The new email marketing: know when to hold or fold

Part 5 of an ongoing series:

(We're looking at the strategies and tactics that distinguish a smart email marketer from a bulk email marketer. See the New Email Marketing index page to access the rest of the series.)

Part 4 of this series stressed the importance of quality over quantity. Nowhere is this more apparent then when considering your actual list of email addresses.

Lurking silently on your list are any number of addresses that still accept email, but never produce an open, click or any other response. Not a big issue, really: they're not doing any harm. Or are they?

1. For a start, you're paying money to send email into a black hole.

2. A mass of unresponsive subscribers dilutes the impacts of any tests or changes you make, so it's harder to draw conclusions on what works.

3. Sending to addresses that still exist but are abandoned by their user hurts your sender reputation and thus leads to unfavorable treatment of your emails by ISPs.

4. Each new email to an address that lost interest in your messages long ago runs the risk of being reported as spam.

Balancing all this of course is the fact that some email addresses go quiet for weeks and months and then suddenly generate a sale, download etc.

So should you delete unresponsive email addresses? Or should you hang on to them and accept the risks for the sake of those potential extra sales?

The new email marketer knows when to hold and when to fold. Here's how...

First, it goes without saying that any addresses that no longer exist need to be removed as soon as possible (many ESPs do this automatically for you).

Second, you can of course preempt the unresponsive address problem by following email marketing best practices to ensure the right recipients get the right, relevant emails.

Stefan Pollard has a nice take on this, where he advises you "provide demonstrated value in each e-mail." Not just in terms of what you send and when, but in ensuring you communicate your value to potential and existing subscribers.

That said, what are the next steps in dealing with dormant addresses?

Identify non-responsive addresses

To identify your non-responders, you need to...

• Define a response. Most experts suggest a non-responder is anyone who has not recorded an open, click or other measurable action (sale, download etc.)
• Define a cut-off point. How long should the gap be since the last recorded response before you consign an address to the dormant file? There are no easy answers here, since it depends on your business model, strategy, products, services etc.
• Ensure non-responders really are what they seem

This last point is important. A lack of response does not automatically mean the recipient is not interested in your email.

For example, the problem may be one of deliverability. Is your email actually reaching that address?

Look at your subscriber base on a recipient domain-by-domain basis. If one domain has an unusual number of non-responders then the issue is more likely that your emails aren't arriving there. Or use DeliveryMonitor or a similar delivery tool or service to see whether your emails reach inboxes.

Another problem may be measurability. Text-only informational newsletters containing full articles will never get any opens and few clicks. If your email model doesn't encourage measurable responses anyway, you might want to be careful labelling and deleting anyone as a non-responder.

Once you have identified your dormant addresses, you have three choices:

Option 1: Get the opt-in again

One alternative is to email non-responders with a request to recommit to the opt-in by clicking on a confirmation link. If they don't "opt-in" again, then they get removed from the list.

Morgan Stewart has written on this topic with some excellent advice on tactics to use:

Opt-in email best practices
Opt-in email campaign strategy

One warning though. If people recommit to the opt-in, this doesn't necessarily solve the underlying problem.

Why were they not responding? Presumably because what you sent wasn't relevant or valuable enough.

A reconfirmation strategy should try and include an opportunity for recipients to communicate their preferences and interests. For example in a survey or through an incentive to update their preference pages.

Then you can change what you send accordingly.

Option 2: Conduct a reactivation campaign

Another alternative is to create a specific email or series of emails aimed at winning back recipient interest. Clearly your existing emails aren't working for non-responders, so whatever you send them has to be different and provide enough value / incentive to rekindle interest.

Again, it's a pyrrhic victory if you can squeeze out a click or two and triumphantly return the subscriber to your main email list. You need to solve the underlying problem, just like with the reconfirmation campaign described above.

What will you send in future to ensure this subscriber remains responsive?

Reactivation campaigns are one of the flavors du jour in email marketing. Try these articles for practical tips on how to conduct them:

6 tips to win back inactive subscribers
How to reengage inactive subscribers
Start the year right and win back inactive customers
When parting isn't such sweet sorrow

Option 3: Reconnect with old subscribers

The third alternative is the special case where the reason for non-response is because you haven't sent them any emails for a while.

Sending a first email to people who signed up long ago and haven't heard from you recently has its own dangers, as outlined in this post.

The key is understanding the point at which "long ago" becomes "too long ago". Permission is like the wild squirrel in my local park. It only hangs around as long as you keep feeding it. Permission erodes with time unless you keep it current by sending regular, engaging, relevant emails.

Wait too long, and permission is gone. No permission...spam. Ding!

DJ Waldow has an excellent post explaining the role of the time gap in determining whether you can start emailing old addresses again.

See also:
The secret to successfully emailing to old addresses
How to launch an email program
Sending your first campaign to an old email list?

Dump the rest

If you still get no response after trying to reconfirm or reactivate an address, it's time to delete it from your list to avoid the problems outlined at the top of this post.

But don't give up on the associated human being. As Stephanie Miller suggests, consider switching to another communication channel (e.g. direct mail) to market to them.

Tags: email marketing, list management, reactivation campaigns, list hygiene

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