# Influencer Outreach Follow Up: How Many and When Source: https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/influencer-outreach-follow-up # Influencer outreach follow up: how many emails and how many days apart By the RecruitAffiliates.ai team · 28 October 2026 · 11 min read Facts about other tools come from their own sites, with the date we checked. [Our editorial policy](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/editorial-policy) · [About us](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/about). In short Send three follow-ups after the first email, on days 2, 5 and 9, and only to people who have not replied. The waits grow from 2 to 3 to 4 days. Each follow-up adds something new, and the last says it is the last. A table, three follow-up emails to copy, the rules on opting out and what to do with each reply are below. A follow-up works when it gives the creator a new reason to answer. We send three after the first email, on days 2, 5 and 9, and only to people who haven't replied. The waits are 2, 3, then 4 days. These are our defaults, and we haven't tested them. In this guide a **creator** is anyone with an audience who might promote your shop. That means bloggers and podcasters, and anyone who makes videos. It also covers the people this guide calls influencers. A **follow-up** is any email after the first one. A **thread** is one chain of emails with the same subject, so each message sits under the one before it. An **opt-out** is any way a person tells you to stop emailing them, such as clicking unsubscribe or replying "stop". For the first email itself, read the [influencer outreach email template](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/influencer-outreach-email-template). **On this page 12 sections** 1. [The schedule, day by day] 2. [Why those numbers?] 3. [What does outside data say?] 4. [Three follow-ups to copy] 5. [What should a follow-up never say?] 6. [When should you stop?] 7. [What do the rules say about opting out?] 8. [What do you do with each kind of reply?] 9. [How many creators can you email?] 10. [Where RecruitAffiliates.ai fits] 11. [Frequently asked questions] 12. [Sources] ## The schedule, day by day The first email goes out straight away. Each wait counts from the email before it. Add the waits to get the running day: 2, then 2 + 3 = 5, then 5 + 4 = 9. The whole run takes 9 days. This is the schedule RecruitAffiliates.ai ships as its default for a campaign ([how campaigns work](https://docs.recruitaffiliates.ai/campaigns)). We chose it. We have not tested it against other schedules, and we don't claim a reply rate for it. | Email | When it goes (running day) | What it adds | What it must never say | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | Right away | One of their videos or posts by its exact title, who you are, the offer as a percentage | "I love your content" or any praise that could go to anyone | | 2 | 2 days after email 1 (day 2) | What their audience gets through their link, such as your discount | "Just bumping this" or "following up on my last email" | | 3 | 3 days after email 2 (day 5) | Two things: a second video or post of theirs, and how and when you pay | "I haven't heard back from you" or any guilt | | 4 | 4 days after email 3 (day 9) | A plain note that this is the last email, with the whole offer left open | A fake deadline or "last chance" | Those are plan days, counted from the first email. In the product, emails send on weekdays inside the creator's working hours. A new mailbox starts with a few people a day. So the campaign page shows each email's real date. The rules behind the table are short. Every email goes in the same thread. A reply stops the rest. Nothing goes to someone who opted out. In the product, the last email must go within 60 days of the first. Each wait can be set from one to thirty days. ## Why those numbers? Our reasons, in plain terms. None of them is a measured result. - **Three follow-ups, four emails in all.** One nudge is easy to miss. Past four, the messages start to feel like pressure. Our written default says that if there's no reply by the fourth, there probably won't be one. - **The waits grow.** Two days is soon enough that the first email is still fresh. By day 9 you've given a busy person more than a week. Each gap is a little longer than the last, which reads as less pushy. - **Every follow-up gives something new.** A creator who ignored email 1 gets no reason to answer from "just checking in". A new fact is a reason to read again. - **The last one says it is the last.** It closes the loop. It also tells the creator the offer stays open, with no pressure. Our manual guide for founders uses days 1, 3, 6 and 10 ([the recruitment email guide](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/affiliate-recruitment-email)). Count the gaps: 2, 3 and 4 days. The schedule is the same, with the first email on day 1. The [email template guide](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/influencer-outreach-email-template) gives a lighter version for hand-sending. It has the same idea and shorter wording. It uses two short follow-ups, about 4 days then about 5 days later. Pick the lighter one if you write every email yourself. Give its follow-ups one new fact each if you can. ## What does outside data say? Very little public data is about creators. The data we found is mostly from business-to-business (B2B) sales email, so treat it as a rough guide. Instantly, a cold email tool, reported data from 1 January to 18 December 2025. It says 58% of all replies come from the first email and 42% from the follow-ups. It calls a campaign of 4 to 7 steps, the first email included, "the sweet spot". It advises spacing them 3 to 4 days apart ([Instantly 2026 benchmark report](https://instantly.ai/cold-email-benchmark-report-2026), checked 28 October 2026). It gives no sample size or method beyond "thousands of workspaces", and it is a vendor report. ### How we read the choices Two readings follow. Follow-ups matter: on that data, about 2 in 5 replies (42%) came after email 1. And our schedule sits at the low end of that range. It has four emails, and its first wait is 2 days, a little shorter than the 3 to 4 days Instantly suggests. If your creators are slow to answer, stretch the waits to 3, 4 and 4 days. That puts the follow-ups on days 3, 7 and 11. That is our advice, with no data behind it. ## Three follow-ups to copy These examples are made up, for a Shopify brand. Change every part in brackets. Each follow-up is under 60 words, excluding the subject line, with the placeholders as written. Your own first email goes in the thread above them, as in the [template guide](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/influencer-outreach-email-template). **Email 2, day 2.** Adds what their audience gets. **Subject:** Re: [video title] Hi [first name], One detail I left out. Anyone who buys through your link gets [15%] off their first order. You'd earn [20%] on every sale. Want me to send the sign-up link? [Your name] [Brand], [postal address] Reply "no" and I won't write again. **Email 3, day 5.** Names a second piece and explains payment. **Subject:** Re: [video title] Hi [first name], Your [second video title] was just as clear. Quick note on payment: [payment terms, such as when and how you pay]. Happy to answer anything. [Your name] [Brand], [postal address] Reply "no" and I won't write again. **Email 4, day 9.** The last one. **Subject:** Re: [video title] Hi [first name], This is my last email. The offer stays open: [20%] on every sale, and [15%] off for your readers. If it ever fits, reply with one word and I'll send the link. [Your name] [Brand], [postal address] Reply "no" and I won't write again. Each is short because each has one job. The three examples run to 45, 40 and 47 words, counting the greeting, sign-off and footer, and each word inside a placeholder. Put the opt-out line and your postal address in every email, the first included. Keep the same subject, with "Re:" in front, so the emails stay in one thread. Do not add a fresh pitch in email 2 or 3. Add a fact, not a different deal. ## What should a follow-up never say? Cut these. They add nothing and they annoy people. - **"Just bumping this."** It tells the creator you have nothing new. - **"Did you see my last email?"** It asks them to feel bad. - **"I haven't heard back."** It blames them for being busy. - **A fake deadline.** "Offer ends Friday" is untrue if it doesn't. Creators notice. - **A long recap of email 1.** They can scroll down the thread. ## When should you stop? Stop in four cases, at once and for good. 1. **They reply.** Any reply, even "not now". A follow-up to someone who answered is how you lose them. 2. **They say no or ask you to stop.** Write nothing more, not even a "last try". 3. **They opt out.** That means they clicked unsubscribe or replied "stop". 4. **The email bounces.** A bounce means it never arrived. Mark the address bad and don't send again. An out-of-office note is the exception, because it isn't a real reply. Pause that person until the date in their auto-reply, then carry on from where you left off. In RecruitAffiliates.ai, a reply stops a person's emails and moves them to Replied, one stage in the stage list the product keeps for each person. A bounce stops them and marks the address. An unsubscribe stops every email to them for good. An out-of-office pauses them until the date given ([campaigns docs](https://docs.recruitaffiliates.ai/campaigns)). ## What do the rules say about opting out? Honour it fast. This is general information, not legal advice. **US.** The Federal Trade Commission's guide to CAN-SPAM, the US law on commercial email, says you must honour an opt-out request within 10 business days. You can't charge a fee for it. Your opt-out method has to keep working for at least 30 days after you send. It also says "The law makes no exception for business-to-business email" ([FTC, CAN-SPAM compliance guide](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business), August 2023, edited January 2024, checked 28 October 2026). Ten business days is the legal ceiling. Our advice is to stop the same day. A creator who asked once should never get another email. **UK.** The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) says sole traders and some partnerships "are treated as individuals". A sole trader is a person who runs a business as themselves. You can only email them if they have consented (the exception for existing customers does not apply to a first email). You can email a company or other corporate body. It adds that you must not hide your identity and must give a valid contact address for opting out ([ICO, electronic mail marketing](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/guide-to-pecr/electronic-and-telephone-marketing/electronic-mail-marketing/), checked 28 October 2026). Some creators are sole traders. If you write to creators in the UK, check which kind each one is before you send, and keep a do-not-email list. **Google.** Google's sender guidelines say to keep the **spam rate**, the share of recipients who mark your email as spam, below 0.10% and to avoid ever reaching 0.30%. The rate is the one reported in Postmaster Tools, Google's free dashboard for senders. The page applies its sender rules to mail sent to personal Gmail accounts. It reports the rate per sending domain ([Google, email sender guidelines](https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126), checked 28 October 2026). The page does not set out how the rate is calculated. Stopping at a reply or a no keeps you from emailing people who don't want it. ## What do you do with each kind of reply? Every real reply ends the follow-ups. An out-of-office note only pauses them. What you do next depends on what the reply says. | They say | You do | |---|---| | Yes, or "send details" | Send the link and terms the same day. Move them to Agreed, a stage in the product's stage list | | A question | Answer it in the thread. Do not restart the follow-ups | | "Not now" or "maybe later" | Say thanks and ask when to write again. Note the date and keep to it | | "No" | Do not reply, since your footer promised no more. Add them to your do-not-email list | | "Stop" or "unsubscribe" | Honour it the same day. Add them to your do-not-email list for every campaign | | An out-of-office note | Pause until the date they give, then resume | When someone says yes, the next step is a link that tracks their sales and a clear commission rate. Our [affiliate outreach software guide](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/affiliate-outreach-software) covers tools, and [the first 10 affiliates in 14 days plan](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/first-10-affiliates-in-14-days) covers pacing. ## How many creators can you email? Not everyone on a list has an email. We ran our software's first search on 30 public Shopify brands on 22 October 2026. A typical brand showed 92 people (no YouTube pass). An email was already on record for 31% of people shown (916 of 2,924), before any email lookup. Read the [scan method and limits](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/research/shopify-affiliate-scan-2026) before you quote it. Expect fewer than all of them to have an email on record. A lookup finds more, and a contact form covers the rest. People with only a contact form get a message you send by hand. The four-email run does not apply to them. For the first lines, see [how to personalise outreach to 100 creators](https://recruitaffiliates.ai/blog/personalise-outreach-to-100-creators). ## Where RecruitAffiliates.ai fits RecruitAffiliates.ai finds the people already covering shops like yours and looks for each person's email. It writes email 1 from each creator's own video or post, and fills your offer into all four. It sends them from your own mailbox. Nothing sends until you approve it. It handles the days, the thread and the stopping rules above. Launch is $79 a month for one brand, with a 7-day free trial and no card. Day 9 falls after the 7-day trial ends, so the fourth email needs a plan. Try it on your store See who would promote a shop like yours. Type your store's website. We find the bloggers, review sites and creators who already cover shops like yours, and show the page we found each one on. Keep the affiliate app you use now.