What is the largest unread count you see in someone’s inbox? Whether you are a supporter of Zero Inbox or a supporter of “I’ll Go When I Get” email accumulator, you know that high unread counts are not uncommon.A recent consumer survey found that 20% of respondents had 1,000 or more unread emails In their inbox.
Given the large number of emails sent every day (more than 300 billion per day 2020), it is not surprising that many people have not read it. Consumers who are overwhelmed by their inboxes rarely have time to read everything. If your brand is not selected, they may unsubscribe from your list. However, they may also develop the habit of deleting your emails before reading them, or let them be buried in the growing number of unread emails. These inactive customers are more than just lost opportunities. They also affect the deliverability of e-mail.
The loss of email lists is inevitable, but it is not necessarily the end of consumer relationships. Knowing why someone stopped reading first can help you figure out how to win them back. Your email reactivation campaign should start with an investigation to understand the reasons for the loss of readers. Armed with this data, you can create reactivation emails to resolve customer concerns or concerns and provide them with a reason for return.
Ask subscribers why they stopped reading
All the data analysis in the world will not provide you with the insights gained from simple investigations. If someone stops reading your email, the easiest way to find out why is to ask them.
Of course, easier said than done.Let lost readers respond Withdraw from investigation It’s hard. Ironically, for those who take the time to click unsubscribe, you may be the easiest: your confirmation page may ask them why they no longer want to read your email. For those inactive subscribers who browse your email after seeing the sender, the subject line is your only chance to get their attention.
This is not the time to be cunning or smart. If consumers are lost, it means that your marketing strategy is not currently catching them. Your survey email (and its subject line) should not only be personalized, but also personalized. Without departing from the brand style guidelines, you might want to:
- Use personal names instead of brand names in the sender field
- Write an email that reads like it was addressed to one person rather than the entire email list
- Include signature or signature with real person’s name and contact information
- Use respectful and empathetic tone and voice throughout the message
If inactive users think that no one will listen, they are less likely to provide feedback. Successful winback emails must be centered on your consumers, not your brand.
Write an effective email list churn survey
Whether you want to write a question on the unsubscribe page or share a survey via email, it is important to keep your request simple and short. Non-participating readers usually don’t like your brand, which means they may not have much time to spend. Every question you ask comes with the risk that readers decide that they don’t have the time or energy to fill out your survey and close the window before completing the survey. Your job is to minimize customer frustration and make sure that the investigation is as easy as possible to complete.
Try to keep your survey Three or fewer questions. Ensure that each request collects an important data point and requires unique information. For example, asking “Why did you stop reading our e-mails?” and “What do you think about how often we send e-mails?” may give the same answer. If you use the second question instead of asking: “How often do you want to receive emails?” The answer will provide important data that you could not collect in the first question.
Identify the key reasons for the loss of email lists
After collecting the data, you can check its trends. The process will vary depending on the type of answer you require. Checkboxes and radio buttons provide clear data because the reader is choosing from pre-existing answers. Just find the most common response. If you give interviewees the space for their thoughts, you may collect more subtle answers, but you must also coordinate the different ways people express the same emotions. Many surveys have more than one question type, which means using different methods to understand data from different questions.
After collating all the answers, you may find a simple and understandable explanation for the loss of the email list — or you may find that there is more than one reason for the reader to leave. In the latter case, ask yourself if you can solve multiple problems in the same re-engagement email campaign. If not, consider segmenting your list and creating a series of different emails for each issue you identify. For readers who are lukewarm about your brand, failing to respond to consumer feedback is a fatal mistake.
Create events that meet consumer needs
If your survey is answered, congratulations: your customers have told you how to win them back. The next step is to make a reactivation email and provide what they request. Although your strategy will vary based on what you learn, every message in the reactivation campaign should focus on regaining the trust of your customers. Here are some tips on how to resolve common causes of email list churn.
Refocus on the target audience to increase relevance
If they are not interested in the content you provide, personalizing the email by pasting someone’s name in the subject line will not help. The content you send must meet the needs of the consumers you want to reach. Using one email newsletter to talk to multiple demographics with different needs will only disappoint everyone.
Many email lists encounter this problem as they grow. It’s hard to keep up with the high content demand that comes with personalized work. Unless you have the ability to create multiple articles to talk to each group, your email masses for different audiences may look 90% the same. In this case, it may be more effective to focus on a group, even if it means a smaller list.
Refocusing on part of the target audience may mean getting some email subscribers to leave because they are inappropriate. This doesn’t feel great if you want to reduce subscriber churn, but it provides important data on invalid content.
Breakdown list of infrequently read
One of the main reasons for the loss of email lists is too much email. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the best way to compete with other mass emails is to send so many emails that you always end up near the top of someone’s inbox. This approach can be counterproductive, making you one of the main drivers of email flooding in the minds of consumers.
You don’t need to drown others Let people develop the habit of reading emails. You really need to give your audience a reason to keep coming back. Don’t send everything at once, but create a list for those who just want to receive your message once or twice a week. Still send your best content-just fewer emails. Based on what you’ve learned, you might even find that you can reduce everyone’s email frequency without losing subscribers or engagement.
Invest in high-quality content to make customers feel understood
If your emails read too promotional or dishonest, they are likely to go directly to the trash can. A surprising number of marketers still send clickbait or other meaningless content. If your readers close the page after two seconds, it is not important to get a high open rate or link clicks; in fact, in the long run, they are more likely to have a negative impact on your brand.
Providing high-quality content means understanding your readers and what they want, and then providing answers they can’t find elsewhere. Use customer pain points and problems found in the survey as reminders for future email topics.
Use data to improve your email marketing strategy
E-mail loss is inevitable, which means re-engagement needs to be part of your repertoire. However, there is no reason to wait until someone has left before making changes. Use the data you collect from lost readers to optimize existing email marketing campaigns so that you can attract new customers and increase retention.You might even want to go further Survey happy readers See what they want more (and less).
Consumers may continue to worry about email management. By 2024, the world will send (and receive) more than 360 billion emails every day. This means that email opening will be more difficult to win. If you haven’t mastered the re-engagement email, then it’s time to start.
