Reactivating lapsed subscribers

This article will focus on how you can reactivate lapsed subscribers and get them to re-engage with your business again.

People stop opening your emails for various reasons. They may have gone through a life change, lost interest in your product, or had a bad experience with your brand. Whatever the reason, it is always worthwhile to try and win back unengaged subscribers. Repeat customers are significantly more likely to purchase from you than first-time shoppers. Cultivating long-term relationships with your brand's customers will provide increased profits and provide positive word of mouth for your brand.

If you are having trouble with large numbers of unengaged recipients, sending win-back campaigns is a good way of getting them interested in your brand again. There are a number of methods for doing this.

How do you get started?

Confirmation of interest:

You can start off by asking your unengaged subscribers to confirm their interest in your emails. This can be done in a few ways. You can just ask them whether they still want to receive your emails and provide a link to unsubscribe. Just receiving this kind of email will make your subscribers more likely to open future emails. If they do unsubscribe, they weren't opening your emails anyway, so there's no change for you. Although it may feel counterintuitive to have subscribers unsubscribe, asking your subscribers if they still want to receive your emails is a great way to ensure that your list stays healthy.

Affirmation of interest:

Another option is to ask for an affirmative indication of interest. This is the reverse of the previous email. A call to action asks the recipient to confirm that they remain interested in your brand. If they do not do that, they will be unsubscribed three days or a week after the email is sent.

Limited-time discount:

Offering a limited-time discount – or free shipping, or a free gift with a purchase – is a highly effective way of getting people back to your website. Everyone likes a discount, especially when shopping online. Having a limited-time offer provides a sense of urgency and encourages your customer to make a decision. Since they have already had a good experience with your brand they will be more likely to decide in your favour.

Update their details:

Checking whether you have your subscriber in the right segment is another good way of recapturing their attention. Asking unengaged subscribers to update their details and preferences – such as gender, age, price range, etc. – will net you more data while allowing uninterested recipients to indicate that their preference is not to receive your emails.

Social Media assistance:

Social media allows you to offer your subscriber a way to keep up to date with your brand without staying subscribed to your emails. You're probably including links to all of your social pages in every email, but it can be useful to make them more prominent in a win-back campaign email. Some users may prefer to engage with you on your social media channels rather than through email marketing, it’s important to engage with your audience via the marketing channels that they want to receive information through.