TL;DR
Automated email follow-ups are pre-written email sequences sent automatically based on triggers. They save time, keep leads engaged, and help close deals. Key steps include choosing an automation tool (like LaGrowthMachine), creating personalized templates, identifying triggers, setting up sequences, and monitoring/optimizing campaigns. Best practices involve creating urgency, being conversational, personalizing messages, providing value, A/B testing, and analyzing results.
Follow-up emails are a crucial part of B2B sales. They help you stay in touch with your leads, build trust and rapport, and move them through the sales funnel.
But whether you’re an experienced sales copywriter or a beginner, finding the right follow-up emails can be a hassle and can quickly become frustrating.
Even the most experienced salespeople and growth experts know that to be successful today, you need to follow up quickly and frequently.
In fact, according to a study by Iko Systems, the first email has an 18% response rate, while the sixth email has a response rate of only 27%.
But what if you could automate the entire process? Why are automated follow-ups crucial for B2B success? And how can you set up your own automated follow-up sequence?
In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about automating your follow-up emails, from the basics to strategies and best practices.
What are Automated Email Follow-ups?
We know, it’s not exactly the hardest concept to grasp, but it helps to have a clear definition. 🙄
Automated email follow-ups are pre-written email sequences that are automatically sent out when triggered by a specific action or event. These emails can be sent at any schedule you set in advance, meaning you don’t have to manually hit “send” every time.
And best of all, automated follow-up emails allow you to stay in touch with your leads without having to invest too much time or energy.
They can be used in a wide variety of scenarios, from onboarding a new customer to following up on leads after they attend an event.
Example 🔍
For example, at LaGrowthMachine, we send automated follow-up emails before and even after our webinars.
– Before the webinar, we send a confirmation email with the event details and a calendar invite. We also send a reminder email a day and an hour before the webinar starts, to make sure our attendees don’t miss it.
– After the webinar, we send a thank-you message with a link to the recording and some additional resources. We sometimes also send another follow-up email a few days later, asking for feedback and perhaps offering a free consultation call.
– Depending on the response, we send another follow-up message with more value propositions and a clear call to action to book a demo or sign up for our service.
This way, we can nurture our leads and move them closer to converting into customers, without having to write and send each email manually.
Pretty cool, right? 😎
Keep in mind that email automation aims to keep the conversation going, build trust and rapport, and move them closer to the next stage of the sales funnel.
Why Do You Need Automated Email Follow-ups?
Automated follow-up emails are a must-have for any B2B sales team. They can help you streamline your sales process and boost your conversions:
- Saving you time and effort: By setting up a sequence of automated emails that will be sent out automatically, rather than writing and sending each email manually
- Keeping you top-of-mind with your leads: By sending timely and relevant messages that keep your prospects engaged and interested in your product or service.
- Personalizing your messages: While you can achieve this benefit without automation, it’s easier to automate the process of personalizing and targeting your messages. You can segment your email list and tailor your messages to specific groups of leads, making them more engaging and effective.
- Scaling your efforts: Perhaps most importantly of all, like all automations, your follow-up emails will scale with you as your business grows. You’ll be able to send more emails, to more people, without having to worry about time or resources.
- Reducing costs: This goes hand-in-hand with the previous point. As you scale your business, your costs will remain relatively the same, which in turn means more conversions and a better bottom line.
Ultimately, automated follow-up emails are here to make your life easier and, if done correctly, will help you generate more leads and conversions with less work.
How to Do Automated Email Follow-up in 7 Easy Steps
Now that we’ve covered why automated follow-up emails are so important, let’s get to the how-to. Here’s a quick 5-step guide to get you started:
Step 1: Choose Your Email Automation Tool
The first step is to choose a cold email automation tool that fits your needs and budget.
There are many options available, but we recommend LaGrowthMachine, as it’s the best tool for automating not only your follow-up emails, but all of your outreach campaigns!
LaGrowthMachine is a multichannel sales platform that allows you to create custom sequences for both your leads and your customers.
You can set up different triggers, conditions, and actions to send the right email at the right time. You can also track and measure the performance of your email campaigns and optimize them accordingly.
Some of the cool features that make LaGrowthMachine stand out are:
- Personalization tokens: These are placeholders that allow you to insert dynamic information into your emails, and with LaGrowthMachine, you have over 20 of them!
- Email tracking: This feature allows you to monitor the performance of your emails, such as open rates, click-through rates, or reply rates. This will help you measure the effectiveness of your follow-up emails and optimize them accordingly.
- Analytics: LaGrowthMachine comes with a powerful analytics dashboard that allows you to track the performance of your emails over time, and identify areas for improvement.
LaGrowthMachine also has some awesome new features you should check out:
- Magic Messages: With all the buzz around AI-generated content, we had to join in. Our Magic Messages feature allows you to create automated emails in minutes, with just a few clicks. All you need to do is provide us with some data, such as your company’s value proposition and the tone you want to use, and our AI-powered engine will generate the email copy for you.

- Lead Qualification: You can now include your lead qualification process into your LGM campaigns so you can properly qualify them

- Multichannel Inbox: The first multichannel inbox that not only allows you to send automated emails and LinkedIn and Twitter DMs, but also allows you to manage all your conversations with your prospects in one place.
LaGrowthMachine also integrates well with your CRM system, either natively for HubSpot and Pipedrive users or via Zapier. This will ensure seamless communication and data synchronization between your platforms.
What are you waiting for? Check out LaGrowthMachine and start automating your follow-up emails today!
Step 2: Create Your Email Templates
The next step is to create your email templates for different scenarios and purposes.
Your email templates should be engaging and personalized. Make sure to include a clear call-to-action (CTA) in each email.
Some of the best practices for creating email templates are:
- Use a clear and catchy subject line that conveys the purpose and value of your email. Your subject line should grab your recipient’s attention and entice them to open your email.
- Keep your message short, simple, and focused on one goal or action. Your message should be easy to read and understand, and avoid unnecessary details or distractions.
- Use a friendly and conversational tone that reflects your brand’s voice and personality. Your tone should match your audience’s expectations and preferences, and build trust and rapport with them.
- Don’t hesitate to use bullet points, images, or simple emojis to break up long blocks of text and make your email more visually appealing. “Area” your text and don’t send something that is tiring to look at just by glancing at it
- End with a clear and compelling CTA that prompts the recipient to take the next step in the sales process. Your CTA should be visible, actionable, and urgent.
Here’s a template we send after our onboarding sessions:
Step 3: Identify Your Follow-up Triggers
Now that you have your LaGrowthMachine account set up and your email templates ready, the next step is to identify what will trigger each of these templates in your sequence.
Identifying these triggers will help you set up automation rules for sending emails based on certain conditions.
- You can set up triggers for all sorts of things, such as when
- Customers make a purchase
- Leads sign up for your newsletter
- Leads interact with your website or social media accounts
- Leads participate in a webinar hosted by you
This isn’t rocket science, we even provide you with one of the templates we use for our onboarding.
Quick Tip 💡
You can use the SMART model to define your follow-up triggers:
– Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve.
– Measurable: Set goals that can be tracked and measured.
– Achievable: Break down larger goals into smaller, attainable steps.
– Relevant: Ensure the goal aligns with your long-term objectives.
– Time-bound: Set a timeline and deadline for your goal.
For example, instead of “I want to follow up with my leads,” say:
“I want to send an email to my leads one day after they sign up for a free trial, asking them what they think of the product and offering them a 10% discount if they upgrade within a week.”
This way, you can create clear and effective follow-up emails that will help you achieve your desired results.
Step 4: Set Up Your Email Sequences
Once you’ve identified your triggers, the next step is to set up your sequences. Essentially, an email sequence is a series of emails that are sent out according to the triggers and conditions you’ve specified in the previous steps.
Start by setting up the basic structure of the sequence: the number of emails, when they should be sent, and what should happen after each email is sent.
Then, start adding more details, such as the content of each email, the subject line, and any other actions that should be triggered after each email.
Finally, set up rules for ending the sequence if a certain condition is met (e.g., if the customer updates their account).

With LaGrowthMachine’s intuitive and user-friendly interface, you’ll be able to quickly create powerful email sequences that will help you close more deals and increase your revenue.
All you have to do is choose: do you want ready-to-use templates that you can customize and set up quickly, or do you prefer to build each block from scratch?
Whichever option you choose, LaGrowthMachine will help you achieve your goals in no time!
Step 5: Monitor and Optimize Your Campaigns
As with anything related to automation or growth in general, it’s all about designing, testing, and iterating.
Once you’ve set up your email sequences, it’s time to start monitoring them to see how they’re performing. Keep an eye on open rates and click-through rates, as well as any other metrics that are relevant to your campaigns.
Additionally, you should also set up A/B tests to optimize the performance of your emails. This will allow you to experiment with different subject lines, content formats, and CTA buttons to figure out what works best for your audience.
Finally, don’t forget to keep an eye on unsubscribe and bounce rates, as this will give you a good indication of how effective your campaign is.
Luckily, LaGrowthMachine has stellar analytics features that will provide you with valuable insights into your campaigns and help you identify what’s working best for you.

Measure and optimize your prospecting efforts across multiple channels. You’ll be able to:
- Track the performance of your campaigns and individual messages across LinkedIn, email, and Twitter. You can see how many prospects you’ve contacted, how many have responded, and how many have converted into leads or customers.
- Compare different campaigns to see which ones are generating the most results. You can filter by date range, channel, industry, job title, and so on. This will help you fine-tune your targeting and messaging strategies.
- Get actionable recommendations based on your data. You’ll receive tips on how to improve your open and click-through rates, how to reduce your unsubscribe and bounce rates, and how to increase your conversion rates.
With LaGrowthMachine’s analytics, you’ll have a comprehensive view of your prospecting efforts and a clear roadmap for optimizing them. You’ll be able to measure your ROI, track your progress, and scale your growth.
¡Consigue 3.5 veces más leads!
¿Quieres mejorar la eficacia de tu departamento de ventas?
LaGrowthMachine te permite generar un promedio de 3.5 veces más leads, ahorrándote una increíble cantidad de tiempo en todos tus procesos. Al registrarse hoy, obtendrás una prueba gratuita de 14 días para probar nuestra herramienta!
Examples of Follow-up Emails
To help you get started with your follow-up emails, here are 5 examples you can use:
Template 1: Re-engagement Email
Template 2: Nurturing Email
Template 3: Product Purchase Follow-up
Template 4: Sales Email
Template 5: Reactivation Email
Winning at Follow-up – Best Practices for Follow-up Email
Thought templates were all you needed? Think again. After all, this is the ultimate guide for a reason.
To ensure you nail your follow-up email strategy, here are some best practices to keep in mind:
- Create urgency – use words like “now,” “today,” or “this week” to encourage people to take action.
- Be conversational – use a lighthearted tone and keep emails brief for maximum readability.
- Make it personal – use the person’s name and other personalized details like their job title or company.
- Provide value – make sure each message is valuable and offers something of interest.
- Test different versions – A/B testing is essential for success, so try out different subject lines, content formats, and CTA buttons.
- Analyze your results – analytics tools can provide valuable insights into how effective your campaigns are.
Now, if you’ve been following this guide closely, we’ve already touched on each of these best practices. That’s why I haven’t gone into detail here.
This section is for the laziest among us, so you can have all the key points in one place and avoid having to search the entire article.
¡Consigue 3.5 veces más leads!
¿Quieres mejorar la eficacia de tu departamento de ventas?
LaGrowthMachine te permite generar un promedio de 3.5 veces más leads, ahorrándote una increíble cantidad de tiempo en todos tus procesos. Al registrarse hoy, obtendrás una prueba gratuita de 14 días para probar nuestra herramienta!
Generate 3.5x More Leads!
Looking to improve your sales department’s efficiency? LaGrowthMachine allows you to generate an average of 3.5x more leads, saving an incredible amount of time on all your processes. By signing up today, you get a 14-day free trial to test our tool.
Final Thoughts
By now, you should be able to create an effective follow-up email strategy that drives results and boosts your business.
The key is to create personalized messages, make them relevant and valuable, and track your progress based on analytics data.
With the right approach, you can expect to see an increase in engagement and conversion.
Happy following up! 😊