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Outreach marketing does exactly what it sounds like it does: it reaches out to a potential audience, with the intention of attracting their attention and eventually, their business.
Goals of Outreach
But, outreach marketing, as already discussed here, is much more than simply screaming your business name or slogan as loudly as possible, and plastering your logo all over things indiscriminately isn’t as helpful as you might think.
Outreach marketing strategies can be different for each and every business.
Your goal isn’t just to reach as many people as possible, but as many potential customers as possible. That means identifying your audience and putting out the right feelers in the right places at the right times. That’s going to take more than one strategy and a whole lot of time, but marketing is equal parts art and science, and definitely not a talent that is required overnight.
The following tips can help you create a successful outreach marketing strategy for your business. Take a look at some of the basics of each one, and consider how you might use this idea in your own outreach marketing strategy.
Also, do not forget to check out our outreach services to rapidly boost your online presence.
Tip #1
The first tip is influencer marketing. Influencers (more on this article) get a bad reputation for being famous for “nothing”, but let’s face it: they do their jobs very well. Influencers spend all day doing what we, as marketing professionals, wish we could do all day: they carefully curate and design messages for their audiences, including images, videos, and social media posts that engage, entertain, and sometimes infuriate their fans.
People flock to their favorite influencers because they identify with them, and when an influencer recommends a certain product or service, their fans believe them.
There are many things to consider when engaging in influencer marketing, which we’ve covered in previous articles, so be sure to check those out before you start signing contracts. In the meantime, here are some of the reasons influencer marketing can be a great part of your outreach strategy:
- Influencers have their own built-in audience of hundreds, if not thousands, of followers.
- You can pay your influencer per-click or per-purchase, or provide them with a code their followers can use to receive a specific perk, which only sweetens the deal.
- Your influencer works for you. Their payment depends on how many of their followers make purchases, so they’ll do the work of making sure their audience is excited about your business.
Tip #2
If blogging is your strong suite, consider guest posting on another blog within your niche, though not necessarily for a direct competitor. When a business features a blog from a guest poster, they benefit from sharing another point of view or detailed information that might be related to but not frequently featured in their regular blog.
For example, a blog about living with allergies might be a great place to share what you’ve learned from years in selling air purification devices.
Guest posting is good for you, because you get to stand in front of a bunch of new faces who have possibly never heard of your business, and explain to them how you are a trusted resource who can entertain and inform the masses, and also, here is a link to your own site. If they like what they read, they’ll follow the link to hear more from and about you and your products.
Just like Influencer Marketing, this type of outreach works well because the audience is already built-in. You just have to make sure your content is spot-on. And clean up your website before you have company over!
Tip #3
In-Content links. Everyone has experienced broken links. Whether it’s a link on your own site, someone else’s site, or a Wikipedia article, there are sadly broken links in this world. Finding them and replacing them with your own informative article on the very same topic can be a great way to reach out to new crowds.
Broken link building is an art form, which we’ve discussed in detail in previous articles, like this one. Essentially, you hunt through your niche, find broken links, and reach out to the owners of those sites to recommend they replace the broken link with one that leads to your site.
Again, you don’t have to spend time searching for an audience, just for a good, relevant place to put links to your own fantastic content, which of course will endorse your equally fantastic product or services.
Tip #4
A press release is an official statement from your business to the community at large, usually “for immediate release”. They can include special new offerings, updated product or service details, or huge sales. You can even use press releases to address issues within your niche or physical community.
Press releases can be issued through various media sources, or through social media. Think of them as breaking news for your business.
What makes a press release different from any other email blast or social media post is the content. You can check out our detailed article on how to write a press release, but in the meantime, know that a press release will help prove your expertise in your field. They contain quotes, a brief history or message about your business, and contain both facts and opinions.
Best of all, they’re easily shared on social media or via email.
Tip #5
Content syndication allows for your original content to be posted on third party websites. You take an article from your own site, with no changes or edits, and allow someone else to publish it on their own site. Generally speaking, you’ll be permitted to include a back link to your own site, so that those who appreciate the article can follow it to learn more.
You can syndicate your article through certain paid sites, such as Outbrain, Taboola, or Zemanta, or you can contact blogs and sites that currently publish syndicated articles to see if they would be interested in collaborating. Or alternatively, you can rely on us: just browse through our services page, and choose “content syndication” to get started immediately.
If you are curious to learn more about this strategy, you can read the details of the process and some tips for successful syndicated content in our earlier article.
The goal of content syndication is to publish your article on a site with higher search engine ranking or a greater number of followers to reach a broader audience. Just like the other methods, you are putting your content and business in front of an audience you might not otherwise reach. They’ll be so impressed with what they read that they’ll immediately click on the link to learn more.
Read also: Domain Authority and Page Authority Explained
Wrapping Up
At its core, outreach marketing is less about actively tapping people on the shoulder, and more about putting your business, information, and content in as many “right places” as possible. Having a vast audience that stretches beyond your usual fans and followers will only serve to bring greater awareness to your brand. Regardless of whether those readers become life long customers or simply remember your brand well enough to share it with others, your ability to be seen will do wonders for your profit margin.
