Article

We Analyzed 12 Million Outreach Emails: Here's What We Learned

Backlinko (with Pitchbox) · Backlinko Free Intermediate

This is the actual data behind the "follow up more than you think" advice: only 8.5% of cold emails get a reply on their own, but a single additional follow-up lifts replies by 65.8%. When you're tempted to stop after one unanswered email, this is the study that tells you why that's premature.

  • Only 8.5% of outreach emails get a response with no follow-up at all
  • One extra follow-up email increases replies by 65.8%
  • Personalizing the follow-up, not just sending more of them, drives the biggest lift

The question it answers

  1. How many times should I follow up before giving up on a cold prospect?

Read with it

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  3. If you want to fix the follow-up mindset for good, this is the book, and this is the author's own page for it. Blount is blunt... jebblount.com (official) Book · ~320 pages Fanatical Prospecting Jeb Blount
  4. This is the canonical structure for the investor cold email, written by a YC partner who reads them from the other side. It is... Y Combinator Startup Library Essay · 5 min read How to Cold Email Investors Aaron Harris
  5. An Indian founder story where the early demand test was manual, cold emails and direct outreach to find the first customers... Prime Venture Partners Podcast Podcast · ~50 min How Khadim Batti Built Whatfix Into a Global SaaS Leader Prime Venture Partners
  6. A short, practical guide you can lift straight into your own process: how many times to follow up, what to say at each touch,... Close Template The Follow Up Formula Steli Efti
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