It is not a good idea to automatically implement follow-ups into every outreach campaign. A follow-up is something that makes sense when the initial opportunity still carries some value for both sides and additional contact can lead to reconsideration of the request or noticing it in some way. For other outreach attempts, one successful contact attempt might be enough.
The decision to use follow-ups must be based on the goal of the outreach campaign and the alignment of the recipient with the offered value, but not on the rule that every missed email has to be followed by another message.
Follow Ups Make Sense When the Opportunity Is Still Relevant
Not getting any feedback does not necessarily mean that the initial outreach attempt was rejected.
An excellent outreach message might remain unanswered because the recipient just had too much work, was distracted by something else, was planning to look through it later, or simply did not get to it. In case the offer in the message is still relevant and might interest the recipient, another try makes sense.
Such a situation is especially likely when there is a connection between the offered value and the actual activities of the recipient.
An outreach campaign focused on providing relevant expert opinions, some useful resource, collaboration possibilities, or another valuable thing may have grounds for additional contact because the initial value proposition has not been exhausted.
Campaign Objective Determines Follow-Up Strategy
Various outreach campaigns ask different things from their recipients.
Some campaigns aim at establishing relationships, some at introducing a resource, proposing collaboration, seeking media coverage, or requesting some particular action.
These objectives influence whether follow-ups belong to the campaign or not.
If the success of the campaign depends on opening a conversation, which might take more than one contact attempt, then it might be necessary to use the follow-up technique. If the message provides only some information, additional contact might be useless.
Thus, the objective of the campaign should determine the follow-ups rather than follow-ups determining the campaign structure.
Recipient Alignment Provides Sufficient Ground for Another Try
A recipient who fits the outreach objective well provides more justification for another attempt than a recipient who is included in the campaign just because they somehow fit into a prospect list.
Here comes the issue of the recipient’s fit with the proposed value.
In case the publisher covers the subject of the offered resource regularly, the unanswered message might still provide a relevant opportunity. In case the initial connection was not strong, repeating it in the form of a second email would not help.
A follow-up cannot fix bad targeting just because it provides an additional contact.
The question here is whether the recipient still has some grounds to care about the message or not, and not whether the initial outreach sequence has another stage left.
There Are Situations Where One Contact Attempt Is Enough
There are situations where one outreach attempt is sufficient.
A bad fit with the recipient is an obvious example of such a situation. Another is when the opportunity provided by the message is already irrelevant or when the initial message is informational and does not require any response from the recipient.
The same is applicable when additional contact does not provide any new practical opportunity for the recipient.
In such situations, a follow-up may become just an operational automatism instead of being a strategic communication tool.
Not repeating the message does not necessarily mean that the outreach attempt was unsuccessful. It might just reflect the fact that additional contact is useless for the underlying value proposition.
Follow-Ups Must Be Tied to Strategic Reasoning, Not to Workflow
Automation of the workflow allows a follow-up stage to be easily added to each campaign.
But not every campaign contains the same opportunity level.
Making follow-ups a default option leads to a situation where recipients with good and bad alignment get the same treatment. The campaign goes on not because it needs to, but because it was programmed in this way.
A more selective approach treats follow-ups as strategic decisions within the outreach campaign.
Good alignment with the recipient, remaining relevance, and an adequate objective allow for another attempt. Weak alignment and insufficient value make the decision to leave after the first message reasonable.
The Decision Is Made Before Selecting the Sequence
Whether to conduct follow-ups or not must be decided before making the plan for their implementation.
Not every unanswered email needs another attempt, and not every silence should become a reason to stop.
Follow-ups are more applicable to those outreach campaigns in which they preserve an actual opportunity for both sender and recipient. In case the opportunity is missing, repeating the attempt does not help.
