How to write effective B2B cold follow-up emails?

Sending a cold email follow-up is crucial to maximising your conversion rates.

However, it’s also tricky.

You’ll need to decide how many follow-ups to send, when to send them, how to write your cold email follow-ups and more.

But don’t worry.

In this article, I’ll first highlight why you need to send a follow-up to your first cold email and provide effective ways with examples to get your cold emailing efforts off the ground.

Why send follow-ups to cold emails?

Crafting effective cold emails is a challenging skill that even experienced sales professionals struggle to perfect. While having well-designed templates is valuable, it's essential to understand how to tailor them to achieve desired outcomes.

Despite personalised efforts, there's no assurance of immediate success with cold emails. For salespeople, the thought of sending follow-up emails when initial outreach goes unanswered can feel intimidating.

Nevertheless, the cold email follow-up remains an integral component of any outreach strategy, significantly boosting conversion rates.

But why?

Usually, no sales come from the initial point of contact with a lead. Actually, it makes up a mere 2 percent of sales.Having said that, I should also mention that there are a few reasons why your initial email might not have been answered. Most likely, the contact is too busy to respond, or they have so many emails in their inbox that prospecting emails end up at the bottom of the stack.

For whatever reason, following up with an email can mean the difference between losing the lead and receiving the desired response. Remember that cold email follow-ups are useful for purposes other than cold email marketing campaigns.

Other instances, such as after cold emailing for a job or meeting, you might need to follow up.

How to write a cold email follow-up (Step-by-step guide)

B2B cold emailing is hard, isn’t it? You spend all that time finding a prospect, researching their interests, crafting the perfect message, then press send on your meticulously written cold email. And … no response. Nothing.

Writing effective B2B cold follow-up emails requires a delicate balance of persistence, personalization, and professionalism.

Well, the modern inbox is a noisy place. The average office worker gets over 120 emails per day. And 59% of email recipients say they receive sales emails that are irrelevant.

Everybody is selling them something — including you.

But, it’s not all doom and gloom. Cold emailing is still one of the most effective tactics in a B2B sales reps arsenal. 71% of actual buyers actually want to hear from sellers when they are exploring a new product or idea.

Here's a detailed guide on how to craft compelling follow-up emails:

1. Subject Lines- Compelling subject lines play a crucial role in successful B2B email templates. Failing to entice leads to open your email drastically reduces the likelihood of receiving a response. Research by Aweber, based on an analysis of over 1000 email subject lines, revealed that 82% of experts opt for subject lines containing 60 characters or fewer. The subject line is the first thing your recipient sees, so it must be attention-grabbing yet relevant. It should provide value or create curiosity. For example:
• "Quick Follow-Up on Our Recent Discussion"
• "Ideas to Boost (Company's Name) Revenue"
• "Adding Value to Your (Specific Department/Initiative)"
2. Personalise the data- Personalization is key to connecting with your prospect. Reference any previous interactions or shared connections. If you met them at an event or were referred by someone, mention it. You can even take the power of personalisation further with account-based marketing (ABM) which is reported to deliver a higher ROI than other marketing activities, according to 87% of B2B marketers. For example:
• "It was great meeting you at (Event/Conference)"
• "I noticed you're connected with (Mutual Connection). They spoke highly of you!"
3. Reminder of previous interaction- By referencing a previous interaction, you create a sense of continuity in your communication. It helps the recipient recall who you are and the context in which you initially reached out. This continuity can make your follow-up email feel more relevant and personalised. For example:
• "I hope you're doing well since our last conversation about (specific topic)."
• "Following up on our discussion last week regarding (specific pain point or opportunity)."
4. Provide value- A business can offer something of value in their follow-up. It could be relevant industry insights, a resource, or a solution to a problem they're facing. This demonstrates that you're genuinely interested in helping them. For example:
• "I came across this article/report that I thought might interest you. It discusses (relevant topics)."
• "Based on our previous conversation, I've put together a brief overview of how our solution could address (specific pain point)."
5. Ask a question- A well-crafted question engages the recipient and encourages them to actively participate in the conversation. It shifts the interaction from passive reading to active thinking and responding.By posing a question, you prompt the recipient to reply, thus increasing the chance of receiving a response. People are often more inclined to reply when they feel their input is valued. For example:
• "I'd love to hear your thoughts on how (specific challenge) is impacting your team. Are there any areas you're looking to improve?"
• "Could we schedule a brief call to discuss how (your product/service) aligns with (prospect's business objective)?"
6. Clear Call-to-action- End your email with a clear call to action that guides the recipient on what to do next. Whether it's scheduling a call, requesting more information, or providing feedback, make it easy for them to respond. For example:
• "Would you be available for a quick call next week to discuss further?"
• "If you're interested, I can share more details or arrange a demo at your convenience. Let me know what works best for you."
7. Polite Closure- Close your email with a polite and professional sign-off. Thank them for their time and express your willingness to assist further. For example:
• "Thank you for considering this, and I look forward to your response."
• "I appreciate your time, (Prospect's Name). Looking forward to hearing from you soon."
8. Follow-up sequence- If you don't receive a response after the first follow-up email, consider sending a series of follow-ups spaced out over time. Each follow-up should add value and maintain professionalism without being overly pushy.

Conclusion

Although it might seem overwhelming at first, you can greatly improve your chances of engaging prospects and generating conversions by putting this guide's strategies into practice. These strategies include creating attention-grabbing subject lines, reminding recipients of past interactions, posing intelligent questions, and clearly stating calls to action.

If you want to create a hyper personalised outreach with effective follow-up, do checkout the services of MagicPitch and understand how it helps you in sending cold emails that will help your business to grow clients.

Throughout the follow-up series, understand the importance of professionalism to add value and personalise your emails. It is possible to convert cold leads into warm prospects and eventually devoted clients if the business tries to be persistent, patient, and focus on creating deep connections.

FAQ

• Q.1 How long should you wait on a cold email?

Ans. So leave at least 2 days between your first and second point of contact, then give them a bit more time in between emails as you continue to follow up.

• Q.2 How effective are follow-up emails?

Ans. The first follow-up email is naturally the most effective. It brings the highest reply rate, even about 40% higher compared to the initial email.

• Q.3. How many times should you follow-up?

Ans. Give at least a week before following up, otherwise might come off as pushy.

• Q.4. What is the importance of follow-up?

Ans. A follow-up email is a way to add value and to assist your customers in every step of the buyer's journey. Build trust.

• Q.5. What do you write in a follow-up to a cold email?

Ans. In a follow-up email after no response, briefly recap your previous message, provide additional context or value, and include a clear call to action. A subject line like “Just Checking In – Any Updates?” can be effective.