What are effective strategies for balancing engagement between active and inactive email audience segments?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Omnisend Blog proposes that SMS marketing can be used as an additional channel to re-engage dormant email subscribers. Sending personalized text messages with special offers or updates can help re-activate their interest in your brand.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that while balancing engagement is the right path, the inactive segment can negatively impact the active segment. He also points out that recipient interaction is the crucial issue, with inactive users potentially causing problems for active ones.
Email marketer from MarketingForums.com emphasizes personalizing offers in re-engagement emails. Tailor the offer to the subscriber's past interests or purchases to increase the likelihood of them re-engaging.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests segmenting based on recency (how recently someone engaged). Target those who engaged recently with more frequent, relevant content, and those who haven't with re-engagement campaigns or less frequent sends.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that targeting inactive users requires a strategy for those who remain inactive. In some regions, data should be deleted after a certain time. He suggests an 80% active / 20% inactive ratio as acceptable.
Email marketer from Referral Rock Blog mentions that offering referral incentives is a strong method to boost engagement and acquire new customers simultaneously. This strategy can encourage both active and previously inactive subscribers to recommend your brand to others.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog explains that leveraging automation features can dramatically simplify the process of managing email engagement. Automatic segmentation, automated re-engagement emails, and customized workflows can save time while improving engagement rates.
Marketer from Email Geeks advises sending to the active segment more frequently than the inactive segment. He also suggests further segmenting inactive users based on the number of days since their last activity.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog shares that one effective strategy to re-engage inactive subscribers is to segment your list and send targeted re-engagement campaigns. He recommends offering exclusive content or discounts to entice them back.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog shares that segmenting your email list based on engagement levels is essential. This allows you to tailor your messaging to different segments, such as active, semi-active, and inactive subscribers, to maximize engagement.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that creating a win-back email series is crucial. He suggests sending a series of emails, each with a different offer or angle, to try and win back inactive subscribers before removing them from your list.
Email marketer from OptinMonster Blog shares that offering incentives, like discounts, free shipping, or exclusive content, can be very effective in boosting engagement with both active and inactive subscribers. Run targeted campaigns with enticing offers to re-activate dormant subscribers.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource shares that paying attention to engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and complaint rates is crucial. By monitoring these metrics, you can identify inactive subscribers and take appropriate action, such as segmenting them into re-engagement campaigns or removing them from your list.
Expert from Word to the Wise discusses how reconfirmation campaigns are useful. Periodically sending emails asking your subscribers to reconfirm their subscription will weed out inactive email addresses from your list.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that implementing a sunset policy is a key strategy. This involves identifying subscribers who haven't engaged in a defined period (e.g., six months or a year) and then sending them a final re-engagement campaign before removing them from your list. This helps maintain a healthy, engaged audience.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that using automation to send re-engagement emails to inactive subscribers is an efficient strategy. Set up a trigger based on inactivity and send a series of emails to encourage them to re-engage or unsubscribe.
Documentation from Email on Acid shares that maintaining a healthy email list by focusing on engaged subscribers and removing inactive ones helps improve overall email deliverability and sender reputation.
Documentation from Sendinblue shares that regularly cleaning your email list by removing inactive subscribers improves deliverability and engagement rates. This involves identifying and removing subscribers who haven't opened or clicked emails in a specified timeframe.