If you’re tired of sending emails and hearing nothing back, you’re not alone. Follow-ups work, but who has time to chase every prospect manually? This guide is for anyone using Gan (yep, this Gan) who wants to put their email follow-ups on autopilot—without turning into a spam bot or getting stuck in the weeds.
Whether you’re in sales, recruiting, or just want more replies, I’ll walk you through setting up automated follow-up emails in Gan. I’ll flag what’s worth your time, what’s not, and how to keep things simple so you actually get results.
Why bother with automated follow-ups?
Here’s the truth: Most people don’t reply to your first email. That’s not (usually) because they hate you. They’re busy, distracted, or your message got buried. Well-timed, non-annoying follow-ups are proven to bump your response rate—sometimes by 2x or more.
But if your “automation” just annoys people, you’ll tank your domain reputation and end up in spam. The trick is to automate the grunt work, but still sound human and relevant.
Step 1: Get your target list and first-touch email right
Don’t even think about automating follow-ups if your initial outreach is garbage. Automation just multiplies whatever you put in.
- Clean your contact list. Bad emails = bounces = spam folder.
- Personalize your first email. A few custom fields (name, company, something relevant) go a long way.
- Be concise and clear about your ask. Nobody reads a wall of text.
Pro tip: If you’re seeing less than a 5% reply rate to your first emails, fix that before adding more automation. Otherwise, you’re just doubling down on what doesn’t work.
Step 2: Map out your follow-up sequence
Gan lets you build multi-step email sequences. But more steps aren’t always better.
- Start with 2–3 follow-ups max. More than that and you risk annoying people.
- Space them out. 2–4 days between touches is usually enough, but don’t hammer people daily.
- Change up the content. Don’t just resend the same thing.
Here’s a simple example sequence:
- Day 0: First email
- Day 3: Short nudge (“Just checking you saw this…”)
- Day 7: Final follow-up (“If not a fit, let me know—I won’t bug you again.”)
What to skip: Fancy “drip” campaigns with five or more emails—unless you’re selling something people actually want to subscribe to. For most outreach, less is more.
Step 3: Set up your sequence in Gan
Now, let’s get into Gan and actually build your automated flow.
3.1 Create a new campaign
- Go to your Gan dashboard.
- Click Create Campaign.
- Name it something obvious (“June Outreach – Product Demo” or whatever).
3.2 Add your contacts
- Upload a CSV, or connect Gan to your CRM if you have one.
- Double-check fields like first name, company, and email address.
- Gan will let you preview how your personalization will look. Use it.
3.3 Write your emails
For each stage:
- Keep it short. Follow-ups should be 3–5 sentences, tops.
- Reference your last email. (“Just following up on my note from Tuesday…”)
- Make it easy to reply. Ask a simple yes/no question or offer a clear next step.
Don’t:
- Use “just bumping this up” or “circling back” every time. It gets old.
- Fake a “did you see this?” forward—people see right through it.
3.4 Configure send settings
- Send times: Gan lets you set sending windows. Stick to weekday mornings—avoid nights and weekends unless you know your audience prefers those.
- Throttling: Don’t blast hundreds at once from a new domain. Start slow (maybe 20–40 per day) and ramp up.
- Stop on reply: Make sure your sequence automatically stops if someone replies. Gan does this, but double-check your settings.
3.5 Add fallbacks and testing
- Fallbacks: If a field is blank (e.g., no first name), Gan can insert a generic greeting. Check how it looks. You don’t want “Hi ,”.
- Test sends: Always send a test to yourself. Check for typos, broken links, and weird formatting.
Step 4: Track, tweak, and don’t overthink
Automation isn’t “set it and forget it.” Watch how your sequence performs.
- Open rates: If these are low, your subject lines or deliverability need work.
- Reply rates: If you’re getting replies, great. If not, try new copy or different timing.
- Unsubscribes or spam flags: If these spike, you’re being too aggressive or impersonal.
What doesn’t matter as much:
- Open rate “vanity metrics.” Apple’s privacy changes mean these numbers are fuzzy. Focus on replies.
- Over-personalizing every message. First name and company are usually enough.
Pro tip: Don’t get sucked into A/B testing every line of your email. Most of the time, being clear and respectful beats clever tricks.
What Gan does well—and where it’s not magic
Gan’s strengths: - Clean, simple sequence builder—good for people who want things to just work. - Integrates with Gmail and Outlook, so emails come from your real account (better deliverability). - Easy to set up “stop on reply” logic.
Watch out for: - Gan’s templates are basic. Don’t expect AI to write winning copy for you. - List hygiene is on you—Gan won’t magically make bad emails deliver. - If your emails aren’t getting replies from humans, no tool will fix that. Focus on your message first.
Keep it simple: Final thoughts
Automated follow-ups in Gan can absolutely boost your response rates—if you keep it human, avoid spamming, and pay attention to what’s working. Don’t overcomplicate it:
- Start with a tight, relevant list.
- Keep your sequence short and spaced out.
- Review your results and adjust. Don’t be afraid to kill what’s not working.
The best campaigns are the ones you actually launch and improve—not the ones stuck in “optimization” hell. Set it up, learn, and keep it moving.