Before you start a reactivation campaign...

A common theme in recent posts has been the need to get people interacting with your emails. Um...not a startling insight, really.

But it's not (just) because a view, impression, click is the start of the path to some kind of conversion. It's also because ISPs are taking this interaction into account when deciding whether your emails should go to the inbox or the spam folder.

As interaction becomes important for its own sake, so the risk associated with "inactive" subscribers grows. A big heap of unresponsive subscribers tells ISPs that "these emails aren't worth putting in the inbox".

Which explains the renewed interest in "reactivation" campaigns designed to get dormant recipients opening and clicking again.

As so often happens, our approach to reactivation is compromised by the seductive appeal of semantic simplification. (I have always wanted to write a sentence like that).

Translated into English, it means we think of inactives as a uniform group of people who ignore our emails, who are blind to our messages.

We just need to give them a gentle tap on the shoulder and...whahay!...they'll rediscover the email gems we send and turn into born-again subscribers.

If only it were that simple.

At this page, you'll find links to 27 articles from email experts with advice on reactivation campaigns. But before diving into those, here are three critical questions to ask yourself...

1. What kinds of inactive subscribers do you have?

This is the crunch question. How do you define "inactive", bearing in mind that not all inactives are created equal? Or are even inactive!

One common split is between those who have never opened or clicked on an email and those who responded in the past, but haven't done so for whichever period of time you determine labels them as inactive.

And you can split these down further. Here are three plausible subgroups for that first segment:

1. Have never seen your email, as it doesn't get past the spam filters.
2. Only signed up to access a sweepstakes or one-off incentive and have no interest in your products/services.
3. Signed up expecting something else.

The right reactivation strategy depends on your ability to identify the true causes of inactivity.

Subgroup 1 is a deliverability problem. You need to solve that first. Then you're in a mailing to an old list scenario, rather than a reactivation one.

Subgroup 2 probably isn't worth trying to reactivate.

And Subgroup 3 suggests you need to modify your sign-up copy and welcome messaging as a priority before thinking about reactivation.

Our second segment (those who have responded in the past) also likely has various subgroups.

Maybe some folk simply changed interests, which implies you need to find the right content/offer to match these changes.

Others maybe tune you out because you send too much email. Then a simple frequency adjustment is required.

2. Are your inactive subscribers really inactive?

Now let's make it even more complicated. Some of those inactives aren't inactive at all. Here three examples:

1. They may be getting your emails but responding in some way you're not measuring, perhaps through another channel.

Here a quote from Jake Holman:

"When we compared the data, we found the customer was receiving an email...picking up the phone almost immediately and ordering huge amounts of products."

And another from David Baker:

"Are they really dormant customers or is there a channel shift in place? Are they converting through search, media and you aren't getting credit as the 'last click'?"

2. They may be interacting with your emails.

Someone may assiduously read every word you write, but never register an open since they use a mobile device or have their email client set up to read the text version of your multipart message. Without images displaying, no open can register.

This scenario is particularly likely if you send the kind of emails that don't necessarily demand a click to access the value (such as newsletters featuring full articles).

3. They may appreciate your emails but are just waiting for the right time to respond.

Dela Quist has long argued that a significant number of inactives want to be on your list and are just "unemotionally subscribed" as opposed to the commonly assumed "emotionally unsubscribed":

"...they do want to receive your emails, but don't need your content or offer yet. They would prefer to ignore your messages until they are ready to buy, because it is easier than unsubscribing and having to remember your url or Google you at a later date."

When MarketingSherpa actually called up non-responders to find out why they weren't responding to emails, the most popular answer was "I like your email. Don't stop sending it. I may not always have time to read it, but I want it".

As Anne Holland explains in the same article:

"They may not click on your email, or even open it. But they see your brand name in their in-box, as well as a subject line. Those two items alone may trigger a delayed response later."

And this is even before we get into any arguments about how long a subscriber needs to go without clicking or opening before they can be considered "inactive".

John Caldwell, for example, reminds us that your business model drives this definition.

You'll often see six months of inactivity cited as a good definition of an inactive subscriber, but as John notes:

"I can go 9 months without ordering flowers, but will always be back for the same special occasions. How are you going to win me back if I never left?"

The real key is to find ways to identify the different kinds of "inactive" email addresses so you can adjust the reactivation approach accordingly.

All of which is easier said than done. Those 27 articles will help.

Even if you use just one reactivation tactic (such as a "please renew your opt-in" campaign), at least adjust your approach and copy to account for the possibility that some subscribers may be surprised to find you think of them as inactive.

3. Do you have a plan for afterwards?

When you get a response out of a previously dormant address, what will you do to keep them active?

If you put them back in your active file, aren't you going to send them the kind of emails that drove them to go inactive in the first place?

If that scenario applies, then the reactivation campaign is treating the symptoms but not the problem. Solve the problem, then try and regain lost attention...

Again, this goes back to understanding why people go inactive. If your messages were no longer relevant, you need to address that issue before you try and get them back into the fold.

Which is why an ideal time for a reactivation campaign is just after you've upgraded your program to deliver more value to recipients.

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