An outreach strategy encapsulates the way your key messages are delivered. One of the most effective (and consequently most popular) ways to accomplish this is through email. However, according to a study done by Radicati in 2018, there are about 124.5 billion business emails and 111.1 billion consumer emails sent and received each day. Taking these numbers into consideration, it only makes sense that many of us crave a reprieve from our inboxes, which is why it is beneficial to explore other methods of outreach marketing.
Make Connections to Increase Brand Awareness
The first step of an effective outreach technique should be to find the right people to spread your message. This can often be the most difficult step, as it requires a lot of time to build and nourish relationships with all different kinds of people. By completing the networking process first, you will have plenty of time to build more (and more genuine) relationships and resources which will give you a major advantage later. There are several ways you can expand your network, but here are a few to get you started:
- Follow, listen to, and actively engage with a brand or person who could help
- Identify the strongest sources of influence for your target audience and start there.
- Check out this article for more information.
- You could also get a warm introduction from someone already in your network
- Have them CC you on an introductory email to one of their contacts. Once they’ve done this, you’ll have your chance to reach out and build up that relationship.
- Help someone out in a way that no one else can
- Offer to amplify their work or to give them a testimonial
- Start a content series and feature them as guests or highlight their work
- This will widen your audience as well, because their audience will check you out if you feature them.
Employing these tactics will prove to be extremely beneficial when you’re about to launch a new product or service and already know the right people who can help amplify your platform.
Provide Unique, Non-Repetitive Information
Another easy way of expanding your network besides sending emails to strangers all day, is to offer unique information. If you can provide information or a service that no one else can, you’re guaranteed to get attention for it. It may seem impossible, but there are many ways to accomplish this. One thing you could do is to acquire and publish data that is unavailable elsewhere. Make sure it’s unique data, that is both easily digestible and shareable.
Once you’ve completed your data set, reach out to an influencer (for your target audience) and offer to let them use it. If you offer services without asking for anything in return, people will be a lot more likely to listen and engage. Once you actually need their help promoting something, they’ll be much more likely to respond positively. A similar option would be coming up with another offer you know they don’t get every day. The more creative you are the more likely you are to get a good response. This could include translating and re-publishing their work, including them in a case study for major publication, or turning their post into a visual animation.
Hire a Specialist
At the end of the day, it’s no big deal if you can’t do everything on your own. There are specialists who make an entire living by doing this right. If you decide that hiring a specialist is the right direction for you, be careful in your search. Like anything else, there are going to be good matches and bad matches. To ensure your views align with whoever you hire, try asking around in your network for people who’ve had positive experiences with certain specialists. If you don’t know anyone who’s had experience with this, try scouting it out for yourself.
Examine their websites and LinkedIn pages: do they showcase case histories or testimonials? How does the specialist describe their services? Again, it’s important to do this part right, because this is how the majority of people will be introduced to your company.
Ultimately, the tactics you employ during outreach will determine the success of your marketing campaign. Whether you consistently utilize these steps to expand your network yourself or hire a knowledgeable specialist who will maintain your brand integrity, you can almost certainly expect to yield positive results.
