Reminder email templates, tools, and best practices

Writing a reminder email (or series) is something you should only need to do once for each customer scenario. We’ll give you everything you may need to succeed: proven templates, tools, and automation strategies. If you are wondering exactly how to send a reminder email, we have you covered with every reminder email template you could possibly need.

The results speak for themselves. Omnisend’s 2026 Ecommerce Marketing Report shows that reminders are effective, with back-in-stock emails achieving an open rate of 58.03% and a conversion rate of 6.46%. Even feedback requests, which offer little value for the customer, had 50.70% opens and 1.07% conversions.

You can easily capture this engagement to recover abandoned carts, reduce appointment no-shows, and build stronger relationships with your audience.

What is a reminder email?

A reminder email is an informational message or series that nudges customers who need to act or haven’t completed something.

However, getting a customer’s attention is just the first step. People frequently get distracted, leave items in their carts, forget to complete their purchases, and more. A friendly reminder email can tap your customer on the shoulder and show them that they forgot to complete their action. When done without being overly pushy or aggressive, this can bring you a solid chunk of potentially lost revenue.

Integrating these messages is all about strategy for your overall customer journey. Rather than relying on manual follow-ups, these automated touchpoints trigger at the exact moment a shopper is most likely to engage.

A well-timed reminder email can keep your brand on top of their minds, especially when you want to recover abandoned carts, ask for a review, confirm an appointment, send shipping updates, or anything else. In short, reminder emails allow you to build a safety net for revenue and retention that would otherwise be lost.

And these are not just theoretical ramblings, we know for a fact that these campaigns drive results, and we can back it up. As shown in our 2026 Ecommerce Marketing Report, abandoned cart reminders (along with welcome automations) drove 76% of all orders generated by automations. What’s more, the order value for abandoned cart automations averaged $168. We’d say that’s a solid result for an automation that only takes a few minutes to set up on Omnisend.

The technical side is that reminders are automations, with your email tool sending them via triggers you set, such as segment activity or time-based events. Those triggers ensure that all reminders arrive at optimal moments, in the right inboxes.

Here are some examples of reminders in practice:

• Customers who sign up for your newsletter but don’t complete double opt-in get reminders to verify every 24 hours
• Subscription customers with an upcoming renewal date receive three reminders over three weeks
• Cart and checkout abandoners receive a “complete your purchase” email within 20 minutes of ditching your store

Templates will help you with professional messaging, and when combined with appropriate triggers for delays and timing, you can satisfy your customers’ expectations for reminders that improve their experience and don’t clog their inboxes.

How to write a friendly reminder email?

Do you want to learn how to send a reminder email that engages recipients? Nailing the right tone is crucial when figuring out how to write a gentle reminder email. You want to prompt action without sounding overly demanding or impatient. 

The following are tips to craft an effective friendly reminder email, complete with context, to help you get the best results:

• Clear subject lines: Use pre-header texts and subject lines that clearly state the purpose of the email. Include relevant details, and if you need help, you can use a subject line generator. Try these subject line formulas for your next campaign:
  • Action required: [Task] + [Deadline] (Please update your payment details by Friday)
  • Question: Did you forget to [Task]? (Did you forget to confirm your appointment?)
  • Friendly nudge: A quick reminder about [Topic] (A quick reminder about your expiring loyalty points)
  • Benefit-driven: Don’t miss out on your [Benefit] (Don’t miss out on your 20% discount code)
• Highlight urgency (when relevant): If it requires prompt attention, use words that convey urgency in the subject line and body of the email. Be specific about dates and times so the recipient understands exactly when they need to act. Giving a clear deadline removes ambiguity and speeds up the response time.
• Concise message: Get straight to the point. A lengthy reminder email distracts your recipient from the primary purpose of the email. State the reason for your message within the first two sentences to respect their time and keep their focus on the required action.
• Friendly tone: Maintain a professional but friendly tone throughout the message. Use words that are firm but not too demanding. You use Omnisend’s AI segmentation tool to build a list of people with whom you can be friendlier than others, but for most of the time, we recommend a professional tone of voice. Here are some examples:
  • Customer: We’ve noticed that you left some items behind. Did something happen?
  • Client: Have you had the chance to check the proposal I sent you last Wednesday?
  • Colleague: Hey, can you send me the brief by noon?
• Clear CTA: Strategically position your CTA. Ensure that it clearly conveys the desired action to the recipient. Best practices suggest that the button must stand out visually and use action-oriented words like “Shop now,” “Leave a review,” etc. Avoid generic phrasings like “Click here” since that may trigger some security algorithms as well.
• Show appreciation: Thank the recipient for reading your message and acting accordingly. While it’s just common courtesy, it still goes a long way when the recipient feels appreciated. Use a simple “Thanks for your time,” or “Appreciate it” at the end of your email.

For example, here’s how Grammarly structures their friendly reminder email with the subject line “Started, then stopped? Sometimes writing is like that.”

To make things easier, here is a quick breakdown of the dos and don’ts for your reminder campaigns:

Best email reminder tools and automation platforms

The best email reminder tools depend on what type of business you run. Since we’re focusing on ecommerce, let’s continue with ecommerce-related setups and solutions. Here are the best options that you may want to use for automatic email reminders:

Omnisend’s automated reminder workflows

Omnisend is the best choice for ecommerce businesses looking to scale their communication. You can set up automatic email reminders that trigger based on highly specific customer actions, such as abandoning a cart or making a first purchase. 

The intuitive interface allows you to set up specific entry and exit conditions quickly, so you can focus on the business, not the tech.

Also, you can configure the delay time to your liking, though we recommend sticking to best practices and not sending reminder emails immediately:

For example, here’s how an advanced abandoned cart with a split logic based on cart value could look:

You also benefit from advanced customer segmentation, which ensures your reminders only reach the most relevant audiences. Plus, Omnisend offers multi-channel capabilities, allowing you to combine email with global SMS marketing and push notifications. On top of that, you get 24/7 live chat and email support, regardless of which plan you’re on (free included).

Setting up reminder emails in Gmail

You might be asking whether you can set up automatic reminder emails in Gmail. While Gmail lacks a built-in workflow builder for behavioral triggers, you can easily use its native “Snooze” feature to remind yourself to follow up on specific messages:

1. Open Gmail and locate the message you want to follow up on later
2. Click the clock icon (Snooze) located on the right side of the message row
3. Select a specific date and time for the email to reappear at the top of your inbox

Automating reminder emails in Outlook

If you use Microsoft’s ecosystem, you might wonder, can I automate email reminders in Outlook? Similar to Gmail, Outlook offers native functionality to flag messages for follow-up at specific times:

1. Open Outlook and right-click the message you want to track
2. Select “Follow Up” from the dropdown menu
3. Choose “Add Reminder” to set a custom date and time for your alert

Third-party email reminder tools

If native inbox features fall short of your expectations, several third-party email reminder tools can fill the gap, two of which are Boomerang and FollowUpThen.

Boomerang integrates directly with your inbox to schedule messages and track responses. It offers a free tier for up to 10 message credits per month, and paid plans start at $4.98 monthly for unlimited use. You will, however, have to pay for the entire year.

FollowUpThen, on the other hand, allows you to schedule alerts via the Bcc field and requires no additional software installation. For example, if you want to send a reminder email on Monday to someone, you enter their email address into the “To:” field, and enter “[email protected]” into the “Bcc:” field. Their free plan covers up to 50 reminders per month, and paid plans start from $4/month.

16 reminder email templates by use case

We understand that writing out manual messages for every follow-up is time-consuming, so we’ve prepared some specific templates that you can copy-paste and speed up the creation process.

If you want to get the best results and save more time, you can use Omnisend and paste these templates there before setting up behavioral triggers. Your emails will go out with no issues to the specifically selected segments, and you won’t have to send any email reminders manually.

1. Friendly reminder email

Sending a friendly reminder reduces friction and provides a more conversational basis for action. Your customer is more likely to respond or act the way you want them to because you’re building rapport in a non-pressurizing way.

2. Meeting reminder email

A reminder email for a meeting informs recipients about an important meeting. However, this email should also contain specific details such as the time, location, and expected deliverables.

3. Urgent reminder email

This reminder email often uses words that convey a sense of urgency. It’s time-constrained, prompting the recipient to respond as soon as possible. For example, you could send it to a colleague to approve an upcoming project, or to a client for urgent confirmation of project details.

4. Payment reminder email

You can send a payment reminder email to notify a client about an overdue payment or invoice. If the payment is due within a few days, you can forward it so the consumer can pay in advance.

5. Reminder email to a client

If your clients’ delayed response is holding up a project, send a gentle reminder email without alluding to your frustration. A happy client is more likely to email right back.

6. Reminder email to colleagues

Not every reminder email goes to a client. Sometimes, you send a reminder email to a colleague to request project updates or follow-up actions.

7. Deadline reminder email

If there’s a project due soon, you can send a deadline reminder email to the team members involved. This notifies recipients of the deadline and confirms if they can deliver on time.

8. Appointment reminder email

This reminder email contains a confirmation text to alert a client about a scheduled appointment. This message ensures the client doesn’t miss the appointment or reschedules ahead of time if necessary.

9. Subscription renewal reminder email

If you offer subscription-based services, send a gentle reminder email to your customers to renew their subscriptions. This message lets your clients enjoy uninterrupted access to your services.

10. Discount expiry reminder email

This reminder email informs customers that their discount code or sale prices are about to expire. It encourages them to shop at discounted rates while they still can. The template below shows how to use a last chance email subject line to prompt the recipient to take action.

11. Cart abandonment reminder email

Cart reminders should include either the products your customer was considering or a link to their cart with all the contents intact. You need to reduce friction and move your customers as close to purchase as possible to increase sales.

12. Class or course reminder email

Classes and courses have physical or virtual appointments, so the purpose of any reminder here is to reduce no-shows and help customers plan their day around your offering.

13. Booking confirmation reminder email

Bookings can make do with one reminder email sent within 48 hours of your customer’s expected arrival date, but if there’s more than a few weeks between the booking and arrival, it’s best to create a series to remind customers over time gently.

Consider a two-part series. Part one (send this two weeks before arrival):

And now, part two (send it 48 hours before arrival):

14. Refill or reminder email

Reminders for product refills and other subscriptions need payment information and product details so that customers don’t need to chase them.

15. Policy renewal reminder email

If your customers have policies that are renewing, then they need email reminders to ensure they continue with your brand on good terms. Failing to remind them about policy renewals could lead to complaints, refunds, and bad reviews.

16. Webinar reminder email

Similarly to appointment emails, you can use webinar reminder emails an hour before to reduce the number of no-shows.

The most important thing is to understand when to use which template and how not to mix up similar ones. For example, webinar and appointment reminders are quite similar, but they’re usually sent at different times. If you have a physical appointment, getting a reminder one hour before is impractical since you won’t be able to make it, especially if you need to drive during rush hour.

What’s more, you need to tailor your tone of voice for each message. Just because your brand is playful doesn’t mean you should be throwing jokes in an email about failed payments or unexpected charges. The customer is likely irritated, and being overly positive or funny may not work to your benefit.

Ultimately, the most important thing you need to take away from this section is this: be as concise as possible, as clear as possible, and be confident of what you want to achieve while respecting the context of the situation.

10 reminder email examples from real brands

Here we will show you 10 strategic reminder email examples used by real brands to help you create your own reminder emails that engage your audience.

1. Duolingo

Duolingo uses daily reminder emails to get users back on the platform for another lesson. You see a name-based greeting, and then they go straight to the point of the email. It’s short and sweet, easily scannable, and it primes you to take action with just a few words.

The progress bar adds even more incentive to click since our brains are wired for wanting to continue the progress instead of losing it.

2. Organics Ocean

Organics Ocean is a wellness brand that sends timely reminder emails when it’s time to take the supplements, which is a unique approach for email marketing. Customers can set their own schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) and receive these reminders to never skip their supplementation.

The design of the email is also pretty smart, symbolizing a similar interface of a smartphone reminder that symbolizes urgency and prompts immediate action. You don’t even need to read it to understand what’s going on. Below, you can see some motivational messages that encourage the recipient to keep going.

3. Feeling Swell

Feeling Swell is a surf apparel brand that leverages last chance reminders and uses FOMO (fear of missing out) to get its subscribers to make purchases. It’s a smart strategy when used in moderation, so make sure you don’t make every sale driven by FOMO, as people are bound to see through that eventually.

The heading is clear and communicates the goal immediately: “One last chance for 10% off.” The CTA is placed right under the discount code, and the accent color is bright but not too bright, so you cannot miss it, but it also doesn’t annoy you.

4. Hotel Drisco

This is an excellent email reminder at Hotel Drisco that also combines the features of a thank-you email. Once you start reading it, it feels personal and not as transactional as it actually is.

The subject line, “Your Upcoming Visit to Hotel Drisco,” is warm and welcoming, which not only reminds the user of the upcoming trip but also raises feelings of excitement and anticipation.

5. Grammarly

This message from Grammarly serves as an effective illustration of a reminder email for subscription renewal. You may consider sending it prior to the expiration of your customer’s subscription.

It speaks to the customer in a warm tone and expresses gratitude for their continued support. The email notifies the recipient about the renewal of their subscription and highlights some advantages of that subscription, which naturally enhances the chances of renewal.

A nice touch to this email is the reminder to update the billing information if necessary, which guarantees that subscribers will be able to make payments without any issues.

6. Handy

This is a standard example of a discount reminder email. It has an eye-catching first line that draws the reader in with a compelling offer of a complimentary $50 gift. What’s best is that the email body is written in a concise and straightforward language.

The two identical CTAs can be excessive when used in such immediate succession, but practicality often beats design, so you can try using that as well and see how it works, especially when you offer next-day availability and 100% money-back guarantee, like Handy does.

7. The School of Life

This would be your standard urgency-inducing, FOMO-driven discount email reminder. However, that’s not why this made the list. Aside from the clear offer, they also dig into your emotions by encouraging you to improve yourself with their self-help tools.

It’s basically a discount email combined with the brand’s story and values. If you can do that successfully, you may see a solid improvement in your sales metrics, since with us humans, emotions come first.

8. Frontier

This one’s a bit cluttered, but let’s face it, most airline businesses send these types of reminder emails. At this point, it just adds to the charm of travelling, which is chaotic in and of itself, so you can say that it fits the overall context.

Other than that, the information presented, while requiring some scanning, is clear and understandable. The checklist could be more helpful and include an actual checklist of the most essential items instead of trying to sell seats or luggage, but that’s a minor detail. Hey, maybe you can use it.

9. Tattly

Tattly’s reminder email is your standard discount offering. The visual is relevant and is actually a decent selling point since it shows exactly how the tattoos look on a body. After seeing it, you may want to wear it yourself, and the discount code below the picture is a nice incentive to finalize the purchase.

10. Outdoorsy

This is a booking reminder email from the RV rental company, Outdoorsy. It clearly shows what you booked and where to pick it up. Also, the mention of charging your card for the remainder of your balance is a good way of reassuring the customer.

Not everyone remembers the account names of the services, so seeing a large sum being withdrawn from your account can sometimes be stressful. This ensures you know what’s going on.

Ready to send better reminder emails?

Learning how to send a reminder email ensures your messages drive action without annoying your subscribers. We’ve covered everything from basic definitions to real-world examples to help you get your campaigns off the ground.

A friendly reminder email should be firm, compelling, and contain valuable information about an upcoming deadline, meeting, appointment, or anything else. When crafting the copy, make sure you make it as clear as possible and keep the copy direct and CTA’s strategically positioned so people can easily see it and take action.

You can easily combine our 16 customizable templates with powerful automation tools like Omnisend to build campaigns that run on their own, day and night.

Reminder emails FAQs