Blog | Outreach Marketing Ideas Your Marketing Team Can Get Behind

In marketing, as in life, it’s as much who you know as what you know.

Sales professionals realize building relationships is their North Star. It helps them grow, improve, and hit ever-higher heights of success.

Marketers sometimes trailed behind in outreach. They want to feel fully authentic in their relationships, but they sometimes do more thinking than acting.

Outreach marketing lets them break free into a world of genuine reciprocity.

In 2019, expanding your network is essential. Securing, maintaining, and deepening relationships makes it easier to find “the One” – that person, whoever it is, who has the right combination of skills, motivations, and connections to move you forward.

When they think networking, some people remember awkward and stilted events – “speed dating” for professionals. With the right outreach marketing ideas, you can get excited about connecting with people again. And that, in turn, can net you your golden opportunity.

via GIPHY

So, which outreach marketing ideas get your team (and your customers!) clamoring for more?

Let’s take to the stage with some of our favorite outreach marketing ideas.

1. Organize Events to Connect With Influencers

Influencers are scattered all over the world these days, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reach out.

In fact, virtual events have proven to be an exceptional way to show off your social media chops, get influencers engaged in your brand story, and entice them to partner with you in the future.

Virtual events can take many forms. The kind that works best for you depends on how your brand relates to people. Webinars are a great way to teach a crowd. Live streaming some special occasion can help you meet your audience, providing urgency and “there-ness.”

Games, giveaways, and contests can be valuable for those who already have an energetic social following. If your audience is invested in your team members as individuals, holding a Reddit-style “Ask Me Anything” can pique their curiosity. The sky is the limit!

2. Double Down on Culture Content

Culture content is the kind of marketing content that shows your company culture and values in action.

If your culture is already baked into the day to day, it’s easy to find chances to show it off. For example, does your team go on quarterly volunteering trips? Great! All you have to do is bring a smartphone and get that live video rolling.

Do you have a head-turning creative process or manufacturing methods that move mountains? Fantastic! Give people a behind the scenes look – preferably live. The best culture content brings together certain spicy ingredients to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts:

• It has a connection to your brand’s identity – showing it alive and in motion.
• It communicates why your way is better, not just how your way is different.
• It shows people things they don’t expect or familiar topics in fresh ways.

Good news: Culture content isn’t something you can only get around to once in a while. In fact, if you encourage your team to share their views on industry topics, they probably will.

Expand your content creation efforts beyond the marketing team by creating a platform for the many voices of your brand – embodied by the people who bring it to life every day.

You might find that you end up with more terrific content than you ever imagined.

And that leads us right to ...

3. Guest Blog for All Those Influencers Out There

Influencers become influencers by consistently supplying their audience with eye-popping content.

This is a tall order, and the stakes get higher with every follow and subscribe.

When you offer influencers content, you’re actually making life (much) easier for them.

And if you followed the suggestion above, you have an even stronger roster of people who could write cool, compelling blog posts for influencers to promote. Guest blogging is super keen for a variety of reasons:

• Since the blog post lives on the influencer’s site, you usually get a backlink.
• You can tap into the influencer’s audience (and they’re inclined to trust you!)
• Future readers who check out the influencer’s back catalog will be led to you.

Done right, guest blogging can be the start of a beautiful friendship – and if that’s not good outreach marketing, what is?

4. Provide Testimonials or Case Studies

Here’s an outreach marketing idea that’s simple, yet scintillating: Provide awesome social proof for influencers. But don’t just dash off a short email, give them something to sink their teeth into.

Has someone’s product helped you win the day? Send off a personalized video along with a quick “outline” of how it made a difference. This approach is a big deal, and here’s why:

• If they like the video, they’ll share it right away, capturing immediate social traffic.
• With the outline, you’ve done half the work of writing a new case study for them.
• They’ll know you’re serious about adding value, not just in this for a traffic spike.

Seriously, it’s that easy. What goes around comes around, and sincere gratitude is one of the fastest ways to bring people together. If it’s also good outreach marketing, so much the better!

5. Create Handcrafted Experiences for Individual Influencers

If you love an influencer’s work ... really love it ... why not roll out the red carpet?

Influencers are always excited to get some free stuff, but you don’t have to be one of a hundred “same old” suitors offering something in exchange for their attention. You can get a step further by creating an individualized brand experience for an influencer.

For example, if you’re a travel company, you can craft an itinerary focused on that influencer’s interests. This means when they report back – no matter their opinion of you – they’ll get to discuss an experience that truly discloses the unique aspects of your brand.

One thing unites all the best outreach marketing ideas: They involve taking a genuine interest in other people. Start in that spirit and your network is sure to grow.