How To Break Up With Inactive Subcribers
Our boys at The Email Wars recently shed some light on an issue we here at MindComet have been wondering about for a quite some time. Out of all the recipients on your email list(s), which ones are active readers, consistently opening and clicking through, and which ones are simply “lurking”?
Lurking defined as it relates to email marketing: marking each message as “read”, rather than engaging themselves with the message.
From their research over a three-month span, they gathered all of the email addresses that were ‘lurkers’ and segmented them into a list that only received the message once a month, rather than once a week. Within these lists, they tested subject lines, various copy, etc. The feedback they received was surprising to say the least. The once inactive recipients were now frothing at the mouth with interest.
By the second month of this experiment, open rates and click-through rates increased by 25%. Keep in mind that 6 weeks prior, these same people weren’t even looking at the email.
After the three months were up, they returned the now “newly engaged” subscribers back to their original list. Then they turned around and politely asked the still inactive recipients to opt-out.
This was done for a very specific purpose: to improve each campaign’s over all performance. With the “deadweight” now removed, each message they send will have a higher open rate and-click through rate.
This study just goes to show that it’s not about the size of your list; it’s how you use it.
Posted by MindComet on Mar. 21, 2007
I just posted about this too- churning inactives. I like the techniques you describe in here too!<BR>http://www.banane.com/workblog<BR>thanks- Annahtt
Posted by anna on 04/06/2007 12:31 AM