How to Send Email Reminders + 5 Free Email Templates

Sending reminder emails is one of the most effective ways to ensure your emails are seen – whether it’s attending an event or webinar, paying an invoice, completing a survey, and more.

It’s easier than you think to create a foolproof email setup that is airtight – from the subject line to the content of the email. And even better, automated or bulk reminders help you accomplish the same task with less work.

In this article, you will learn how to create effective email reminders for different occasions, get inspiration from 5 reminder email samples, and access easy-to-use templates that you can customize to meet your needs.

What Is an Email Reminder?

Reminder emails are just what they sound like – messages that help people remember something important. We all need reminders sometimes. For instance, imagine you get an exciting email but are too busy to read or respond immediately. You plan to come back to it later but forget. A reminder email can benefit both the person sending the email and the one receiving it.

We rely on reminders for trips, flights, appointments, or events. They can also remind us about things like discount points earned, items we’ve looked at online but still need to purchase, or items being shipped to us.

Reminders play a significant role in our daily lives. You probably get them in your inbox all the time. These reminders ensure you remember important things like RSVPing or attending sessions. For instance, you might get an email reminding you to respond to an invitation or pick sessions you want to attend.

Why Should You Send Reminder Emails?

Every day, people send and receive over 330 billion emails. And with so many emails flying around, it’s easy for some to accidentally miss one or two. That’s why it’s important to send reminder emails.

If you want to ensure a response from someone, there are many reasons to pre-plan and expect that you will need to send a reminder email:

• Convey essential information: Your audience is busy. An email reminder can convey important information in a quick and effective manner.

• Boost attendance: A reminder email can serve as a gentle reminder to people who may have intended to attend the event but have forgotten about it.

• Marketing tool: Reminder emails can serve as a marketing tool to promote benefits and provide a sneak peek to attract customers and event attendees. You can also use email to showcase your company’s branding and information about your goods or services, increasing your brand awareness.

• Express gratitude: Reminder emails can express gratitude for RSVPs and encourage attendance.

• Cost-effective: Sending reminders via email is a cost-effective and paperless alternative to other expensive tactics like direct mail or phone calls.

• Opportunity for feedback: Use a reminder email to request guest feedback. You can attach a survey link or provide contact information for guests to share their thoughts.

It’s important to remember that quality prioritizes quantity. A few email communications sent out in bulk are sufficient to share details and reminders.

What Are the Best Practices When Writing a Reminder Email?

Let’s dive into how to craft an effective reminder email.

Keep it short and precise

Grab the reader’s attention and immediately alert them to what you’re reminding them of using a short, catchy subject line. Keeping the message concise and summarizing the central theme of the email grabs the reader’s attention and helps prevent your email from getting lost in the flood. The recipient may only open your email with an informative subject line.

Include details

What are the details each participant should know? Provide the date, time, location, and any necessary preparation.

Demonstrate care

One effective way to demonstrate care for your user base is by providing relevant content or useful resources. For instance, while sending a courteous reminder email about a limited-time offer, you may highlight some of your featured products to promote sales.

Simple additions

Inviting customers to join your social networks is a great way to boost brand presence.

Review tone

Using active voice in copywriting makes messages easier to understand. This style is personal and straightforward, enabling you to communicate with your audience effectively.

End with a thank you

Remember to show gratitude to participants and foster a good relationship with them by adding a thank you at the end. This indicates that you care about their experience. People who feel valued at an event will likely return or promote it to others.

Example Email Reminder Templates

Here are 5 examples of an effective email reminder. Copy and paste the email reminder template, customize the message to fit your preferences, add it to your mail provider, or automate email with Workflow from Cognito Forms.

Simple “action needed” reminder email

Event reminder email

Webinar reminder email

Upcoming appointment reminder email

Payment reminder email

Automating Email Reminders with Cognito Forms

Cognito Forms offers integrations that power automatic email reminders. One way to enhance your communication workflow is to set a connection between your Cognito Forms and an email reminder service like MailChimp. With this integration through Zapier, the contact information from your form entries will be added to MailChimp, instantly creating a new subscriber, assigning them a tag, and more – eliminating the time spent manually transferring data between the two.