Many have heard the saying “a dollar saved is a dollar earned.” Using that logic, an email address saved would be equivalent to an email address earned. Watching people become inactive in your mailing list is a normal thing. Attempting to spark the interest of someone who once was interested but now is not is no easy task. That is exactly why I’m going to discuss how to create the ideal win-back program to help rekindle that spark in your customers eye when they think of your brand.

A Large Discount

If there is ever a good time to offer a large discount and settle for a minimal profit margin, this is the time. I always recommend leaving the best for last and users who no longer have an interest in you and your brand would fall in the “worst case scenario” category. Although I typically recommend creating a design that matches your brand and your website, this would be an exception. The recipient has obviously seen your previous emails and has yet to engage. Though promotions and newsletters, they have received it all and got no sign of interest in the process. Being creative with the design and throwing a large discount in the process might be that “something new” that will get them to click and reunite with your website once again.

A Personalized Touch

A large discount will not work for everyone. Most people need something more than an in-personal email that clearly looks like a marketing email. This is exactly the reason why my next step is to create a personalized “human-touch”. In other words, create a text only email that looks like it was sent from someone’s outlook. The idea of having someone personally take the time out of their day to write you an email shows that they care. Include the discount to have the incentive still be part of the persuasion.

A Video Message

By this point, if they still haven’t engaged you need to try something different. An idea that is completely unexpected and creative. I find that a video message from the CEO/Founder speaking directly to the inactive user will show that there are real people behind the messages and might just be enough to get the connection the customer seeks.

Final Notice

This is where we determine who is truly committed to quality and relevant content. At this point in the process, the customer has received numerous emails from you, including the 3 previous steps to this win-back program and has yet to engage. This simply tells me that the customer is either no longer interested in receiving your emails or no longer checks their email account. Either way, I recommend that you send a courtesy notice letting them know that this will be the last email contact you make. Be sure to mention the reason to why you no longer will be sending them emails and if they were wish to continue receiving future emails they can either click on a link you provide to update their mailing preferences or reply to the email for you to do it manually. Either way, you send them the email and follow up by unsubscribing them as a user. This will ensure your email list is populated with active people who genuinely want to receive your emails.

Creating a successful email campaign is full of making difficult decisions, none harder than deciding to keep a list that has only the most interested and willing recipients. Sending an email that is continuously ignored not only brings you no money but affects your reputation in a negative way that could impact whether or not the next person you send an email to receives it.