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Have you ever seen a particular superstar endorse a specific product, and the sales reach sky-high? Do you think that when influencers promote content on their pages, it helps the brand raise its sales and value?
If your answer to the above questions is yes, you know what a content outreach strategy is! It is the method of letting influencers reach out to their audience and promote their content.
In the era of social media, there is a long list of influencers on various platforms. These influencers are known to use paid and unpaid strategies to increase brand awareness for their audiences.
You must be thinking that this is only possible for the B2C type because it is easier for the audience to follow and get influenced by certain people.
This is where you are wrong. Just as B2C, B2B also excels in content outreach strategies.
For instance, if Mark Zuckerberg promotes a specific HR system that his company uses, many organizations will implement that type of system only because Mark Zuckerberg endorsed it!
The above instance is simply an illustration of what a content outreach strategy can do to increase sales.
But there are ways to establish a successful content outreach strategy through content marketing in 2022, and we will explain each in detail.
But before that, let us look briefly at how to execute a content outreach strategy in collaboration with a content marketing plan.
Steps to Execute a Content Outreach Strategy
In the modern world, content marketing forms an integral part of the marketing strategy. And for successful content marketing, it is necessary to incorporate a content outreach strategy.
Content marketing is marketing your products, services, and business through valuable content. This content can be in written formats, videos, graphics, or any type that appeals to your TG.
So how do we incorporate content outreach strategy in content marketing? Here are some steps to execute a successful content outreach strategy.
Analyze Your Content
Before deciding on which content needs promotion, you need to perform a content audit.
A content audit is to look closely at the content that you are putting out for your target audience. It should be in alignment with your brand and goals.
A content audit is basically the segregation of the following content:
- Best performing content
- Worst performing content
- Best ranking keywords
- Content publishing frequency
It means you have to assess and analyze your entire online content. This audit is essential to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of your content. Once you know the above assets, it becomes easy to frame a content plan and incorporate a content outreach strategy.
Set Your Content Outreach Goal
When you have your content audit in place, it is time to decide which content you will promote and its goal.
Generally, content promotion goals are:
- Brand awareness
- Acquire or nurture leads
- Generate user-generated content
- Increase sales
Once you know your goal for the content outreach strategy, you can design the marketing plan accordingly.
Curate the Best Content
Now that you know which content you need to promote and its goals, you must develop the best digital content.
Some types of digital content are:
- Written content like blogs, articles, newsletters, website content, etc.
- Videos
- Infographics
- Podcasts
- Webinars
- Presentations
- Specific-content for social media
After deciding the type of content, we craft the contents of the content. And it should be developed after getting answers to the below questions.
- Who is the target audience?
- Which type of content do they prefer?
- Which kind of content, in the past, has connected the most with them?
- How many channels is the content published on, and which are they?
- Which is the most preferred channel by your TG?
- What types of content will the influencers be able to deliver the most?
Based on your brand, products, and services, you can add questions to the above list. Just make sure to do extensive market and audience research to create a content strategy funnel.
Publish, Promote, and Keep Track of Your Content
Well, it's showtime!
Your team has put in all the required efforts to curate the best content and sort the channels it needs to be published. So, it's time to post it.
Once you publish your content, ensure to promote it regularly.
Your team also needs to monitor the content promoted by the influencer very closely.
If any particular piece of content is gaining momentum on a specific platform or is getting more conversions, promote it efficiently.
This regular monitoring lets you know which strategy works best for you and your TG.
Effective Ways to Create a Content Outreach Strategy
Once you have established your goals, it's time to use a content outreach strategy to amplify your sales and create brand awareness.
When business leaders promote your brand, product, or services, it creates a tremendous impact in the market. And sometimes, if the outreach strategies are par excellence, they even create a stir in the market.
Let’s look at some practical ways to help you create an effective content outreach strategy.
Find the Right People
You need to identify the right set of people on your influencer list. These people should have followers who are similar to your target audience.
You have to closely follow these people and monitor their impact on the audience. Then, from the list that your team has created, select the ones that have the most impact.
Approach the Right People
When you are about to contact influencers or business leaders, the first thing to check is if their contact details are correct. Check twice, thrice, and multiple times until you are sure it is them.
Then research about them and see how they like to be approached. Please keep a close look at their social media and how they react to their audiences. Do they like puns and informal languages, or are they formal? Remember, you can find both types in the B2B industry these days!
Once you have researched enough about them, frame the best email. Of course, you can contact them through other channels, but research says that emails are still considered the best form of communication in the B2B world. So, hold on to this plan.
Construct the body of the mail, keeping the influencer's designation in mind. For example, if the influencer is an expert or industry leader, they need to review your product and endorse it critically. And if the influencer is a person, people actively follow them for the latest content; they need to endorse your products.
Choose your content wisely. It must align with the level of the people you are addressing. Always ask for their input and end with a very thankful gesture.
Build Relationships with Your Influencers
When you reach out to your influencers, do not sound sales-driven. Instead, try to build a conversation with them.
Before promoting your product, tell them how much you adore and admire their posts on various channels, and be specific about what you like about them. of course, a generalized admiration does not help, so be specific in your attempt.
You could try briefly describing how you both connect to the same niche before you reach the point of promotion.
Remember, building relationships with influencers can add excellent value to your brand.
It is a two-way street, so share or retweet their relevant posts so that they notice you noticing them!
Benefits of Incorporating a Content Outreach Strategy
There are numerous benefits to incorporating a content outreach strategy into your marketing strategies.
The content outreach strategy guarantees an increase in the brand value by word of mouth and develops trust in your existing and new customers.
Some of the benefits of a content outreach strategy are:
- Increase in brand value and awareness
- Build new relationships
- Grow your customer base
- Increase trust in existing and new customers
- Increase your online presence on multiple platforms
- Add value to your content
- Attract links
An Epic Example of a Content Outreach Strategy
Journalist John Corcoran composed and sent this email to Sumo's founder and CEO, Noah Kagan.
The email was personalized to an extraordinary level and had an excellent mix of being formal and informal at the same time.
This email resulted in John succeeding in scheduling an interview with Noah. And all he had to do was compose a quirky, simple, and precise email.
Image courtesy: OKDORK
If you closely look at the aspects of the email, look at the tremendous level of personalization.
John thanked Noah for his previous acknowledgments and then asked for the current requirements. This is very important as a background is set to take the conversation forward. And also, even if the mail sounds informal, the basic idea of promotion is highlighted firmly.
And the conclusion with the number of PS adds to the essence of personalization.
Thus, the more personalized you sound in your email, the greater the chances of getting a response.
The Final Word
Remember, if your strategy fails initially and you do not receive responses, don't be disappointed. Creating a content outreach strategy takes time. Do your research and delineate the best approach for the process.
Personalize, define a transparent process, and if necessary, find an email outreach tool or content strategy template to help you.
You can also refer to Deck 7’s content marketing services to ensure the best success rate.
Keep in mind that, according to the influencer marketing hub, 49% of people say they rely on recommendations from influencers when making purchase decisions. (And the numbers are increasing every day!)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a content outreach strategy?
A content outreach strategy is a marketing plan or strategy wherein you get an influencer or influencers to promote your content, product, or services. These influencers have the same audience as you and, thus, can help to develop trust, generate leads, and increase sales.
What are the benefits of content outreach?
- Increase in brand value and awareness.
- Build new relationships.
- Grow your customer base.
- Increase trust in existing and new customers.
- Increase your online presence on multiple platforms.
- Add value to your content.
- Attract links.
What types of content can be categorized for outreach?
Any valuable content like the following can be incorporated into a content outreach strategy:
- Written content like blogs, articles, newsletters, and website content
- Videos
- Infographics
- Podcasts
- Webinars
- Presentations
- Specific-content for social media