Key takeaways
- Use a clear, tangible offer to win people back. Actual savings (e.g., “X dollars off”) perform nearly two times better than other return deals.
- Base your re-engagement on data. Open rates, inbox activity and other metrics let you pinpoint and prioritize non-responders and what they like.
- Don’t write anyone off. Win-back campaigns can re-engage subscribers who haven’t responded in up to 300 days; continue while they haven’t opted out.
- Subject lines matter: avoid ALL CAPS and generic words like “urgent” or “final notice”; state the value for returning customers so your email stands out.
- Build follow-up and multi-level offers into the campaign so re-engagement is sustained, not a one-off.
Introduction
Running an email campaign is a lot like taking a swing for the fences in baseball. When things go your way, the home crowd – in this case your online audience – cheers wildly as you round the bases and enjoy the increased traffic that’s flowing into your website. Unfortunately, as any email or baseball guru will tell you, stepping up to the plate, or inbox, with a perfect batting average is just a myth. The reality is that it’s foolish to not have a plan for when you’re in a slump. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some simple tips you can employ as part of an email marketing “win-back” campaign. This way, you’ll have everything you need to reignite those conversion numbers and get your audience back into action after the excitement of your initial push slows down.
Add in a Solid Offer
One of the quickest ways to get your readers back into your campaign is to throw out a nice offer. At the top of the list, actual savings – anything that falls into the “X dollars off” range on your products and services – performs nearly two times better than any other return deal. However, regardless of whether it’s a limited time discount or free content like an eBook download, offering anything specifically for the people who have fallen off your brands marketing bandwagon can help right the ship and get them back to eagerly awaiting your regular emails.
Don’t Shy Away From Hard Data
When it comes to brand awareness and decision-making, too many people that pull the levers and knobs behind the campaign rely on the concept of “gut instincts.” Sure, in plenty of industries having a strong hunch or read on the company can take you a long way, but email marketing is a much more stats driven affair. With numbers on open rates, inbox activity, and a slew of other metrics, pinpointing the exact segments of your audience that aren’t responding, as well as what these individuals like, has never been easier or more readily available. Because of this, let the stats do all the heavy lifting in your win-back campaign and follow their lead. Not only will this help increase your response rate, it can save you a ton of time and money developing and rolling out these messages.
Never Write Anyone Off
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when it comes to starting up one of these re-engagement initiatives is to assume that portions of your inactive audience are off limits. While it might seem like a long shot to get back in touch with the people who haven’t opened one of your emails in months, the truth of the matter is that win-back campaigns can drum up interest with customers who haven’t responded in up to 300 days. Basically, it’s never too late to get things rolling again, even with the most unlikely of candidates.
Not surprisingly, the same holds true for the time that comes after you fire off these win-back emails. As long as the reader hasn’t opted out, there’s nothing stopping you showing that persistence is a virtue with this group of out-of-touch consumers. Considering that you just might one day pique their interest enough to rekindle a connection with your brand, it’s well worth the effort of covering every nook and cranny of your contact list, no matter how unlikely the lead might seem.
Your Subject Lines Matter More Than Ever
If you’re familiar with a large portion of the posts on this blog, you’re well aware of just how powerful the subject line is when it comes to enticing customers to dig a little deeper into your marketed messages. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that having optimized and powerful headings in this area is crucial to a great win-back campaign. To help you get there, skip the caps button and generic terms, like “urgent” or “final notice,” and focus more on explaining just how valuable your offers for returning customers can be. This way, when your forlorn viewers sit down and start sifting through their messages, these emails can stick out on the preview pane for all the right reasons.
Build Toward a Follow-up
One of the biggest misconceptions about these types of campaigns is that once you re-engage your customers, you’re done with the work. Unfortunately, all this does is put you back into the same spot later on down the road. Instead of finding yourself in this endless engagement cycle, focus on working multi-level offers and follow-up requests into your campaign that keep your audience active and connected with your company. If you can do this, your customers will always have a great reason to keep your brand on their minds, ensuring that lost segments and lackadaisical contact list entries become a thing of the past.
FAQ
Actual savings (for example “X dollars off”) get the best response. These perform nearly two times better than other return deals. Limited-time discounts or free content (like an eBook download) are other viable options for luring lapsed readers back.
Use hard data, such as open rates, inbox activity and other email metrics to pinpoint which audience segments aren’t responding and what those individuals prefer. Let the stats guide segmentation and message decisions to raise response rates and save time and money.
Don’t assume inactive subscribers are gone: win-back campaigns can drum up interest with people who haven’t responded in up to 300 days. Continue outreach as long as the reader hasn’t opted out.
Skip ALL CAPS and generic triggers like “urgent” or “final notice.” Instead, explain the specific value of your return-offer so the email preview stands out and attracts attention from lapsed readers.
No. Build follow-up sequences and multi-level offers into the campaign to keep customers active and avoid falling back into the same engagement slump later on.
Track open rates and inbox activity along with any other available email metrics to identify non-responding segments and to measure whether your re-engagement tactics are working.
Yes. As long as the reader hasn’t opted out, continuing follow-ups can eventually rekindle their connection with your brand.
