Are your open rates sliding? Has click activity dried up and responses thinned out? If your list has gone quiet, a re-engagement campaign is worth considering.
Unsubscribes are the obvious way to lose subscribers, but plenty of people simply stop opening your emails without ever formally leaving. The list stays the same size; the engagement does not. The question is what you do about it.
A re-engagement campaign is a short series of emails sent specifically to inactive subscribers, with the goal of getting them interested again in what you offer.
Where do I start?
The starting point is your list. Segment out everyone who has not opened or clicked on your last several campaigns. That group is your audience for this campaign.
The goal is straightforward: remind these subscribers why they signed up in the first place. They were interested enough at some point, otherwise they would not be on your list. Let them know you have noticed the silence, and that you want to do something about it.
Start a conversation. Keep it direct.
Types of re-engagement campaigns
Remind them why they signed up
Sometimes subscribers just need a nudge back to the value you offer. Send a short email recapping the kind of content you share and highlight anything useful they may have missed. You are not writing a novel here, a clear, friendly reminder of what is on offer is enough.
Offer solutions to their problems
Try to understand why someone has gone quiet and give them a way forward. That might mean letting them update their email preferences, pointing them to helpful articles or guides, or simply asking them to call you. Give them options such as following you on social media if email no longer works for them.
There is no need to dance around it. An honest, direct question will get you more answers than a vague check-in ever will.
Offer them something of value
If the reminder and the conversation have not worked, give them a reason to open your next email. A free resource, a discount, or exclusive content all work here. The bar is simple: if someone finds it genuinely useful, they are far more likely to stay engaged going forward.
Subscribers come and go. People's priorities shift, inboxes get crowded, and interests change. You will not win everyone back, and that is fine. But showing inactive subscribers that they still matter to you costs very little and occasionally pays off more than you expect.
If you want help setting up your re-engagement campaign, get in touch and we will help you get it right.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I know which subscribers to include in a re-engagement campaign?
- Segment your list by activity. Anyone who has not opened or clicked on your last several campaigns is a good candidate. The exact threshold depends on your send frequency, but three to six months of inactivity is a common starting point.
- How many emails should a re-engagement sequence include?
- Two to three emails is usually enough. Start with a reminder of the value you offer, follow up with a direct question or preference update option, and close with an incentive if the first two have not prompted a response.
- What should I do with subscribers who still do not engage after the campaign?
- Remove them from your active list. Continuing to send to confirmed-inactive addresses hurts your sender reputation and your deliverability. A clean list will always outperform a large, unresponsive one.