How to Write a Follow-Up Email After No Response‍

Being ignored or forgotten isn't fun. It's happened to the best of us. You reach out to someone, send them an offer and a nice follow-up email, and you never hear back.

No email again, let alone reply. It can be jarring and knock your confidence right down. Do you wonder how much you should reach out? When is enough? How long should you wait before moving on? Should you even bother?

I've been through this process many times, and I will show you that following up is essential, it's not hard work, and even if you follow these simple rules, your follow-up email will still be personalized (which is what matters most). So here’s how to write a follow-up email after no response.

1. Capture Attention on Your Opening Line

Follow-up emails play a key role in any sales process, but not everyone does it the right way. Let’s face it: sending a follow-up email is one of the hardest—and most important—elements of the sales process. For example, one reason why you didn’t receive a reply might be that your opening line couldn’t catch their interest.

If your email starts with a dull, boring, and generic-sounding line, you’re lowering your chances of getting a reply.

Try avoiding opening lines like:

• I just wanted to check-in
• Touching base
• Just checking in
• Wanted to follow up

Chances are your target’s inbox is filled with follow-up emails like these. Instead, hook them with an interesting question, mention mutual connection, or address the prospect’s problem.

2. Fight the Urge to be Passive-Aggressive

One golden rule for follow-up emails is to avoid sounding passive-aggressive or desperate for a reply at all costs.

Take a look at the following email, for example. Although direct aggressive voice could be easy to detect, some follow-up emails with passive-aggressive tones might sneak into your inbox every now and then.

It’s easy to get aggressive when you haven’t heard back after a few messages, but making your prospect guilt into responding or offending them will not solve anything. It will only burn the bridges in between.

Instead, politely remind them of your offer and acknowledge that they might be busy.

3. Personalize it to the Upper Level

A follow-up email seems like a no-brainer, but everyone has to start somewhere. Maybe you're writing about a product for the first time and want to gauge interest, or maybe you recently sent out an email and are wondering why you didn't get any responses.

Personalization might be the solution for your no-response email. People tend to give more attention to personalized emails. Therefore, in your follow-up email;

• Address the recipient by name. A personalized greeting will make them feel valued and will spark their attention.
• Ask a question or make a statement that relates back to your original message. This will demonstrate that you read the original email and were interested enough in it to send another one.

4. Keep Your Follow-Up Email Short and Sweet

Keep it brief – You don't want to come across as pushy in your follow-up, so keep it simple and professional. A good rule of thumb is that two emails are the maximum you should use for a follow-up campaign.

Be a Hemingway while editing your follow-up email content. Get rid of all unnecessary or wordy sentences.

• Kindly remind the recipient of your previous email.
• Add a CTA offering.
• Ask for the right person’s contact information if you’re reaching out to the wrong person.

5. Ask Yourself If Your First Attempt Had a Clear CTA or Purpose

Another reason you didn’t get a response might be pointing at a wrong call to action. If your initial email didn’t get any luck, then using the same CTA would only lead to being ignored twice, thrice, or even four times.

Instead, try to elaborate on your offer, propose an alternative, or ask for more of a general question. People tend to answer humanized messages more.

6. Find the Open-Me Subject Line

A good rule of thumb with emailing in the marketing world is to track your campaigns. So, don’t just sit and wait for a reply. Instead, it’s best to use an email marketing service and see if your email is opened in the first place. If not, the problem is typically the subject line.

Try to get creative, unique, and “human” when picking a catchy subject line. Don’t try to click-bait your prospects either. Otherwise, you may risk losing trust.

You might also like our Funny Email Subject Line Examples.

7. Always Send a Fresh Follow-Up Email

Copy-pasting your follow-up emails might seem like an easy route to take, but all it does is make your email vulnerable to being filtered as spam or blocked altogether.

Try new subject lines for your follow-up email, tweak the opening line, and call to action–start all your emails afresh instead of sticking to the same email thread.

8. Don’t Trick Your Way to the Open

Sending tricky email subject lines like “Following up on our phone call” or “Regarding our last meeting” when those actions have never happened is always a no-no.

Tricking your recipients into opening your email will only confuse them and lead them to block you entirely. Express why you’re reaching out clearly without lying.

9. Forget That Last Breakup Email

I’ve seen some people passive-aggressively or desperately send “one last time” business outreach emails. However, it doesn’t go anywhere better than the ignored state. If you’ve already tried reaching out to your prospect four times, you only decrease your chances of getting an answer from them in the future.

A more friendly final follow-up email example could be as in the following:

Why Send a Follow-Up Email After No Response

There's nothing worse than spending hours writing a fantastic email, only to get no response. So trying again with a follow-up email is something every marketer should do if they don't hear back from someone right away.

Here are four reasons why you should send a follow-up email after no response:

1. You Did Your Homework

The person you're emailing did something to catch your attention, whether it was reading your blog or signing up for your list. You know the kind of content they like and are sending them information that's valuable to them. Don't let that time you spent researching go to waste by not following up with them.

2. You Showed Interest in Them

When someone takes the time to read your email, you'll want to show that you care about what they have to say. By sending a follow-up email, you might get them thinking about what else they'd like from you and possibly lead to more sales later on down the line.

3. It's Not Personal

Sometimes people don't respond because they're busy or distracted by other things going on in their lives. A follow-up email is a quick way to let them know that you're still around.

Follow-up Email Examples for Cold Outreach

1. Recap Previous Email

Hey [Name],

Hope your week is going well.

Just wanted to quickly follow-up and see what you thought.

To recap: ....

What do you think?

2. Ask if it's the right person to contact

Hello [Name],

I’m writing to follow up on my email. I didn’t hear back from anyone on the team so far.

If I contacted a person not in charge, please let me know whom to talk to.

Thanks,

[Your Name]

3. Follow up after sending resources

Hello [Name],

Hope everything's going well. Did you get a chance to look at the articles/resources/links I sent in my previous email?

Since it was a long list, I brought together the most useful ones for you:

• [Link 1]: (Explain why this resource is valuable for the recipient.)
• [Link 2]: (Explain why this resource is valuable for the recipient.)

If you'd like, we can discuss how we can help [business name] to achieve results. Are you free this thursday for a brief ten-minute call?

Thanks,

[Your Name]

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should you wait before following up?

Typically, waiting two to three days before following up on an email is ideal. Mind that it’s best to extend your wait period by each follow-up email you send after that. Don’t send a follow-up email on the same day.

How many follow-up emails should you send?

According to a study, the optimal number of follow-up emails is five each time waiting longer before sending a follow-up. By extending the waiting time in between follow-ups, you reduce the chances of overdoing it.

What should I say in a follow-up email?

• Have a clear call to action.
• Explain why you’re emailing in a concise and direct manner.
• Have a call to action.

Wrap-up

These tips are just a few ideas to help ensure that you’re always sending an effective follow-up email when you need to. Of course, the situations may vary from time to time, so use your best judgment to make sure that the tone and style of your emails remain professional.

If you keep these tips in mind, you should have no problem finding success when reaching out to someone who has not responded.

Check this post out:

• 10+ FOMO Marketing Email Examples To Boost Conversions 2024

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