Three Tactics to Manage List Inactivity
Got people on your e-mail address list who don't open your messages? They probably aren't generating spam complaints or bounces. So why stir things up?
Got people on your e-mail address list who don't open your messages? They probably aren't generating spam complaints or bounces. So why stir things up?
Given that at least half of your e-mail address list can probably be classified “inactive,” the question of what to do with this silent faction is highly relevant to e-mail marketers, especially in these tough days when you’re being asked to make more sales with less budget.
This issue came up at the recent Email Evolution Conference, where attendees were asked to vote whether purging or retaining inactives should become the e-mail industry’s best practice.
However, the solution goes much deeper than “always purge” versus “always retain.”
I support removing some classes of inactive addresses after identifying and attempting to reactivate them (details in my earlier ClickZ column, “The Right Way to Trim Inactives“).
This doesn’t mean you should dump anybody who hasn’t acted on your first few e-mail messages, or even everyone who hasn’t opened or clicked in two years.
Presumably you collected those addresses through reputable means, so they represent a considerable investment. Replacing them can often cost more than you spent to acquire them.
Why Target Inactives?
Your inactives probably aren’t generating spam complaints or bounces. So why stir things up? Here are four reasons:
Three Tactics for Managing Inactives
Whether you choose to segment out inactives or let them slumber in peace, these three tactics will help you manage inactivity to improve list performance:
If you have a strategy for determining active versus inactive subscriber status, you can run your tests against each segment as well as against the whole list and compare the active segment’s performance to the full list. In some cases, this testing could wake up a portion of your inactive file. But if you look at the test only across the whole audience, you might find the winning strategy is more difficult to see.
This is an excellent argument for conducting a systematic welcome program, one that invites action by clicking through to fill out a profile, claim a special offer, or answer a short survey. (It’s also an argument for double opt-in instead of single opt-in, because it demands a little more action from the subscriber to get on your list, but that’s an argument for another time.)
Somebody who never acted has a lower value to your e-mail program than somebody who stopped acting. With this latter group, you can at least try to recover them with a reactivation campaign. You gain nothing by continuing to send messages to those who ignore every mailing from the minute they opted in.
One Final Thought
If your goal as an e-mail marketer is to send your messages to as many people as possible because you believe your messages have value whether your recipients act on them or not, then by all means, never remove an inactive e-mail address.
However, if deliverability is important and if you want to ensure your active recipients get the opportunity to engage with your e-mail, then list pruning should be a ritual.
Until next time, keep on deliverin’!
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