When it comes to using email for marketing purposes, there are both good and bad news to be had. The good news is that email marketing is still a highly effective method of reaching potential customers today. Due to email’s popularity and effectiveness, almost everyone now uses it, which means that most people do not have the time or interest to open and read everything that arrives in their inbox.
In the event that you’ve been using email marketing to reach both existing and potential customers, you’ve most likely amassed an email list that contains the addresses of people who have opted in to receive marketing communications from your company.
After some time has elapsed, some of those individuals will eventually become inactive, which means they have not opened, clicked, or otherwise engaged with any email within a specified time period. That time frame can vary depending on the type of email and the business, but generally speaking, an inactive subscriber is one who has not responded to an email for six to twelve months in succession.
It is detrimental to your email marketing performance to have a large number of inactive subscribers on your list. It can also skew your marketing data and negatively impact your sender reputation. These seven methods of converting inactive email subscribers into engaged customers will help you keep the number of inactive as low as possible.
1. Provide customers with the option to change the frequency of their emails
Receiving an excessive number of emails is a common reason for people to stop opening or responding to emails. Make sure you’re sending out emails on a schedule that works for your customers by sending an email that allows them to adjust the frequency—even the gesture of showing you care about them may be enough to get them clicking once more.
2. Make certain that you are sending emails at the appropriate times
Average email open rates across all industries are at their highest levels on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and their lowest levels on Saturdays, according to Campaign Monitor’s Ultimate Email Marketing Benchmark for 2020. Thursdays and Fridays are the days with the highest click-through rates, while Sundays have the lowest.
3. Change up the subject lines in your emails
According to a study conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, 64 percent of consumers believe that the subject line is one of the most important factors in deciding whether or not to open an email message. In order to avoid becoming stale, try a different approach with your subject lines: experiment with different tones, lengths, topics, and value propositions, as well as adding numbers, emojis, and personalization to them.
4. Make a special offer to a limited number of people
Another strategy for re-engaging inactive email subscribers is to provide them with an exclusive offer, deal, or discount as an incentive to open the email and become reacquainted with your company. This can be a single email or an automated series of emails with offers that become more valuable over time.
5. Consider launching a re-engagement campaign
A re-engagement email can assist in persuading customers to return to your emails and interact with them again. Direct and engaging subject lines that tell them you’ve noticed their absence and want to reconnect are effective ways to regain their trust and win back their loyalty. Use the email to remind them of what you have to offer, to inform them of any new developments, and to explain how receiving your emails will benefit them. If you want them to click on something, make sure you include an enticing call to action.
6. Divide your list into categories
The fact that your subscribers aren’t engaging with your emails suggests that the content isn’t being tailored to their specific interests or needs. By segmenting your email list by customer type, interests, buying stage or any other factor that will enable you to send customized content to your customers, you can improve the effectiveness of your targeting.
7. Offer them the option to opt out of receiving future emails
In spite of the fact that it may seem counterintuitive, sending inactive subscribers an email asking if they’d like to continue receiving emails or unsubscribe can actually re-ignite their interest in your emails, increasing the likelihood that they’ll open them the next time they receive one. Even if they choose to unsubscribe, this is not necessarily a bad thing because unsubscribes can actually be beneficial to your email marketing efforts.