Effective Email Followups for Better Response Rates

A follow-up email is a sequence of emails that are gradually sent out after significant points in the sales funnel with the intention of converting a prospect to a paying customer.

The average professional receives approximately 121 emails per day, making your cold emails more susceptible to getting lost in a sea of emails.

Your goal here isn't to initiate a conversation, but rather to light the spark again and generate a response.

However, every follow-up email sent should aim to provide value. Your aim should not be to just gain a reply, it should be to provide value, always.

According to research, we don't respond to emails because we receive too many of them and end up 'triaging' them. Triaging means assigning levels of priority.

Time-Based Sequence: Involves emailing prospects persistently with 7 to 8 touchpoints with timely intervals in between. This strategy gives each prospect on your list equal attention, regardless of what stage they are at in their buyer's journey.

Intent-Based Sequence: More focused on the interest levels of the prospects. Only prospects that are in the solution-searching stage of their buyer's journey are targeted. These prospects are identified through 'intent signals' such as reply rates, link clicks, open rates or downloads.

Intent-based sequences are more valuable since they help you target the right prospects. They are more personalized as well which will help you increase your conversion rate.

Much like any project we undertake, having clear goals and intent is of the utmost importance. Before you start creating your follow-up sequence, decide beforehand what each and every specific follow-up email aims to accomplish.

A study by Harvard Business Review found that around 47% of emails end up getting discarded by users because of subject lines!

It is a good practice to have all your follow-ups in the same thread to avoid deliverability issues.

When it comes to follow-up emails, CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING!

Since an average business professional receives around 121 emails per day -- because of this most recipients will not remember who you are when you follow up.

One of the leading causes of emails not eliciting a response is that they lack value. If you keep sending emails to prospects that have practically no value for them, they will ignore them.

Bear in mind that there is a very fine line (nearly invisible) between adding value and blatantly annoying the prospect.

Too many cold emailers focus on their subject line and content, but their CTA is often weak and does not prompt users to take the desired action.

If you are just starting out your follow-up cycle, avoid asking for a 'big ask'. Your focus should be on establishing trust first. Give prospects a chance to know your organization before you ask them to commit to a deal.

Make it a habit of being as clear as possible in your CTAs, and don't leave any room for ambiguity.

If you are opting to send out follow-up emails manually then prepare to spend a lot of extra time and resources. It is tough! Especially if you are unable to track prospects who have actually opened your follow-up email and are worth focusing on in the first place. This is why it is recommended to use cold emailing automation tools to automate your sequence.

The majority of experts advise delaying your first follow-up email for two to three days. Depending on how many follow-up emails you intend to send, you can gradually lengthen the time between each email.

In fact, marketing guru Dr. Jeffery Lant advises that in order to successfully break into a market, a prospect must be continuously reached at least seven times.