A typical mailing list has more than 50% of inactive recipients (shown in grey from the Recipient analysis chart). Marketers face a big challenge in terms of recipient engagement. In most cases, having a cleaner (albeit smaller) mailing size is preferred, if the goal of your email communications is to increase engagement, as shown in this case study by Marketing Sherpa.
Things to know before creating a re-engagement campaign
The first step is to recognize how many recipients in your mailing size are inactive (i.e. those recipients who have not opened and/or clicked on your emails in the last 3 months or longer). This information can be found under the Statistics tab.
Step 1: Filter and group inactive recipients
Under Marketing+ > Filters > Activity, create an activity filter with the following conditions: Filter recipients who did not read any emails from the last 90 days.
Now apply this filter to your mailing list in Recipients > Channels > Email and copy the recipients into the Inactive recipients group:
Step 2: Plan a re-engagement email campaign
The goal of the campaign is to win-back and try to engage the inactive recipients. Effective "win-back" emails include:
- Connect & join us on social media
- Subscribe to multiple mailing lists or a different mailing list
- One-time promotions (e.g. sweepstake), offers, or price discounts
- Download marketing material (e.g. whitepaper) or sign-up to a webinar
The objective of your emails should be to provide a compelling reason for your recipients to keep subscribed to your mailing list(s). The timing and number of emails is up to you to decide. Relevant and back-to-back (2 times a week) emails are a good start. Don't be afraid to send those emails!
Step 3: Evaluate your re-engagement campaign
Re-engaging inactive recipients is not an easy task. Typically, between 5-15% recipients re-engage and remain in your mailing list.
Step 4: Unsubscribe the remaining inactive recipients
The remainder of the inactive recipients are of little value and over time should be unsubscribed from your mailing list. This can be done automatically through the Inactive recipient management tool.