You sent a good pitch to the right person at the right time, and heard nothing back. Most creatives take that as a no and move on. Usually it is not a no. The person was busy, the email got buried, or the timing was a few weeks off. A good follow-up is often what turns silence into a conversation.
The trick is to follow up in a way that is useful rather than irritating.
The cadence
- First follow-up: four or five working days after your first email.
- Second follow-up: about two weeks after that.
- Then stop, and put the brand back on your watch list. When something new happens, like a launch, a hire or a funding round, you have a fresh reason to get in touch.
Two follow-ups is enough for a cold pitch. More than that starts to feel like pressure.
Every follow-up should add something
"Just checking you saw my email" gives the reader nothing. Instead, bring one new thing each time:
- A piece of work in their sector that you did not include before.
- An observation about their launch, campaign or new product.
- A quick idea: two or three sentences, not a full proposal.
- Something useful for them, like an article or a trend in their market.
- A new signal: "I saw you've just hired a Head of Content…"
Which channel
Reply in the same email thread, so they have the context. LinkedIn is a good second channel: connect with a short personal note, and engage genuinely with their posts. Avoid cold calling unless you already have a relationship.
Following up after a meeting or proposal
Once you are in a conversation, the rules change. Speed and clarity matter more than restraint.
- After a call: send a short recap within 24 hours with what you discussed and the agreed next step.
- After sending a proposal: ask when they expect to decide, and follow up on that date, not before.
- If the decision date passes: a friendly nudge is fine, and it helps to ask whether anything has changed on their side.
Following up after a lost pitch
Ask for feedback, politely and briefly. Most people will tell you something useful. Then stay in touch: projects fall through, agencies get replaced, and the brand may come back to you sooner than you think.
Four short templates
No reply to a cold pitch
Hi [First name], following up on my note about [topic]. I put together a quick example of what this could look like for [brand]: [link]. Worth a 15-minute chat?
After a proposal
Hi [First name], hope the proposal was useful. You mentioned you'd be deciding around [date]. Is that still the plan, and is there anything I can clarify before then?
After a call
Hi [First name], thanks for the time today. To recap: [two or three points]. As agreed, I'll [next step] by [date].
Reconnecting after a new signal
Hi [First name], congratulations on [launch / new hire / funding]. We spoke back in [month] about [topic], and this felt like a good moment to pick it up again. Happy to share a few ideas.
For first-contact emails, see our pitch email templates.
What counts as annoying
- Chasing every day or two.
- Guilt trips like "I guess you're not interested".
- Fake "RE:" subject lines to make a cold email look like a reply.
- Adding them to your newsletter without their permission.
- Sending the same message again, word for word.