Why Is Email Follow-up Important For Your Marketing Campaigns?

Email marketing consists of many levels. To get started you would send out cold emails, where it’s the first time you communicate with your subscribers. Cold emailing is just the beginning, there is a lot more work to be done.

A follow-up email is one of the most integral parts of any cold email marketing strategy. Is one enough? When should you send the next follow-up email? Should you personalize it? Don’t feel overwhelmed by all these questions, we have the answers.

A Successful Email Marketing Campaign has to Follow Up Emails

Everything today is messages, text, email or voice messages. You are consistently reading or writing some form of communication. Many phrases you may recognize are:

• “Just checking in…”
• “Thought I would touch base and find out…”
• “Just wanted to check in and hear about…”

These phrases are the pinnacle of follow up emails. They are some of the most common expressions for email marketers to use that are trying to convert leads, close a deal, or get more information from their users. However, these repetitive phrases are often ineffective because they are overused and rarely catch the subscriber's attention. You want to appear that you have immediate value for the recipient. You’re sending out a follow-up email for a reason, to generate more business. You need to ensure that you can catch your recipient’s eye in a way that they want to open and respond to your message.

You may be wondering how to go about writing effective follow-up emails that will actually accomplish your end goals. In this blog, we will discuss why email follow-up is important for email marketing campaigns and how it can help businesses achieve their ambitions.

Importance of Email Follow Up

1. Builds trust and credibility

Following up with customers who have received your email builds trust and credibility. It shows that you are interested in their needs and want to address any concerns they may have. Customers are more likely to do business with companies that show an interest in their needs and provide good customer service.

2. Increases engagement

By using a follow-up email it ultimately helps with customers who have received your email and increases engagement. It encourages customers to respond and take action, whether it be to make a purchase or provide feedback. Engagement is essential for building relationships with customers and creating a loyal customer base.

3. Increases conversions

When you follow up with customers who have received your email it will help increase conversions. Customers who receive follow-up emails are more likely to take action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service. This is because follow-up emails provide additional information or incentives that may have been missing from the initial email.

4. Provides valuable feedback

By following up with customers who have received your email it will help gain more valuable feedback. Customers may have questions or concerns that were not addressed in the initial email. By following up, businesses can address these issues and improve their email marketing campaigns in the future.

5. Helps to identify interested prospects

You will be able to help identify more interested prospects and segment them accordingly. Not all customers will respond to an initial email, but those who do are likely interested in your product or service. Following up with these customers can help businesses to convert them into paying customers.

6. Increases customer retention

Following up with customers who have received your email increases customer retention. It shows customers that you value their business and are interested in building a long-term relationship with them. This is important for creating a loyal customer base and increasing customer lifetime value.

Getting Started

Let’s talk about how we can effectively craft and send out a follow-up email. How to follow up effectively:

Personalize your follow-up emails

Personalizing your follow-up emails can increase engagement and conversions. Use the customer’s name and refer to their specific interests or concerns. This shows that you have taken the time to understand their needs and are interested in helping them. Segment your email lists to help make your emails more personal. Everyone likes to feel special, even in an email.

Provide additional value

Provide additional value in your follow-up emails to encourage customers to take action. This could be in the form of a discount or free trial, or additional information that was not included in the initial email. Providing additional value shows customers that you are interested in their needs and are willing to go above and beyond to meet them. As a general rule of thumb, you should always provide value in each email you send to a subscriber.

Use a clear call-to-action

Use a clear call-to-action in your follow-up emails to encourage customers to take action. This could be to make a purchase, sign up for a service, or provide feedback. A clear call-to-action helps customers understand what you want them to do and makes it easy for them to take action.

Follow up at the right time

Some say timing is everything. When it comes to follow-up emails, that remains true. Follow up at the right time to maximize your chances of success. This could be a few days after the initial email, or after a specific event, such as a sale or promotion. Following up at the right time shows that you are interested in their needs and are willing to provide them with the information they need to make a decision. We will get into this a bit more in a second.

Use automation

Use automation to follow up with customers who have received your email. This can save time and ensure that follow-up emails are sent at the right time. Automation can also help to personalize follow-up emails based on the customer’s tastes and preferences.

How Many Follow-Up Emails Should You Send?

Like email marketing, email follow-up timing is not one size fits all. The number of email follow-ups you send should depend on various factors such as goals, the type of email campaign you’re working with, and your audience. Here are some general guidelines to help get your follow-up emails ready:

• Send a follow-up email within the first 48 hours of a new sign-up or from your initial email. This ensures your brand and message is still fresh in your recipient's mind and will increase the chances of getting a response.
• Send a maximum of three follow-up emails. It’s generally recommended to send 3 follow-up emails. Any more than that it will become overwhelming and can be seen as spammy and will cause people to unsubscribe.
• Space out your follow-up emails. When you are sending multiple follow-up emails, give them some time to be processed. You don’t want to send email after email asking subscribers to do something. You can wait a week, then two weeks and keep them spaced out accordingly.
• Provide value in everything you send. We said it once and we’ll say it again! Always include a helpful tidbit for your subscribers. This could be in the form of additional information, a special offer, or a reminder of the benefits of your product or service.
• Pay attention to your engagement. Pay attention to the engagement of your subscribers when sending follow-up emails. If someone hasn’t opened any of your emails, it may be time to stop sending follow-up emails to them before it’s too late and send you to spam.
  In summary, it’s generally recommended to send a maximum of three follow-up emails spaced out appropriately and providing value in each email. However, it’s important to pay attention to your audience’s engagement and adjust your follow-up strategy accordingly

Before You Hit Send

Make sure you are verifying your email list before you send emails to your subscribers. Email verification is an important process that ensures that the emails you send are delivered to valid email addresses, protecting your sender reputation, reducing spam complaints, saving time and resources, and improving campaign performance. By verifying email addresses before sending an email, you can increase the effectiveness of your email campaigns and reduce the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam.

Verification softwares such as Emailable reduces the risk of bounced emails, spam traps and blacklists. For a smart and strategic email marketing strategy, you should be verifying your email lists.