From the EEC Conference: Getting inactive subscribers to engage

Posted on Wed, 02/13/2008 - 15:24 by Amy Black
One of the sessions I attended was Fighting Off Old Age: Keeping Your List Young and Active. It was primarily about what to do with the inactive segments of your list. The discussion centered around re-engagement: identifying those on your list who have been dormant for some time (could be 6 months, could be 12) and then sending targeted emails to them with the goal of getting them to engage once again.

The first question the moderator asked was, "How do you define a dormant subscriber?" Here are the choices that were given:
  • Response (no opens or clicks)
  • Purchase (no buying)
  • Delivery (not delivered)
  • Customer request (opt-out, spam)
The two panelists for this session were Bob Frady, VP of eCommerce for Live Nation, and Clint Kaiser, Strategic Services, Epsilon. The two seemed to see things a bit differently, which made for a lively discussion! This was the most interesting (and talked about) session today for that reason.

Clint, who works with clients on their email marketing programs, said that it's not uncommon for 50-75% of his clients' lists to be dormant (based on not responding to an email). One of the things he helps clients do is create a re-engagement plan. This can consist of a series of emails designed to "wake" the subscriber up, and, hopefully, get them to take action again.

Bob, on the other hand, said that there is no reason to treat these people any differently. Whether they open or click-through (or buy directly from that email), the simple fact that they are not opting off of his list shows that they still want to receive what he's sending. Bob said that email to inactive subscribers "is still a valuable communication because it keeps the brand in front of the customer." He also said that just because someone hasn’t bought for awhile doesn't mean they won't again, and that there isn't any reason to change how you are communicating with them. His thought is that because email is such an inexpensive way to stay in front of them, you shouldn't stop sending until they ask you to.

Bob serves up relevant content to his subscribers by offering them preferences at sign up (and after) that allow them to choose what they want to receive from him. And, of course, his subscribers can get off his list at any time.

When the moderater asked the question, "What works to re-engage?" Clint said that, in the testing he's done, a message that includes an expiration date always wins out. And you want to give them several chances to engage. He suggested sending a series of four emails with the final one being the last chance. He also said that the last one tends to be the one that the most subscribers respond to.

My note: You may not need to send as many as four emails, but certainly send more than one, so they have at least two opportunities to re-engage.

Bob's answer was simple: content is key to reactivation.

When asked what his last piece of advice would be, Clint chose to talk about the prevention of inactives. He said that new subscribers go through a 30-60 day honeymoon period. He recommended treating these subscribers differently that anyone else on your email list. He said that it's been proven that the earlier they are engaged, the longer they will be in engaged. Clint said, "Don’t just do the welcome letter then drop them in with everyone else. Send them some special communications with content that you know was popular, like a ‘Best of’ email with content you know was popular or ‘here’s what you missed last month.’”

One idea here is to create a special email campaign that is just for newbies. Send this to them in addition to the welcome letter.

More to come! The next post will be on creating a VIP program.

From sunny California,
Amy
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