Nothing causes sleepless nights for email marketers quite like dead or inactive subscribers. After all, email marketing is fierce competition for people’s attention. Unfortunately, an average of 60% of permission-based mailing lists comprises of these “dead” subscribers according to Seth Godin at Kissmetrics.com. Quite startling, right?
Having non-responsive email subscribers on your list affects both your costs and deliverability. No matter how you look at it, you have to do something about inactive email subscribers.
In this post, we have rounded up essential steps on how to re-engage them to take your email marketing from drab to fab in a breeze!
Step 1: Identify the Inactives/Non-Responders
You’ve to start off by segmenting inactive subscribers; it can do wonders for your email campaigns. That said, segment out any subscriber who hasn’t clicked or opened your email campaigns for the past three months (or more than ten campaigns).
Step #2: Know when the best time to send them an email is
Not all subscribers are equal. Some would like to receive an email early morning or late in the evening. Put yourself in their shoes – and think of when they are highly likely to engage with your campaign. If you’re a B2B company, it’s best to email out later in the day. If you work with leisure-oriented customers, ensure your emails are sent out over the weekend when they have time for reading marketing emails.
Step 3: Send re-confirmation email
Re-engaging with your subscribers takes guts. Send out a reconfirmation campaign to ensure that subscribers are still interested in receiving emails from you. It can take any form, from sending our thank you notes, and coupons to asking for feedback on a particular product or service.
Step 4: Step Up Your Game
You should bring out your big guns to ensure that your campaign is top-notch. People receive tons of email in a day; make yours stand out in a sea of competition. Make the content personable and fun.
Step 5: Try Again and Again
If you’re not getting the right responses, don’t give up yet. What works for specific subscribers might not work for others. Tailor your content, check out reports, and try again.
Step 6: Revisit Your Content
Don’t give your subscribers a reason to go mum on you. Look over your reports to see if you’re communicating effectively with your target audience. Ditch auto-responders, and tailor your content even more.
Step 7: Cut Your Loses
If the inactive subscribers are not re-engaging, it’s time to call it quits. Saying goodbye isn’t as bad as you think. It’ll give you a chance to engage better with your remaining list.
