- Follow-up emails allow you to reach prospects that missed your first message, forgot to reply, or never saw your email as it went to their spam folder or got deleted.<\/li>
- Your prospect may have gotten the email at the wrong time, so the second attempt might be more successful.<\/li>
- Chaser emails make your leads feel special, help keep your brand at the top of their minds, and build trust. You can take advantage of these benefits by using personalized email templates.<\/li>
- Sending follow-up emails improves your customer service, as a poor follow-up is seen as the largest client complaint<\/a>. In fact, 70% of clients<\/a> would stop doing business with your company if they believe you don\u2019t care about them.<\/li>
- Following up is a sure-fire way to boost your revenue, as 80% of non-routine sales<\/a> require at least five emails from the first contact to occur.<\/li>
- Email sequences allow you to vary your message and content so that you have more chances to attract your recipient\u2019s attention.<\/li>
- Finally, if you sent an email to the wrong contact the first time, following up might help you eventually reach the right person.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
What to Say in a Follow-up Email<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
So, now you might be wondering how to write good follow-up emails that will help you build trust with your audience and increase conversions. The point here is to get noticed and encourage your recipient to respond. Remember that a long message is likely to get deferred, so try to write a shorter pitch. Also, before you start writing, keep the objective of your follow-up message in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Write a Catchy Subject Line<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Did you know that almost half of recipients<\/a> open emails based on their subject lines and two-thirds of recipients report emails as spam if they don\u2019t like the subject line? With these stats in mind, the importance of writing a catchy subject line can hardly be overestimated. Here are a few tricks for upping the ante:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Don\u2019t use the \u201cjust following up\u201d subject lines. They don’t provide any value and might simply get ignored.<\/li>
- Keep your subject line relevant to the email topic and never trick the recipient with false promises.<\/li>
- Words like \u201ctomorrow\u201d can help create a sense of urgency and increase open rates by 10%<\/a>.<\/li>
- Using emojis can boost open rates by as much as 56%.<\/li>
- Omit the subject line. Although uncommon, this approach may get your email opened 8% more often.<\/li>
- Try to stick to the optimal length, which is about 41 characters<\/a> or 7 words.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Whatever strategy you use, make sure that your subject line accurately represents the contents of your letter. It\u2019s also a good idea to tailor your message to your audience based on their location, devices used, etc. For instance, if your recipients mostly check their mailboxes on mobile, it\u2019s better to make your subject lines shorter so that they\u2019re properly displayed on smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Add Context<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Due to the high volume of emails people receive in their inboxes daily, it\u2019s essential to add context to ensure your recipients remember you. This is especially important if it\u2019s your first follow-up email or if it\u2019s been a long time since you last wrote to the recipient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To establish rapport, you can add a reference to your previous interaction, such as mentioning the last email you sent. Here are a few examples of openers you may use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- I just wanted to follow up on the email I sent on [day].<\/li>
- It was great seeing you at our online event [name of the event].<\/li>
- Have you had a chance to look at [document or link] I sent you at [time]?<\/li>
- Just following up to see what you thought about [event or topic].<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
You can find more great follow-up templates on the HubSpot blog<\/a> and, if you are still hesitating on whether or not to disturb your leads with email sequences, be sure to check out these polite follow-up email samples<\/a> that won\u2019t cause irritation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Add Value<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Remember that people don\u2019t have time to read long pitches that don\u2019t do them any good. So, make sure to provide value with each interaction. Sharing a freebie like a webinar, case study, template, or any other resource would be great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can also add value by providing relevant information that will be useful for the prospect. For example, if you run a travel blog and target avid travelers, share interesting tourist routes in popular destinations, packing tips, or even the latest news from the travel market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Use a Call to Action<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Finally, it\u2019s time to clearly state the purpose behind your email. Use a call to action to persuade your reader to complete a specific action, such as respond to the email, call you back, sign up on a website, fill out a survey, share their opinion, etc. Here, there is no point in being vague. Choose clear language when encouraging your recipient to take action. Thus, they won\u2019t feel like you\u2019re wasting their time and you\u2019ll have a higher chance of receiving a response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can find four strategies for a great call to action<\/a>, as well as 20 CTA examples on our blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stay Positive<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
No matter how many follow-up letters you\u2019re writing in a row, maintain a positive tone. It\u2019s easy to take it personally when people don\u2019t respond to you, but assigning blame will only make things worse. Always assume positive intentions behind people\u2019s actions and avoid expressing any negative feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adjust Your Pitch After Not Receiving a Response<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Last but not least, make sure to change your pitch for each subsequent email and make it simpler. For example, after introducing your solution in the first letter, you might talk about yourself and your business in the next letter and ask more personal questions in the third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When to Send Follow-up Emails<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
In email marketing, timing is an important success factor that determines whether your letter will be opened and read. For the best results, make sure to analyze your audience\u2019s demographics and find your own best times to send emails<\/a>. Meanwhile, you can use the best practices below, derived from thousands of successful email campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Statistics indicate that most emails are opened the day they\u2019re sent, with 19% of letters<\/a> being read in the first hour. If the recipients wanted to respond, they would do so on that same day. Therefore, it\u2019s safe to assume that if you didn\u2019t get a reply within a day, you aren\u2019t likely to get one at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Open](\"https:\/\/travelpayouts.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/follow-up-email-open-rate.png\" "\\"Statistics")
- Following up is a sure-fire way to boost your revenue, as 80% of non-routine sales<\/a> require at least five emails from the first contact to occur.<\/li>