Boo!

Did we scare you? Okay, so maybe we didn’t, but wanna know what is scary? The fact that Halloween is next week, meaning it’s almost November! Scary… we know. Well, now that we’re freaking people out, let’s keep that Halloween spirit alive – literally! Did you know over half of email subscribers (60%) are inactive? That means they haven’t clicked, opened, emailed or showed any activity on your website in 6 to 12 months. Let’s wake up those dead leads this halloween season and re-engage them, and while we’re at it gain new customers.

“Did you know over half of email subscribers (60%) are inactive?”

Keep It Relevant

… because no one likes to read an article that doesn’t interest them. For example, a recipe for a Meat-Lover Pizza on a vegetarian blog isn’t going to have much popularity, so keep it relevant to their interests!
The average website subscriber receives about 11 messages via email, 9 via Facebook, and 8 via Twitter a day. So try not to send typical emails or look similar to your competitors. Switch it up a bit; send informative articles, fun infographics, and videos to watch. This way you’ll re-engage your subscribers and attract new ones too! Otherwise it’s the same old information that’s not solving their current problems.

Sometimes They Need A Refresher

At some point in your lead’s life, you’ve sparked their interest which is why they’re with you in the first place. At that point, you had them in the palm of your hand – How did you attract them? Why are they now inactive? Research and find out what originally attracted your dead subscribers and stimulate that interest again. Maybe they’re no longer interested in a service you provide, but find out if you offer something else of interest. More often than not, people input their information on numerous websites but forget where (or why) they signed up later on. To avoid these dead-end leads, follow up with them quickly after the initial sign-up and send them a great article to read. You can even direct them to an Introductory Video about your company – get them psyched about your brand and what you do! Also, be sure to send quarterly hello emails (even just to say hi) to keep that list fresh.

“Research and find out what originally attracted your dead subscribers and stimulate that interest again.”

Has Your List Lost Weight?

We already know what an inactive lead is – a lead that hasn’t clicked, opened, or showed any activity on the website for almost a year. And up to now, you should have attempted to re-engage with them in some way. Anything? If not, get rid of those who are access because your messages are getting lost in between uninterested leads. By doing this, you’ll leave room to add new potential customers on your emailing list! Actually, you should do this every year to ensure your hitting your targeted audience. Let’s be honest, no one likes wasting their time and money, and the Weeding-Out Process helps you successfully spend both. Pay close attention to your potential converters as you’ve hooked them, and now you just have to completely reel them in.

Beef Up Your Emails During Bulking Season

So now that you’re providing relevant content and sharable articles, take out the middleman (aka Landing Pages) and bring the CTA’s to your audience! But first, the subject title has to catch their attention without looking spammy, followed by your slim & trim email body. Here’s an example:
You’re going to send an article via email to your subscribers on how they can increase their Holiday sales this season. The call-to-action should be a free eBook on how to prepare your New Year Marketing Strategy. This CTA is something that not only relates to the email but also something useful they can apply in the New Year. The key is to keep the product relevant to the content because they’ll always read and click on things they like, and what interests them.

From Inactive Loaf To Actively Re-Engaged

Did you know Facebook now has a feature to customize your audience? Well it does, and it’s really cool too! How it works: Upload your email list/subscribers to Facebook, enabling you to target specific campaigns to specific customers based on their interests. This feature is great because we want to target audiences with specific content to engage their interests. Otherwise, if they don’t respond or show interest in the email, they’re classified as inactive. Those that click, or open the CTA are active leads since they’ve shown interest in the email.

“Did you know Facebook now has a feature to customize your audience? Well it does, and it’s really cool too!”

Feedback! Feedback! Feedback!

You’ll never know what you’re doing wrong until you ask, so encourage your customers to tell you what they think and then provide an incentive for doing so. This way, they’ll follow up because something is in it for them and doesn’t just benefit you. Yes, there will be turnover for those who don’t participate, but some will engage, so focus your efforts on them even if it’s a small percentage. Provide your leads with a survey to fill out or a questionnaire to answer, and make sure you give them space to write comments. Multiple choice surveys are easy for people to fill out, but problematic because there’s not a lot of breathing room to elaborate and provide detail. So don’t forget to add optional comment boxes below each question so they’re able to customize each answer.

 
As for your questions, ask your leads what interests them based on what you offer as a company. As a result, you’re able to gage what future material will interest them so you’re not sending them spammy emails with content they don’t want.
 
photo credit: wvs via photopin cc