Glossary entry
Follow-up email
Any email sent after the first cold email in a sequence — distinct from 'reply' (which is recipient-initiated). Follow-ups account for 70% of total replies in most well-run cold sequences; the first touch is the door-opener, follow-ups do the actual conversion. Best practice: 5-8 follow-ups over 14-21 days with asymmetric spacing (denser at start, sparser at end). Each follow-up should add new context, not repeat the first email.
01Definition
TLDR
Any email sent after the first cold email in a sequence — distinct from 'reply' (which is recipient-initiated). Follow-ups account for 70% of total replies in most well-run cold sequences; the first touch is the door-opener, follow-ups do the actual conversion. Best practice: 5-8 follow-ups over 14-21 days with asymmetric spacing (denser at start, sparser at end). Each follow-up should add new context, not repeat the first email.
02Why it matters
Teams that skip follow-ups give up 70% of their pipeline. Teams that follow up generically annoy 90% of recipients.
03Example
Worked example
Touch 1 reply rate: 1.5%. Touch 4 reply rate: 2.2%. Touch 6 reply rate: 1.0%. Cumulative: 5-8% across the sequence.
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