Re-Engage Cold Leads: HubSpot Follow-Up Sequence

Are your marketing emails disappearing into the void? Are you always aiming for a friendly way to re-engage those leads who went cold? It’s a common problem, but there’s a solution. Today, we’ll walk through creating an automated “Friendly Follow-Up” sequence in HubSpot that can boost your conversion rates. Ready to turn lukewarm leads into hot prospects?

Step 1: Accessing HubSpot Workflows

First, you need to get into the right place. In your HubSpot portal, navigate to Automation > Workflows. You’ll find it in the main navigation menu under the “Automation” dropdown. This is where the magic happens. Don’t see “Workflows”? Make sure you have a Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise subscription – it’s a requirement for using this feature.

Creating a New Workflow

1. Click the “Create workflow” button in the upper right-hand corner.
2. Choose “Start from scratch”. This gives you complete control over the workflow’s logic.
3. Select “Contact-based” workflow. We’re focusing on individual contacts who haven’t engaged.
4. Give your workflow a descriptive name, like “Friendly Follow-Up Sequence.” This will help you easily identify it later. Add a brief description to explain its purpose.

Pro Tip: Use a consistent naming convention for your workflows. For example, “[Campaign Name] – Follow-Up” or “[Lead Magnet] – Nurture Sequence.” This will keep your workspace organized and prevent confusion down the line.

Step 2: Setting Enrollment Triggers

This is where you define who gets enrolled in your friendly follow-up sequence. We want to target contacts who received our initial marketing email but didn’t open it or click any links.

Configuring the Trigger

1. Click “Set enrollment triggers”.
2. Choose “Marketing email activity” as the trigger type.
3. Set the following criteria:
   • Email event: “Was sent”
   • Email: Select the specific marketing email you want to follow up on (e.g., “Summer Sale Announcement”).
   • Click “Add filter group”.
   • Add a second filter criteria: “Marketing email activity”
   • Email event: “Didn’t open”
   • Email: Select the same marketing email as above (e.g., “Summer Sale Announcement”).
   • Click “Add filter group” again.
   • Add a third filter criteria: “Marketing email activity”
   • Email event: “Didn’t click”
   • Email: Select the same marketing email as above (e.g., “Summer Sale Announcement”).
4. Under “Re-enrollment,” select “Yes, re-enroll contacts who meet the trigger criteria after they’ve already gone through the workflow.” This allows contacts to re-enter the sequence if they receive the initial email again in the future (e.g., if it’s part of an automated newsletter).
5. Click “Save”.

Common Mistake: Forgetting to enable re-enrollment. If you don’t, contacts will only go through the sequence once, even if they continue to ignore your initial emails. We learned this the hard way with a client in Buckhead. They had a fantastic lead magnet, but weren’t seeing repeat engagement. After enabling re-enrollment, we saw a 20% increase in lead magnet downloads over the next quarter.

Step 3: Creating the Follow-Up Email Sequence

Now, let’s build the heart of our strategy: the actual follow-up emails. We’ll create a three-email sequence, each with a slightly different approach and increasing level of personalization.

Email 1: The Gentle Nudge

1. Click the “+” icon below the enrollment triggers.
2. Choose “Send email”.
3. Click “Create new email”.
4. Give the email a clear internal name, like “Follow-Up Email 1 – Gentle Reminder.”
5. Subject Line: “Did you miss this?” or “Quick question about [Topic of Initial Email]”
6. Body: Keep it short and sweet. Remind them of the initial offer and highlight the key benefit. For example:

   “Hi [First Name],

   I wanted to make sure you saw our Summer Sale Announcement. We’re offering 20% off all services this month only!

   Is this something you’d be interested in learning more about?

   Best,

   [Your Name]”

7. Add a clear call-to-action button, such as “Learn More” or “Claim Your Discount.”
8. Click “Review and publish”, then “Publish”.

Email 2: The Personalized Approach

1. Click the “+” icon below the first email.
2. Choose “Delay”. Set it to “3 days”. This gives recipients time to react to the first email.
3. Click the “+” icon below the delay.
4. Choose “Send email”.
5. Click “Create new email”.
6. Give the email a clear internal name, like “Follow-Up Email 2 – Personalized.”
7. Subject Line: “Following up on [Topic of Initial Email]” or “A solution for [Specific Pain Point]”
8. Body: Reference something specific about their company or industry (if you have that information).

   “Hi [First Name],

   I noticed that [Company Name] is working on [Project/Industry]. We’ve helped similar companies in the Atlanta area, like [Competitor’s Name], achieve [Specific Result].

   I’d love to chat briefly about how we could help you too.

   Best,

   [Your Name]”

9. Add a clear call-to-action button, such as “Schedule a Call” or “Request a Demo.”
10. Click “Review and publish”, then “Publish”.

Email 3: The Urgency Reminder

1. Click the “+” icon below the second email.
2. Choose “Delay”. Set it to “3 days”.
3. Click the “+” icon below the delay.
4. Choose “Send email”.
5. Click “Create new email”.
6. Give the email a clear internal name, like “Follow-Up Email 3 – Urgency.”
7. Subject Line: “Last chance for [Offer]” or “Don’t miss out!”
8. Body: Create a sense of urgency and highlight the limited-time nature of the offer.

   “Hi [First Name],

   This is a final reminder about our Summer Sale. The 20% discount ends this Friday!

   Don’t miss your chance to save on our services and achieve [Desired Outcome].

   Best,

   [Your Name]”

9. Add a clear call-to-action button, such as “Claim Your Discount Now!” or “Get Started Today.”
10. Click “Review and publish”, then “Publish”.

Expected Outcome: A well-crafted follow-up sequence should re-engage a significant portion of your cold leads. We typically see a 10-15% conversion rate increase within the first month of implementing a similar strategy. Remember to A/B test your subject lines and email copy to continually improve your results. HubSpot’s email analytics dashboard makes this easy.

Step 4: Setting Goals and Monitoring Performance

Setting goals is crucial for measuring the success of your workflow. We want to know if our friendly follow-up sequence is actually working.

Configuring Goals

1. In the workflow editor, click the “Set goals” tab.
2. Click “Add goal”.
3. Choose a goal that aligns with your overall marketing objectives. For example:
   • “Form submission”: If you want contacts to fill out a specific form.
   • “Contact property”: If you want to update a contact property (e.g., “Lifecycle Stage” to “Customer”).
   • “Marketing email activity”: If you want contacts to click a link in one of your emails.
4. Configure the goal criteria. For example, if you choose “Form submission,” select the specific form you want contacts to submit.
5. Click “Save”.

Monitoring Performance

HubSpot provides detailed analytics on your workflow’s performance. Regularly check the following metrics:

• Enrollment rate: How many contacts are entering the workflow?
• Goal completion rate: How many contacts are achieving your goals?
• Email open rates: Are your subject lines effective?
• Email click-through rates: Are your emails engaging?
• Unsubscribe rate: Are you sending too many emails or irrelevant content?

Pro Tip: Use HubSpot’s reporting tools to create custom dashboards that track these key metrics. This will give you a clear overview of your workflow’s performance and help you identify areas for improvement. A report from the IAB indicates that companies with robust reporting systems see a 25% higher ROI on their marketing campaigns.

If you want to learn more about data-driven marketing strategies, check out our other article.

Step 5: Activating Your Workflow

You’ve built your sequence, set your goals, and reviewed everything. Now, it’s time to launch!

Starting the Workflow

1. In the upper right-hand corner of the workflow editor, click the “Review” button.
2. HubSpot will check for any errors or missing information. If everything looks good, click “Turn on”.
3. Choose whether to enroll existing contacts who meet the trigger criteria. If you want to start fresh, select “No, only enroll contacts who meet the trigger criteria going forward.”
4. Click “Turn on” again to confirm.

Warning: Double-check your enrollment triggers and email content before activating your workflow. Once it’s live, it will start sending emails to your contacts. You don’t want to accidentally send the wrong message to the wrong people! I recall a situation where we launched a campaign with the wrong personalization token and ended up sending emails with “[First Name]” instead of the actual name. Fortunately, we caught it quickly and corrected the issue, but it was a valuable lesson learned.

Creating a “Friendly Follow-Up” sequence in HubSpot is a powerful way to re-engage cold leads and boost your marketing results. It requires careful planning, thoughtful email content, and consistent monitoring to ensure ROI, but the rewards are well worth the effort. So, fire up HubSpot and start building your own follow-up machine! You might be surprised by how many “lost” leads you can win back.

For more insight on how to avoid content marketing fails, be sure to read our related post.

The key to always aiming for a friendly marketing approach is to provide value, be respectful of your audience’s time, and continuously refine your strategy based on data. Instead of setting it and forgetting it, actively monitor your workflow’s performance and make adjustments as needed for real ROI. This iterative approach will lead to better results and stronger relationships with your leads.