Email Outreach Best Practices: Timing, Tone, and Templates

When inboxes are flooded and attention spans are fleeting, getting your outreach email read (and hopefully responded to) can feel like winning the lottery.

But with the right approach to timing, tone, and templates, your outreach can cut through the noise and generate meaningful results.

Whether you're link-building for SEO, pitching collaborations, or looking to reconnect with leads, the team at Red Queen Marketing knows the best tricks. Keep scrolling as we share with you the top tips to help you increase open rates, boost replies, and win those backlinks.

Timing: The Underrated Email Outreach Conversion Driver

Does timing matter when you outreach? One of the most overlooked elements in email outreach is when your email lands in someone’s inbox.

Aligning your email with the recipient's time zone can make a massive difference. Check where they’re from and reflect their time zone. For instance, 9:00 a.m. is ideal. In outreach, time is gold. People check emails first thing, after lunch, or before finishing for the day. And often, the best timing comes from thinking about your own habits.

What do you do when you first start your day? You probably check your inbox. Before getting back into work after lunch? You check your inbox. And late in the afternoon, during that last hour or half hour, you’re probably avoiding busy work, so you check your inbox again.

Therefore, the best times to send your emails is as follows — and we have the data to support this:

• Morning (8:30–10:00 a.m.): Ideal for professionals starting their day.

• After lunch (1:00–2:00 p.m.): Catches them during their second inbox check.

• Late afternoon (4:00–5:00 p.m.): Good for those winding down or procrastinating.

Pro Tip: Use Gmail’s “Schedule Send” feature to time your outreach to hit optimal hours in the recipient’s time zone. A quick Google of “time in Oregon” (or wherever they’re based) can help you calculate the local time conversion from Sydney or Melbourne.

Check Your Tone: Professional, Friendly, and Authentic

Kill the cliché. Keep it real. Avoid generic intros like "Hope you're well!" or "I loved your article." These instantly mark your message as spammy.

Instead, keep it human. Don’t fake it. You don’t have to brand yourself as the ultimate superfan of the website you’re writing to. Be straightforward and just talk about getting a link or building a content relationship.

The connections you’re building will be at different levels for different types of websites, and the key factor is to know how relevant their expertise is to yours. The closer they are to your business proposition, the more you want to become allies with them.

Tone Variations Based on Audience

Sometimes, you’re addressing a blogger. Other times, you’re writing to a company representative. Both require very different tones:

• When writing to independent content creators or bloggers, personalise with a soft touch. If they travel in a tiny home, try something like: 

  
  

  “Hope this finds you enjoying a peaceful moment in your tiny house on wheels.”

  
  

• When writing to a company on behalf of your company, use a more professional tone and stay to the point. Think:

  
  

  “Hi team, just reaching out about the article on X…”

The point is to lead with relevance. Reference something from their blog, bio, or recent Instagram post — anything that proves you did your homework and took the time to get to know them better is a plus. Just don’t be creepy sounding like a stalker.

Templates: Start with Structure, Then Customise

Every effective outreach email should include the following:

• Purpose: Clearly state what you’re reaching out about.

• Context: Mention the specific article or page.

• Value: Explain why your request benefits them or their audience.

• Ask: Make your request direct, simple, and easy to action.

• Link: Include your suggested URL with a brief reason why it’s a good fit.

Pro Tip: Add colorful icons to the subject line. It helps your email cut through noisy inboxes, especially if you’re writing to a marketer or a one-man team. Our Team over at Red Queen Marketing started seeing as much as 40% of open rates in the very first month of adopting this practice.

Basic Email Outreach Template Example

Treat this template as a foundation, not a script. Add small, personalised touches. Make references to location or business values to add authenticity.

Tools to Optimise Outreach

There are noteworthy tools to add in your arsenal for link-building and out reach. Here are some of our team’s favourites:

1. Mailtrack or YesWare

Used by the Red Queen team to see if and when emails are opened. Knowing your message was read helps you decide when to follow up (or if it’s time to move on).

2. AI for Editing, Not Writing

While AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini can help refine your drafts, don’t let them write your emails from scratch.

Write the first draft yourself, then use AI to get feedback. Beyond perfecting your grammar, you can also use AI to help refine your tone and phrasing.

Use prompts like:

“Can you edit and improve this email to make it more persuasive and natural-sounding for a backlink request?”

But always review and adjust as nothing can beat genuine human touch, not even AI. AI lacks your voice, context, and genuine intention.

Read more about How to Use AI to Write Content

3. Add Graphics, Images, or Videos

Instead of sending over a thick block of text, why not send a video or screen capture? This tactic comes especially helpful when, for instance, your campaign involves promoting tools, like calculators, spreadsheets, and softwares.

You may even insert a short video clip or link to a video presentation that introduces your website or company, most especially if you’re pitching B2B and there’s opportunity to do business with the intended recipient.

You can simply use your computing system’s screen capture capabilities or, use web-based apps like Loom or Zoomifier which brings the added benefit of housing all your video-enabled pitches under a common library you can share with your team.

Localise for Better Results (Especially in Australia)

Australia has a slightly different email culture than the US or UK—more direct, less fluffy.

When targeting Australian websites:

• Reference local context (“We’re Sydney-based…”).

• Avoid over-the-top flattery.

• Keep your language grounded and practical.

Example: Outreach to an Aussie site

If you’re pitching a link replacement to a site, your intro could be:

“G’day, I noticed the link in your article about <BRIEFLY DESCRIBE THE ARTICLE> is broken. I wanted to offer a relevant, up-to-date alternative from <THE SITE YOU’RE PITCHING>.”

Best Practices Checklist

Before hitting 'Send', ask yourself:

• Is the tone authentic and appropriate?

• Have I mentioned the specific article and link?

• Is the request clear and direct?

• Did I personalise it in any small, meaningful way?

• Did I take the effort out of the recipient’s hands?

• Is this email aligned with the recipient's time zone?

Results: What to Expect

Link outreach isn’t about overnight wins. It normally takes time because this process requires relationship building.

Link-building campaigns usually have a 2% to 3% success rate only. But with a solid prospecting strategy, campaigns can potentially reach as high as 35% success rate, as our team over at Red Queen Marketing can attest to based on prior experience.