1.0BuzzStreamhttps://www.buzzstream.comVince Nerohttps://www.buzzstream.com/blog/author/vincenero/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="tU5A25SWCd"><a href="https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/follow-up-email-study/">Follow-Up Emails in Digital PR: What the Data Tells Us [Study]</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.buzzstream.com/blog/follow-up-email-study/embed/#?secret=tU5A25SWCd" width="600" height="338" title="“Follow-Up Emails in Digital PR: What the Data Tells Us [Study]” — BuzzStream" data-secret="tU5A25SWCd" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); /* ]]> */ </script> https://www.buzzstream.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/paper-planes2.png725725Follow-up emails boost reply rates by 85%, especially in Education, Entertainment, and Tech campaigns. First follow-up is most impactful—subsequent replies drop by 66%. Best timing is within 1 day of the original pitch; reply rates peak early. Industry matters—Travel and Fashion see minimal or negative gains from follow-ups. Refresh your pitch angle or add new value in follow-ups to maintain interest. Email follow-ups are almost universally used in PR campaigns. When we polled PRs about their use of follow-up emails in our 2025 State of Digital PR Report, only 2 out of 100 said they don’t use follow-ups. Muck Rack’s State of Journalism found that 51% say one follow-up is ideal (and 48% say it should come within 3–7 days). With all of this information coming at us, it’s hard to understand the best practice. So, I analyzed over 65K campaigns and over 8 million emails using BuzzStream’s data to understand the impact of follow-up emails in digital PR campaigns. How Do Follow-Ups Impact Open Rates? Let’s start at the top. Campaigns using follow-ups have slightly lower open rates (31.06%) than those without (34.28%). Although open rates are flawed metrics due to their propensity to be skewed by Apple and Google auto-opens, they are still directionally helpful at scale. Since we’ve examined over 8 million emails sent, I feel confident that this data tells us something significant. This drop in opens for follow-up emails may make you rethink scheduling follow-ups, but open rates tell a different story than replies. How Do Follow-Ups Impact Reply Rates? Sequences with follow-ups see an 85% higher reply rate than one-and-done emails. Put plainly, follow-ups nearly double your chances of getting a reply. Why is there a low open rate but a higher reply rate? Think about how often you’ve gotten an email you aren’t interested in, so you’ve […]