A How-to in Following Up on Cold Emails

Follow-up emails are powerful tools that can significantly increase your chances of a response. But if done incorrectly, they can quickly become annoying.

The key to successful follow-up emails is being mindful and providing value. Here are some tips to help you do just that: 1. Make it personal.

Make it personal

When it comes to following up on cold emails, you want to keep the message personal. A big part of what makes a follow-up email annoying is when the recipient feels like it’s a generic, robotic copy-paste of their previous message (or worse, the original). To learn how to respond to cold emails, you can check out the services of SMTP Ghost.

Make your message stand out by including the prospect’s name in the subject line or body of the email. This will show them that you took the time to write a follow-up, rather than just a spammy reminder.

In addition, try to include a brief, relevant snippet from your previous communication with them — this could be anything from a link to an article they wrote or something you learned about their company or job title. Not only will this help them feel more engaged, but it will also remind them that you’ve been thinking about them and haven’t forgotten about them.

Don’t be afraid to add a little humor or personality to your follow-ups. In fact, a lot of responses actually come from follow-ups that poke fun at the prospect’s response (or lack thereof). However, be careful not to overdo it, and remember that not everyone is a fan of this approach.

Finally, be sure to reiterate your Call-to-Action in your follow-up. This will ensure your reader understands what they need to do next and will give them a clear path forward should they decide to engage. If you’re still not seeing results, consider increasing the number of emails in your follow-up sequence. However, don’t overdo it — too many emails can quickly lose their effectiveness.

Make it short

Most people are busy, and a long-winded follow up email might deter them from responding. Keep your emails short and to the point, ensuring they are readable on a mobile device. This demonstrates that you respect their time and increases the likelihood of getting replies.

Ensure that the subject line of your email directly reflects your main goal or offer. It’s one of the first things that recipients see and often determines whether they open your email or ignore it. Try including a question in your subject line to entice recipients to read more of your message. For example, “How would you like to save 10% on your next marketing spend?”

Aim to provide value in your follow up email rather than trying to sell them something they don’t need. This will help you stand out from spammy emails and generate more responses. Your value can come in the form of a free sample, a case study on how you’ve helped another company, or a link to a podcast interview featuring your CEO.

It’s a good idea to test out how many follow up emails you can send before your prospect starts to lose interest. Iko System saw strong success with a cadence of seven, but it’s important to determine what works for your campaign.

Make it relevant

When drafting your follow up, focus on providing your prospect with value that is related to their specific needs. Doing so can help you avoid the spammy or pushy tone that may have turned them off to your initial email.

For example, if your prospect had expressed an interest in a particular project or topic in your previous cold email, use this as an opportunity to build upon that connection by sharing an article that discusses a similar subject matter. This will show that you are paying attention to their interests and are interested in building a relationship.

Keep in mind that people have a lot going on in their lives, and they aren’t always willing or able to respond to every follow up email you send. That’s why it is important to set your expectations clearly in the call-to-action of your email. Make it clear what you would like them to do – schedule a Skype chat, provide feedback, reply to you, etc.

You can even incorporate a joke to help lighten the mood in your follow up email. Humor can disarm the defensiveness that can often arise when people feel they are being sold to and will make your follow up email more effective.

Make it compelling

While you’re trying to establish a business relationship with your prospects, it’s important to remember that they aren’t just a number. You must introduce empathy into your cold emails in order to earn their attention and trust. Immediately starting off with a sales pitch is a turnoff that will make them delete your email or, even worse, mark you as spam. Instead, focus on how your product or service can solve their problem and provide value to them. This will encourage them to reply and start a conversation with you.

When you do finally get a response from your prospect, don’t send a follow-up email that is just a copy of your previous message. This is another surefire way to annoy your prospect and will cause them to never open your next email. Rather, write something completely different and try to stand out. This could be as simple as mentioning any mutual connection you have with them (like they went to the same college or work for the same company) or including social proof that supports your claims about how your product can benefit their business.

Once you’ve gotten a response from your prospect, it’s time to close the deal. This should be done with a final follow-up email that lets them know you’re moving on and provides a clear call-to-action. Often, this will be as easy as asking them to schedule a meeting to discuss your solution. Using a clear call-to-action will make it easy for them to move your proposal up the chain of command and into their busy day-to-day schedules.

Make it easy to respond

In the end, you want to encourage your prospects to take action. Whether that’s scheduling a Skype conversation, giving you feedback or replying to your email. Whatever it is, make sure your call-to-action is clear and easy to understand.

Using the right email marketing software allows you to customize your follow-up emails. This means your emails aren’t just automatically sent to all recipients but are specifically tailored to your prospect’s needs. Using this method, your follow-up emails are more likely to have the desired impact and get results.

In most cases, your recipient’s inbox will be overflowing with multiple messages that are competing for their attention. To avoid sounding too pushy, you can try to stand out with personalization and a compelling subject line. This way, your cold email follow-ups feel like a natural continuation of an ordinary conversation rather than a desperate attempt to sell.

Another way to avoid being annoying is to ensure you aren’t following up too frequently. Sending too many follow-ups can make your prospects feel stalked and may discourage them from taking any further actions. It’s also worth experimenting with the best frequency to find out when your prospects are most likely to respond.

If you don’t hear back from a prospect after one or two follow-ups, don’t be afraid to move on and target a new prospect. They might just not be interested in what you have to offer or they might have read your initial email and decided not to take action. It’s better to focus your efforts on optimizing your emails for prospects that have the potential to convert from cold to hot. Those are more likely to be open to your proposition and will be ready to schedule a Skype conversation or take the next step towards a sale.