Having recently launched into the world of consulting, I really love working with all sorts of clients with different deliverability challenges. However, I often get asked the same questions again and again, so I was delighted to be asked to share some thoughts on re-activating unengaged email addresses, as this is a question I get asked All. The. Time.
It is easy to see a huge segment of inactive users as a potential treasure trove. However, it can also be a deliverability nightmare that can affect your ability to reach the inbox at all. So my answer to how to bring back unengaged users is always very, very carefully!
Firstly we need to consider the reasons that addresses are inactive and why they can be problematic:
- Email addresses change: people change email addresses all the time. Old unused addresses can be repurposed as spam traps which indicate you have poor data hygiene practices.
- Dead data: if you don’t utilize confirmed opt-in or email verification, you will have typos, invalid and incorrect addresses in your database.
- Lack of interest: perhaps your content is not resonating with your recipients anymore. These users are much more likely to mark your messages as spam if they are annoyed by your mail.
- Cadence: are you sending too many mails? Your users may feel overwhelmed. Are you sending too few? You may not be giving recipients enough chances to engage before you sunset them.
High rates of spam complaints, spam traps, invalid addresses and/or unengaged recipients are key spam indicators that will damage your sender reputation and harm your overall deliverability, compromising inbox placement for your active users. But all is not lost! Here are some tactics you can try:
- Send little but often: try including a very small percentage of inactive users in your regular email sends. It’s ideal if you can automate this process!
- Send best performing content: have an email that your active users really love? Test it to a batch of your inactives to see how they respond – keep a close eye on those negative metrics! And be careful with your batch size. If the response is positive, repeat with another batch.
- Build a re-activation campaign: set up a series of triggered win-back emails to re-engage users at key points in their lifecycle before you sunset them. Try to personalize these as much as possible. Test. Test. And test.
- Change your tone: if your regular content isn’t speaking to your recipients, try switching it up. Keep it short and sweet. Try an infographic. An incentive. Emojis. Catch their attention (but be careful to stay brand-aligned).
- Ask their opinion: try a short poll or survey on a relevant topic. Ask folks what you could be doing better. People love to share their opinion.
- Tailor your email: use any targeting criteria you have to make content as relevant as possible. Don’t treat all of your inactives the same.
- Segment for engagement: you may find your more recent inactives easier to re-engage. Let older inactives go gracefully.
In short, it’s important to develop a strategic approach to re-engagement that balances the benefits of winning back inactive users with the risks of harming your deliverability rates.
And don’t forget, at the end of the day, your time may be better spent focusing on providing your engaged users a better experience to keep them engaged than expending time and resources trying to raise the dead.
