into the Link Explorer or Domain Analysis tools.

    Moz’s Link Explorer tool can also help assess the quality and relevance of a blog’s backlink profile. If you see a high Spam Score, consider not trying to build a link from the site.

    Tip: BuzzStream integrates Moz metrics directly into the platform. You can see Domain Authority, the number of inbound links, and the number of links passing value for every prospect you add to a project.
    buzzstream integrates moz metrics directly into the platform

    Pricing: Moz Pro has a 30-Day Free Trial, then $99/mo Standard tier

    7. Semrush – Measuring a Site’s Traffic

    semrush homepage

    Semrush, another powerful SEO tool with a similar feature set to Ahrefs, can help estimate the traffic to a particular page or site. Semrush’s Traffic Analytics compiles metrics like Visits, Pages/Visit, Avg using clickstream data. Visit Duration, all of which can help determine whether or not a site is worth investing your time in pitching.

    Or, enter the target blog into their Domain Overview tool to see information like Organic Search Traffic and number of backlinks.

    Pricing: $129/mo for Pro tier

    8. Siege Media Chrome Extension – Validating a Target Site

    siege media validation tool

    Siege Media’s Chrome Extension provides a quick and efficient way to evaluate potential outreach targets using on-page signals. Content marketing agency Siege Media built the tool based on the insights of years of blogger outreach from the agency, and it is indeed extremely accurate.

    The scorecard assesses the quality of a website or blog directly from the browser, considering factors such as words with intent to collaborate, number of nofollow links, etc.

    It still takes a keen eye to manually quality and validates a site for outreach, but this tool gives an excellent head start.

    Pricing: Free

    Content Ideation

    Even if you have the right person to email, you still need a solid, shareable idea to get a response. Here are two tools to help you brainstorm content ideas with backlink potential.

    9. Ahrefs’ Content Explorer – Identifying Linkable Content Ideas

    Ahrefs content explorer

    In addition to the prospecting capabilities, Ahrefs’ Content Explorer can help you identify content ideas that will likely get links.

    Enter a topic or competitor site to see top-linked content over time. You can easily click on the backlink profile to determine whether the content drives valuable links.

    Analyzing these successful pieces gives insights into content that resonates with audiences and will likely earn links. Then, you can replicate and expand on the content to pitch to target bloggers.

    Pricing: $99/mo for Lite Version

    10. Exploding Topics – Finding Trending Topics

    exploding topics home

    Exploding Topics, co-founded by Brian Dean from Backlinko, helps with the blog ideation process by identifying emerging trends and topics that might not yet be mainstream.

    This tool analyzes data across various platforms to spot these growing trends and allows you to ideate content around these trending topics.

    You can search trends by topic or, with a paid plan, search for your keywords and topics.

    Pricing: Free with limited features, $39/mo for Pro tier

    Blog Content Creation Tools

    Creating compelling blog content for outreach is as crucial as the outreach itself. Below are some of the best tools to ensure high-quality, engaging content supports your outreach efforts.

    11. ChatGPT – Guest Post Outlining

    chatgpt

    For the most part, OpenAI’s ChatGPT powers most AI-driven copywriting tools, so it’s best to learn how to use it.

    ChatGPT shouldn’t be used to replace writing altogether, but it can be a valuable tool for guest posting by assisting in writing initial drafts or outlines for guest posts. You can prompt ChatGPT with existing content to help build a brand voice for your guest blogs, ensuring they align with the target blog’s style. Or ask it to rewrite your content based on the new voice.

    Furthermore, ChatGPT can assist in researching topics and generating ideas for blog posts. However, remember it doesn’t use keyword or backlink data to drive its ideas.

    Pricing: Free version, ChatGPT Plus is $20/mo

    12. Canva – Image Creation

    canva home

    Visual content is more shareable. And, if you are concerned about Google’s Generative Search taking over your content, create something that Generative Search cannot replicate: visual content.

    Canva is a super simple yet powerful tool that helps create visually appealing content like infographics, diagrams, and other post images to take your content to the next level.

    These visuals can enhance your blog posts, making them more engaging and shareable when pitched.

    Pricing: Free version, $19.99/mo for Canva Pro

    13. Pixlr – Photo Editing

    pixlr home

    Only some types of bloggers prefer images. Some bloggers and industries (like travel or beauty) prefer photography as their visual medium. That’s where Pixlr comes in.

    Pixlr is an online photo editing platform that functions like a more accessible, free Photoshop. It operates directly in your web browser, so you don’t need to download any software.

    Pixlr provides various editing tools, including filters, overlays, and text options, that you’d find in Photoshop but has a user-friendly interface, making it more accessible for amateur graphic designers out there.

    Pricing: Free, with Premium upgrades

    Email Discovery and Validation Tools

    Once you have a list of prospects, finding accurate email addresses ensures the highest deliverability rates for your outreach campaigns.

    14. Hunter – Finding Email Addresses

    hunter home

    Hunter.io is a tool designed to help discover and verify contact information. If you are having trouble finding your blogger’s email address, it will search for emails associated with the domain and verify the validity of the contact info.

    The piece I like the best is that it also presents you with the format of the email addresses on the site, so if Hunter cannot find the specific email, you can at least give an educated guess.

    Tip: Hunter.io’s integration with BuzzStream further streamlines this workflow. By syncing your Hunter account with BuzzStream, you can use your credits towards revealing contacts within BuzzStream outreach campaigns.
    hunter integration

    Pricing: Free for 25 monthly searches, $34/mo starter tier

    15. NeverBounce – Validating Email Addresses

    neverbounce

    An accurate, clean email list is the most effective way to ensure your blogger outreach gets seen.

    NeverBounce is an email validation software that cleans and verifies your email list, significantly reducing the chances of email bounces. This focus on better emails protects your email sender’s reputation and prevents your emails from going right to spam.

    Pricing: Varies based on number of emails. See pricing page for details

    What Features Should I Look For in a Blogger Outreach Tool?

    Blogger outreach tools should help with some or all of the following tasks: blogger discovery tools (based on keywords, niche, and metrics), email campaign management, template personalization, reporting and link tracking, and CRM functionalities. Buzzstream does all of the above.

    In this post, we’ve also added content creation and ideation, as both are integral to the blogger outreach process, but you can use separate tools for those.

    Can I Automate Outreach With Blogger Outreach Tools?

    Using email scheduling, bulk sending, and follow-up sequences, you can automate outreach with blogger outreach tools like Buzzstream. But, personalized emails are still the best approach to successful blogger outreach.

    Is Blogger Outreach Spam?

    Blogger outreach itself is not spam when done correctly (and ethically). The correct way to reach out to bloggers is through personalized, relevant information that offers value to the recipient.

    What Are the Best Practices for Blogger Outreach?

    The best practices for blogger outreach are similar to those you would follow when receiving an email yourself. Here are the top three tips that we recommend for all outreach campaigns.

    Personalize: Don’t waste time on generic pitches. Find out what bloggers write about and ensure your pitch is related to their industry. Be specific.

    Offer Something of Value: Don’t just ask for something with nothing in return. Offer content, insights, or collaboration opportunities to benefit the blogger.

    Keep it Short and Sweet: Don’t over-complicate your outreach email. Simply tell the prospect why you are reaching out and what you want.

     

    The post 15 Must-Have Blogger Outreach Tools for 2024 (Free and Paid) appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    The #1 Tip To Running A Successful Influencer Outreach Campaign https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/tips-for-influencer-outreach/ Wed, 04 Aug 2021 14:04:44 +0000 https://www.buzzstream.com/?p=6345 It can be challenging to find a marketing article that doesn’t mention influencer marketing lately. Influencer marketing has become the rising star in the world of marketing. The catalyst of this rise is the growing trend of consumers connecting with and trusting influencers over brands.  Influencer marketing can generate both revenue and brand awareness. The downside? The crowded influencer space is getting more challenging to navigate, especially for non-Fortune 100 budgets. However, with a focus on niche marketing and great listing building, you cannot only compete with the larger brands but surpass expectations. What is my secret? It’s all  about the list! The Number One Tip – Focus On The List I spend 80% of my outreach time list-building. That probably sounds like overkill but here is the reality: without a solid list, your outreach campaign will not perform. I wish I could tell you there were tools out there to create the list for you or that you could simply purchase a list. Unfortunately, there aren’t, and trust me I tried all those tactics. From purchasing lists to joining influencer networks, I never get the same results as when I implement the strategies below. 6 Steps For Effective Listing Building #1 Define business objectives As with any successful marketing campaign, having a solid foundational strategy is an integral part of your success. The most common objectives for influencer marketing are: Brand awareness User-generated content Building community Increase social presence SEO ranking for specific keyword phrases Driving sales/revenue At Robbins Interactive, we focus on driving revenue, which strongly shapes the influencers who make it on our lists. #2 Set a budget Your budget will impact the types of influencers you will be adding to your list. Questions you should ask in the budget process are: Do I have a budget […]

    The post The #1 Tip To Running A Successful Influencer Outreach Campaign appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    It can be challenging to find a marketing article that doesn’t mention influencer marketing lately. Influencer marketing has become the rising star in the world of marketing. The catalyst of this rise is the growing trend of consumers connecting with and trusting influencers over brands.  Influencer marketing can generate both revenue and brand awareness. The downside? The crowded influencer space is getting more challenging to navigate, especially for non-Fortune 100 budgets. However, with a focus on niche marketing and great listing building, you cannot only compete with the larger brands but surpass expectations. What is my secret? It’s all  about the list!

    The Number One Tip – Focus On The List

    I spend 80% of my outreach time list-building. That probably sounds like overkill but here is the reality: without a solid list, your outreach campaign will not perform. I wish I could tell you there were tools out there to create the list for you or that you could simply purchase a list. Unfortunately, there aren’t, and trust me I tried all those tactics. From purchasing lists to joining influencer networks, I never get the same results as when I implement the strategies below.

    6 Steps For Effective Listing Building

    #1 Define business objectives

    As with any successful marketing campaign, having a solid foundational strategy is an integral part of your success. The most common objectives for influencer marketing are:

    • Brand awareness
    • User-generated content
    • Building community
    • Increase social presence
    • SEO ranking for specific keyword phrases
    • Driving sales/revenue

    At Robbins Interactive, we focus on driving revenue, which strongly shapes the influencers who make it on our lists.

    #2 Set a budget

    Your budget will impact the types of influencers you will be adding to your list. Questions you should ask in the budget process are:

    • Do I have a budget for sponsored posts?
    • Based on my budget, should I focus on macro or micro-influencers?
    • Am I willing to engage in long-term compensation partnerships such as ambassador partnerships? (These campaigns require a monthly retainer.)
    • Will I be compensating on a performance basis using such tools as affiliate marketing (performance-based compensation)?

    Since I work with small to medium-sized businesses, my lists focus on driving revenue as well as search engine ranking for my clients’ keyword phrases. This will establish an organic and passive revenue stream down the line.

    #3 Select a niche and immerse yourself in it

    There are over 570 million blogs with 7 million new blog posts being launched every day. Instagram has 1 billion users. YouTube has 2.3 billion users.

    What do those large numbers mean? One, there is unlimited potential in influencer marketing. Two, you need to focus on a niche so you don’t get overwhelmed.

    Preventing overwhelm is not the only benefit to focusing on a niche:

    • You are more likely to find micro-influencers with strong engagement.
    • There is an increased probability of response and activation of your influencers.
    • Ability to authentically promote your brand.
    • Increased brand credibility with experts within your niche.

    #4 Select the channel that will be most effective for your goals

    Once you select your niche, the next step is to determine what channel you want to work with to achieve your results.

    If you are looking for brand awareness and a quick influx in sales then Instagram Stories and Reels would be a great fit.

    Looking for the long tail benefit of SEO rankings? Focus on blogs and YouTube.

    Have a product that is very specific to a niche and/or needs further explanation to convert? I recommend focusing on Facebook Groups, YouTube, and blogs.

    #5 Focus on engagement vs followers

    The number of followers for your influencer should be low on your list of requirements. When reviewing potential influencers, it is important to review engagement over followers. Not only can followers be purchased, but smaller (or micro) influencers often have stronger engagement and authority with their followers than someone who has a larger following. A successful influencer campaign is one where the audience trusts the influencer. True relationships cannot be faked.

    One of the free tools I use to check engagement is Inzpire for Instagram and Hype Audit for Tik Tok. But don’t stop there!

    In addition, you want to evaluate the quality of the engagement. Are the comments single or two words? Do the comments seem generic like “Ooo I need to try that?” or authentic like “Oh my gosh, I love this product, the grapefruit smell is intoxicating!”? There are Influencer Pods that have other influencers comment in order to boost their posts for brands and rankings. For this reason, you don’t want to look only at the engagement percentage but take the time to review the actual engagement.

    #6 Review aesthetics vs recommendations

    As a brand, you want to ensure that posts made on your behalf are encouraging your desired call to action (CTA). An attractive picture that yields only comments about the actual picture versus the products and generates ‘likes’ and hearts is not a solid CTA.

    The exception to this rule is if your call to action is user-generated content.  As I mentioned earlier, my campaigns focus on revenue generation. An attractive picture used without persuasive copy will not be considered a successful campaign for my clients.

    Don’t worry, there are some great tools to help you build this list. Please see my favorites below.

    • Buzzstream –  I love their Research List and the seamless integration with my Buzzstream outreach and contacts.
    • GroupHigh – This tool allows you to filter based on followers, domain authority, channel, and more. It also find the email address for you which makes the list-building process faster. While this tool has a CRM component, I simply save and export my lists for my main CRM software.
    • NinjaOutreach – Similar to Grouphigh with the ability to search by domain authority, followers, keywords, and more.  A little more expensive than Grouphigh but seems to have a larger database. The only downside is it seems to filter based on posts versus main site keywords.
    • Ahrefs – Yes, this is an SEO tool but one I also use for list building. They have a great Keyword Explorer but my favorite is the Competitive Domains option which I find a perfect fit and want more. The only downside is this tool is for sites and blogs only.

    Once you have your list, it is time to create your marketing outreach campaign which should focus on targeting and customization as well as multiple touchpoints. And well, that is an entirely new post 🙂

    While there is no “easy button” in influencer marketing, with the proper preparation and strategy, it will be one of your top-performing channels.

    The post The #1 Tip To Running A Successful Influencer Outreach Campaign appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    AI Writes a Pitch https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/ai-writes-a-pitch/ Wed, 06 Jan 2021 12:25:15 +0000 http://www.buzzstream.com/?p=6024 As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more commonplace at the office and in everyday life, questions continue to arise: Will AI ever understand causation, or will AI take over the world and leave humanity in damnation? For media professionals, whose inboxes are flooded with a daily dose of hundreds of subject lines, the musings are less existential. Can AI write a subject line – a good one at that – and follow with a solid pitch?  To determine the quality of writing produced by AI, BuzzStream and Fractl asked 500 public relations specialists, journalists, and other media professionals to rate a series of subject lines and pitches generated using OpenAI’s GPT-3 text generator. Participants did not know any of the text was AI-generated. Read on to uncover why the question we should be asking is, can AI do it better than humans?  AI-Produced Subject Lines Are Valuable  Finessing a subject line may be the No. 1 priority for media professionals because, without the perfect one, emails face the same destiny – the trash pile. Using our AI technology, we generated three subject lines and tested each with our respondents.  The majority (79%) of professionals said they would open the email based on the subject lines, and 62% revealed they were better than subject lines they wrote themselves or recently received. So, what made our AI-produced subject lines valuable?  According to 88% of survey participants, the length of the subject lines were good to excellent. Although 71% also reported the quality being high or very high, the length is an important factor because achieving the point in “six to eight words” makes it more probable that your email will get read.  Although a short, well-written subject line may get a media professional far, it will not do any good if it is […]

    The post AI Writes a Pitch appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more commonplace at the office and in everyday life, questions continue to arise: Will AI ever understand causation, or will AI take over the world and leave humanity in damnation? For media professionals, whose inboxes are flooded with a daily dose of hundreds of subject lines, the musings are less existential. Can AI write a subject line a good one at that and follow with a solid pitch? 

    To determine the quality of writing produced by AI, BuzzStream and Fractl asked 500 public relations specialists, journalists, and other media professionals to rate a series of subject lines and pitches generated using OpenAI’s GPT-3 text generator. Participants did not know any of the text was AI-generated. Read on to uncover why the question we should be asking is, can AI do it better than humans? 

    AI-Produced Subject Lines Are Valuable 

    Finessing a subject line may be the No. 1 priority for media professionals because, without the perfect one, emails face the same destiny the trash pile. Using our AI technology, we generated three subject lines and tested each with our respondents. 

    The majority (79%) of professionals said they would open the email based on the subject lines, and 62% revealed they were better than subject lines they wrote themselves or recently received. So, what made our AI-produced subject lines valuable? 

    According to 88% of survey participants, the length of the subject lines were good to excellent. Although 71% also reported the quality being high or very high, the length is an important factor because achieving the point in “six to eight words” makes it more probable that your email will get read. 

    Although a short, well-written subject line may get a media professional far, it will not do any good if it is one in a million of the same. As it turns out, 69% of respondents reported that the subject lines AI produced for our study were novel, and 76% said they were valuable. 

    AI Writes Surprisingly Good Pitches

    To discover if AI could maintain its positive track record with media professionals, we generated six emails using the GPT-3 text generator. Once again, 62% of our survey respondents shared that the AI-produced text – this time, email pitches were better than the last they received or wrote themselves. 

    Three-fourths considered the AI pitches valuable, and 72% deemed them novel. Also interesting is that 79% of respondents said the AI-produced pitches were convincing. Writing an email pitch worth reading is one thing, but crafting one that persuades a journalist or media professional to buy into your campaign is what success in marketing looks like and AI passes the test.

    For Media Professionals, AI Creates New Beginning 

    It’s unclear exactly how these AI developments will impact the digital PR realm, but one thing’s for sure: Authenticity and authority are going to matter more than ever. Keep prioritizing your brand building (including your personal brand) and establishing trust now.

    If AI pitches do become the norm, perhaps it’ll be a matter of spending more time on the creation of high-quality content to pitch and identifying the best journalists to reach out to. We’re in an extremely versatile industry, so as long as we continue to focus on what’s best for our audience, we should still be poised for success.

    Methodology and Limitations 

    We collected results from 500 Media professionals working in digital PR, journalism, digital marketing, and promotions. The survey was designed with the intent of testing human perceptions of AI-generated subject lines and email pitches presented to them. Respondents were not informed that subject lines and emails were AI-generated. Limitations due to self-reporting apply, including exaggeration, telescoping, and selective memory. Subject lines and emails were generated using GPT-3, a text-generating program from OpenAI. GPT-3 was given a set of prompts in order to generate email pitches, but for efficiency, not every variation of each prompt was used. GPT-3 output could vary based on word count and word variation of prompts. 

    Fair Use Statement 

    If media professionals trust AI to complete the tedious day-to-day work, what doors open for the marketing industry? Join in on the conversation by reading our research on AI-produced subject lines and email pitches. When you find something good enough to share for noncommercial reuse, please link back here so readers may view the project in full and review the methodology and limitations.

    The post AI Writes a Pitch appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    Best Practices for Finding and Reaching out to YouTubers That can Help Your Brand https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/best-practices-for-finding-and-reaching-out-to-youtubers-that-can-help-your-brand/ Thu, 26 Mar 2020 14:44:01 +0000 https://www.buzzstream.com/?p=5852 Being an online marketer, it’s up to you to find new and more effective ways to market your brand. Sticking to traditional advertising channels will cause you to drown out in the crowd. Most marketers think that they should be looking for content publishers/bloggers to promote their businesses, but there is one very significant group that they are missing out on: YouTubers. There is a huge trend in video-based influencers taking over as major players in the industry. And one of the most popular platforms that these influencers use? YouTube. YouTube is the second most visited website in the world only after Google. Not utilizing the potential of this powerful platform would be a mistake. In this article, we are going to talk about the steps and best practices you can follow to find the right YouTuber to represent your brand. We will also talk about how you can reach out to them effectively to form a successful collaboration. How To Find The Right YouTuber For Collaboration Step 1: Set Goals The first step you need to take before you start any kind of marketing campaign is to create a timeline and plan for your outreach. This will help you set concrete goals, targets, etc. Get creative and create a timeline graphic using a tool like Venngage. A graphic like this will allow you to convey your timeline clearly to your team, and in this case, the YouTube influencer as well.  Image Source Use these timeline graphics to hold you and your team accountable. My personal goals for this phase is to reach out to 10 influencers per month with a persistent (but not annoying) cadence. I’m hoping that I can get responses and continue the conversation with at least three of the influencers. The others that didn’t respond should […]

    The post Best Practices for Finding and Reaching out to YouTubers That can Help Your Brand appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    Being an online marketer, it’s up to you to find new and more effective ways to market your brand. Sticking to traditional advertising channels will cause you to drown out in the crowd.

    Most marketers think that they should be looking for content publishers/bloggers to promote their businesses, but there is one very significant group that they are missing out on:

    YouTubers.

    There is a huge trend in video-based influencers taking over as major players in the industry. And one of the most popular platforms that these influencers use? YouTube.

    YouTube is the second most visited website in the world only after Google. Not utilizing the potential of this powerful platform would be a mistake.

    In this article, we are going to talk about the steps and best practices you can follow to find the right YouTuber to represent your brand. We will also talk about how you can reach out to them effectively to form a successful collaboration.

    How To Find The Right YouTuber For Collaboration

    Step 1: Set Goals

    The first step you need to take before you start any kind of marketing campaign is to create a timeline and plan for your outreach. This will help you set concrete goals, targets, etc.

    Get creative and create a timeline graphic using a tool like Venngage. A graphic like this will allow you to convey your timeline clearly to your team, and in this case, the YouTube influencer as well. 

    Image Source

    Use these timeline graphics to hold you and your team accountable.

    My personal goals for this phase is to reach out to 10 influencers per month with a persistent (but not annoying) cadence. I’m hoping that I can get responses and continue the conversation with at least three of the influencers. The others that didn’t respond should be bumped for six months before you reach out again. 

    Step 2: Fix Your Budget

    Once your plan and timeline are in place, it’s time to fix a budget for your outreach. There are different levels of YouTubers based on their popularity, number of subscribers, and the average number of video views

    A majority of Youtube influencers will request sponsorship money rather than being paid on a performance basis. YouTubers that have millions of subscribers and millions of average video views will charge you much more compared to smaller YouTubers. If you have a budget of $10,000, do you want to do a test with two influencers at $5,000 each? Or would you like to test  20 influencers at $500 each? 

    Personally I like to test on a wider scale. If I can find 10 influencers that will take $1000, I’m going to get a good mix of results. Some will be stinkers; just chalk it up to a learning lesson. However, there are going to be few that blow up and make you look real good.

    The important thing to keep in mind here is that you need to first identify your target audience, and then choose the category of YouTubers that caters to your specific audience.

    Step 3: Identify Your Target Audience

    Suppose you own a business that sells high-end, luxurious, and expensive make-up. Would you rather target an audience of:

    1. A) women
    2. B) women between the ages of 30-50 years, who have already shown interest in expensive cosmetics?

    The second group would make more sense since there is a higher chance of those women purchasing your products. 

    Create a target customer profile and then look for influencers with an audience most similar to your created profile. Find a free customer avatar creator that will help you narrow down exactly who you should be targeting. 

    Google is constantly identifying Youtube viewers and categorizing them. They share that data freely (not all of it) with each Youtube channel. When you reach out to influencers, request they send you stats on their audience. If they can’t provide that to you, they probably aren’t a partner you want to work with.

    Step 4: Find Prospective YouTubers

    Now that you have set your budget and created your target customer profile, it’s time to find prospective YouTubers to pitch to.

    You can do this in two ways. The first is using Google search and YouTube search to type in your keywords and find a list of influencers you could pitch to. 

    Pretty straightforward right? 

    But the problem with this method is that you get an unfiltered list that you need to personally check for audience, number of subscribers, and other information.

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    The second way (and the simpler method) is to use special tools with lists and filters that help you pick a handful of YouTubers according to the criteria you enter.

    These tools have a database of YouTube influencers along with a ton of information about them such as their subscriber bases, locations, and average video views.

    My first stop is always SocialBlade. This free tool will give you quick stats on all the Youtube channels, along with a grade for the influencers. I really love the “similar channels” feature that will give you a list of 20 other channels that might be good prospects. 

    If you are willing to invest other resources, here are some other tools that make life even easier

    BuzzSumo is an excellent resource for finding all social stats on each influencer. You’ll be able to find the right contact info and keep track of who you reach out to as well.

    FameBit is a content platform that helps you easily connect with influencers that are ready and willing to make partnership deals. You can negotiate the terms and price right on their platform.

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    GrapeVine a great influencer platform focused on Instagramers.

    TubeBuddy is a Youtube video optimization tool that helps influencers maximize the SEO value. I use this to view how much care the influencers take in optimizing each video.

    Influicity is more of a turnkey solution that will find the right influencers for your brand and negotiate the deal on your behalf. They excel with podcasts and other avenues besides Youtube as well.

    Influenza has a really nice solution to turning the keywords you want into a nice list of potential partners.

    Step 6: Study the Youtuber and Build a Relationship

    It may look like a certain YouTuber is the perfect choice for your brand with their target audience and their average number of video views. However, it is crucial that the influencer resonates with your brand and can portray your products or services in a way that is consistent with your brand image.

    Remember: always choose compatibility over popularity.

    It also pays to take time and build a relationship with the influencer. You could create a podcast and host popular YouTubers in your niche. This will allow you to build a good rapport with them and their followers. 

    You can then cross-promote with them hosting you on their YouTube channel so that both your brand as well as the influencer get recognized by each other’s audiences.

    I have personally found that offering influencers something upfront is key to kicking off the partnership on the right foot. It can be something small like a free product, or a linkback to their site. You want to get them invested, not only in your product, but in your relationship.

    Step 7: Reach out to Youtube Influencers Strategically

    If you own a small brand (one that’s not yet well-known), you will need to build authority before you approach video influencers. Remember that you are spending time and energy to find and reach out to these influencers, and all efforts will be in vain if you don’t do it strategically.

    Local citations are a great way to link to your business online. They could mention your address, phone numbers, and website address. 

    Local citations could be in the form of business directories, social media mentions, photo citations or video citations. They help you improve your SEO and gain organic traffic.

    Before reaching out to video influencers, try to obtain local video citations with a service like Loganix to build authority. 

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    This will help you provide samples and expertise to your target influencers, rather than cold pitching them with nothing to show or offer.

    Take a sales outbound approach where you start sales engagement tactics on YouTubers. The Outbound Sales Playbook by Reply has some great tips on beginning an effective outreach campaign.

    Here is one of the tips from the book:

    “Even the most complex sales process can be automated, without losing any of the personalization and quality that gets you results.”Outbound Sales Playbook

    Sounds great, doesn’t it? What a perfect way to save time and build a strategic process!

    In your outreach, be sure to offer a calendar invite that allows the prospect to schedule a meeting on their own time. 

    For example, tools like Woven allow you to send a link to your calendar to schedule meetings with ease. 

    This ensures a higher conversion rate on your campaigns rather than back and forth of scheduling. 

    Step 8: Set Expectations & Setup for Success

    When you first communicate with the prospective video influencer, you need to be clear and set your expectations. This will save both you and the influencer a lot of time down the line.

    Setting clear expectations of what you want the YouTuber to promote and a general idea of how you would like it to be done will help them understand you and your brand better.

    You’ll also need to provide all the assets they need to succeed. Free products are always a must offer. Give them the proper tracking links to utilize in descriptions. Let them know how long you expect their videos to be and what selling points they should be focusing on.

    One big expectation I like to set is the definition of success. If my company investing money upfront, I want to see sales coming from this campaign. I want this influencer to bring the energy our product deserves so that sales can thrive and we can replicate this partnership deal again. If the influencer is not invested in bringing the energy to their audience, the sales will suffer and future sponsorship will be off the table.

    Step 9: Negotiations

    Never settle for what the influencer’s initial request for sponsorship. They are trained to shoot for the stars and will ask for a crazy amount of money, just in case some big brand is willing to pay it. 

    Go in there with a level head and a target deal based on their audience. If you cannot reach a middle ground, move on.

    I like offering up hybrid deals for every sponsorship. For example, let’s say a Youtuber with 100,000 subscribers wants $1000 for a 30 second read in the middle of a video. No deal. Instead I would counter-offer with 1 minute read, $400 upfront, and commissions for all sales they bring in. 

    The key here is to present it in the right light. They will have the opportunity to make MUCH more money if they can bring in sales. This will also motivate the influencer to be invested in making sales. Their tone will be much more positive and upbeat if they have skin in the game.

    Step 10: Leave Room For Creativity

    There are many ways by which YouTubers collaborate with and promote brands:

    • Unboxing Videos

    You could send the influencer your product and they could do an unboxing video where they show their subscribers the package they received and what your product looks like at first glance.

    This is a great way to build curiosity and excitement for a new product in the market.

    • Reviews

    The next kind of video is a review video where the YouTuber uses your product or service for a while and gives his or her viewers an unbiased review of what is good and/or lacking in it.

    It is always good for them to give an honest review as this shows that the YouTuber is genuine and has no intention of tricking his or her followers by making false claims about your product.

    For example, Zoma Sleep uses the strategy of sending a free product (in this case, their sports mattress) to popular YouTubers in their niche to review. In fact, I reached out to one of their sleep experts, who detailed their process of finding Youtubers to help their brand: 

    “On YouTube, we’ve designed our outreach strategy to focus on individuals who are experts in the sleep and mattress industry. They’re generally more receptive to reviewing our mattress since they’re able to understand the unique design and technology we incorporate into our products. While a creative pitch might pique their interest, they’re ultimately more excited in the granular product differentiators since they know that’s what their audience is looking for too. Plus, we look to build longer-lasting relationships with them and regularly offer the inside scoop on new product launches. This has been really effective in getting us exposure to consumers who wouldn’t have heard about our brand otherwise.” 

    James Nguyen, sleep expert at Zoma 

    In this video, Slumber Yard (a YouTube channel that reviews mattresses), was sent the sports mattress in exchange for a detailed review.

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    • How-To Videos and Tutorials

    YouTubers also can use your products in a tutorial video. For example, if you own a baking utensil company, they can use your baking utensils and other products in a tutorial video on how to make a chocolate truffle pastry.

    • Contests and Giveaways

    Another way YouTubers can promote your products is by hosting contests or giveaways where they ask viewers to share your business’ social media posts along with their posts for a chance to win your products for free.

    Step 11: Optimize For SEO

    Lastly, every YouTube video should be optimized for SEO. This will help people find the video when they search for the target keywords on Google.

    For instance, in the example of Zoma Mattress, they use hashtags and other keywords in the description box such as ‘sports bed’, ‘mattress for athletes’, ‘sports mattress’, etc. to make the video SEO optimized. 

    Tags are also an extremely important factor to the ranking, so make sure the video description includes some of the tags you list.

    Maybe the most important key is the description box. It’s vital match the title keywords, tags, and wording in the description to get the most eyes on a video.

    Conclusion

    Reaching out to YouTube influencers to promote your products or business is a great idea since they are all the rage these days. Video influencers are capable of driving buying decisions.

    To find and reach out to the most suitable YouTubers for your brand, you need to set goals and fix a budget. Then once you have identified your target customer, you need to look for YouTubers with a similar target audience.

    Build a relationship with the YouTuber if possible, and then reach out to them strategically. Let them know your expectations right from the start. Find the best ways in which you can make this collaboration successful. Once the video is created, remember to optimize for SEO so that the video can be easily found by people interested in your product.

    The post Best Practices for Finding and Reaching out to YouTubers That can Help Your Brand appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    Reaching Your Audience: Which Online Marketing and Advertising Tactics Actually Work? https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/reaching-your-audience-which-online-marketing-and-advertising-tactics-actually-work/ https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/reaching-your-audience-which-online-marketing-and-advertising-tactics-actually-work/#comments Thu, 12 Mar 2020 16:05:23 +0000 https://www.buzzstream.com/?p=5843 We’ve all been there. We click through to a website we know will interest us — whether it be a news article, a video, or a blog post — and we’re immediately confronted with some kind of marketing tactic. It could be a pop-up prompting us to subscribe to a newsletter or an ad playing before a video. It could be an influencer talking about an affiliated company or a prompt to download a free ebook in exchange for your email.  These marketing tactics are a part of the browsing experience, which has developed from being almost exclusively one-sided to becoming a proposed exchange of personal data and content.  In BuzzStream’s latest survey of 1,001 people, we teamed up with Fractl to discover the online marketing tactics Americans are happy to participate in — and which ones they avoid.  Exploring the American Email Inbox   The first thing we sought to learn more about was the American email inbox. We’re all confronted with newsletters every day — some we love more than others. And as marketers, we often cite email as the best way to reach our customers. In our survey, we learned some surprising findings:  Two-thirds of Americans have a separate email address for “junk” mail.  7 in 10 people unsubscribe immediately after getting a free resource from a website. Almost half of people only read 25% or less of the email newsletters they receive.  7 in 10 people don’t give out their email address because they don’t want to be contacted by salespeople, while another 57% of people are afraid hackers will take their data.  So, the next time open rates are low, consider that you may have landed in someone’s “junk” inbox. Or maybe, if you have a high volume of unsubscribes, your audience is simply signing up […]

    The post Reaching Your Audience: Which Online Marketing and Advertising Tactics Actually Work? appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    We’ve all been there. We click through to a website we know will interest us — whether it be a news article, a video, or a blog post — and we’re immediately confronted with some kind of marketing tactic.

    It could be a pop-up prompting us to subscribe to a newsletter or an ad playing before a video. It could be an influencer talking about an affiliated company or a prompt to download a free ebook in exchange for your email. 

    These marketing tactics are a part of the browsing experience, which has developed from being almost exclusively one-sided to becoming a proposed exchange of personal data and content. 

    In BuzzStream’s latest survey of 1,001 people, we teamed up with Fractl to discover the online marketing tactics Americans are happy to participate in — and which ones they avoid. 

    Exploring the American Email Inbox  

    The first thing we sought to learn more about was the American email inbox. We’re all confronted with newsletters every day — some we love more than others. And as marketers, we often cite email as the best way to reach our customers. In our survey, we learned some surprising findings: 

    • Two-thirds of Americans have a separate email address for “junk” mail. 
    • 7 in 10 people unsubscribe immediately after getting a free resource from a website.
    • Almost half of people only read 25% or less of the email newsletters they receive. 
    • 7 in 10 people don’t give out their email address because they don’t want to be contacted by salespeople, while another 57% of people are afraid hackers will take their data

    So, the next time open rates are low, consider that you may have landed in someone’s “junk” inbox. Or maybe, if you have a high volume of unsubscribes, your audience is simply signing up for a free resource and choosing not to stick around.  

    Privacy Concerns

    The debate about the Internet and privacy continues to be a concern for many Americans. Our survey revealed that 46% of people give a fake phone number when asked to provide their number online. We also learned that when asked to provide their name online, 36% of people use a fake one. 

    In addition, if you’re experiencing lower sign-ups, the barrier to entry may be too high for some consumers. Nine in 10 people have stopped filling out an online form halfway through because it asked too many questions. 

    Would You Rather?

    We decided we wanted to pit a few advertising/marketing approaches against each other. How much more valuable is an email versus a phone number? Do people prefer to watch ads or would they rather give away some of their privacy? We learned: 

    • When it comes to personalization versus generic, Americans are split: 48% would rather receive personalized ads based on their browsing history, while 52% would rather see generic ads. 
    • Almost 95% of people would rather give their email address away instead of their phone number. 
    • While 7 in 10 people would rather watch a 30-second advertisement than give away their email address, 88% would do the same if asked to provide their phone number. 

    Social Media and Influencer Marketing 

    There’s a reason why influencer marketing is thriving in 2020. Our data says more than half of people have bought a product or service that they found out about from an influencer. 

    Almost 1 in 4 people have donated to an influencer or content creator they admire. This shows that these influencers are supporting themselves primarily through sponsorships rather than relying on their audience to pay them directly. 

    The most popular platform for purchasing from influencers was YouTube, followed by Facebook and Instagram. 

    All About Ads

    Ads are typically people’s least favorite part of the browsing experience. There’s nothing worse than going to a site and being assaulted with ads — especially ones that play noise. This is probably why 61% of people use an adblocker when browsing the web. 

    When it comes to listening to our favorite podcasts, over half of people always skip ads and 30% of people say they sometimes do. 

    Using an ad-blocker isn’t always possible on some news sites that largely rely on their advertising income to support their business. 40% of people say they won’t pay for ad-free journalism. It seems the right amount to charge would be between $1 and $5 per month, as 42% of respondents from our survey said that’s how much they would pay. 

    The Online Marketing Tactics Americans Participate In

    When something has a relatively low barrier to entry, for example sharing a Tweet or commenting on a Facebook post, people are more likely to do it. When it comes to something more involved, like attending a webinar or paying for an online course, fewer Americans partake. 

    The top marketing tactics that Americans will willingly participate in are sharing or commenting on a social media post and exchanging their email for free content.

    People were least interested in paying for anything, whether it be ad-free content or online education. 

    Conclusion

    As marketers, it’s important to know which tactics Americans don’t mind being subject to and which ones are a harder sell. 

    From our study, we learned that some people use fake names and phone numbers when filling out online forms, and some people stop filling out a form altogether when it asks too much. We learned that a lot of people skip ads when listening to podcasts, and a decent amount of people would be willing to pay for ad-free journalism. We learned that having separate email accounts for “junk” and for personal use is commonplace, and that influencer marketing seems to be effective, especially on YouTube. 

    We hope you take these insights into consideration when mapping out your marketing activities for the future, and of course, continue doing what you know works for your business. 

    Methodology and Fair Use Statement

    We surveyed 1,001 Americans using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Our participants spanned all four generations. 45% of our participants were male and 54% were female. The data we are presenting relies on self report. No statistical testing was performed, so the claims listed above are based on means alone. As such, this content is purely exploratory and future research should approach this topic in a more rigorous way. 

    Our team worked hard on this study. If you enjoyed this report and would like to share it, please link back to this page in your coverage.

    The post Reaching Your Audience: Which Online Marketing and Advertising Tactics Actually Work? appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    Podcast Guesting – Why it Should be Part of Your Content Marketing Mix and How to Setup Your Pitch https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/podcast-guesting-why-it-should-be-part-of-your-content-marketing-mix-and-how-to-setup-your-pitch/ Tue, 03 Mar 2020 12:03:01 +0000 https://www.buzzstream.com/?p=5838 The question, “What’s your favorite podcast?” has become as popular of an ice breaker as “What’s your favorite TV show?” This is because podcasting awareness has exploded in recent years, so it’s a perfectly normal question to ask while making small talk. To really bring the podcasting trend into perspective, a recent study from Statista found that, in 2006, only 22% of consumers knew what a podcast was, but by 2019 over 64% of consumers were aware of podcasting. And, by 2020, it’s estimated that podcast listening will grow to 132 million people in the United States – that’s a lot of subscribers!  As podcasts grow in popularity, so does the demand for finding engaging podcast guests that are able to share their expert opinion, thoughts and ideas. And although podcasting has become a very crowded market, you’d be surprised how few businesses are actually leveraging these opportunities. Maybe this is because we’re all so focused on trying to start a podcast of our own?  I digress… Unfortunately many people tend to think that podcast guesting is a low impact, high effort task. This can’t be any further from the truth. While it certainly involves a few hours of prep work, the benefit of being featured on a podcast that is popular amongst your target audiences is worth its weight in gold.  If you consider yourself a subject matter expert, there are three main reasons why you should be incorporating podcast guesting into your content marketing mix, along with some considerations for once you get started with this strategy. 1. You’ll extend your reach to highly engaged audiences  Podcasts have built-in audiences of active listeners. Although many of us listen to podcasts while walking our dogs, cooking and doing other tasks, this activity actually makes listeners more receptive. According to […]

    The post Podcast Guesting – Why it Should be Part of Your Content Marketing Mix and How to Setup Your Pitch appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    The question, “What’s your favorite podcast?” has become as popular of an ice breaker as “What’s your favorite TV show?” This is because podcasting awareness has exploded in recent years, so it’s a perfectly normal question to ask while making small talk.

    To really bring the podcasting trend into perspective, a recent study from Statista found that, in 2006, only 22% of consumers knew what a podcast was, but by 2019 over 64% of consumers were aware of podcasting. And, by 2020, it’s estimated that podcast listening will grow to 132 million people in the United States – that’s a lot of subscribers! 

    As podcasts grow in popularity, so does the demand for finding engaging podcast guests that are able to share their expert opinion, thoughts and ideas. And although podcasting has become a very crowded market, you’d be surprised how few businesses are actually leveraging these opportunities. Maybe this is because we’re all so focused on trying to start a podcast of our own?  I digress…

    Unfortunately many people tend to think that podcast guesting is a low impact, high effort task. This can’t be any further from the truth. While it certainly involves a few hours of prep work, the benefit of being featured on a podcast that is popular amongst your target audiences is worth its weight in gold. 

    If you consider yourself a subject matter expert, there are three main reasons why you should be incorporating podcast guesting into your content marketing mix, along with some considerations for once you get started with this strategy.

    1. You’ll extend your reach to highly engaged audiences 

    Podcasts have built-in audiences of active listeners. Although many of us listen to podcasts while walking our dogs, cooking and doing other tasks, this activity actually makes listeners more receptive. According to a BBC study, brand mentions in podcasts deliver an average 16% higher engagement and 12% higher memory encoding than the surround content. This is because the intimate, conversational nature of the podcast environment creates an elevated state of engagement, even for brand mentions. They’re also moments in which we’re not traditionally being advertised to and many times the host will incorporate a personal anecdote or experience using the product, so it makes the ad more memorable and personable. 

    While your first instinct might be to pitch podcasts that can be found on Spotify’s Top Podcasts page, I recommend reaching out to lesser-known podcasts that discuss a niche topic that’s related to a topic you’d like to discuss. This is definitely the best route if you don’t have a lot of on-air experience. But even more importantly, it’s the narrow similarities that make deeper connections. If you share a very specific interest with the producer of the podcast and their audiences, the conversation is going to be more meaningful to those participating and those who are listening. 

    For example, I recently had the pleasure of working with Arielle Spiegel from CoFertility. CoFertility had just launched and Arielle wanted to help spread the word about this amazing resource, so I began researching podcasts that discuss the topic of fertility and found Beat Infertility

    Beat Fertility is all about empowering those experiencing infertility and is hosted by Heather Huhman, a career and workplace expert who specializes in helping people who dream of becoming parents navigate the complicated world of fertility treatments and other paths to parenthood. The podcast has an engaged audience of listeners who, while they’re all on their own unique journey, they share a similar experience and are compassionately engaged with each episode.

    Here’s the message I sent to Heather:

    When pitching to be a podcast guest, I incorporate the following elements into my message:

    1. In the subject line, make it clear that you’re pitching a podcast guest.
    2. Always link to the professional page of the person you’re pitching (or your own personal page if you’re pitching yourself). This could be a personal website, LinkedIn page or author bio on an outlet or blog.
    3. Provide a brief bio of the podcast guest (less than 2 sentences, if possible).
    4. Suggest a topic to discuss. If the topic has already been discussed, that’s definitely okay! Reference the episode in which it was discussed and explain what new insights or angle you’d like to talk about. This actually proves to the host that you are a listener of their podcast and will go a long way.
    5. Offer to setup a time to discuss over the phone and brainstorm.
    6. If applicable, provide an overview of the company that the guest would be representing (a boilerplate is also fine here) and make sure to call out what makes the company or product different from its competitors.

    Heather from Beat Infertility ultimately was interested in having Arielle on as a guest and you can listen to the episode hereSince airing, Heather has also introduced Arielle to others in the fertility space, including prospective clients for Arielle and her partner’s fertility-related marketing consultancy. All goes to show that the conversation doesn’t stop once the interview is over with. These are connections you’ll continue building relationships with and sometimes you might even be invited back on the show!

    2. You’re creating content without actually doing any of the legwork

    If you’re a great conversationalist, the best thing about being a guest on a podcast is that you’re not the one who is actually producing the content. All you have to do is show up and talk. If you do find the idea of being interviewed tricky or intimidating, I’d argue that as long as you take the time to prepare thoughtful talking points you should be okay. Jay Baer from Convince & Convert has a really useful guide and to help with nailing a podcast interview and I highly recommend the accompanying checklist! Remember that you’re the expert and have faith in yourself – you got this!

    After the interview is live and published, the content doesn’t stop there. Most times, podcast hosts will share the episode with their social media following on all of their various channels that they use. If they have a blog, they’ll also produce blog content summarizing the episode and will reference everything that was discussed in the episode itself (more on the benefits of all that later!).

    Once the Beat Infertility episode featuring CoFertility aired, Heather posted three separate posts on both Facebook and Twitter encouraging her followers to take a listen. 

    This additional content from another authority in the space helps you gain credibility with other podcasters, as well. Slowly but surely, you’ll be able to pitch yourself as a guest on podcast shows with larger audiences and eventually your reputation will grow.

    3. There’s incredible value from an SEO-perspective 

    Beyond the endless benefits of reaching highly targeted and attentive audiences (and even potential business leads) without actually putting in the legwork of producing the content yourself, being a guest on a podcast has a number of SEO-related benefits.

    Along with releasing the episode, podcast hosts will publish either a summary or the full transcript of the episode itself. So with every podcast you appear on, you’re creating more backlinks to your site. I also always remind people that, if anything you reference during the interview has an accompanying page on your website with more info, share it with the podcast host afterwards in case they’d like to reference it in these notes. In the example with CoFertility, Heather included a bullet list of what the listener will learn during the episode and linked back to CoFertility twice:

    This is especially of value because Google announced in August that individual podcast episodes will surface in search results and that they’re automatically transcribing all the podcast episodes it finds. Now, if someone does a Google search for a show about a niche topic or an interview with a specific person, the results will be potential podcast episodes that match their query. Google has also stated that it will eventually take specific signals into account when determining what episodes to surface, such as how many people listened or whether the podcast is one that has a lot of authority in the space.

    Along with this, the backlinks that are created via social shares also contribute to your SEO profile and builds credibility with not only new audiences but also with Google. Needless to say, as you progress on your journey of podcast guesting and continue lining up interview spots, you’ll naturally grow your backlink profile with links from relevant, quality sources. 

    Conclusion

    Hopefully by now I’ve convinced you that podcast guesting is a strategy you should be incorporating into your content marketing mix. While having a recorded conversation with a stranger seems daunting, as long as you prepare accordingly it is truly an efficient and organic way to attract new audiences and build leads, all while boosting your SEO efforts. And once you’ve done a few, you’ll become a pro at podcast guesting!

    The post Podcast Guesting – Why it Should be Part of Your Content Marketing Mix and How to Setup Your Pitch appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    How to Create a Winning Content Promotion Plan https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/content-promotion-campaign-plan/ https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/content-promotion-campaign-plan/#comments Wed, 10 Apr 2019 12:00:09 +0000 https://www.buzzstream.com/?p=3355 The original version of this post was written by the ridiculously talented Stephanie Briggs. Although it has been updated heavily it’s incredible how much of the original information still rings true. To keep up to date with her current goings-on, head over to Briggsby. Many content marketers view “promotion” as a phase that begins once content goes live. The truth is, promotion should begin much earlier than that, running parallel to production, and most of the promotion work should be completed before launch. Here’s a plan framework you can use for your next content campaign. Planning A good promotion plan begins with audience research and the development of targeted messaging. You’ll notice throughout this piece that the more effort you invest in intelligence and structure, the smoother and more effective the rest of your campaign will be. Define Audience Types There are multiple types of audiences that can potentially share your content. The first is content collaborators, which can range anywhere from a partner helping create the content, to an influencer whose quote you’re including, to a respected member of a community you ask for feedback. The second group are your bread and butter promoters. These are the journalists, bloggers, and business owners who will link or share to your piece. Finally, you’ve got your amplifiers. They are the audience that will actually be reading your piece and sharing based on personal interest or to establish credibility in a field. The type of audience you choose to engage will have a huge impact on timing (ie, if you want to collaborate with a major player you need to begin reaching out EARLY). These audiences are also going to have wildly different goals and you need to determine those in order to send outreach with the right contextual triggers that will […]

    The post How to Create a Winning Content Promotion Plan appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    The original version of this post was written by the ridiculously talented Stephanie Briggs. Although it has been updated heavily it’s incredible how much of the original information still rings true. To keep up to date with her current goings-on, head over to Briggsby.

    Many content marketers view “promotion” as a phase that begins once content goes live. The truth is, promotion should begin much earlier than that, running parallel to production, and most of the promotion work should be completed before launch.

    Here’s a plan framework you can use for your next content campaign.

    Planning

    A good promotion plan begins with audience research and the development of targeted messaging. You’ll notice throughout this piece that the more effort you invest in intelligence and structure, the smoother and more effective the rest of your campaign will be.

    Define Audience Types

    There are multiple types of audiences that can potentially share your content.

    The first is content collaborators, which can range anywhere from a partner helping create the content, to an influencer whose quote you’re including, to a respected member of a community you ask for feedback.

    The second group are your bread and butter promoters. These are the journalists, bloggers, and business owners who will link or share to your piece.

    Finally, you’ve got your amplifiers. They are the audience that will actually be reading your piece and sharing based on personal interest or to establish credibility in a field.

    The type of audience you choose to engage will have a huge impact on timing (ie, if you want to collaborate with a major player you need to begin reaching out EARLY).

    These audiences are also going to have wildly different goals and you need to determine those in order to send outreach with the right contextual triggers that will get them to work with you.

    Conduct Research

    Once you’ve determined the types of audiences you want to leverage for content promotion, you’ll need to break things down and do some research to determine what messaging will resonate.

    At the end of your research, you’ll want to have a good idea of the following things:

    1. Topics and types of content that resonate with your target audience(s)
    2. The linking/sharing behavior of your outreach targets
    3. What you can offer of value that will get you the link or share from each segment

    There are numerous ways to conduct this research.

    If you are gathering data first-hand through surveys, interviews or proprietary data analysis you’ll want to alot at least a few weeks to get everything ironed out.

    Of course, you don’t always have to be so formal.

    For instance, at BuzzStream our planning stage usually involves a discussion of who we’re creating the content for and what their needs are. We use analytics data from previous pieces, information about what we’ve seen performing well on social, and insight from conversations we’ve had with customers to guide our content.

    Once you’ve got enough data on your audience, you should try to segment your targets by the type of messaging and value delivery that will most resonate with them.

    Determine Messaging Segments

    Generally, groups that need to move fast will create unified messaging that will make sense for a large contact list, tweaking in minor ways as they go along. Paradoxically, this approach can actually increase the amount of time it takes to achieve your outreach goals, because generic messaging is usually unappealing.

    Segmenting your communications is the best way to increase the response to your content promotion campaigns.

    In order to get segmentation right, you’ll need to refer back to your audience research. In particular, you’ll need to make sure your messaging is contextually relevant and clearly demonstrates value.

    Developing personas can be very useful here, particularly if you’re managing a large outreach team. I’d recommend you keep a shared doc and make note of the personas you’re targeting for each campaign, so teammates can refer back when they engage in similar future campaigns.

    To show how segmentation can significantly impact outreach messaging, here’s a run through of different questions/criteria for two segments targeted for the same piece of content:

    List Building

    Your audience and persona development leads directly into list building.

    List building can be a somewhat onerous and repetitive task. But I’d urge you to pay close attention during this step and make sure that you are adding prospects in an intelligent and methodical way, because getting your list right will make every aspect of your campaign run smoother.

    The good news is that you’ve already got some solid research to guide you, so you should be able to know what makes a good prospect and communicate that to your team.

    List Size

    There are potentially limitless outreach prospects in the world with the right pitch and angle, so how do you know when you’ve got enough in your list?

    You’ll want to refer back to your segmentation, because in reality you’ll almost always be better served by thinking in terms of building segmented outreach lists (plural).

    First, consider your promotion goals. How many links/shares etc. do you need to make this campaign worthwhile?

    Next, consider the general response/link/promotion rate of these segments. The best sources for this information are previous outreach campaigns you’ve sent to similar segments.

    Once you’ve got that, you’ll divide your goal links by your success rate to get your target outreach list.

    One last step that can give you a little bit more leeway (and should be considered critical if you are outsourcing list building or otherwise getting lists from people who aren’t directly familiar with your idea prospects) is to 5x your target list size.

    This will mean more time spent vetting prospects, but will also get much closer to ensuring you hit your goal.

    Pre-Launch Engagement

    In some cases, you’ll get much better response rates from your prospects if you warm them up first before asking for anything.

    It should be said that this will not always be the case. The most important elements of a successful outreach campaign are relevance and value for your prospect. Indeed, if your engagements come off as in any way self-serving or disingenuous then they can actually hurt you.

    Particularly in the case of prospects that are busy or who have hundreds of requests made daily, you’re better off just getting to the point.

    Still, there is a place for relationship building, particularly where such engagement is natural. One very solid approach is to reach out to anyone you’re linking to or referencing in your post to give them the opportunity to clarify the points you’re including or offer updated information.

    For others, you’ll want to be more opportunistic. Put together Twitter and Feed.ly lists, get involved in the conversation on forums, and otherwise live where they live.

    But please, don’t just mention them once on Twitter or leave a cursory blog comment. It’ll be obvious what you’re doing and will sour your chances of successful outreach.

    Schedule Promotion

    The week before you launch your content will likely be the busiest in your promotion cycle. Here’s where you shore up your lists, get buy-in from key influencers, schedule announcements and begin preliminary outreach.

    Pretest Content

    Pretesting content is a great way to get insight and buy-in from influencers and key audience members.

    Essentially, during this step you want to get a preview of your content in front of people with relevant experience who can improve the information or even add to it.

    In addition to making your content better and getting a sniff test from people who know what they’re talking about, you’ll also generate a sense of investment that will make those influencers more likely to share once the content goes live.

    There are two approaches to doing this.

    1. The targeted approach – This path involves putting together a list of relevant influencers and reaching out directly for thoughts/feedback. If you go this route, you’ll effectively be doing a round of outreach before your content goes live. This obviously adds more complexity to your campaign, but even a few successes can expose your content to an expanded audience.
    2. The volunteer approach – This is much simpler. Just post to your social channels letting followers know that you’re about to release new content and you’re looking for reviewers. Obviously you have less control here but you can still get increased exposure and shares without dramatically increasing outreach costs.

    Regardless of which approach you take, make sure you give influencers/audience members enough time to actually provide feedback.

    Check Site Funnels

    You’ve got influencers to share your content, traffic coming in from relevant audiences, readers who are engaging with the piece…

    …and then what?

    Nothing is more disheartening than a piece of content that performs well but doesn’t result in conversions for your actual business goals.

    Take some time to think through the next steps you want a visitor to take after they read your content.

    Look for opportunities to embed downloadable content, insert strategic (not too annoying) pop ups, or guide through the content itself to a conversion.

    Queue Ads and Paid Promotion

    If you’re going to throw some advertising muscle behind your piece, now’s the time to get images and messaging put together for those.

    You’ll also want to figure out your testing schedule for the networks you’re going to promote on and get any test variants in place.

    Create Preliminary Outreach Templates

    We’ve mentioned the importance of targeted messaging for each audience segment throughout this piece, now it’s time to bring it all together.

    First, finalize the segments you are going to send to.

    Then, create your templates highlighting the information you gathered. The main focus should be establishing relevance, demonstrating the direct value a contact will get from promoting your piece, and preliminarily addressing any objections.

    Note that I don’t include personalization in that list. There are probably some edge cases to this, but as a general rule if your “personalization” is generalizable enough to include in a template through merge fields, it will be useless (or harmful) in your outreach.

    Instead, leave space in your template to personalize on a genuine, one-off basis.

    Finally, create at least one test variant for each template in your campaign. This will allow you to double down on more successful messaging during subsequent rounds of outreach.

    Draft VIP Emails

    Some of your audience segments will be made up of high authority publications and influencers that will greatly benefit from completely custom emails. This particularly applies if you’ve been engaging with them to build a relationship prior to outreach.

    For all of those, you should create email drafts in advance. That way you won’t have to think through custom messaging on the day of launch with all of the chaos that entails, and will also ensure you get those VIP emails out quickly (usually you’ll want to send them first).

    Start Outreach

    Launch day is here, and all your hard work leading up to this point is about to be put to the test.

    Now is where you’ll see the benefit of your prep. If you’ve taken the time to get all the moving pieces in place then you’ll be able to glide through your tasks and get your messaging out as smoothly as possible.

    There will still be some chaos (there always is), but it’ll be chaos of the organized variety.

    Send VIP Emails

    The very first thing you’ll want to do once you set your content live, before even sharing on social or blasting your lists, is sending outreach to critical influencers. The reason for this is simple:

    If you give influencers first access to the content (and let them know it) they will feel like they’re being treated preferentially and are more likely to promote.

    This is where the benefit of having drafts ready to go comes in particularly handy, because you definitely don’t want much of a delay before making a general announcement.

    Promote to Your Audience

    After you send your critical outreach you’ll want to promote to your existing audiences to start kindling interest in your piece.

    This includes sending emails to your opt-in mailing lists, scheduling posts on your social channels, paying to boost your social announcements if that makes sense, and otherwise spreading the word to people who explicitly want to hear from you.

    Phased Outreach

    Now it’s finally time to begin sending outreach to the majority of your list.

    Although it is very tempting to send to everyone as quickly as possible, a better approach is to phase your outreach.

    This means sending the relevant template variants to about a quarter of each of your segments. Give those sub-segments some time to respond (half a day should give you enough data to go on). Then, based on the response rate to each of your templates, send the winning variant to the remainder of the segment.

    This approach is obviously more involved, and it’s certainly not perfect. In many cases you will not get what would generally be considered a “statistically relevant” sample given the short gap between sending the first and second phase of your outreach. However, even this limited information can result in dramatic differences in outreach response, and is almost always a worthwhile exercise.

    Reply and Moderate

    Once you’ve proactively promoted your content, you’ll want to set aside the rest of your day to respond to people who engage with you

    This includes, but is not limited to:

    • Moderating blog comments
    • Responding to replies to your outreach
    • Jumping in to the conversation on social
    • Retweeting messages that praise or spark discussion around your content
    • Replying to any questions your audience has
    • Further amplifying content if you notice it getting posted on other networks
    • Posting content that gets picked up or mentioned by publications

    Essentially, give yourself the flexibility to be everywhere at once 🙂

    Amplify Buzz

    Well hey, you survived!

    Although the frantic (hopefully successful) first day of launch is behind you, you’ve got to keep pushing to ensure the initial buzz around your content continues.

    Double Down on Social Wins

    If you post multiple times on different social channels on launch day you’ll almost certainly see some posts and messaging outperforming others.

    Assuming that’s the case, you’ll want to give those successful posts a further boost and modify messaging across channels to reflect the elements that resonated most.

    If you haven’t invested much in paid social, now’s a great time to do it since you’ve got the benefit of already knowing which posts will be successful without the early stage A/B test requirements.

    On the other hand, if you’re noticing that you’re not getting much response on any of your posts, that’s a pretty clear sign that you need to introduce entirely new messaging.

    Amplify Shares

    Keep an eye on the conversation throughout the week, paying particular attention to shares or comments from influencers outside of your time zone or standard work hours.

    Once you see new people joining into the conversation, schedule retweets/thanks to get traffic spokes and build social proof as well as relationships.

    Submit Content to Newsletters and Groups

    You can get some easy qualified traffic for your content by submitting it to community sites, email newsletters and weekly roundups.

    Most community sites will have guidelines on self promotion, so look into those and make sure you have the right post ratio (your content vs. others) and are observing all rules. And of course, make sure you’re clearly communicating value and not being at all sales-y. You definitely don’t want to damage your reputation or get blacklisted from future posts in a prevalent community.

    Ongoing Opportunities

    Once things start calming down, there are still ways you can generate value from your content and get ongoing promotional benefit. This obviously includes continuing to monitor for and thank people who share your content, but you have many other opportunities as well.

    Link Reclamation (Unlinked Mentions) Campaign

    If your content was at all popular, there’s a good chance that people shared it ( or elements of it) without crediting you directly.

    A link reclamation campaign will help you get links and shares for your work from people who are actively demonstrating interest.

    There are many tools/processes to run a successful link reclamation campaign. You can even set alerts to monitor for opportunities on an ongoing basis. Rather than get into the full cycle here (it’s straightforward but there’s a decent amount to cover), I’d point you to Darren Kingman’s article on efficient link reclamation which gives a deep dive on the subject.

    Continuous Outreach

    If the first round of outreach ignites the fire, ongoing outreach is what’ll keep it stoked.

    Essentially, you’ll just need to top up your list of relevant prospects following the same process outlined earlier, except this time you’ll be able to send outreach with the benefit of knowing what performs for sites in their niche.

    You can schedule this process monthly or quarterly, or alternatively if you’re using BuzzStream you can use our prospecting searches function to get updated prospect recommendations on a regular basis.

    Repurpose Your Content

    Repurposing your content is the definition of low-hanging fruit, but doing so can exponentially increase it’s value.

    Here are a few ideas to get started:

    • Create a video that highlights the key points in your article
    • Create a webinar with live Q&A
    • Pull data or facts and create an infographic
    • Convert the article into a downloadable guide or cheat sheet
    • Use the article as the basis for a public speaking engagement
    • Pull info from the article to answer HARO queries
    • Respond to questions on Quora using article contents

    Wrapping Up

    After your promotion campaign draws to a close, spend some time reviewing metrics like shares, visits, and conversions. Call out things you’ll want to remember for next time.

    Categorize and make notes on influencers that helped promote your content, that way your team can leverage those relationships moving forward and build a snowball effect in future campaigns.

    You should also refer back to your original influencer lists. It’s likely that some people who you initially considered moderate tier 2 influencers proved to actually be tier 1 advocates. Reorganize the list based on the results of your campaign, so you can be better equipped to move into the next project.

    What methods are you using to promote your content? Anything we missed or that you’d like to see explored further? Let us know in the comments or tweet us @BuzzStream and we’ll get on it!

     

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    How to Apply Reciprocity to 10x Your Content Marketing Results https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/how-to-apply-reciprocity-to-10x-your-content-marketing-results/ https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/how-to-apply-reciprocity-to-10x-your-content-marketing-results/#comments Wed, 09 Jan 2019 16:08:45 +0000 https://www.buzzstream.com/?p=5627 Content marketing takes time and effort. And, unfortunately, average tactics such as blogging, keyword-optimized landing pages and the occasional guest post will only get you average results (at best!). By working together with other guest bloggers on content creation and helping each other get mentioned, we’re building useful, long-term relationships. By mentioning others in our articles, we now consistently get mentioned in theirs, resulting in more valuable backlinks to our content. In this article I’ll show you how you can increase the return on investment on guest posting with the reciprocity principle without having to beg for backlinks. Please be warned! You won’t find a quick hack here. It’s a tactic that takes time, but that will get you better results over longer periods of time. Since I started applying reciprocity in marketing a year ago, it has helped us grow our organic traffic for Survey Anyplace by over 100%. So let’s dive in! Reciprocal marketing in a nutshell Reciprocal marketing or co-marketing includes every tactic in which two businesses promote each other’s products or content, gaining a mutual benefit. It’s a key principle in business and marketing and has been around for ages, but not many companies use it in a systematic, process-based approach. I wanted a way to scale the polite approach of returning a favor and turn it into something scalable. In the meantime, it needed to be sustainable: I did not want to take the route of trading money for links in guest publications. This is my step-by-step approach to apply reciprocity on a larger scale in content marketing and guest blogging: Choose the right resources for your guest articles   The smartest way to start and maintain a relationship with fellow content marketers is to regularly mention their content in your own articles or guest […]

    The post How to Apply Reciprocity to 10x Your Content Marketing Results appeared first on BuzzStream.

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    Content marketing takes time and effort.

    And, unfortunately, average tactics such as blogging, keyword-optimized landing pages and the occasional guest post will only get you average results (at best!).

    By working together with other guest bloggers on content creation and helping each other get mentioned, we’re building useful, long-term relationships. By mentioning others in our articles, we now consistently get mentioned in theirs, resulting in more valuable backlinks to our content.

    In this article I’ll show you how you can increase the return on investment on guest posting with the reciprocity principle without having to beg for backlinks.

    Please be warned!

    You won’t find a quick hack here. It’s a tactic that takes time, but that will get you better results over longer periods of time. Since I started applying reciprocity in marketing a year ago, it has helped us grow our organic traffic for Survey Anyplace by over 100%.

    So let’s dive in!

    Reciprocal marketing in a nutshell

    Reciprocal marketing or co-marketing includes every tactic in which two businesses promote each other’s products or content, gaining a mutual benefit.

    It’s a key principle in business and marketing and has been around for ages, but not many companies use it in a systematic, process-based approach.

    I wanted a way to scale the polite approach of returning a favor and turn it into something scalable. In the meantime, it needed to be sustainable: I did not want to take the route of trading money for links in guest publications.

    This is my step-by-step approach to apply reciprocity on a larger scale in content marketing and guest blogging:

    Choose the right resources for your guest articles  

    The smartest way to start and maintain a relationship with fellow content marketers is to regularly mention their content in your own articles or guest articles.

    When you’re writing up a piece of content and you’re adding resources, numbers or examples, it’s easy to just to perform a Google search and select the top results to include in your article.

    1. Add value

    Keep in mind that every outbound link in your article is an opportunity to start a professional relationship with the author of the article you link to. Above everything, you should select outbound links that add value to your article and are meaningful to your audience.

    But even after applying these criteria, you often have the choice between different content resources from different authors to link to.

    2. Look for other options  

    It’s no secret that only a few large companies dominate the Google search results. Try to look past these obvious choices and go on a hunt for more niche resources from smaller websites. These articles often prove to be less generic, consist of more detail and have more actionable/relatable examples.

    3. Form a bond

    Choosing authors working for companies of a similar size to yours allows you to form strong bonds. Big publications are less likely to work together with small businesses, but small businesses will! The good news here is that there are loads of small businesses with similar target audiences and objectives.

    The approach is simple: Develop enough relationships with fellow businesses to stand up to the big guys together.

    Smaller businesses are competing head-on with the industry leaders for the top 10 spots of the first Google search results page. If you’re already there, you’ll be found and earn the backlinks that will further reinforce your position. If you’re not, good luck. Smaller businesses need to work together to have a fighting chance.” – Pascal van Opzeeland, CMO at Userlike.

    Based on my experience in practising this tactic, I now try to avoid linking to large publishers (unless of course their resource is the most accurate one), but opt for content from companies similar to ours. Because (usually) they have more authentic content, appreciate it more, and are more likely to engage in a mutually beneficial relationship

    Decide on which authors you want to collaborate with

    Instead of going after the most famous marketers out there, try to look for micro-influencers. People who are very active in marketing in their niche and that work for (or run) a company of similar size to your own.

    This is my personal checklist:

    1. Check if they are a frequent guest blogger

    You’re looking for people that also have guest blogging in their digital marketing plan, BuzzStream Discovery is a great tool to find these people.

    You simply enter a certain topic and you get an overview of all the influencers that have published articles about the topic. You also see what they exactly published on which kinds of publications. It’ll quickly become clear if a person is writing as frequently as you and about topics that could work well with your own content.

    For example I really wanted to get published on searchenginejournal.com and what happened is that I looked for a guestblogger frequently writing for them. I reached out to that person and started mentioning one of his case studies in an article I wrote.

    Admittedly, it took me a bit of time, BUT after 2 months he did return the favor and included us in an article for that Search Engine Journal.

    Mission accomplished!

    2. Check the quality of their website

    As I mentioned before, try to look for people working at companies of similar size to yours. The Google Chrome plugin by Moz gives you a quick insight in domain authority and quality of the pages you want to link to. You can also filter on DA in the BuzzStream Discovery tool.

    Depending on your own DA (domain authority) you can look for pages similar or slightly better than yours. Right now, we’re targeting pages with a DA of 40 or more.

    3. Check the variety and value of their content

    Look for strong articles with content that is relevant for you to link to. If the content an author produces is mainly focusing on their product or service, these sources might feel too commercial to include.  

    4. Check the author’s job title

    Since we’re looking for long-term co-marketing opportunities we also check if the influencer we want to target has the same focus as us.

    People who are dedicated to content marketing and who actually write the articles themselves (instead of an agency or freelancer for example) works best for us: a CMO or Content Marketer, occasionally a CEO if they are running a smaller company.

    If you need to repeat this tactic in your content landscape, I suggest to follow these steps:

    1. Identify blogs with guest publications in your content landscape
    2. Make a list of all guest bloggers who published recently (< one year ago)
    3. Check these against the criteria above: website, content, job title

    This should result in a solid list of micro-influencers that you can start working with.

    Start your outreach BEFORE you publish

    I like to create a small list of possible resources to include in my articles. Then, before I submit my guest article, I reach out to the authors of those resources. Just to let them know I thought of them.

    A template I often use:

    People that take their time to reply positively are what we’re looking for! It means they’re open to a conversation and I always prefer including them over someone who ignored my email.

    A second take on the email template:

    Wording your offer in the right way can make all the difference. Doing someone an unmistakable favor will increase your chances of receiving something in return. The reciprocity example of the restaurant candy by Robert Cialdini is a beautiful illustration of what we’re trying to achieve.

    After the article is published you can follow up with the people whose sources you’ve used. This is the template we use:

    “From my experience it is crucial that you offer something first. This allows them to then feel indebted to you going forward.” – David Campbell, Digital Strategist at Right Inbox.

    Dare to ask for something in return

    Any online marketer knows the value of a nice backlink to their content. So it’s absolutely fine to ask for something back at a certain point.

    Here’s how you ask:

    1. With a subtle nudge
      “Do you mind sharing which articles you are currently working on? I’d love to see where I could contribute!”
    2. With an offer they can’t refuse
      By making your request as easy as possible for them, the approval will come sooner. Try to give what you want in a neat little package. There are three options you can try:
    1. Add a link to you in an existing page – Find a page where your competitors are mentioned for example. This is a natural spot for you to get mentioned as an alternative.
    2. Add something of value to a past article  – Write up a quote or a small block of text which fits perfectly into an existing article. (already include a link in that paragraph) It takes a small amount of time on your end and reduces the author’s effort to an absolute minimum of copying and pasting.
    3. Write a guest article – Great if you get the opportunity! But, obviously, takes more effort from your end.

    Tip: Didn’t get a positive response after you’ve given them a link? Give something more, ask them again, and follow-up. If I’d really like to get featured on a specific blog or by a specific person I give them so much that it almost feels like it’s impolite to ignore me and not return the favor. 

    A small effort with big results

    If you’re thinking to yourself that this setup actually takes a lot of work. You’re not completely wrong. It takes time to build these relationships, maintain them and find the influencers best suited to work with you.  

    BUT once you have a group of influencers that you know, the effort is actually small compared to the increase in results you’ll get. You’re not repeating a process of one off posts, it’s not just a backlink hack but a way to build relationships with a compounding effect.

    In actual numbers: the results compare 1 to 10.

    A regular guest blog used to generate one backlink for us on average: sometimes this is a contextual link inside the article, otherwise it is a link in the author’s bio.

    Right now, if we insert 15 links to our article from influencers we work with, and about 2/3 of those links lead to a reciprocal link, then each article we produce will generate around 10 backlinks to our domain.

    And even if we get less than 10, you need to take into account that the individual links are more valuable, because they all are contextual links in articles not authored by ourselves. But most importantly: we want more than one-off links, we are after long-time, mutually beneficial relationships. This networking tactic has proven to be the perfect start for other co-marketing opportunities. Such as being asked to speak in an online summit called Uppercase.  

    Streamlining the new workload

    The loads and loads of emailing it takes to grow and maintain your network can get tedious.

    That’s why we created a Facebook “B2B Bloggers Boost Group” where 200+ members help each other create content and getting mentioned.

    I’m in a few excellent online communities of content marketers and writers. We help each other by providing tips and ideas, as well as quotes when necessary. So if we’re writing an article, it takes 30 seconds to send a message around these groups and see if anyone is able to provide a quote. We’re not asking them to promote themselves, which some might see as a conflict of interest. Instead, we’re asking them for their favorite tools, services, or strategies. So they’re helping out our readers (and our writers), and we’re giving them a shout out for taking the time.” – Patrick Whatman, Content & Communications at Spendesk.

    The principle is the same, but now, through the Facebook group, the network is sharing among themselves. We work from the idea that a blogger can write down what they have coming up, where it will be published and what they are looking for.
    Other members of the group can contribute with a quote, an insight and/or a link to one of their resources to be included.

    The benefit is that you, as an author, get faster and more valuable resources in one place that can add new insights to your article. And you shape your content the way you like, if a suggested resource isn’t suitable, you’re not obliged to include it

    It means faster content creation for the publisher, more mentions and links for the contributor, and high quality insights for the reader.

    Extra streamlining tip: By applying the reciprocal marketing tactic for a while, we’ve evolved towards a set of principles that our partners should also recognize themselves in. I’ve published these reciprocal marketing principles down on our website and share it whenever I get to know a new micro-influencer I might like to build a relationship with. It instantly gives them the right idea of what I’m looking for and helps us find like-minded people.

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