How to Get Responses to Your Outreach Emails

Today I’m going to share one tip that will dramatically improve the number of positive replies you get to your link building outreach emails.

Getting replies to outreach emails can be a challenge.

Despite all your efforts to find relevant websites to connect with, finding the right people and their email addresses, and crafting the perfect outreach email, your emails to them can go ignored.

For many people who are new to doing outreach, this can be demoralizing.

Sending out targeted emails to 50 people and getting 0 responses can leave you with the idea that outreach isn’t right for you and you should just quit and focus on something else.

If you are reaching out to someone, pitching that they link to your content, their first thought is typically going to be, “This is going to require some effort on my part. What’s in it for me?”

Especially if the recipient gets a lot of these requests.

Outreach pitch emails, especially Skyscraper Technique emails, usually come with text suggesting things like, “This fresh content will be more relevant to your audience.” 

And for higher-ranking sites, this pitch on its own may be unpersuasive. 

Some websites, if they reply, will just say, “Pay me $X and I will insert that link for you.”

Now, not everyone is comfortable paying for links, or has a budget for it.

But, there is something else you can do.

Make them an offer they can’t refuse.

In your outreach email, offer something in exchange for your request.

Demonstrate that you appreciate the person’s time and effort to get that link added to their website, or whatever else you’re asking for.

It shows more that you’re considerate of the other person’s time and effort, that you’re not just looking to use their resources for your benefit. 

Here is a recent email I received that I found to be particularly persuasive:

https://share.getcloudapp.com/Z4uk8E7R

I received this email, and I didn’t immediately send it to trash.

I get a lot of outreach emails myself, so I know what it’s like on both sides of the link outreach equation.

Most outreach emails are pretty generic, asking me to link to their website because it would be great for my audience. But, it’s going to take me some time to go into my website and add in a link or section for the person who reached out to me. If I’m busy, this isn’t going to be a top priority.

But, if I’m being offered something in exchange, it’s going to be a bigger priority. Even if the thing I’m being offered isn’t useful to me, I’m still more likely to help because of the offer. And if it’s something I can actually use, even better.

There’s this principle of reciprocity, which is that we tend to offer something when we receive something.

You feel obliged to do something when something is done for you.

This situation is an example of reciprocity at work.

You offer something to your email recipient, and they’re going to want to do something for you in return.

Here are some sample offers you can have in your outreach emails to other people:

Sharing their content with your audience of email subscribers, social followers, etc. 

It’s best if you have a number associated with this when you make your pitch. As an example, “I’d love to share your article with my 4,000 ecommerce marketing subscribers and followers”

A basic service tier, or shipping a small token of your physical product

If you have a SaaS, offer a free account, or an allowance of a certain amount of credits. If you have a physical product, offer to ship them a small sample. As an example, “I’d be happy to share with you $50 in credits on our platform.”

A guest post

If you’re looking at a valuable opportunity, offer to put together a guest post for your recipient. Writing blog posts can take a lot of time, but if the specific opportunity you are reaching out about is high-value, it might be worth it.

Do the work for them

You know one way you can make your email recipients’ lives easier? Do the work for them. If you’re looking for a website to mention your product, offer to provide them with sample text to make their jobs easier. Or, if you are looking for a link insertion, show them exactly where you’re looking for a link, referencing specific anchor text in the article, so they can just ctrl+f and find it easily. One added thing you can do here is to share a screenshot of the placement you’re looking for in the article.

A product review

If the person you are reaching out to has their own product or service, offer to do a write-up or review of their product on a blog of yours to share with your audience.

Having offers in your outreach emails are an extra step for sure, because fulfilling the offers can take some time on your part depending on what your offer is and if they take you up on it. 

But, having an offer in your outreach emails can help you get more positive responses, and more wins in your outreach game.

Do you provide offers in your outreach emails? If so, please share in the comments below. We’d love to hear about them and feature them in this article.