You send an initial pitch. You open your inbox the next day. No new email.

For that reason, you want to send a follow-up email after no response.

It’s either you are hesitant to do it or you lack the knowledge to write one.

Sending follow-up emails is extremely important — we can attest that our campaign’s success rate increased by 30% just by following up once per link prospect. 

If you don’t how to write and send an initial or second follow-up email, this post is for you.

 

How to Send a Follow-Up Email After No Response

1. Check if your initial pitch was opened.

You can manually check every email you send for open rates.

It’s easy to identify which emails were unopened if you have a tool at hand. Better use an email tracking platform or outreach tools like Mailtrack, Buzzstream, Boomerang, or Right Inbox.

mailtrack tracking check lines

 

Some tools will give you insights as to the number of opens per email. Was it opened once or multiple times?

The reason behind knowing that is to understand the behavior of your link prospect.

If the email is opened multiple times after several days it was sent, it may mean that the potential linker is likely to be interested in what you’re offering (guest post, product review, link request, etc..).

If the email isn’t opened yet, then maybe you have to modify your email subject lines to entice an open.

The next step is to:

2. Write a follow-up email based on open rates.

Because you now have an idea of how many opens an email receives, you write your initial follow-up based on the open rate.

It’s a good metric to consider in the outreach campaign as it gives you the appropriate context for each email.

You don’t simply blast your link prospects with generic follow-ups. You ensure that what you send corresponds to their behavior and what they’re actually looking for.

If emails have no opens, your step is:

3. Modify subject lines if there are no opens.

Your subject line is critical to open.

If emails have no opens, you have to modify subject lines.

Your revision will be based on your original subject line.

Ask honestly this question to yourself, if you will open an email, will you open yours if that’s your subject line?

Here are some more tips when sending follow-ups for emails with no opens:

  • Use the template [Asset] for [Website] as your follow-up’s subject line. It gives the right context both for the type of content you’re offering and for addressing properly your link prospect.
  • Include the original email in your initial follow-up. You can insert the copyright below your follow-up message. The reason is this: your link prospect doesn’t have to bother finding your original follow-up — gives more chances for your follow-up email to elicit a response.
  • Another subject line you can use is this one: “Just in case you missed this..” or any lines with “Haven’t heard..”.

4. Use FWD as your subject lines for emails with one or multiple opens

Fortunately, when your email is opened once or multiple times, there is a clear indication of interest from the end of the link prospect.

With that, here are some tips you can apply for follow up emails with one or multiple opens:

  • Use Fwd as your follow-up’s subject line. Very short, yet specifies an email has been forwarded and demands an open. It is also the subject line best for emails for forwarded emails (email address given to you for the proper addressee).
  • Include original emails. Like emails with no open, it is best to give them a short preview or message of what your original email looks like.
  • Make variations or use them straight to your follow-up emails: “Just in case you missed this”, “Is there anything you need”, or “Re:followed by your original subject line”.

How Often Should You Send Follow-up Emails?

Another question is, “How long you should wait before following up?.”

As a link building agency that sends hundreds of follow up emails every week, here are three of our recommendations when it comes to sending follow-up emails.

First follow up within 2-4 days (excluding weekends).

It is best to give an allowance to your link prospects to respond within a few days after your initial pitch. Also, it’s a good idea to choose the best date and time for your follow up email sequence. 

There are a lot of reasons why people don’t respond within 24 hours, especially busy link curators and publishers in your industry. Take off 2 to 4 days for that specific outreach campaign and send that time resource elsewhere.

Second follow-up 5-7 days after the first email

One follow-up email might not make the cut for receiving a response.

That’s when you send another follow-up.

Send 1 to 2 follow up emails per pitch. Don’t overdo it.

Put yourself in the link prospect’s shoes. If you were in that situation, you also don’t want to receive three or more follow-ups with the same angles of the pitch.

After previous follow up emails, if you wish to send another follow-up email after 2 or 3 times, it is best to send another angle of pitch or find any pain point.

If a pitch to become a guest contributor for a prospect’s blog doesn’t work, try pitching your resource guide or an interesting infographic you’ve recently published on your blog.

Lastly, do not send any follow-up cold email to link prospects you’ve never pitched in the first place. Follow-ups are only given to email campaigns with initial pitches – sounds very basic, yet mostly overlooked.

Follow Up Email Template

Here’s our sample follow up email template for a broken link building pitch.

Re: found a problem on your {{Resources}} page

Hi {{Name}},

I’m a 3rd-year student from WGU Missouri and I am currently researching for my new project about people with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

Just checking to see if you received my email regarding errors on one of your pages. If you have, my apologies!

I’m not sure if you’re the one who handles the page. If not, would you be kind to let me know of the person in charge of that webpage? 

Best,

[ Name ]

FURTHER RESOURCES ON FOLLOW UP EMAILS:

Don’t Lose The Link Prospect Without A Follow-up

You’ve made an effort to discover your link prospects. Be sure to invest more efforts in the outreach process, particularly in following them up after no response.

A good link prospect deserves a non-aggressive, value-adding follow up email. With a proper call to action in place, the follow-up campaign itself can increase your overall response rate (law of average).