Three Key Tips to Minimize Email-List Churn
It's a fact of list life: You're always going to lose a chunk of your email list to bounces, unsubscribes, and spam complaints. In the past, you might have just shrugged off this loss—typically 30 percent or more annually—because you were able to acquire new subscribers at a much higher rate than what you lost. But your ability to do so might be getting tougher now.
With consumers getting pickier about whom they want to receive email from, along with the growing constraint caused by consumer and business spending cutbacks and the prospect of tightened marketing budgets, it's more important than ever to focus on retaining your subscribers and customers.
These three strategies can help you reduce list churn and, subsequently, boost list performance.
1. Keep subscribers active and engaged
Get subscribers engaged right at the beginning of the relationship, when they are likely to make quick decisions about their email relationship with your company. These two tactics will help:
- Manage expectations before the subscriber relationship commences. Be explicit about what kinds of email you will send and how often. Show a sample email and clearly convey the value proposition.
- Launch a welcome program immediately after confirmation. This is a timed, personalized series of emails in which you greet new subscribers, review their subscription details, invite them back to your Web site to fill out profiles or set preferences, offer special new-member promotions, etc. Use recognizable sender and subject lines to make your message stand out in the inbox.
2. Reach out to inactive subscribers
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Loren McDonald is vice-president of industry relations at Silverpop, an email service provider for B2C marketing initiatives and B2B lead-management processes. Reach him via lmcdonald@silverpop.com.
