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CATEGORY: email-marketing
The road to re-engagement
We all receive a huge number of emails each day. So it is not surprising, with so much competition for attention that subscribers start to filter out and disengage with some mails. Our challenge is to try and ensure that the mails filtered out are not ours, because poor engagement is not only bad for results it can also have a detrimental effect on deliverability and inbox placement.
Top reasons why subscribers disengage
Overload of information with overdose of emails
Deceptive subject lines with no real value in the offer
Confusing design without proper hierarchy
Repetitive or irrelevant content
Signed up for one time offer
Change of circumstances, re-location for example
An average email list decays by 25% every year. And, According to Marketing Sherpa 75% of email subscribers are inactive. So how do you address this issue? By creating specific re-engagement campaigns targeted directly at your inactive subscribers.
Earning new customers tends to be more expensive than retaining existing ones—and engaged, loyal customers will often spend more. So, sending re-engagement emails to reactivate lapsed customers and sleeping subscribers is an obvious way to boost your bottom line. In terms of deliverability, re-engaging your inactive subscribers can enhance or at least help you maintain inbox placement rates for your emails.
If you have re-engagement campaigns in place, you may have found offering subscribers a discount works well. But discounting isn’t the only way to re-engage. Sometimes you need a bit of inspiration to make your “we miss you” message stand out in subscribers’ inboxes.
Remind them what you have to offer
Your subscribers chose to engage with you initially for a reason, so now it is time to remind them what that was. Don’t let engaged subscribers slip away, bring them back into the fold with a little reminder of how great you are.
Tell them how you have improved
Perhaps your subscribers have stopped engaging with you because of frustrations with your site or service, so letting them know that you have improved you functionality is a great way to re-engage them.
Take advantage of the season
Another good way to grab your lapsed customers’ attention is to take advantage the time of year. Making your message seasonal is a great way to make sure you’re offering something timely and relevant, that users may find useful.
Certain seasonal events, like Christmas or Valentines, are also very emotive—so use this to your advantage. The emotional appeal of seasonal message may help win back lapsed customers.
This example for Lastminute.com shows a Christmas “we miss you” message in action.
Create a sense of urgency
An effective way to wake up your sleeping subscribers is to give them a tempting offer, but for a limited time only. Time-pressure helps to create a sense of urgency.
The re-engagement email below is from Gap. It combines simple “we miss you” messaging with substantial discount that’s only available for a week to jolt subscribers into action.
You could even try adding a countdown timer for additional engagement.
Whether you create a fear of missing out or go for a seasonal approach— running compelling re-engagement emails gives you the best chance of getting your subscribers back on your side. See how our team can help inspire your next “we miss you” campaign to wake up sleeping subscribers and boost your results.
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