What’s a Re-Engagement email campaign?
It’s an automated email campaign that goes out to certain un-engaged emails on your list. The campaign starts after enough time has passed where that contact has not clicked or opened any of your emails (let’s say 90 days), they’ll then get sent the email re engagement campaign.
The emails sent attempt to re engage them when they confirm they want to get your emails. Or they’ll automatically get removed from your email list if they click ‘No, I don’t want your emails”.
Here’s a quick example of a re-engagement email. Look familiar?
There’s a reason companies send these to you. I’ll explain in this article why you’ll want one, how they’ll help you avoid your lists spam / junk folder and show you how they work …
Why do you need a Re-Engagement Email Campaign for your email list? How do they reduce the chances of your emails ending up in SPAM or Junk folders?
The quick answer is, if you aren’t actively removing inactive subscribers from your list and don’t have a way to do that automatically, your emails are bound to end up in more of your lists spam folders.
Having an email re-engagement campaign allows you to automatically keep your email list clean. If you’re using a marketing CRM like Keap or ActiveCampaign it’s critical to have a campaign like this in place.
If you don’t, your ability to send out emails could even be shut off by your email provider.
Over the years you might’ve noticed your average open and click through rates getting progressively lower. Or you’re hearing from regularly engaged subscribers that your emails are landing in their spam folder. Which used to never happen before…
Overall the two main reasons you want an email engagement campaign are…
- You’ll be able to get higher email open rates and click-through rates on average.
- Prevent your emails from going to your lists spam / junk folders
- Maintain a good reputation with email providers so your emails get delivered.
Email providers have evolved. Most major email marketing platforms, CRM’s and a majority of email marketers have not kept up with these same changes.
The big change has been that it’s no longer about the SIZE of your email list or volume of emails that you send…
If you do have a sizable list of a few hundred thousand contacts this puts you in a tough spot.
How Measuring Your Lists Health and Engagement of Your List Has Changed Over the Years
The most important metric to now go by is the quality and engagement of your email list as a whole.
Meaning, are the people on your list clicking or opening the emails you’re sending consistently?
If you keep emailing people who aren’t engaging with your emails over an extended period of time. Meaning, if they don’t click or open anything after 3+ months of getting your emails (inactive subscribers)…
…That’s a signal to email providers (gmail, office365, outlook, etc) that people aren’t interested in your emails. Which makes email providers more likely to then send your emails to people’s spam or junk folders.
At first it will just be for the people who aren’t engaging with your emails. Over time it lead to your emails ending up in spam for your engaged subscribers.
Email providers measure your email engagement in a way that’s similar to the way search engine rankings work.
The more people on your list that are NOT opening or clicking your emails over an extended period of time. And the more inactive subscribers that you email regularly…
…Sends more of a negative ranking signal to email providers (like Gmail) that people aren’t interested in emails from your business.
What happens if you don’t have a re engagement email campaign in your app?
If a big enough percentage of your list isn’t engaging with your emails over time, that can start to cause your emails to end up in your leads spam box. When before they’d regularly be able to get your emails.
Likewise, if a higher percentage of people are opening and clicking your emails consistently from you (AKA your engaged subscribers), that improves your email sending reputation, and is a positive signal to Gmail or any other email provider that people want your emails.
The better reputation and engagement history that you have, makes it more likely that your messages will end up in your subscribers inbox and not their spam.
If you only email your list once in a blue moon a few times a year, you’ll get crickets when you send your email out to your full list. Meaning a sub 1% click through rate and very low open rate.
This is why emailing your list consistently (at least once a month) is so important.
You can also end up on a CRM Email Server with Bad IP Ranges – If Your Email Reputation and Engagement Gets Bad Enough
Depending on the average engagement of your emails on average, that determines what IP address Keap (Infusionsoft) can send your emails out through.
If you’re consistently sending emails out to old, inactive contacts who haven’t opened or clicked any of your emails for 2+ years, your emails get sent out through an email IP address range with a poor reputation. This is for the bad kids, aka ‘the people that never clean their email list’.
If it gets that bad enough, it can get to the point where they’ll even tell you you can’t use Keap to send out emails, unless you fix your email issues. If you don’t, you can be banned from emailing using the service.
This doesn’t only apply to Keap. All other comparable marketing CRM’s and email platforms work in a similar way. If they didn’t work this way, their email deliverability would be horrible.
What’s an alternative to your CRM’s default email servers?
If you have a sizable list with a few hundred thousand contacts, you might want to consider sending out your emails through a 3rd party service with a dedicated IP address that’s unique to your brand.
This means your emails don’t get sent out through Keap or your CRM’s email service and aren’t affected by other senders using your CRM.
Your emails also don’t get flagged as coming from a marketing CRM which can be a plus. This is also a ton more work and much more complicated than normal. You’ll need to have a pro help you with this, and pay a lot extra if you plan on taking this route. Which is why it’s best for larger size companies.
Re-Engagement Email Examples You Can Use
Here’s a template of mine you’re free to copy and use. When you’re sending an email re engagement campaign you want to prioritize getting them to click, while reinforcing the main benefit they’ll get from remaining on your list.
Re-Engagement Email Template #1
Subject
Still want to hear from me %FIRSTNAME|UPPERFIRST%?
Hey %FIRSTNAME|UPPERFIRST%, It’s been awhile since you’ve opened any of my emails so I’ll cut right to it. Do you want to keep getting emails from [insert ‘me’ or your brand name] after today? Let me know what you’d like to do by clicking one of the links below... Yes, I want to stay subscribed and stay up to date! No, I don’t want any more emails and want to unsubscribe... When you choose "Yes, I want to stay subscribed" you’ll continue to get... List the main benefit of subscribing to your email list. Updates when new articles, tutorials and advice are released. List 1 additional quick benefit of being a subscriber on your list. [Or use ‘Plus much more!’] Here at [Insert Your Brand Name] we’re dedicated to helping you [insert your mission statement or main area that you help your subscribers improve]. By clicking “No” you’ll stop getting any updates, emails or helpful info from us in the future. This will automatically remove you from our mailing list. The last thing we want to be doing is further cluttering up your inbox if you don’t want to hear from us anymore. Thanks for sharing your feedback with us in advance :) [Insert Your Signature]
After sending this out as the first email, you can come up with new subject lines – using out the same email body copy. Or you can create a shorter version of the original re-engagement email to go out after. Then you need to automate triggering these emails at the right times, or sending it out to your existing unengaged list. This will vary based on the marketing automation tool that you use.
Here’s a second template you can send after the first one that you can copy and paste into your email marketing CRM. Feel free to add your own variation or sense of urgency you think is appropriate for your brand.
Re-Engagement Email Template #2
Subject
Want to keep getting my emails? [Your direct response is required to stay subscribed]
Hi %FIRSTNAME|UPPERFIRST%, It's been quite a while since you've opened any emails from me. Can you do me a quick favor and let me know if you want to keep getting [Insert your band name or ‘my’] emails in the future? Yes, keep sending me your emails and helpful info! No, please unsubscribe me from your email list... It’s my goal to help you [insert your mission statement or main area that you help your subscribers improve]. The last thing I want is to fill your inbox with more emails that you don’t have time for. If you don’t click either of the links above in this email, I’ll automatically remove you from my list. You're welcome to come back and rejoin any time. All the best, [Insert Your Signature]
After putting those email templates in place, whala! Then you have a working email re-engagement campaign.
Other Email Engagement Email Templates
Here’s some other engagement related templates you can use if you’re manually cleaning up your email list.
When subscribers reply back to your emails, that helps show email providers they want to engage with your emails and is considered a positive engagement signal that helps your emails get through to more of your subscribers inboxes.
Sending this email out can help you improve your ability to get through to your engaged emails and start conversations with people on your list that lead to sales opportunities..
Reply Re-Engagement Test – Did you get this?
Subject
Can you do me a quick favor %FIRSTNAME|UPPERFIRST%?
Hey %FIRSTNAME|UPPERFIRST%, Can you reply back “yes” to this email and let me know that you received this? I’ve had more than a few people tell me our emails have ended up in their spam. By replying back I’ll know you don’t have this issue :) Thanks for your help, [Insert Your Signature] P.S. If there’s any questions you have about anything, or any specific feedback on anything, let me know what you’re thinking. I’d love to hear from you.
Adding to that idea of starting meaningful conversations by asking for replies. You can use this type of email in the same way…
Conversation Starter Email – What Do You Need Help With Most?
Subject
%FIRSTNAME|UPPERFIRST%, if I could wave my magic wand in helping you, what would you want first?
%FIRSTNAME|UPPERFIRST% Here’s an interesting hypothetical question for you… If I had a magic wand that allowed me to do anything for you. Completely free of charge and at no cost to you… What would you want me to help you with if it could be absolutely anything? The reason why I ask is I'm always looking for ways I could improve [Insert Your Program Name] and I'd love to find out what you think you need help with most. Feel free to share your honest (and unfiltered) opinion here about anything that you think would help you. There’s no right or wrong answers here. Sky’s the limit! Just hit reply and respond back directly to this email to let me know what you think. Any feedback that you have will be really constructive for me. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me. Looking forward to hearing from you :) All the best, Your Signature P.S. I'll be reading and responding to every reply personally. I really appreciate you being on my mailing list and value any feedback that you have.
How often should you send your email reengagement campaign to your list?
If you haven’t cleaned up your list in a long time, you’ll want to manually add all your inactive subscribers to your reengagement campaign when its ready.
How do you automate your re-engagement campaign?
After that anytime a subscriber becomes an “inactive” subscriber, you’re marketing CRM or digital marketing tool should be able to automatically add them to your email re-engagement campaign.
The trigger is when 90-120 days pass without a subscriber opening or clicking a single email, they’ll get added (automatically) to your re-engagement email campaign by the trigger that adds them. Here’s an example of what that can look like…
When they re-engage with these emails, they’ll automatically be tagged as an “engaged” subscriber. And likewise if they don’t engage, they’ll automatically be removed from your list.
Here’s a before and after a client’s email open / CTR’s after we cleaned up their email list and implemented automated email re-engagement campaigns…
This is before and after the email re-engagement campaign was put in place. Notice where the difference in the open rates / clicks started overall?
Once you’ve put in place an email re-engagement campaign and cleaned up your list, it can take up to 1-3 months to start seeing a meaningful difference in your open / click rates.
You should start to see a difference pretty quickly once you start.
Need help cleaning up your email list and putting together a re-engagement campaign in your app?
Having a re-engagement email campaign in place can help increase email open rates and click through rates. This should be a must have email campaign in place in your business if you want your email marketing efforts to work. Otherwise your emails are bound to end up in spam for a large portion of your list.
It can even end up preventing emails from being delivered to your engaged customers if it goes on for too long unchecked.
Over the years, I’ve come up with my own proven process (and my own campaigns) that you can use to keep your email list engaged and keep your email list clean automatically with Keap (Infusionsoft) or ActiveCampaign.
I could help implement these systems for you. Along with making sure you’re following best practices when it comes to your email deliverability. And help you clean up your email list.
Book a free discovery call with me to find out more and finally start getting your list cleaned up.