How To Write a "Keep In Touch" Email (With Template)

Updated February 3, 2023

Knowing when and how to write an appropriate keeping in touch email can help you maintain an active connection with your professional and personal contacts. Regardless of the industry you work in, the size and quality of your network can have a direct impact on your success. Keeping in touch with various contacts is an important networking skill, but it requires time and attention.

In this article, we discuss what a keeping in touch email is and when you should write one, the importance of these emails and how you should write them, and we include a template and examples as a guide.

What is a keeping in touch email?

A keeping in touch email is a message delivered via email to a professional contact or a personal acquaintance, with the purpose of maintaining an open line of communication between you and them. As time passes, the network contacts made a while ago start to lose relevance, for various reasons like them pursuing other professional endeavors, making new contacts or simply forgetting that they met you.

Writing occasional emails can be an effective way to keep up to date with the newest developments in the lives and careers of these people, while also ensuring that they are aware of you and have an active relationship with you.

When should you write a keeping in touch email?

As a general rule, you should write a keeping in touch email whenever you determine that a professional contact or an acquaintance that you may want to collaborate with in the future may need to be reminded that the two of you met and may collaborate in the future. You can either write a keeping in touch email for a specific occasion, like a congratulatory email, or without a clear reason, but simply as a transparent way of maintaining a line of communication between you and the contact.

Some of the most often encountered situations in which you should write a keeping in touch email are:

To keep in touch with a person you met at a networking event: The main reason for attending networking events is usually to meet people that are relevant to you and your line of work, for future collaborations or recommendations. This usually involves exchanging contact information and an effective way to start communication with that person after the event is to write an email that simply states that meeting them was a helpful occurrence, along with an invitation to potentially collaborate in the future.
To keep in touch with a former colleague: If you feel that maintaining a relationship with a former coworker or schoolmate may be personally or professionally useful, you can send them a keeping in touch email. Ideally, it should have a reason, such as an event that caused you to remember them. It should also contain an invitation to continue communicating, via email, phone or in person.
To keep in touch with a personal acquaintance that may provide business opportunities: If you met someone in a personal setting, such as meeting a friend of a friend, and they are in a line of work that may complement yours, you can write them a keeping in touch email to remind them of your acquaintance and to underline the potential business connection that you may have in the future.
To keep in touch with an online acquaintance: If you want to connect with someone you briefly worked with via the internet, you can send them a keeping in touch email with the purpose of establishing communication with them.

Importance of keeping in touch emails

Modern technology allows professionals in every field to have large numbers of contacts and acquaintances. However, the limitations of time and human memory don't typically allow a person to remember and maintain an active relationship with every one of these contacts, so they voluntarily or involuntarily prioritize them in order of perceived importance, time passed since they last discussed and other such factors.

Sending an appropriate keeping in touch email shows the recipient that the sender considers them to be a valuable contact and that the two of them may be able to assist each other professionally, either at the time of the email or sometime in the future. A keeping in touch email has the potential of being a way to start a meaningful conversation that may create or strengthen a professional relationship.

How to write a keeping in touch email

Consider these steps when creating a keeping in touch email:

1. Start with a brief and friendly salutation

Before writing the main body of text, you should start off with a cordial, but formal, greeting.

2. Decide the topic of the keeping in touch email

Such an email can either have keeping in touch as its main message or have a completely different topic, such as mentioning one of the recipient's recent achievements or referencing one of yours.

3. Start the email's body by reminding them where you met

Before mentioning the reasoning behind your email, you need to briefly remind the recipient where you two met.

4. Keep it brief and add an invitation to keep in touch

Most keeping in touch emails should only be a few lines long, as the message is usually most effective when it is delivered directly. Briefly state your reasons for writing and then include an open invitation to continue communicating in the future.

5. End with a formal salutation

Similar to the introductory part, the final greeting should be brief and formal, usually in the form of a short salutation followed by your full name.

Keeping in touch email template

Consider this template for a keeping in touch email:

Dear [recipient name],

It was great meeting you at the [place and occasion where you met]. The reason why I am contacting you is that I think your company and mine can collaborate on [a project that may involve both you and the recipient] in the near future. Let's get together soon and discuss the opportunity.

Regards,

[Your name]

Related: How To Write a Thank-You Email

Keeping in touch email examples

Consider these two examples of different ways and opportunities for a keeping in touch email:

Example 1

Dear Gina,

It was great meeting you at the Realtor networking event last week. I think your company has some interesting projects that we could definitely collaborate on and we should discuss them. Let's keep in touch and get together soon, so we can explore the possibility of our two companies working together.

Regards,

Michael

Example 2

Hey John,

I'm writing to congratulate you on your big promotion! You've been a wonderful servant for the company all these years and you fully deserve it. Keep up the good work and I'd love to catch up soon!

Cheers,

Ramon

Example 3

Hi Amanda,

It was great to meet you at Ralph's Birthday party. I was especially interested in your insight regarding the proper way to roast coffee without losing any of its taste and smell. I am a coffee importer and I'd like to explore the possibility of us collaborating on discovering new sources of coffee from South America. If you're not too busy, I'd love to meet up with you and chat about this sometime soon. Please let me know when and if you are available next week.
Thanks,

Raphael Jones