If you plan them carefully, you can expect high engagement (e.g., open and click-through) rates.

This article aims to help you apply them strategically and increase the value of your email marketing.

What is a follow-up message?

This is sent after any significant milestone in the customer's journey and is intended to gather information.

• You can send them to those who download your content and ask them how valuable they have found your content.
• You can also send them to prospects who are in the middle of a free trial of a service, with questions about their experience.
• You can send a follow-up message right after an event is over, to nurture your base.
• You can program them as autoresponders to obtain information that will allow you to design customized programs tailored to the specific needs and interests of your subscribers.

Why are they so important?

In email sales, sending a single message is often not enough.

You need to gain your prospect's trust to be successful, and that's achieved over time, through multiple touch points. In fact, according to Marketing Donut, 80% of non-routine sales materialize after at least five follow-up contacts.

While email is an invaluable tool in the sales process, it also has a major disadvantage: the messages you send have a short shelf life. It is estimated that 19% of email campaigns are opened within the first hour of being sent, and that, after 24 hours, the chances of that message being opened drop below 1% of your sending.

A follow-up message gives you the opportunity to communicate with your potential customers, even if they missed your first message.

They also tend to generate higher response rates: data from Yesware, for example, reveals that if you don't receive a response to your first mailing, you still have a 21% chance that they will respond to your second message.

How to write a follow-up message

The subject line, content and structure of your message will also play an important role in its success. Here are the key steps to a successful follow-up message.

Define the purpose of the message

First things first. Determine exactly why you are sending a follow-up message. If you have a well-detailed sales funnel, this step will be much easier.

For example, let's imagine that a member of your team met with a lead at an industry event last week. Since then, the lead has cooled off, but you want to move him or her down the sales funnel. This may mean that your goal is to revitalize the relationship.

2. Create a clear subject line

The subject line is an important window of opportunity to capture your recipient's attention, so capitalize on it as much as possible. Here are the characteristics of the best types of subject lines:

• Brief
  It is suggested that the optimal length for subject lines is 41 characters spread over 7 words. While the details will vary according to various data, this is already a good benchmark: keep it short and find a creative way to get to the point.
• Detailed
  Your target audience is not short on time and expects you to understand that. You need to make sure your subject line is as clear as possible and helps your recipient decide if they want to read it.
• Attractive
  You must make the subject line appealing without making it look spammy. For example, our brains are programmed to pay special attention to puns. Seek to capture your recipient's attention by using innovative tactics in the subject line of your messages.

3. Use direct and clear language

Most email recipients receive an average of 121 messages per day. This indicates that you must be very accurate in determining whether a message is worth the readers' time and attention.

If one of your messages makes readers waste their time trying to figure out what you want from them, you will have a negative impact on your relationship with that potential customer. In other words, you must make sure that every message you send is direct and clear.

Tell them why you hope to hear from them and end with a strong call to action.

4. Get professional help for your follow-up message

Each company delegates responsibilities in different ways. In some companies, sales professionals are responsible for drafting follow-up messages. In others, the marketing team may be in charge of creating templates and drafts.

Regardless of the method you choose to follow, it's important that you maintain the highest quality. To make sure everything is right, you'll want to enlist the help of a copywriter who can deliver the best and write amazing posts.

5. Plan your next follow-up message

When it comes to email marketing, perseverance is crucial. That's why you must structure your message with the sales funnel in mind. If your recipient does not respond to this message, what will be the next action and how can you organically align it to your strategy?

Examples:

Short follow-up message template

Hello, [first name]:

I hope you had an amazing weekend. I wanted to know what your team thought of my suggestions. Let me know if I can help in any way.

Post-event follow-up template

Dear [potential customer]:

What an exciting show! I hope you made some good connections and learned some things that you can use right away in your business.

I'm sure [objective (e.g., increase sales effectively)] is at the top of your list. As promised, here are [content details (e.g., six ways to increase your sales)]. If you'd like more detailed information on any of the ways to implement [content details], I'd be happy to have a 30-minute conversation with you to dig into that.

I'm here to be a resource for you, so don't hesitate to give me a call.