In the past three months I've done more than five platform migrations for different brands.

It's kind of like moving in IRL.

The process is stressful.

Always takes longer than you think.

You inevitably realize you have WAYYY more junk than you thought.

With every email platform migration I've done we always encounter one very specific problem.

“What do I do with all these inactive email subscribers?

This literally happens every single time.

Especially when you're migrating the brand to an email platform that is more expensive because they charge you by list size...

(Cough...Klaviyo.)

For most brands 20-50% of their list is inactive.

As an email marketer and passionate de-clutterer my knee jerk reaction is always to toss them into the trash.

They do NOT spark joy. They will kill your deliverability. They aren't going to come back.

But this is really hard for owners and CMOs to accept.

And I understand it.

Your Email list is the most valuable asset your company has and they're also REALLY expensive to grow.

Casually telling someone to delete 20k-600k people off the list is an absolute gut punch.

So in this issue let's talk about a few strategies I use to resuscitate inactive customers.

Ok. Let's just get this out of the way.

When it comes to inactive email subscribers most of them are gone and never coming back.

I know, it sucks but you need to set realistic expectations going into this, otherwise you will end up severely disappointed.

Just sayin'...

That said... There's also a little money in the banana stand.

Here's how we can get.

To get started you need to define what unengaged means.

For me it's this

They're subscribed, and haven't opened or clicked a single email in 6 months.

Now we split that segment into two.

→ Customers. They've placed at least one order.

→ Prospects. They've never purchased.

These are not the same person and you cannot treat them the same.

A customer already gave you money. So there's a much better chance they actually come back to buy.

A prospect typed their email into a popup to get 10% off and then decided not to buy from you. They're likely gone for good.

Like most marketing, 40% of your success comes down to the offer, and on a win-back it might be double that. 

You just run it a little differently, because you're making two offers to two different people.

For prospects, use the same offer they already got in your welcome series. They never bought, so I'm not about to hand out extra margin on top of what I already paid to acquire them. 

For returning customers, go bigger. A steeper discount or a free gift, because you already paid to get them once and now you're just buying back their LTV.

Spend a little time creating a really good offer, because without that none of the tactics below will work. 

Most brands and agencies run win back campaigns like a desperate, drunken 1 a.m. booty call to an ex.

“OMG we miss you! Come back and enjoy 15% off your next purchase”

[eye roll]

People can sense neediness and it’s not cute.

Don't acknowledge the absence and run it like a promotion

“For the next two days we're running a sale for 25% off, don't miss it”

Send one email to open the sale and one email to close the sale.

Slap the offer right in the subject line. “25% off, next 48 hours.” 

We're going for the jugular here, so don't get cute with the copy.

Ideally you set this up as an automation that runs 24/7 but you could also send it manually if you want.

If the results aren’t what you expected…

Super low open and click rates. Almost no revenue. Don’t freak out because we have one more option.

You bust through their front door like the Kool-Aid Man.

I’m not joking

Direct mail is one of my favorite channels on the planet and it's perfect for win-backs.

You already have your customers' addresses sitting right there - use it.

I’ve seen anywhere from 2x - 10x ROAS on direct mail win-back campans.

Take the same offer, slap it on a postcard, and mail it to them. 

They might never open another email from you, and that's fine, because a postcard restarts the buying cycle anyway. 

After all of that effort, there will still be a lot of people who are inactive.

Let them go. Just remove them from your list and move on with life.

Don’t be clingy. There’s millions of customers out there for you.

That’s all I got for you this week. If you’re sitting on an old email list full of inactive people and need a hand just reply to this message or click below to chat.

Catch you further on down the trail,

Ben

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