Cold Email Follow-Up: 8 Templates and When to Send
Eight follow-up emails you can copy, with the day to send each one and the point where you stop.
Robbert Veer, Founder
8 min read
A cold email follow-up is a short second message sent 3 to 4 days after a first email got no reply. A follow-up cold email should add one new reason to answer, in under 80 words. Here is one you can copy now.
Subject: Re: [your original subject]
Hi [first name],
One more thing I noticed on [company]'s site. [One specific finding, such as "the quote form asks for 11 fields on a phone"].
Worth a 10-minute call this week to show you what I'd change?
[Your name]
Seven more follow, each for a different moment in the sequence.
Do follow-up emails work?
Yes. In a study of 12 million outreach emails by Backlinko and Pitchbox, one follow-up brought 65.8% more replies than sending a single email. The same study found that only 8.5% of outreach emails got any reply at all (Backlinko).
Two cautions about that study. It was published in 2019, and it covered outreach in general, which includes link requests and PR pitches as well as sales emails. The direction is reliable. The exact numbers for an agency emailing local businesses will differ.
The reason follow-ups work is plain. Your first email arrived on a busy Tuesday. The owner meant to answer and never did. A second message gives them another chance on a quieter day.
How many follow-ups should you send?
Three, then stop. The Backlinko study found that three or more messages produced the best reply rate. After the third follow-up, each extra email costs you goodwill and adds little.
How you stop matters as much as when. The last message should say it is the last. Owners often reply to that one, because the decision is now theirs.
When should you send each cold email follow-up?
Leave 3 to 4 days between messages. Leadodo's Outbound Machine runs a sequence over 19 working days, and it is a fair model to copy.
| Day | Step |
|---|---|
| 1 | A posted letter arrives |
| 4 | First email |
| 7 | Second email |
| 11 | Third email |
| 15 | LinkedIn connection request with a message |
| 19 | Second LinkedIn message, when the person accepts |
The sequence stops for a business the moment it replies. Nobody who has answered you should get another automated message.
The templates
Each cold email follow-up template uses square brackets for the parts you change. The example business below, Brightside Dental at brightsidedental.example, is made up. For a first email, start from our cold email templates, and pair each message with a line from our guide to cold email subject lines.
1. The new finding
Send this as your first follow-up. It gives the owner something they did not know.
Subject: Re: [original subject]
Hi [first name],
I looked at [company]'s site again on my phone. [Specific finding].
[One sentence on what that costs them.]
Open to a short call on [day]?
[Your name]
Filled in.
Hi Dr. Patel,
I looked at Brightside Dental's site again on my phone. The "Book an appointment" button sits below three screens of text.
Most visitors on a phone will never scroll that far.
Open to a short call on Thursday?
Why it works. It proves you looked twice, and it names a problem the owner can check in ten seconds.
2. The short nudge
For a prospect who opened your first email and did not answer.
Subject: Re: [original subject]
Hi [first name], did you get a chance to look at this? Happy to send a 2-minute screen recording of what I found if that's easier than a call.
[Your name]
Why it works. It lowers the ask. A recording takes less commitment than a meeting.
3. The proof
Use this when you have a result from a similar business. Only use a real one.
Subject: How [similar business] fixed the same thing
Hi [first name],
[Similar business] had the same issue with [problem]. After we [what you did], [what changed, with a number you can back up].
I think [company] is in a similar spot. Want to see the before and after?
[Your name]
Why it works. It moves the conversation from your opinion to someone else's outcome.
4. The different angle
If speed did not interest them, try another weak spot.
Subject: [Company] on Google
Hi [first name],
Separate from my last note. When I search "[service] [town]", [company] shows up on [position or page]. [Competitor type, never a named rival] above you all have [the thing they lack].
That's fixable. Want me to show you how?
[Your name]
Why it works. Owners care about different things. One will ignore load time and react at once to losing a search to the practice down the road.
5. The letter reference
For sequences where a letter went out first.
Subject: The letter I sent to [street address]
Hi [first name],
I posted you a letter last week about [company]'s website. In short, [one-line summary of the finding].
If it reached you, I'd welcome your thoughts. If it didn't, I'm glad to send the details here.
[Your name]
Filled in.
Subject: The letter I sent to 48 Main Street
Hi Dr. Patel,
I posted you a letter last week about Brightside Dental's website. In short, the booking button is hard to reach on a phone.
If it reached you, I'd welcome your thoughts. If it didn't, I'm glad to send the details here.
Why it works. A letter and an email together feel like one person making an effort. Read more on why the letter goes first.
6. The right person check
When you suspect you wrote to the wrong contact.
Subject: Right person?
Hi [first name],
I've written a couple of times about [company]'s website. If someone else looks after it, could you point me to them? I'll stop bothering you.
[Your name]
Why it works. It is easy to answer, and a forwarded email from a colleague gets read.
7. The useful send
Give something with no ask attached.
Subject: A quick checklist for [company]
Hi [first name],
No reply needed. I wrote down the 5 things I'd fix first on [company]'s site, in order. [Link or paste the list.]
Use it with whoever maintains the site. If you'd like a hand, I'm here.
[Your name]
Why it works. It shows your thinking and leaves the owner free. Some will hand your list to their current developer. Others will ask you to do it.
8. The last one
Your final email. Say so.
Subject: Closing the loop
Hi [first name],
I haven't heard back, so I'll assume the timing is off and stop here.
If the website moves up your list later, my notes on [company] are saved and I'm one reply away.
[Your name]
Filled in.
Subject: Closing the loop
Hi Dr. Patel,
I haven't heard back, so I'll assume the timing is off and stop here.
If the website moves up your list later, my notes on Brightside Dental are saved and I'm one reply away.
Why it works. It is honest and it ends the pressure. That is often when people answer.
What should you change before sending?
The finding. Every template above depends on one true, specific observation about that business. Without it, each of these is the same "just checking in" email the owner deletes every day.
Our own test showed the same pattern. Across 3,570 cold emails, businesses with weak websites replied positively 1.60% of the time to a generic email and 2.35% of the time when the email named the problem we saw. That gap was not statistically significant, so read it as a hint. The details are in our write-up of the test.
Finding one real problem per website by hand takes minutes each. For a list of 20 that is an afternoon. For a list of 2,000 it is a full-time job, which is why Twip scores every site in a Leadodo search and turns its findings into the first line.
What should you never do in a follow-up?
- Fake a thread. "Re:" on a first email is a lie the reader spots. Use it only on a real reply to your own earlier message.
- Guilt the reader. "I've emailed you three times" reads as a complaint.
- Hide the way out. US law requires a clear way to opt out, and you must honor a request within 10 business days (FTC). This is not legal advice.
- Keep going after a no. A no ends the sequence, on every channel.
Questions
How long should I wait before following up on a cold email?
Wait 3 to 4 days after the first email. Shorter feels pushy and longer lets the first message be forgotten. Leave the same gap or a little more between later follow-ups.
What do I say in a follow-up email after no response?
Add one new piece of information and one easy question. A new observation about their website, a result from a similar business, or an offer to send a short recording all work. Avoid "just checking in", which gives the reader nothing to respond to.
Should a follow-up be a reply to the first email or a new thread?
Reply in the same thread for the first two follow-ups, so the reader can see the earlier message. Start a new thread with a new subject when you change the angle, as in template 4.
How long should a follow-up email be?
Under 80 words. The first email made the case. The follow-up only needs to give one more reason and one clear question.
Is it legal to send follow-up emails to someone who has not replied?
In the United States, yes, as long as each message follows the CAN-SPAM Act and the person has not opted out. Other countries apply their own rules to cold email. This is not legal advice.
Next step. Your Outbound Machine sends the letter, the emails and the LinkedIn steps, and stops for every business that replies. See the sequence.
