Had a convo with my buddy Mark that changed how I see follow-up emails

We were grabbing a beer after work and he told me his open rate on a third follow-up email jumped from like 5% to 40% just by changing the subject line to 'Re: Our last chat' instead of 'Checking in again'. It made me realize I've been way too formal and obvious in my own templates. Anyone got other sneaky-good subject lines that actually get a reply?

4 comments

4 Comments

david_palmer6d agoMost Upvoted

Man, that's a solid tip. I started using "Quick question about [thing we discussed]" and it works way better than "Following up". Another one I like is just using their first name in the subject, like "John, about the project". It feels more like a direct message and less like spam. I've even had luck with "Thought you'd find this interesting" and linking an article related to our talk. The key is making it seem like a new thought, not a nag.

kimblack6d ago

Yeah, @david_pmer, it's all about framing. You see the same thing when someone asks for a favor versus just stating a need. Makes a huge difference.

shane_morgan6d ago

Honestly, the best trick is to make it sound like they forgot something, not you. I mean, a subject line like "You asked me to send this" or "Per our call" works crazy well. It puts the reason to reply on them, like they dropped the ball. Idk, maybe it's just me but people hate feeling like they forgot something so they open it fast to check. It feels less like you chasing them and more like a normal task.

ninar683d ago

Saw a study that said 47% of people open emails just to clear the guilt. @shane_morgan is onto something with that trick.