The Perfect Outreach Message Example

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One day an outreach message that I got has worked immediately. Why? It was perfect!

It was so good that I decided to show it off and explain why it’s perfect in detail.

Of course you know by now that outreach has its limitations don’t you?

Outreach is not the one size fits all solution for all your link building woes.

You also admit that nurturing long term relationships is better than cold outreach.

Said that I want to help you reach out to people by mail you don’t know yet.

When Reaching out to Strangers Makes Sense

There are cases where reaching out to strangers makes sense and is not frowned upon. I will deal with such a case below.

I have written an outreach template once that worked for me and has been confirmed to work for others too with proper preparation.

This post is not about my own outreach attempts. It’s an example of how an outreach message from someone else impressed me and worked for both the sender and me.

Let’s jump in. This is the outreach message I got per mail. I got the permission to republish it:

In case you wonder what the tool is about and check it out: I’m not offended that the outreach message works on you.

Indeed I have shared news of SiteCondor on social media more than once and even featured them in this and another post for a client blog.

SiteCondor was an easy to use SEO crawler tool that has been subsequently acquired. In 2021 the new owner sadly discontinued the service after 8 years.

The Subject is the One Thing All People See

For those who are still with me and wonder how they can replicate the success of that message listen up now. The subject line is the most important thing.

Most people will just see the subject line and discard the message based on what it says in case they don’t know the author.

I often do it too of of necessity. There are simply too many low quality “outreach” messages clogging my inbox nowadays!

Even if I wanted to I can’t afford to spend all day reading other people wishes! I’m not Santa. Here the subject line is telling me everything I need to know:

"New on-page SEO tool - would love your feedback"

It says why I should be interested: I write about SEO so new tools are of course interesting.

It also mentions what I should do next – promote it of course – err, I mean give feedback!

How to Make Outreach Messages Work

Let’s start at the beginning though. Now that we know there is a happy ending due to an intriguing subject line we have to focus on the other aspects that make an outreach message succeed.

1. The message has been sent to me personally. What you see here is my public business mail address I use for a few years now. Thus it’s not a secret.

Also the mail did not get addressed to dozens or hundreds of “influencers”. He is simply a person who has written a personal message to me, personal by its form not by the content of it.

2. The subject line is straight to the point. It tells me what the message is about instantly and why I should be interested.

As I am writing about SEO for several blogs I’m of course interested in anything new, especially new tools.

3. The second part of the subject line deals with the reason why I got the message. My feedback is needed. Of course I’m flattered.

Someone considers me to be enough of an expert to judge the quality of a new SEO tool. I’m even able to influence the tool by sending feedback.

4. The sender even knows my name! Ideally he has looked up my blog or site and found out that I’m Tad.

Even in case this task got automated I’m don’t really care. They got my name right so they did at least some basic research.

5. Wow. The sender has even read my blog. At least one post got their attention: “SEO is Alive!“.

It’s a good choice and has been on the frontpage for a while so the sender is most probably not a a bot.

6. The sender got my attention now for sure. Now we’re ready to elaborate. Details please! Ah, the tool is not just a generic SEO tool.

More specifically it’s a “web-based SEO crawler”. That’s even better of course and by now I’m eager to check it out.

7. OK, so instead of stealing my time and letting me search for a link somewhere in the signature there it is, right where I need it.

I’m short of time as usual so I’m glad I don’t have to look for the link. The anchor text also tells me the name of the tool.

It sounds good! SiteCondor! Congrats on not using “SEO” and “crawler” in your SEO crawler name :-)

8. There is an even a polite call to action! After all I’m not on a landing page. Nonetheless I’d like to know what is expected of me.

Of course feedback is not the only thing people crave but it’s like asking for sex on the first date. Some people might consider it a bit rude.

9. Ah, the sender is not only a real person with a first and last name. He’s also the co-founder himself.

It’s not just the intern or the outsourced “outreach specialist”. Therefore I feel flattered again. Founders approach me directly to get the news out about their latest product.

Additionally the secret of this message is its size or length.

It’s neither big nor long. It’s indeed just three sentences. It’s perfectly enough to bring the point across. It does not waste my time. Judd Lyon respects me.

The Elements of an Excellent Outreach Message

The description above might sound a bit complex. Ultimately an excellent outreach message is

• personal
• concise
• straightforward
• to the point
• respectful

No rocket science is involved you see. I wonder why so many people do get it wrong. Is it laziness? Are they too money-hungry? I don’t know.

In case you can’t afford to write a message to a blogger you are doing it wrong I think.

At least hire someone who can do it properly then. I offer outreach services among others.

For a few years outreach was all I have been doing. I usually had a 50% or higher response rate.

* Creative Commons image by Guido da Rozze.