How to Follow Up With Email

Here are four simple tips to help you ace the follow-up strategy:

1. Personalize Your Emails: Write emails as if you're sending them directly from your personal account. Use the recipient’s name and reference their specific interest or action.
2. Provide Value First: Focus on educating and helping your leads rather than immediately trying to sell. Share useful content like blog posts, videos, or guides.
3. Share Success Stories: Include case studies or reviews in your follow-up emails. Show how you’ve helped others with similar problems to build trust and credibility.
4. Consistent Communication: Stay in touch regularly with newsletter-style emails. Keep a consistent schedule so your leads know when to expect updates and value from you.

How to Follow Up With Email

Somebody recently asked me, "What's the one thing in marketing that has changed every single month?" I swapped that question with, "How about the one thing that hasn't changed?" And the one thing that hasn't changed in marketing over the last 10 years I've been doing it is the follow-up. You probably already have enough leads coming into your business to where if you just focused on follow-up, you can increase sales and most importantly, increase profits.

Hey there, my name is Brad Smith, owner of AutomationLinks. I've been doing this marketing stuff for the last 10 years, and I've helped over 2,500 people follow up with their leads. Whether you're new, you've been running a business for a few years, or you're focused on scaling, it always comes down to follow-up. Whenever we set up marketing and ads, the follow-up is crucial. In today's post, I'm going to give you my 5 steps for following up with email so you can simply copy and paste these into your business.

Step 1: Send a Personalized Style Email

The first tip is to always send a personalized style email. If someone comes in from your website, lead magnets, landing pages, or social media, you want to give them something of high value and send them a personal style email like you would from your Gmail or Outlook account. Personal style emails hit the inbox better and don't end up in the promotions or spam folder as easily.

Personalized emails look less like a newsletter and more like a genuine message. If I saw a personal style email that said, "Hey Brad, thank you for filling out the form," I'm more likely to open it and see what the next steps are. Write that first email with a customer or lead in mind, thank them for signing up for your offer, and tell them what the next steps are. Save this as a draft, then copy and paste it into your email marketing software.

Tips for Sending Personalized Emails:

• Write as if you're sending from Gmail or Outlook.
• Thank them for signing up and outline the next steps.
• Save as a draft before using it in email marketing software.
• Build a relationship by giving them what you promised on your landing page.

Step 2: Provide Value and Education

After someone fills out a form, don’t just go into selling mode like most businesses do. Provide education and value. Help them by encouraging them to schedule a call, follow you on social media, or read a blog post. I often send YouTube videos where people can learn from me after joining my newsletter list. This approach builds trust and keeps people engaged.

Instead of talking about prices or offering discounts, focus on solving problems and providing useful information. Use your Google Analytics to find your most read blog posts and turn those into email content. The more personal and relationship-focused your emails are, the more likely you’ll stay in the inbox.

Tips for Providing Value:

• Avoid immediate selling; provide education and help instead.
• Encourage scheduling calls or following on social media.
• Use popular blog posts as email content.
• Keep initial emails personal and plain text.

Step 3: Share Case Studies and Reviews

Share a story of someone you’ve helped. This makes your emails relatable and shows that you’ve worked with others who have similar problems. Highlight the problem, how you fixed it, and the results. This can motivate your leads to think, "I want those results too."

Case studies and reviews demonstrate your expertise and success. Share your excitement and motivation, and direct them back to your website to see other case studies and reviews. This shows you can solve their problems too.

Tips for Sharing Case Studies:

• Make the story relatable by sharing real examples.
• Highlight the problem, your solution, and the results.
• Direct leads to your website for more case studies.
• Show excitement and motivation in your emails.

Step 4: Follow Up After Meetings or Calls to Action

Always follow up after any meetings or calls to action. Encourage people to schedule with you and after they do, send a calendar invite and a text message reminder. After the meeting, send a "next steps" email thanking them for their time and outlining what will happen next.

This keeps the communication line open and shows that you are attentive and reliable. Follow up with a thank you email and additional information, like social media links or further reading. This continued engagement helps build a stronger relationship.

Tips for Following Up After Meetings:

• Send calendar invites and text message reminders.
• Follow up with a "next steps" email.
• Keep communication open with thank you messages.
• Provide additional information and resources.

Step 5: Stay Top of Mind

Ensure you stay top of mind with consistent follow-up. Send newsletter-style emails regularly, whether that’s monthly, weekly, or bi-weekly. Your goal is to remain present in their inbox so they don’t forget about you when they’re ready to buy.

Even if they aren’t ready to buy right away, consistent communication keeps you at the forefront. They should be seeing your social media posts, retargeting ads, and regular emails. This keeps them engaged and thinking about your business.

Tips for Staying Top of Mind:

• Send regular newsletter-style emails.
• Maintain consistency with your email schedule.
• Keep delivering value in your emails.
• Use multiple touchpoints like social media and ads.

Conclusion

So which one of these follow-up techniques do you like? Are you going to try them all? It's all about making sure your leads never forget about you. You probably already have enough visitors and leads. The key is following up consistently to convert those leads into customers. Keep following up and stay top of mind. If you need any help with your follow-up strategy, feel free to reach out. Happy emailing!