The Role of Follow-Up Emails in Email Marketing Strategy: Effective Templates for Different Cases

The Impact of Follow-Up Emails on Marketing Strategy

Follow-up emails are like a kind reminder in the inbox that keeps the conversation going. They play an important role in building relationships, offering value, and pushing people to take action. That’s why you should include them in your email marketing strategy to show your recipients that you have them in mind and are always ready to engage.

As you know, a follow-up email is a message you send after a certain interaction or lack thereof. Usually, it encourages the contact to choose a certain tariff plan, schedule a B2B meeting, establish interaction, leave a review, buy another product on an e-commerce site, continue the conversation, etc.

With follow-up emails, you not only keep your customers up to date, but also build relationships, guide them on the right path, and encourage them to take the next step toward the desired conversion – a purchase, registration, call booking, or website visit.

These emails are also great for targeting specific groups of your audience, such as those who have shown interest in certain products or haven’t received your emails in a while. They also help you tailor your messages for maximum impact. In addition, by tracking how people respond to your follow-ups, you can learn a lot about what’s working and what’s not in your email marketing strategy.

This will help you refine your approach and make sure you’re delivering value every time you hit the send button. In this article, we’ll show you how to write follow-up marketing emails that not only get opened but also bring results. You’ll also get effective templates for different scenarios, but first, let’s look at how to make your follow-up messages really stand out.

Types of Follow-Up Emails

1. Free trial extension offers.

Many product companies offer free trials of their services, which allows potential customers to test and experience the value of their software or tool before purchasing the full version. These emails aim to convert trial users into regular customers, typically asking for feedback, offering tips on how to use it to optimize results, and hinting that the customer is missing out on additional features that are available in paid plans.

2. Follow-up after a webinar or event.

After a webinar or event, follow-up emails can be sent to attendees to thank them for their participation, provide additional resources or materials related to the occasion, and encourage them to take further action or engagement.

3. Attracting new customers.

After a customer has recommended your business or product to someone, sending a follow-up email thanking them for the recommendation, offering incentives for future referrals, and encouraging further advertising can help build a loyal customer base and drive word-of-mouth marketing.

4. Follow-up emails for lead magnets with registration options.

One of the most popular strategies for generating leads is for users to sign up and provide their email addresses in exchange for a reward, such as a report, e-book, or webinar. This is called the lead magnet subscription. Follow-up messages in this case serve as a reminder to complete the subscription process and emphasize the benefits that recipients will receive from it.

5. Follow-up after the product sale.

The goal of these emails is to increase customer loyalty and lifetime value. After the purchase, these emails ask for feedback on the product or service, recommend additional products, and may contain exclusive discounts to encourage additional purchases. We’ve discussed such examples on the topic of triggered emails.

6. Re-engagement emails.

This type of email was also discussed earlier. It’s sent to subscribers who have become inactive and haven’t interacted with your emails for a while. Re-engagement follow-up emails can help rekindle their interest and encourage further engagement with your content and new offers.

Effective Follow-Up After Cold Emails

Follow-up emails are often used in cold email campaigns, which rarely receive more than half a percent response rate after the first sending. So a follow-up email helps to reach the rest of the potential customers.

Following up after a cold email is a common practice across industries, especially in sales, marketing, and business development. Doing so is crucial for building contact and boosting the likelihood of a response.

Didn’t receive a response after sending your first cold email? You should send a follow-up email that makes sure to refer back to the initial message, expresses appreciation for their time, and reiterates the value proposition or reason for reaching out.

Why Send Follow-Up Messages?

It’s simple, because modern people are busy, and your first email may not only be ignored but simply not seen. How long has it been since you checked your email deliverability? It should be your regular practice to test your campaigns before sending so that you have a full understanding of what percentage of your messages will reach the inbox and have a chance to be read, and what will mercilessly go to spam, leaving you with no chance for conversion. Use our powerful Inbox Insight tool to get detailed reports on your deliverability and useful tips for improving it.

How Many Follow-Up Emails Should You Send?

Experienced email marketers confidently say that you should send as many follow-up emails as necessary until you get a response.

In cold outreach, it is recommended to send 4 to 9 follow-up emails, according to Lemlist’s analysis of millions of cold emails, the overall response rate increases with each subsequent email.

But after 9 or more follow-up emails, the benefits become insignificant and you may be labeled as a spammer, so keep a balance and a friendly tone of voice to avoid putting too much pressure on people.

When Is the Best Time to Send Follow-Up Emails?

The best time to send follow-up emails depends on the behavior of your specific audience. Experimentation is the key to finding the best time for your messages. Analyze which emails have low performance and try sending follow-ups at a different time of day or day of the week.

After all, follow-up emails are sent more than once, so they provide marketers with the flexibility to test different approaches to achieve the desired subscriber action – open, click-through, or conversion.

There is a popular email marketing follow-up sequence, that shows a perfect sending frequency:

1 Day: First interaction

+ 1-3 days: Follow-up email

+ 7 days: Follow-up email

+ 14 days: Follow-up email

+ 28-30 days: Follow-up email

For cold outreach, progressively increase the interval between follow-up emails.

Is there still no reply? In the future, follow up once a month. And, if the response is they are not interested, just don’t follow them up.

Remember, sending too many follow-up messages in a short time can be perceived as desperate or annoying.

Email Marketing Follow-Up Examples

To make things easier for you, here are examples of effective follow-up emails that have been tested in practice. Use these copy-paste templates to increase the response rate of your prospects and partners.

1. Cold Outreach Follow-Up Email Template.

Subject Line: Quick Follow-Up: Discussing [Specific Topic]

Hi [First Name],
 
I hope you had a chance to read my previous email and take a look at our website, so I thought it was worth reaching out to you again.
Are you interested in learning more about how [your product] can benefit [their company] with [value proposition]?
I'd be glad to have a quick chat at any time that's convenient for you. What do you think?
 
Best regards,
[Your Name]

2. Lead Magnet Follow-Up Email Example.

Subject Line: Thanks for [Guide Name] Download

Hey [First Name],
 
Just wanted to make sure you found [Guide Name] after downloading it. We hope it was helpful in your journey to [desired result]!
 
We would also like to share with you a link to our blog [link to your blog], which has even more interesting and useful information on [related topic].
Want to learn more? Our team is always happy to help. Feel free to contact us.
 
Best regards,
[Company Name]

3. SEO and Link Building Follow-up Sample.

Subject Line: Following Up: Link Collaboration with [Your Company]

Greetings [Name],
 
I hope this email finds you well. Last week I contacted you about potential opportunities for link-building collaboration between our sites.
 
Taking into account your busy schedule, I would like to contact you again to see if you have a chance to consider our proposal. Building quality backlinks will greatly benefit both of our sites for search engine rankings and organic traffic.
 
If you are interested or have any questions, please let me know. I will be happy to discuss our mutually beneficial partnership.
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Best regards,
[Your name].

4. Content Collaboration Follow-up Email.

Subject Line: Just a Reminder: Content Collaboration with [Your Company]

Hey [First Name],
 
Hope you’re having a good week. I'd like to hear if you've considered collaborating on content.
 
I would like to remind you that our companies have many common topics for collaboration that can be beneficial to both parties. I am ready to discuss all the details.
We can organize a call here [Calendar Link].
 
Thank you for your time and attention,
[Your Name]

5. Marketing Proposal Follow-Up Email Template.

Subject Line: [Your Company] & [Client] Cooperation Follow-Up

Hi [First Name],
 
I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to talk about the proposal I sent you recently. I haven't heard back from you, so I wanted to make sure everything is going smoothly on your end.
 
I've reattached it in case the original got lost in your inbox. You might find it useful to read a similar case study.
If you have any doubts, I will be happy to discuss them in any way convenient for you [Calendar Link]. Feel free to get in touch.
 
I look forward to hearing from you!
 
Best regards,
[Your Name]

6. Follow-up email in Case of No Response.

Subject Line: Update: Are You Still Interested in [Topic]?

Hello [First Name],

I hope you are doing well. I am reaching out because I haven't received a response to my previous message. I realize that schedules can be busy and priorities can change. However, I would like to get in touch with you to see if you are still interested in [briefly mention the topic].

Time is valuable, so please let me know your current status and I will adjust my communication accordingly. I am here to help you whenever you are ready.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Best regards,
[Your Name].

Conclusion

If your marketing email didn’t get a response, it’s never too late to write again with a compelling follow-up message. Always test your email performance with GlockApps before you send them out, and implement useful tips to improve your deliverability. Use our effective email templates for different cases and feel free to adapt them to your campaign to get more replies and conversions.