2017-03-22
Content Outreach: How to Grow Your PT Clinic with Influencer Marketing

Content Outreach Influencer Marketing

Let’s be honest – you probably want to get more traffic to your physical therapy clinic’s blog.

The unfortunate thing is that, no matter how hard you work to create awesome content, barely anyone reads your blog. It’s hard to stay motivated when you realize that your PT blog is located in a sea of content with no traffic in sight.

Recent studies show that 93% of all marketers say they do content marketing. But, with the volume of content published and shared rapidly increasing, we are approaching “content shock.” The amount of content people consume daily has grown from two hours a day in 1920 to 11 hours a day today. In other words, companies produce more content than readers can consume.

So, how do you stand out from the noise? 

The idea that if you create great content, people will eventually find you is not working anymore. You’ve been working tirelessly, putting your heart and soul into content creation, but the traffic needle barely moved. Don’t get the wrong idea, creating compelling content is important, and you should continue doing that, but you need to do more than writing.

Fortunately, there is something you can do. Content outreach is one great way you can get more people to see the articles you publish on your physical therapy clinic’s website.

But, what is content outreach and how does it work? 

Let’s find out together!

  • What Is Content Outreach?

Imagine you are a wood crafter, and you’ve built 1,000 beautiful chairs. Instead of putting them in a shop, you store them in a warehouse. Months later, you start wondering why no one is buying your chairs.

The same goes for content marketing. If you focus only on creating the product, but you completely ignore the marketing part, you can’t blame your audience for not flooding your website. You need to promote your content, and the best way to do it is through outreach.

Content outreach is the process of getting others to share or link to your articles. In other words, you reach out to the influencers in your industry, and you ask them to share your content.

But, reaching out to influential bloggers can be pretty scary, especially if you’ve just started blogging on your PT clinic’s website. So, how can you make sure you are doing this right?

In this article, we will go through the process of content outreach, and we will learn some tips that will get top bloggers to share your posts.

How to Create a Winning Content Outreach Strategy

Outreach can be a very powerful tool, especially if you struggle to get their content noticed.

That is if you get it right.

But, don’t get discouraged. With the proper strategy, you will be able to leverage other people’s influence to boost your PT blog’s traffic.

Here’s how to create a winning outreach strategy.

1. Define Your Goals

Before you can even begin to start sending emails to top bloggers, you need to think about your goals. Content outreach can help you achieve different things: a boost in traffic, quality backlinks, a place at the authoritative blog’s table and so on.

Another thing you need to consider is the time you are willing to devote to content outreach. Developing a successful outreach strategy takes time and effort – you need to find the right influencers and send out lots and lots of emails.

That doesn’t mean you need to send hundreds of emails every time you publish a new post, but you will need to devote a considerable amount of time to finding and reaching out to the right people.

2.     Find the Right Influencers

One surefire way to fail at outreach is to reach out to everyone without filtering them.

To determine which bloggers you should contact, you need to define who your audience is and if getting a backlink from a particular influencer will benefit them in some way. Then, you need to look for influencers who fit both their profile and yours.

If you are having trouble finding influencers in your niche, Buzzsumo is an excellent tool that will help you find influencers who have shared similar content.

3.     Develop Relationships

Imagine a stranger walking up to you, asking for a significant favor. Would you help them?

Chances are you wouldn’t.

Guess what: when you send emails to influencers asking them to share your articles, you are that stranger asking for a favor.

Why should they help you? Influencers receive several requests each week. Wasting their time is a surefire way to get rejected. 

That is why it is important that, by the time you contact them, you’ve already developed some sorts of relationship with them.

Ask yourself: What can I offer in return for this favor?

For example, if you’re offering a new physical therapy treatment, ask them to try it out. Then, they’ll be more inclined to write about it and share your content.

4.     Reach out

So, you’ve created a list of top bloggers that are relevant to physical therapy, and you made sure you’ve performed a favor before asking them to share your posts. Now it’s time to write the email.

Learn how to write great emails. Whether you are asking for a link, a share or a mention, there are a few guidelines you need to keep in mind.

  • Personalize Your Emails

No one likes generic emails. That is why it is extremely important that you create personal messages. Check their social media activity or read their latest blogs and try to learn something about their most recent interest. Use this information to connect with them and to grab their attention.

Here’s an example of a personalized email:

Hey ____ (insert name here),

Just wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed your latest post about ____. The ideas you’ve shared were so helpful and valuable, and I can’t wait to try them for myself.

I gave your article some love in a post today on my blog.

Hope you enjoy the mention!

Thanks,

____ from ____”

Instead of sharing a generic email asking influencers to “please share this post,” it is much more effective to personalize your message. Talk about what you’ve done for them (a share on social media, a mention of their latest article in your post, etc.) to persuade them to share your content.

  • Keep it Short

No one likes to read long boring email. Not to mention that influencers receive requests every week and they need to sort through them quickly.

Try to keep your email short. Don’t write any unnecessary information – get to the point as quickly as possible.

5.     Create a Strong Strategy

Timing is another important part of a winning outreach plan. If you want to get a response, schedule your emails so that they won’t get lost in the pile of messages top bloggers get every day.

One strategy you can try is to send your emails around 8-9 AM in the morning. This way, by the time the person you reached out to starts working, your email will be close to the top of the inbox.

How to Get Influencers to Share Your Content

 How can you get top bloggers to share your content?

Don’t just reach out to influencers because you need their help. Offer something in return. Promote them, help them grow their brand and so on.

Here are three techniques you can use to get top influencers to share your content and drive more traffic to your PT clinic’s website

  • Ask for Quotes

One of the best ways to get a mention from top bloggers is to ask quotes from them. This strategy will not only increase your traffic, but it will also help you build relationships with influencers in the physical therapy niche and boost your credibility.

  • Interview Them

Interviewing influencers is another great way to get a mention from them.

Contact an A-List expert and ask him or her for an interview. Prepare the questions, send them via email and transcribe the answers into a text interview.

Make sure you ask clear and relevant questions. Send an email to the blogger before publishing your article to check if there is anything about the interview he or she wants to change. Once the article is up, let the influencer know.

  • Apply Their Advice and Let Them Know the Results

One of the best ways to get influencers’ attention is to show them that their advice worked.

Another technique you can use is to add value to an article published by a top blogger. For example, you can turn a great article into an engaging infographic. Don’t forget to mention the source of your inspiration. Then, send an email to the author to show them the result.

Over to You

Content outreach is a great promotion strategy that can boost your traffic. The only problem is that outreach is hard to implement and many shy away from it. But, with the right approach, you can get influencers to share your posts and drive more traffic to your physical therapy clinic’s website.

If reaching out to influencers in your niche seems like too much trouble, but you’re interested in growing your physical therapy practice, then leave it to us to take care of your marketing needs. Here at PatientSites.com, we can help you with content marketing, search engine optimization, and email marketing.

Contact us today, and together we can get more patients to your physical therapy clinic. 

Get started with a Free Evergreen Marketing Blueprint to learn how you can create long-term assets that will attract new patients for years to come.