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An unfortunate reality for almost any email sender is that subscribers may stop engaging over time.

That’s okay.

We want active, engaged audiences to send emails to, but leaving those folks who’ve ghosted you on your list could mean bad news for your email reputation.

A subtle reminder here, but lower engagement rates (we’re talking opens, clicks, replies, etc) signal to ESPs and inbox providers that your emails are less relevant, potentially impacting how your emails to even your engaged contacts are treated.

No bueno.

This means you’re going to need to have a plan in place for when this happens, so today, we’re going to discuss 3 quick things to help with just that.

Before acting on any subscribers who may be fading away into the ether, you’ll need to identify who in your list is potentially ghosting you.

This begins by filtering your list.

Generally, you can begin by finding contacts who have not opened or clicked anything over the past 6 - 10 emails you've sent and separate them from your email list.

But it’s not that easy because engagement is different for every sender.

You may only send one email a month, so what does this mean for you? Perhaps anyone who hasn’t opened the last 3 emails you’ve sent.

You might be sending emails bi-weekly. Here, looking at anyone who hasn’t opened the last 3 - 6 emails you’ve sent.

Are you sending daily or weekly? Here’s where it gets tricky, because you’ll have a higher frequency of emails sent, and folks may become unengaged far sooner.

You need to define the criteria around what “unengaged” means for your emails.

You can always change this criterion based on what makes sense for you, but once you’ve decided on this, you’ll want to set up a segment of these folks.

Once this is done, you can move on to ways to try to keep them in the fold.

You don’t need to beg; you need to reconnect.

These subscribers will have stopped opening or clicking your emails for a reason.

Creating an email asking them WHY and offering an incentive to engage again often works best.

Based on your email or offer, these incentives could be discounts, free content, an exclusive offer, or simply asking subscribers for feedback. Decide what you feel works best for you.

What we’ve often found is that a short, human note that sounds like it’s written by a person (even though it might be automated) works best.

Something like:

“Hey [name], you’ve been quiet lately. We get it, inboxes fill up fast.

Is it something we said?

Feel free to hit the button below if you’d like to still want to hear from us, or feel free to unsubscribe at any time (though we’d love to have you around)”

Follow with an easy “stay subscribed/ unsubscribe” button and a reminder of the value they’ll miss (keep it real, not fluffy).

If they don’t respond after one or two emails at most, step back. Win-backs work best when they feel like an invitation, not a plea.

P.S. Send your win-back from a real name (not just a brand alias). It helps boost open rates and makes the message feel a little more personal.

After this is all done, remove anyone who has not opened or clicked any of these emails.

Scary, we know, but your email list needs to always place quality over quantity.

For ongoing management, rinse and repeat this every 3 months or sooner.

Always keep in mind that an engaged list is a healthy list. Don't be afraid to remove anyone who isn't engaged.

They're only taking up valuable space in your email database and negatively affecting your sender reputation.

Your email metrics will be more accurate.
You'll get to focus on newer, engaged subscribers.
Your emails will likely get to the inbox instead of the junk folder.

The real horror story isn’t losing subscribers. It’s holding on to ghosts.

Before we depart into the night (a.k.a. try on our costume for tomorrow 🎃), here are a few quick resources that cover this in more detail:

Here’s to a list full of life and a Happy Halloween to you!

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