Re-engagement Campaigns are Part of Email Marketing

Subscribers who don\’t engage with your campaigns represent to half of your total audience numbers. Marketing Sherpa has reported that, on average, marketers lose at least 25% or more of their list each year to attrition.

This is a normal part of email marketing. I believe you always want an active and involved list. People who don\’t engage with your emails cost you money. They don\’t buy. They don\’t volunteer. They don\’t donate.

They also dilute the quality of your list. The better your engagement rates are, the more likely your emails will end up in inboxes rather than spam. One of the goals of email marketing is a clean list with a high-degree of subscriber interaction.

Best practice says to ask your subscribers if they still want to be on the list, rather than unsubscribing and archiving them. Some folks send up to five emails, which seems counter-intuitive. I suggest experimenting with the number of re-engagement emails you send.

I suggest sending one email for your first experiment.

Before unsubscribing them, create and send a re-engagement email that tells them who you are, what you do, and ask them if they to continue to receive emails from you.

Here are a couple of ideas you can swipe for your own re-engagement email(s):

• Highlight improvements you\’ve made since they signed up to list. Maybe you\’ve added new products or services, received a fantastic grant, or have new volunteer opportunities. This approach downplays unsubscribing by showcasing what a subscriber is missing. Of course the unsubscribe button must still be present in the footer, but in an insignificant way.
• Ask them if they want to continue to receive emails from you. Include language like, \”We want to ensure that you\’re receiving content from us that continues to add value for you. If you do, no need to do anything else. If you don\’t, please click the button below. We\’re sorry to see you go. We understand and hope you\’ll find us again in the near future. Then offer a big CTA that says unsubscribe.
•  If you sell products or services, offer a special surprise as an incentive to re-engage disinterested subscribers. Maybe a discount on current products or services, an offer to beta test a new product, or a coupon for future release. You get the idea. Present the offer in a clickable link that takes them to a landing page with their surprise. Clicking the link affirms a desire to be on the list.
• Send a breaking up with you email. This type of email requires a method for tracking a positive decision to reengage. This could be a tag tied to clicking a link, a survey, or group preferences. Include language like: \”We hate goodbyes. So this is our last email to you. While it breaks our heart to think you we\’re done, we understand. If we\’re wrong, and you want to stay together, click on the link below.\”

In MailChimp you can set up a segment that you can automate. You\’ll be using the \”Date Added\” and \”Contact Activity\” fields.

The care and pruning of your list will be a task you should add to your quarterly (or monthly, depending on the size of your list) to-do list. I suggest sending a re-engagement email to folks who\’ve been disengaged for more than 90 days.