Save time and increase your response rates with these fill-in-the-blank outreach email templates (available in Word, Google Docs and as a PDF). You can use this free collection of templates to build backlinks, get social shares from influencers, form relationships with big names in your space, and more.

Why Use an Outreach Email Template?

I’ve sent thousands of outreach emails over the years. And I can draw a direct line from those outreach emails to Backlinko now generating 350k+ monthly readers.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that there are also more spammers every day. Which makes it harder and harder to get through to the people you want to reach. Not to mention the fact that the people who can help you the most are the same people that get bombarded with tons of emails.

So in order to succeed with email outreach today, you need to do two things:

1. Send lots of emails. Since most of your emails will get ignored, you need to send a lot of them. That’s the nature of outreach.

2. Use phrasing that works. It’s very difficult to avoid the dreaded “spam” button and convince people to go out of their way to help you.

The following templates will help you do both of these things. They will eliminate guesswork, save time, and improve your results.

What’s Included

This outreach email template actually contains 6 separate templates to tackle different situations where you might want to use outreach:

1. Building backlinks: Quality backlinks are critical for SEO. And these templates will help you get more of them.
2. Getting social shares: Social shares can bring in huge spikes of traffic. But rather than asking for a share outright (which can turn people off and and risk burning bridges), these templates use a more nuanced approach.
3. General / miscellaneous: This basic catch-all template outlines a 3-part structure that is flexible enough to work in almost any situation.

How to Use These Templates

1. Download the collection of free Outreach Email Templates on this page
2. Compile a list of people you’d like to email (here’s how I do that)
3. Choose between the 6 template options and fill out the one that fits your situation
4. Before you email ballers, get your name in front of them ahead of time. Share their work, leave a great comment on their blog post, and/or interact with them on social media
5. Send your email

How to Improve Your Outreach Results

91.5% of outreach emails are ignored or, worse yet, marked as spam. Using good templates alone will significantly increase the odds of getting a response. But there are a few more things you can try to boost your response rate even higher.

• Personalize each email for the person you’re sending it to. The less automated it sounds, the better. (And the more famous or busy the person is, the more you’ll need to personalize things to get a response.)
• You can boost response rates simply by including links to your social profiles in your signature (source).
• Double-check your spelling and grammar. Even one typo can ruin your outreach attempt (especially if it’s toward the beginning of the email).
• Don’t push too hard. I get it: you want that email to convert. But in my experience, one legit relationship is more valuable than 10 small wins. Personally, I make an effort to NEVER be pushy. For example, I only send a single follow-up email (or sometimes none at all).
• Once you’ve honed the process, you can use a tool like BuzzStream or NinjaOutreach to scale your outreach.
• Want more email templates? Check out our Welcome Email Template, Email Newsletter Template and Journalist Pitch Template.