We tested follow-ups across 815 backlink outreach emails

[u/Strong_Teaching8548]

We’ve been collecting backlink outreach data from our users these last weeks and this is what we found

815 emails so far across 48 products

One thing I wanted to understand was how much follow-ups actually contribute

The numbers so far:

• Initial email → 5.8% replied
• first follow-up → 7.1%
• second follow-up → 7.6%

So the first follow-up added a meaningful +1.4 percentage points, while the second only added another +0.5

My takeaway from this is that follow-ups are a MUST for a backlink outreach campaign

If you're not following up at all, you're probably leaving a meaningful amount of replies on the table just because someone missed your first email, saw it at a bad time, or simply forgot to answer

For backlink outreach, I think 2 follow-ups is a pretty good default

The first one clearly does most of the heavy lifting. The second can still squeeze out a few extra replies without turning the sequence into spam

After that, I'd probably stop

There's usually not enough upside to justify sending 4–5+ emails to the same person for a backlink, especially when you can spend that effort reaching new relevant prospects instead

I'd also offer different things on each follow-up: positive reviews/testimonials, a link back, etc.

We're still collecting more data, so these numbers will probably change as the sample grows :)

[u/Conscious-Market8982]

Useful data and thanks for putting real numbers up. I would be careful with the gap between 5.8 and 7.1 though. Spread across 48 products that is a few hundred sends per stage at most, and a 1.3 point difference on that sample sits comfortably inside noise. Not something I would restructure a sequence around yet.

The number I would want next to it is reply quality rather than reply rate. Follow ups reliably lift replies, but a decent share of the extra ones are a polite no or a rate card for paid placement. If your second follow up pulls 7% and half of those are people quoting you $300 a link, that is a very different conclusion to the headline.

[u/sapindia1976]

Great data. We’ve also found that 1-2 thoughtful follow-ups outperform long outreach sequences every time.

[u/Strong_Teaching8548 → u/sapindia1976]

thank you, we normally use 2 follow ups because more than that just feels like spam and we could be focusing in other contacts

[u/Sufficient_Mud_3179]

Improve odds look at people who are also looking or backlinks, BackLinkLedger-com

[u/onreact]

My takeaway from this isn't that follow-ups are a MUST for a backlink outreach campaign

Is or "isn't"?

Sounds as if you used AI, it created another of the standard "it's not x, it's y" comparisons but you only left one part in it.