How to Follow up on an Email (What Gurus Forgot to Mention)
The complete guide to email follow-ups that actually work. Learn the truth about follow-up frequency, timing, and what recipients really think.
Reality Check: Along with a growth of response rates, the number of spam reports on each consecutive follow-up you send grows too. Unfortunately, there's currently no tool that would let us collect stats on this.
But the reality is a good portion of outreach emails land in spam folders - not because they have spam triggers, but because their senders abused outreach tactics earlier.
The idea to follow up on an email that got no reply is as old as time. Or at least as the web.
I'm not gonna tell you for the billionth time that follow-ups increase response rates. Many gurus and studies have done it for me.
I wanna talk about another side to the story, usually unreported. Let's dig deeper into controversies about follow-ups, based on the feedback from people who receive them all the time.
25 Critical Follow-Up Questions Answered
What We'll Cover:
• How many follow-ups are too many?
• When to follow up early
• Dealing with rejection
• Adding value to follow-ups
• Using humor appropriately
• Public follow-up strategies
• Social proof tactics
• Email opening insights
• Editor follow-ups
• Bridge-burning prevention
• Connection leveraging
• Off-topic approaches
• Attachment strategies
• Personalization limits
1. How many follow-ups would be TOO many?
Gurus say you should create an entire sequence of follow-ups. Opinions differ on the exact number, but I've seen suggestions of up to nine follow-ups.
But when people keep ignoring you intentionally, which follow-up should be the last one?
Expert Opinion: Jeremy Knauff - CEO at Spartan Media
"As with most things in the world of SEO, the answer is this – it depends. If you know the podcaster personally, you can get away with more follow-ups than you could if you were reaching out to a stranger. But in any case, you have to weigh your follow-up against the risk of alienating them."
"You never know what someone is going through at any given point, so be mindful that their lack of response could have nothing to do with you, and may just be indicative that they're overwhelmed at the moment."
Rule of thumb: Three emails spread at least a week or more apart. Consider emailing once per quarter if no response, but work on building relationships through social media in the meantime.
The Hidden Risks:
- • Recipients report follow-ups as spam → future emails land in spam folders
- • People remember your brand negatively and avoid future dealings
- • Catch someone on a bad day → your email goes viral on social media for wrong reasons
2. Is the fortune in follow-ups, as they say?
Gurus say the fortune is in follow-ups. The competition in people's inboxes is huge. If you give up too soon, someone else will show up and reap the benefits.
But isn't it naive to hope they also forgot to react to three or four follow-ups?
Expert Opinion: Darren Shaw - Founder of Whitespark
"I can think of some times when I've actually responded to something positively after the 4th follow-up. It certainly depends on the offer and who it's coming from. If it's some random person pitching guest posting services, I'm never going to reply."
"Sometimes, it's just my mood at the moment. An email comes in, and I don't have time or interest in it, so I ignore/archive. Later, the follow-up comes in, and they may have caught me when I have more time to consider it."
Warning: "In general, sending more than one follow-up may net you some additional conversions, but at what cost? You will burn some potential brand trust by annoying people."
Key Insight: The only legitimate reason to go beyond one follow-up is offering different or more value each time. Sending reminders about the same stuff over and over is a dead-end job.
3. Are you supposed to get a response to your follow-ups?
Gurus say you should keep following up until you get a response. Any response... Even if it's a no, you can discuss with prospects what could change their mind.
But do recipients owe anybody a reply back?
Expert Opinion: Maddy Osman - Founder of The Blogsmith
"People are not obligated to respond to unsolicited emails. The expectation that someone should reply just because you followed up multiple times is unrealistic and can come across as entitled."
Advanced Follow-Up Strategies
4. Should you follow up after rejection?
When someone explicitly says no, following up can damage relationships permanently.
Best Practice: Thank them for their time, ask if you can stay in touch for future opportunities, and respect their decision.
5. How to follow up with busy people
Busy people appreciate brevity and clear value propositions.
Template: "Quick follow-up - can this help you achieve [specific goal]? Yes/No is fine."
6. When to follow up early
Time-sensitive opportunities justify breaking normal follow-up intervals.
Legitimate reasons: Deadline approaching, limited availability, breaking news relevance.
7. Shifting focus from original email
If your original pitch failed, try a completely different angle.
Strategy: Reference a new development, offer different value, or address a different pain point.
What NOT to Do in Follow-Ups
DON'T: Start with "Just following up"
This phrase immediately signals that you have nothing new to offer. Instead, lead with fresh value or a new angle.
DON'T: Apologize for following up
"Sorry to bother you" makes you sound weak and your offer less valuable. Be confident in the value you provide.
DON'T: Load follow-ups with attachments
Multiple attachments trigger spam filters and overwhelm recipients. Share links or ask permission first.
DON'T: Mention you saw them open your email
This feels invasive and creepy. People open emails for many reasons - it doesn't mean they're interested.
Advanced Follow-Up Tactics
Value-Added Follow-Ups
Each follow-up should offer something new and valuable:
Follow-up #1
Share a relevant case study or example
Follow-up #2
Offer a free resource or tool
Follow-up #3
Provide industry insights or trends
Leveraging Connections
Mutual connections can help, but use this tactic carefully:
✅ Good Approach:
"[Mutual connection] mentioned you might be interested in [specific topic]. Here's how we helped [similar company]..."
❌ Bad Approach:
"[Name] told me to contact you" (without context or permission)
Public Follow-Up Strategies
Sometimes public engagement works better than private follow-ups:
LinkedIn Engagement
Comment thoughtfully on their posts before following up privately
Twitter Mentions
Share their content with added insights, then follow up
Industry Forums
Provide helpful answers to their questions in professional groups
Follow-Up Templates That Work
Template 1: Value-Added Follow-Up
Subject: [Company] case study might interest you
Hi [Name],
I know you're busy, so I'll keep this brief.
Since my last email about [topic], we helped [similar company] achieve [specific result]. The approach might work for [their company] too.
[Link to case study]
Worth a 5-minute call to discuss?
Best,
[Your name]
Template 2: The Final Follow-Up
Subject: Last note from me
Hi [Name],
I understand you're swamped and my previous emails about [topic] weren't a priority.
No worries at all - I'll stop reaching out about this.
If your situation changes, you know where to find me.
Continued success with [their current project/goal]!
[Your name]
Template 3: Timing-Based Follow-Up
Subject: Perfect timing for [specific event/season]
Hi [Name],
With [specific event/season] coming up, I thought you might be interested in [relevant offer].
[Specific benefit tied to the timing]
Quick call to discuss? I have 15 minutes free [specific times].
[Your name]
Follow-Up Frequency Guide
| Follow-up # | Wait Time | Focus | Success Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 3-5 days | Gentle reminder + new value | Highest |
| 2nd | 1 week | Different angle + case study | Medium |
| 3rd | 2 weeks | Final attempt + graceful exit | Low |
| Future | Quarterly | Major updates only | Relationship-based |
Key Takeaways
✅ Do This:
- • Limit follow-ups to 3 maximum
- • Add new value in each follow-up
- • Space follow-ups at least a week apart
- • Build relationships through social media
- • Respect explicit rejections
- • Use time-sensitive opportunities appropriately
- • Keep follow-ups brief and focused
❌ Don't Do This:
- • Send more than 3-4 follow-ups
- • Use "just following up" openings
- • Apologize for following up
- • Mention email tracking data
- • Follow up immediately after rejection
- • Send identical follow-up messages
- • Ignore clear "not interested" signals
Remember:
Follow-ups are about building relationships, not just getting responses. Every interaction should add value and respect the recipient's time and preferences. Quality relationships built through thoughtful follow-ups will serve you much better than aggressive follow-up sequences that burn bridges.