We all know what an 'inactive' email marketing recipient is ... usually because we are one ourselves, on one or more lists. Personally, I'm subscribed to around 10 or 15 email lists, mostly because I wanted to access some content which required that I sign up. However, for the most part, I don't really open these emails any more. Yet every now and then something in one of these email marketing messages catches my eye ... and I'm sure the same is true for you! Today we break down exactly what aspects of the message help return these inactive, 'prodigal' email marketing recipients back to the land of your marketing living. 1. Identify who is 'inactive' You'll need to get down and dirty with your email marketing analytics function - find out which recipients haven't opened any of your last ten emails, or perhaps have opened one message but not clicked. 2. Segment these recipients Try to find some common factors in these inactive recipients. Are they all female? Did they all sign up for a specific report on a topic that you no longer cover? Do they all come from a city where you have no physical stores? 3. Ask them why they don't read their emails! This is the only smart way to get data about what people think of your email marketing ... anything else is nothing more than educated guesses. You can either try sending the survey out via email (with a REALLY catchy subject line!), or phoning the recipients, if you have that data. 4. Listen, and change Listen to why people don't read their emails. Never get defensive or make a single excuse ... just listen. Then analyze what you can cost-effectively change to re-engage these people. 5. Test the results Put those analytics that you used in step 1 back to work again. Find out whether your changes were enough to re-engage people. Try a couple of different strategies, including incentives and bonuses. 6. Adjust your techniques Make adjustments again based on your test results. The most important thing to remember when you are assessing the effectiveness of an email marketing system, is that every single step counts. From the way you sign up your subscribers, to the design of your messages, the bonuses they include and the subject line that introduces them. If you want to retain email marketing subscribers, you need to offer value. Find out how to create a million dollars worth of value to people, and you will become a millionaire!
Article Source: http://bizymoms.com/business
Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Email Marketing.