Worried about the response rate to your email campaign? If so, you’re not alone. Over 90% of email subscribers have unsubscribed from a list they initially opted into. Of those, the majority have done so because they felt the content was boring or irrelevant.
Did you see those numbers? Go back and read them again. That’s a lot of people who are dissatisfied with the way businesses are marketing themselves. Most likely, those unsubscribes started out as non-responses. If you can reach the non-responders before they opt out, you may be able to salvage some valuable contacts. For everyone who has ever sent out a boring or irrelevant email (let’s just all admit that we have), it’s time to consider these strategies for keeping your subscribers engaged.
- Value, Value, Value
Why should anyone read your email? Does it provide useful information, special offers, discount codes, or other incentives? Is it personalized? Do you use list segmentation to target your offers even further? If you don’t know what your audience considers valuable, try sending them a brief survey asking what their expectations are.
- Optimized Subject Lines
Subject lines that appear cutesy, overly clever, or use gimmicks to grab attention (exclamation marks, all caps, strange punctuation) will often be viewed as spam. Keep your subject lines clear and straightforward, incorporate your keyword, and try to communicate the overall value of the email.
- Other Communication Channels
If certain subscribers don’t respond no matter what you do, try reaching them through other communication channels before you purge them from your list. Direct mail and social media can provide opportunities to entice subscribers back with special offers or incentives.
- Set Frequency Expectations
Another reason people unsubscribe from email lists is that messages arrive too frequently. Communicate up front how often you’ll be sending your messages and stick with it. If you plan to change the frequency (around a holiday or before a big sale, for instance) let readers know so they won’t feel deluged.
- Credible From Address
If the from address looks spammy, your message may not make it to the inbox. Be careful with abbreviations and try to stick with a from address that is immediately recognizable.
eConnect Email can help you at each stage of the process, whether you’re improving the design of your email, segmenting your list, tracking user behavior, or testing alternate versions of a particular message element. If all else fails and you can’t re-engage the non-responders on your list, it may be time to let them go, clean up your list, and move on.