{"id":1599,"date":"2016-08-31T13:34:16","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T13:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginewatch.com\/2016\/08\/31\/seven-simple-rules-for-effective-email-communication-and-outreach\/"},"modified":"2019-09-25T12:55:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T12:55:30","slug":"seven-simple-rules-for-effective-email-communication-and-outreach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/searchenginewatch.com\/2016\/08\/31\/seven-simple-rules-for-effective-email-communication-and-outreach\/","title":{"rendered":"Seven simple rules for effective email communication and outreach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Communication is key to success in life. No matter your industry, field, career, day-to-day responsibilities, or duties, communication is integral to your success.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is particularly true in SEO<\/a> and link building, where communication is vital to educating clients, gaining buy-in, executing campaigns, securing links<\/a>, and presenting results.<\/p>\n

Email<\/a> is the primary mode of communication in today\u2019s digital world. If you can\u2019t communicate well through email<\/a>, you\u2019ll struggle.<\/p>\n

Benefits of effective communication<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Establishes trust, sets project scope, and defines expectations.<\/li>\n
  2. Conveys and emphasizes the correct information.<\/li>\n
  3. Enables both parties to be understood.<\/li>\n
  4. Identifies team obstacles and facilitates problem solving.<\/li>\n
  5. Ensures client, team, and personal satisfaction.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Your ability to present yourself well, communicate ideas, and pitch is fundamental to success.<\/p>\n

    Let me be clear:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Knowledge, skill, and integrity are vital to any business. But being able to communicate well is crucial in all aspects of work.<\/p>\n

    Good communication increases value, instills trust, builds confidence, resolves issues, reveals obstacles, and facilitates virtually every piece of an SEO campaign and relationship with clients, supervisors, and team members.<\/p>\n

    Communication is doubly valuable in link building<\/a>, which requires one-to-one communication with other site owners in order to secure links. You need to effectively communicate WHY it\u2019s in their (or their audiences\u2019) best interest to link.<\/p>\n

    Here are my rules for effective email communication (and outreach):<\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Use templates for format.<\/li>\n
    2. Know your audience.<\/li>\n
    3. Lead with value.<\/li>\n
    4. Be clear and concise.<\/li>\n
    5. Active language wins.<\/li>\n
    6. Send complete emails.<\/li>\n
    7. Follow up.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      What is the goal of your email?<\/strong> Every single element of your email (subject line, structure, word choice) should support that.<\/p>\n

      1) Templates: how to format emails<\/h2>\n

      Everyone has received terrible mass-produced emails with a template containing zero customization.<\/p>\n

      If I receive one more \u201cDear Webmaster\u201d<\/em> email\u2026<\/p>\n

      Despite this, I fervently believe in the value of templates. Templates lead to systems and processes, which lead to well-formatted emails that are easy to read and understand (not to mention produce).<\/p>\n

      My rule of thumb for whether or not I use a template is:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Am I sending multiple emails to a similar audience?<\/li>\n
      2. Will I send a similar email in the future?<\/li>\n
      3. Is there an optimal way to structure the information to convey my message?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The secret to a good template is list segmentation. Your template should be customized to your audience, leaving enough room for variance as needed.<\/p>\n

        Unless I\u2019m replying to a thread or sending a unique email, it\u2019s highly likely<\/strong> I\u2019m using some form of template.<\/p>\n

        Even hand written emails follow a general format (AKA template). Think about the various emails you have to send every day. I bet there are a handful of general templates you follow, even if you\u2019re composing each email individually.<\/p>\n

        Here\u2019s an example of a template I use often:<\/p>\n

        \"Featured<\/p>\n

        This is what I use when I include a positive mention of someone or their company in a post. This helps me build a connection, alerts them to the fact they\u2019ve been mentioned and why, and maybe even nets me a couple social shares.<\/p>\n

        Creating processes is key to effectiveness. This idea of optimizing shouldn\u2019t be new to the SEO crowd<\/p>\n

        2) Know your audience<\/h2>\n

        The most important rule of communication is to base the entire conversation around your audience.<\/p>\n

        Think about it:<\/p>\n

        How do you converse with a colleague? A supervisor? A client? A good friend? Your parent?<\/p>\n

        Style, tone, word choice, and mode of communication varies with each audience. It\u2019s communication 101 – you need to structure the conversation that makes sense and is effective for that audience.<\/p>\n

        Here\u2019s what you should know about your contact before drafting an email:<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Name<\/li>\n
        2. Title\/position<\/li>\n
        3. Personality<\/li>\n
        4. Authority\/influence<\/li>\n
        5. Their communication style<\/li>\n
        6. How often they\u2019re pitched<\/li>\n
        7. Your professional relationship.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          If you send similar emails, regardless of audience, you\u2019re communicating ineffectively.<\/p>\n

          3) Value-first Communication<\/h2>\n

          There\u2019s always a reason WHY you\u2019re sending an email.<\/p>\n

          To communicate effectively, it should be clear why you\u2019ve sent an email, and why it matters to the person you\u2019re emailing.<\/p>\n

          It\u2019s the last bit – why your email matters to your contact – that\u2019s most important. Leading with this is how you establish value, and gain consideration.<\/p>\n

          You don\u2019t need to write a long introduction about who you are, or why what you\u2019re doing matters to the world. Lead with the value to your audience.<\/p>\n

          Why should they care?<\/p>\n

          The earlier you can answer this question in an email, the better.<\/p>\n

          When editing a template, my first step is always to move the \u201cwhy this matters to you\u201d statement to the top (or as near the top as possible).<\/p>\n

          Here\u2019s an email pitch I receive often:<\/p>\n

          \"Email<\/p>\n

          Here\u2019s how I would make this email value-first.<\/p>\n

          Hello Cory,<\/em><\/p>\n

          Are you working to improve your sales and marketing bandwidth?<\/em><\/p>\n

          (custom line that speaks directly to the person\u2019s position or the company).<\/em><\/p>\n

          At [redacted] we provide you with a bespoke B2B list for your prospective accounts, lead generation, and data management services, so you own the client while we do all the research.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

          We specialize in:<\/em><\/p>\n