Effective Link Building Outreach with @LauraSlingo #vcbuzz

Link building is still the most important, yet the most challenging part of any SEO campaign, with email outreaching being its key component.

How to create an effective email outreach strategy that outperforms your competitors and generates great link?

Let’s discuss!

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About @LauraSlingo

@LauraSlingo is outreach manager at @sagegroupplc.

She is usually found building links & brands.

Laura is #BrightonSEO speaker.

Follow @LauraSlingo on LinkedIn

Questions we discussed

Q1 How did you become a digital marketer? Please share your career story!

I started as a copywriter at a jobs board and wrote blogs, press releases, whitepapers, emails, scripts, billboard ads etc. across several markets. One day my boss asked me if I’d like to try outreach for SEO and I never looked back!

I then joined SEO agency @seekerdigital as Campaign Manager and worked my way up to Head of Outreach, leading the flagship service. Life took me to @sagegroupplc a year ago to lead the global offsite SEO strategy and it’s a dream job I adore.

@LauraSlingo It's so important to have a job that you love! It makes such a difference in your life 🙂 #vcbuzz
— Sana Knightly (@SanaKnightly) February 28, 2023

I’m very lucky that my line of work has the perfect blend of creativity and strategy, it suits me to a tee!

Q2 What is the key component of an effective outreach? Is it finding contacts? Creating a great email copy? Or?

Effective outreach is all about the value proposition. Your story, resource, product, or hook must make sense to the person you’re pitching to if you want coverage & a link. Once that’s nailed, work on crafting the email for your target audience.

@LauraSlingo You put it all nicely in one tweet, but that's a LOT of work! #vcbuzz
— Sana Knightly (@SanaKnightly) February 28, 2023

Haha it certainly is! Dare I say I believe outreach is one of the hardest disciplines in digital marketing… It’s like sales for introverts.

Unfortunately, bad pitches give outreach a bad name. Likely because people are trying to rush it. But good things come to those who wait (and think carefully, strategically, and creatively about basic marketing principles) #vcbuzz
— Laura Slingo (@LauraSlingo) February 28, 2023

Q3 How to get your email noticed?

Get your big red buzzer out because it depends! Again, think of your target audience and put yourself in their shoes to work out what they find valuable. For a journalist with an inbox full of headlines, a relevant, well-formatted subject line is everything.

If you’re contacting a marketing manager at a small business or startup that’s juggling many hats (and would likely welcome some blog content), a short and sweet email with a solid lede would get you noticed.

A3 Well, obviously, the subject line. That is all you have. So the trick is to make it so intriguing someone will want to open it. #vcbuzz https://t.co/Dm1rAoWX5r
— Gail Gardner (@GrowMap) February 28, 2023

A3
I find myself looking at sender names before subject lines. I guess this goes along with the need for a relationship which is touted widely today.
Then again, I'm not seeking pitches, etc.#vcbuzz
— Amy.M.Anderson (@snippetsbyAmy) February 28, 2023

Such a good point. Relationships are everything with outreach, as does the trustworthiness of an email address. e.g. you’re more likely to respond to a branded email address than a gmail. Yes, cold outreach still works but nurturing a relationship is golden

A3b The first challenge with getting your email noticed is to get it into the inbox in the first place. #vcbuzz https://t.co/4dop2VMMG5
— Gail Gardner (@GrowMap) February 28, 2023

Do you have an opinion on using non-text in subject lines to get attention? #vcbuzz https://t.co/RebEV5So2p
— Gail Gardner (@GrowMap) February 28, 2023

Not particularly. But I think it would depend on the brand you are representing and who you’re emailing and working out if it makes sense. If you’re adding non-text just to be “eye-catching”, perhaps the copy isn’t strong enough?

You're totally right. Deliverability is a whole other important aspect of outreach, especially if you're looking to do it at scale, that's often forgotten about #vcbuzz
— Laura Slingo (@LauraSlingo) February 28, 2023

I do get a lot of these and would gladly welcome content. But my experience with stranger guest writers hasn't been great. They all look like AI content which I have to rewrite completely. So I ignore most of these emails. #vcbuzz
— Poulomi Basu (@poulomi_basu) February 28, 2023

It’s such a shame that so many link builders are trying to game the system. It gives outreach such a bad name. We hope it comes from a lack of knowledge on how to do good outreach/content marketing/PR, but I fear it comes from wanting results cheap and fast.

A3: Know your audience! It all starts with the subject line, so they'll open it. But the content of your email has to be relevant to your recipient as well, or you've wasted a good subject line. #vcbuzz #EmailMarketing https://t.co/oEQWALKvaQ
— Jaime Shine 💬 Marketer | Writer (@jaimeshine) February 28, 2023

Q4 How to create an outreach strategy that’s unique and effective? In other words, how to build better links than your competitors have?

Every outreach strategy should be tied to your organic performance goals. An effective outreach strategy is one that is part of your holistic SEO strategy, designed to impact your rankings, organic traffic, and revenue.

To build better links than competitors, first review what’s working for your competitors, what’s working in your SERPs, and stay up to date with industry trends to find out how outreach can be a lever to support your SEO performance.

A good link is one that is good for web, i.e. it’s genuinely useful, relevant to your target audience, and offers unique value. You should acquire links in a multi-faceted way, working with other digital marketing teams you share ROI touchpoints with.

A4. I do this very relationally and only when I'm confident it adds value. However, I'm more curious to hear what our expert linkbuilder, @LauraSlingo has to say. Her tips will be better #vcbuzz
— Jeannie Hill (@essentialskill) February 28, 2023

Q5 What are your favorite link building outreach tools?

@ahrefs is my baby

If you’re actively running outreach campaigns I would also recommend @SerpWorx, @PitchboxApp, and @BuzzSumo.

Get savvy with Google Sheets or Excel, along with GA, and GSC to prove how your outreach impacts the bottom line too.