Freelancer Cold Pitch Guide: 5 Steps To Your First Cold Outreach Campaign

Networking and creating connections is an effective way to expand your reach as a business. Building a robust network is the key to enhanced SEO and social media reach.

If you're a freelancer looking to build links back to your content and position yourself as an expert in your industry, you need a strategy. Here are five steps to creating a cold pitch outreach campaign.

Consider Your Goals

Think about why you are building this campaign. Are you trying to get samples for your portfolio or boost SEO through backlinking? Having an ultimate goal in mind will help you shape your strategy and set key performance indicators to measure your success.

Once you've identified the ultimate goal, break it down into smaller milestones that will get you there. For example, if your goal is to boost SEO, you might determine that you want to be featured on ten websites this month. You determine that you should reach out to 100 blogs for this purpose, which breaks down to 3-5 per day. 

By reverse-engineering your goal, you identify a clear path forward without getting overwhelmed by the task at hand.

Find Your Target

After you have a goal in mind, you need to research your niche and identify who you'll be approaching in your target audience. To be effective in this effort, you want to dedicate time to learning some touch points about the website or individual you're targeting before you go to their write for us page.

Take time to read a few of their published articles or social media posts. This will give you a better idea of their tone, and gives you something to reference so that they know you aren't just spamming them.

Warm Them Up

To improve your chances of success when doing a cold pitch campaign, warm up your target so that they recognize your name. For example, commenting on their posts a few times can help build recognition. When you take this approach, be sure to read through the content and make a valuable comment; don't just say something generic.

This exercise also gives you a segue into starting a conversation, as you can remind them of the narrative you started by commenting. For example, "Hi Rachel. I appreciated our conversation on your post about X."

Use the Right Tools

Having the right tools in place will help you streamline your campaign and keep track of numerous conversations. Having an email management system in place can help you track which emails are opened and which are ignored. You can also use a bulk verification service if you're doing a standard email.

Some people like to keep a simple Excel sheet while others integrate a funnel using a program like Streak in their Gmail account. The key to running a successful cold pitch campaign comes down to being able to stay organized.

Reach Out and Follow Up

Take some time to craft your messaging, whether you decide to send a standard message or alter it for individual recipients. The message should outline the value you can offer the target without sounding like a sales pitch. It should be personal and casual but professional. Remember to proofread before hitting send or have someone else scan through your work.

Following up is essential for success as a freelancer. Many editors are inundated with emails and pitches every day. Sometimes being chosen comes down to being the person at the top of the list or showing the most interest over your competition.

Deliver on Your Promise

After you get through these five steps, be sure to deliver on what you promise. Your reputation and success as a freelancer depend on it. 

Don't be afraid to experiment with A/B testing or to use analytics to shape your future efforts. Learn from your mistakes and be persistent.