Inbound PR - Building Links with Less Cold Outreach

Inbound PR: Less Cold
Outreach, More Links
Please
Stacey MacNaught | MacNaught Digital
slideshare.net/staceycav
@staceycav

We can be guilty of being too short
sighted when measuring link
building activities.
@staceycav #brightonseo

That’s one reason I believe
outreach led roles are getting
tougher and tougher.

Unscientific,
statistically
insignificant,
anecdotal social
media poll claxon…

A campaign not building the links
you expected it to build….

Does not make you
bad at your job.

Someone who is bad at their job….

You are not
Boris Johnson.

https://www.aira.net/state-of-link-building/content-led-link-building/

31% of people who produce
content for links have launched a
campaign in the past 12 months
that generated zero links.

60% have launched a campaign
in the past 12 months that
generated 1 – 9 links.

There are 4.3 billion* things
with this sort of work that
are out of your control.

*ish
There are 4.3 billion* things
with this sort of work that
are out of your control.

Amongst them, the volume of
emails you’re competing with.

“I get 100 pitches on a quiet day
and up to 200 on some days. I
can’t ever read them all let alone
reply…”
A UK National Women’s Interest Writer

“1 in 30 pitches I receive is
relevant.”
A UK National Women’s Interest Writer

Bad habits lead to….

Spamming journalists with irrelevant
press releases

Pitching stories that the journalist
has recently run….

Pitching stories that the journalist
has publicly stated they’ve no
interest in…

Pitching journalists who’ve been
clear they don’t take any pitches.

Surena is still getting 5
pitches/day after Tweeting
this.

Plenty of
journalists (Surena
in particular) are
going above and
beyond to try and
help PRs…
https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/how-to-write-a-pitch.html

But plenty of others are
experiencing fatigue with
SEOs and PRs as a
consequence

And that means that even if
you’re doing everything
right…

You’re still up against it

I’m not saying outreach led
content pieces don’t work.

There are LOADS of mega
creative examples out there
and agencies doing this stuff
well.

Non-exhaustive list…

I’m not saying
“stop doing outreach and
digital PR.”

But….

If you’re measured on
organic search performance

And yes, therefore links…

Don’t rely 100% on cold
outreach to achieve them.

And what I call “inbound PR”

Pitching journalists at a time
they’re actively looking for
the thing you’ve got.

Or better still… ultimately
having them come to you
directly when they’re looking
for something.

With the help of services like
HARO, Response Source and
others…

Top end links with no more
content required than a few
sentences, an opinion or
some product photos.

This type of activity vs cold
pitching…

It’s the difference between
pitching your story about flu
to a health journalist…

And pitching it to a writer
who’s actively writing a
feature about the flu right
now.

We can all sympathise with
pitch fatigue

“Our records
indicate you
own a home.
Want new
windows?”

“I don’t want
windows.”

Another approach….

“You
requested a
quote for
some new
windows?”

“Yes please.
I’d love a
quote for
some new
windows.”

And everybody lived happily ever after…

They did a good job.
So I’ll go back.

And I’ll recommend
them to friends.

This activity is great for
link acquisition

But also a route to
building relationships

https://bit.ly/lazy-link-list

Types of assets you
ALREADY have that are
useful to journalists

Product.
Expertise.
Experience/Opinion.

Product placement where your
product IS the story
(my favourite)

Product placement where your
product is one in a list…

Yeh, the link is great.

Yeh, the link is great.
But the direct sales are one Hell
of a bonus

Expertise placement…

Experience or opinion

Tools to find the
opportunities

Tools are only the starting point.

My end goal is always to become
the go-to

https://www.helpareporter.com/

https://www.responsesource.com

https://pressplugs.co.uk

https://helpab2bwriter.com/

https://dotstar.media

https://www.qwoted.com/

https://presshunt.co/

https://www.pressloft.com/

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23journorequest&src=typed_query

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23prrequest&src=typed_query

H/T Surena
Chande!!

https://twitter.com/searchandrew/status/1433448180184752137?s=20

Tools ≠ Success

Marcio lists 4 requests on
Twitter/HARO each week

”60 pitches per article”

“I don’t even use 5% of
those.”

Material is often
unusable on the basis
that it’s “incomplete”

Or so “overly promotional that, in
order to salvage something, I would
have to spend time contacting the
PR agency, interviewing their client,
and re-write the whole thing from
scratch.”

“I just don’t have paid time
allocated for that 1-to-1 journey”

There’s a big opportunity in getting
it right….

Here’s what we find
works for us….

Responding VERY
Selectively

Only if we have
absolutely the right
person

“I’m looking for a vet”
≠
“I’m looking for
someone who owns a
pet insurance business”

Translation: 3rd September unless
someone gets in quicker

Spoiler alert: They probably will.

So, we pre-prepare.

We ask new clients a long list of
questions early.
https://bit.ly/inbound-pr-qs

https://bit.ly/inbound-pr-qs

And use this info to create a
Google Drive folder with
images, pre signed off
comment etc

Expand that questionnaire with
questions related to the types
of relevant queries you
anticipate might come through

Look back through old queries….

Working with a family solicitor?

Check out what the journalist
actually used…

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/divorce-bill-blm-instagram-facebook-b1841784.html

So, prepare comment on the
topic for your client so the next
time there’s a high profile
divorce, you’re ready and the
comment is already signed off.

You can use this eye ball test to
improve the quality of your
pitches too.

Journalists using enquiry services
often do so regularly…

So before responding to their
pitch, go take a look at what
they’ve used from other
enquiries recently

Looking at their previous request
outcomes helps you to get an
idea of:

What types of experts they’re
using

Typical time between requesting
comment and publishing… helps
with expectation setting

Whether and where they’re
linking

You can tailor your pitch
accordingly

Journalists reluctant to link to
homepages?
Create simple profile pages.

Want to go a bit more
proactive?

Contact journalists regularly
using media enquiry services to
introduce relevant contacts

Find journalists regularly using
experts through Google News…

Casual, non promotional intro
works best, we find

Ecommerce? Find the writers
who regularly do product round
ups like Indybest and ask for a
list of what’s coming…

Seasonal products?
Find everyone who did last
year’s round ups and contact
them…

https://bit.ly/xmas-roundups

Start pitching well in advance
for each seasonal event.

Don’t focus on one link stands

Think longer term working
relationships

Be reliable.

“I just don’t have paid
time allocated for that
1-to-1 journey”

So make it easy. Include….

Features.
Pricing.
Link to high res imagery

Any comment
Attribution instruction
Where to link

Remember this should be
mutually beneficial

Questions?
Twitter DMS open - @staceycav
Email: stacey@macnaughtdigital.co.uk

Inbound PR - Building Links with Less Cold Outreach

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