Could Inactive Subscribers Be Hindering Your Email Marketing Success?

Intro

Email marketing can be one of the most powerful tools in a digital marketer’s arsenal, but even the best email campaigns will hit a wall when engagement drops. One key factor that often goes unnoticed is the presence of inactive subscribers.

These subscribers no longer engage with your emails, so they lead to lower performance metrics and potential issues with your email deliverability. Deliverability is the rate at which your emails hit the inbox – as opposed to the spam folder.

But just how much of an impact do these inactive subscribers have on your overall email marketing success? And what can you do about it?

Let’s examine their effect on your metrics and how you can successfully manage this segment of your email list.

Understanding inactive subscribers

In email marketing, inactive subscribers are typically defined as accounts who have not opened or engaged with your emails for an extended period—usually six months or more. They may still be on your list, but they’re no longer interacting with your content.

This inactivity can be the result of several reasons, including:

• Irrelevant content: If your content doesn’t align with a subscriber’s interests, they will likely tune out and stop clicking.
• Email frequency isn’t ideal: Too many or too few emails can cause subscribers to disengage. You must meet subscribers’ email volume expectations.
• Change of focus: Your subscribers’ priorities shift over time, and what was once relevant or exciting may no longer be.

Identifying and understanding the reasons people stop engaging with your emails is a crucial step toward either re-engaging or removing them from your list.

Remember that getting inactive subscribers is normal. You should get the occasional person who “drops off” from being interested in your emails. However, when you get a steep decrease in subscribers’ engagement, that’s worrisome. If that happens, ask yourself what you’ve changed in your email marketing strategy.

Why inactive subscribers are a problem

The term “inactive subscriber” seems more non-threatening than it is. In reality, inactive subscribers can actively undermine your email marketing performance.

Here are a few key ways dormant accounts impact your efforts:

• Hurting deliverability and sender reputation: Email providers assess the engagement rates of the emails you send. If your emails are frequently ignored, you could be flagged as a spam sender. This will lead to emails landing in spam folders even for your active subscribers who are looking forward to your next email.
• Lowering engagement rates: Inactive subscribers pull down your open and click-through rates, making it harder to assess the effectiveness of your campaigns.
• Increasing costs: Many email platforms charge based on list size. Keeping inactive subscribers means paying for contacts who won’t ever convert.

Ultimately, inactive subscribers dilute the performance of your campaigns. So staying proactive and addressing the issue of unengaged subscribers is a must.

Strategies to re-engage inactive subscribers

The good news is that inactive subscribers don’t have to stay inactive. With targeted efforts, you can bring many of them back into the fold.

Here are some strategies to try:

• Segment and re-target: Group inactive subscribers into a separate segment and create a tailored re-engagement campaign specifically for them. This could involve special messaging acknowledging their inactivity and encouraging them to re-engage.
• Offer special incentives: Sometimes, a little extra motivation can work wonders. Try offering a discount, exclusive content, or other incentives to get inactive subscribers to open your email and take action. If you really want to keep their attention, perhaps they need more.
• Use clear calls-to-action: When targeting inactive subscribers, make it easy for them to know what to do next. Whether it’s to click a link, respond to a survey, or check out a new product, ensure your call-to-action stands out and makes re-engaging as easy as possible.

You’d be surprised by how many people send emails, and the recipient is unsure what’s expected of them.

When to remove inactive subscribers

While re-engagement efforts are worthwhile, some subscribers may simply no longer be interested in your content, regardless of the strategies you implement. When it’s clear that certain subscribers aren’t coming back, it’s time to remove them from your list.

Consider unsubscribing or purging contacts who haven’t engaged in six months or ignored multiple re-engagement campaigns.

Although trimming your list may feel counterintuitive, it ultimately benefits your email marketing by increasing the engagement rate of those who remain. A leaner, more engaged list improves your email deliverability. Also, it allows you to focus on your most valuable subscribers and can reduce your email marketing costs.

Optimize your list for long-term success

Addressing inactive subscribers can be a powerful way to enhance your email marketing performance. By identifying inactive contacts, using re-engaging tactics, and removing those who won’t re-engage, you’re building a more tight-knit audience that values your content.

So pay attention to the quality and health of your list. The adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is especially fitting for email marketing.

Aside from removing dormant subscribers, remember that your list is decaying every day. People change email addresses quite often, particularly in B2B industries. So find a reputable email validation service and verify your entire list a minimum of quarterly. Also, you can set up an email validation API on all forms so bad data won’t seep into your list. You should also use a blacklist monitor to be certain that you aren’t on any email blacklists.

Regularly monitoring and optimizing your list isn’t just a cleanup task; it’s a strategy for better results, improved deliverability, and greater ROI on your email marketing efforts.