How to Send a Reminder Email: Best Practices & Tips

Do you ever feel like you’re forgetting something? Like it’s on the tip of your tongue, but you just can’t remember? It happens to everyone. And when it does, a reminder would save the day.

Reminders are important in business, too — more important than many marketers realize. A well-timed reminder can prompt customers to take action, like taking advantage of a special offer or participating in a promotion you’re running. 

You have a few options for sending reminders, but the best way is by email. In this comprehensive guide, learn how to send a reminder email as part of your communication strategy. 

What is a reminder email? 

A reminder email is a message that nudges the recipient to take action or revisit something they overlooked. These emails help make sure the recipients don’t miss anything important, like promotions or offer deadlines. 

You can send reminder emails internally or to customers as part of your email marketing strategy. People are busy and may receive dozens of messages each day, so sending reminder emails is a good way to prevent anything from falling through the cracks. 

Types of reminder emails based on context

Send reminder emails about anything you want the recipients to remember. Certain types of reminder emails pop up time and time again, such as:

Deliveries 

Customers like to know about their orders every step of the way before they arrive at their doors. After confirming their orders, send each customer a reminder email about the delivery date. That way, customers will remember when their deliveries are coming and make plans to receive them. 

Abandoned cart

Customers add products to their carts and then leave them there all the time. On average, more than 70% of all online carts are abandoned. However, you still have a chance to convince customers to buy the products in their abandoned carts. That’s what an abandoned cart reminder email is for. 

Abandoned cart emails show customers the products they selected and prompt them to finish their purchases. This little nudge puts your brand on their radar again. You may even include a discount to persuade them to buy the items. 

Upcoming events

If you have an upcoming event, you’ll probably share the details with a big announcement email or maybe even a whole campaign. However, some customers will have forgotten that first message by the time the event rolls around. 

Instead of missing out on those potential attendees, send a follow-up email reminding them about your event closer to the date. Your reminder may sway some more people to attend. 

Inaction from recipients

Ideally, all of your email recipients would always be active and responsive. Sometimes, though, your customers aren’t as interactive with your marketing emails as you would like. If you’re dealing with inaction from your email recipients, try a reminder email to boost engagement. 

The message will prompt the recipients to take a closer look at what you need and provide some response. They may simply have forgotten about your earlier message. 

Expiration and automatic renewals

The average American pays for more than four subscription services and many other accounts. It’s normal to forget when they all renew or expire.

Remind your customers over email about upcoming service expirations or automatic renewals before they happen. By sending these reminder emails, you’re giving your customers a heads-up and a chance to make adjustments before the transactions go through. Reminders like these make your business appear more professional and trustworthy. 

They can also work to your direct advantage financially. For example, suppose a customer’s account is approaching automatic renewal and they forgot to update to new payment details. In that case, the reminder email prompts them to make that change before the transaction fails. 

Countdowns

If you’re approaching an important milestone like a new product launch or special promotion, consider sending countdown reminder emails. These emails periodically update your audience on how many days and hours remain, building excitement and enthusiasm. 

Best practices for sending reminder emails

It’s important to strike the right balance between informative and persuasive in reminder emails without being pushy. Use these tips on how to send a friendly reminder email. 

Use a friendly and direct tone

The tone of your message should be upbeat and friendly. You’re not scolding recipients for forgetting something — you’re helpfully offering a reminder about something that’s relevant to them. Use gentle phrasing, especially if the reminder is about something sensitive, like a missed payment. 

Include an effective call-to-action (CTA)

Reminder emails prompt the recipient to do something. Make sure you’re very clear on the action you want them to take. Should they sign up for an event? Respond to the message? 

Whatever you want the recipients to do, tell them with a clear CTA. Then, make it impossible for customers to overlook that CTA with your email design.

Create a CTA button that stands out from the rest of the message with bright colors or bold text. If your email allows it, you can even include more than one CTA button. 

Choose your sending time strategically

Send your reminder email when your customers are most likely to see it. The best time to send an email varies depending on your target audience. If you get the highest engagement rates on your emails in the morning on weekdays, send your reminders then. 

Choose a great subject line

The first hurdle to clear with any email is getting the recipient to open the message. A strong subject line goes a long way toward ensuring they do.

Try to write a subject line that’s intriguing and catchy. Avoid overly lengthy sentences, misleading content, or phrases that will set off a spam filter, like “Do you have 10 minutes?”

A/B test your subject lines to find the ones with the best open rates. It’s worth spending time fine-tuning your subject lines since they significantly impact your campaigns’ results. 

Use appropriate email greetings

Your greeting sets the tone for the rest of your email. Personalize your greeting with the recipient’s name or title whenever possible to make the message seem more relevant to them. Some tried-and-true greeting options for reminder emails include:

• Good morning, afternoon, or evening
• Hi [name]
• Hi there
• Hello again
• Dear [Name]
• Just checking in

Keep the body content concise and on-topic

Reminder messages should do exactly that — remind the recipient about something they might have forgotten. They’re a nudge in the right direction. Avoid rehashing all the details and just give enough information to spark the recipient’s memory. The body content of your reminder email should be short and sweet. 

Reminder email templates and examples

Looking at real-world reminder email examples will help you write your own messages. Consider these examples:

Gentle payment reminder

Event reminders and special offers

Subscription renewal reminders

You can also use pre-made reminder email templates to help you write your messages. Find a template that fits the kind of reminder email you want to send and customize it to your needs. There are also other essential templates to help jumpstart your email marketing. 

Common mistakes in reminder emails

You need to word your messages carefully for the best results from your reminder emails. Avoid these common mistakes:

Using indirect language

Strong reminder emails are clear and straightforward. Don’t beat around the bush by using indirect language. Greet the recipient, briefly state the context of your message, and ask the recipient to take some action. 

Some phrases to avoid include:

• I wonder if you…
• Wouldn’t you like to…
• It seems like…
• I’m not sure if you know…

Phrases like these make you seem less confident and undermine your message. To improve your reminder emails, learn how to send emails with more confidence. 

Preventing over-apologetic tones

Along the same lines, try to avoid apologizing or using an apologetic tone in your reminder messages. Your reminder message is useful and nothing you have to apologize for. Saying something like, “I’m sorry to bother you” or “I don’t mean to trouble you, but…” will make recipients less enthusiastic about your message. 

Tools and software for sending reminder emails

Individually writing and sending each reminder email will become overwhelming as your business grows. Instead of doing it manually, rely on email tools and software to help.

Software like Constant Contact can make every step of the reminder email process easier. Use the AI tool to generate messages with just a few keywords. Then, build your email with hundreds of pre-designed templates that are easy to customize. You can even set up automatic paths in Constant Contact that send reminder emails at designated times, like when a customer’s subscription is about to renew.

Sign up for a free trial today to see how Constant Contact can help you transform your email marketing.  

Improve your business communication with reminder emails

Reminder emails are often the nudge your recipients need to take action. They can prompt customers to complete a purchase on an abandoned cart, let them know about upcoming deliveries or events, and boost their engagement rate. Now’s the time to start sending reminder emails as part of your marketing strategy. Optimize your reminder emails using software and tools like Constant Contact. These tools make email marketing easier and more effective. And stay up-to-date on email best practices. Resources like The Ultimate Toolkit for Call To Action Buttons and Build Your Brand: Welcome Email Examples That Make an Impact will help you improve your emails even more.

Need to send an abandoned cart reminder? Download our free guide.