Did your last email win-back campaign miss the mark?

If so, do you know why? Let’s take a look at the likely culprit and how to get you moving in the right direction.

You’re Emailing Ghosts!

Based on our work at FreshAddress with hundreds of leading marketers, we’ve found that the leading factor resulting in inactive (“ghosted”) subscribers is simply that you’re emailing them at email accounts they no longer read.

  • Approximately 30% of an email list goes stale on an annual basis;
  • BUT most customers/donors don’t update their accounts with their preferred stores or nonprofits when they change their email addresses.

Accordingly, the biggest problem with most win-back campaigns is that companies develop interesting programs with attractive promotions – yes, money does talk – but then email their campaign to old, dead addresses.

Move Your Email Win-Back Campaigns From Zero to Hero

Email Prospecting Hero
Want to shift the odds in your favor and win back some lost sheep? Here are 5 tips to get you moving in the right direction. 

Tip #1: Don’t Delete Inactive Addresses

To ensure you’re not wasting your money on win-back programs that generate minimal returns, a successful win-back strategy needs to incorporate an Email Change of Address (ECOA) service to ensure that the creative and offers you’re sending are reaching people at their preferred email addresses, rather than simply falling on deaf ears.

Tip #2:  Ensure any list you or your service provider is sending to is SafeToSend®

It has to be deliverable and free of toxic addresses like:

  • Spamtraps & Honeypots;
  • Heavy spam complainers; and
  • Role accounts.

Tip #3: Make sure your win-back offer is attractive and aggressive

You might only get one more bite at the apple so make it good. Here’s a great example:

Northern Brewer - Win Back Email Example

Tip #4: Perform A/B testing on your subject lines

Combine this with real-time multivariate testing of the different levers in your creative. This is a surefire recipe to maximize your open and click-through rates.

Tip #5: Know your goals up front

 Perform the analytics after each win-back campaign and use the results to optimize future campaigns.

Win-Back Campaigns are Difficult, Not Impossible. 

Getting your customers to fall in love with you all over again isn’t easy. Neither is winning the Presidency but a new President gets elected every 4 years.

 

Related Articles:

 

list churn banner1

About the Author

FreshAddress Staff

Become a Better Email Marketer Sign up to get our expert tips delivered to your inbox.

Recent Posts

Email Append

As you put your 2022 marketing plans together, you’ll concentrate on acquisition, budget and campaigns. We would like to add another item to your list and move it to the No. 1 priority: Your data! Why data? Because data is the lifeblood of your marketing program. Without fresh, accurate and useful data, you can’t market […]
Email Marketing Tips

We want to wish all of our FreshPerspectives readers a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2022! As we close out 2021, it’s a great opportunity to set priorities for the coming twelve months. Whether you’re new to email marketing or an industry veteran, consider these New Year’s Resolutions to help ring in a banner year in […]
FreshAddress

In my holiday letter a year ago, I hoped that in 2021 we’d be seeing each other in the office and at trade shows. That has not yet come to pass, so I am especially grateful for the significant milestones our company has achieved this year: TowerData received a strategic investment from TZP Group, a […]
Chat with us