 My previous article showed how to boost your email list's performance by pruning off inactive readers. But, reducing your list size is a hard sell internally for most organizations. How do you get better results when you have fewer addresses? There are many answers to that question. One of the most important is to prevent email addresses from going inactive in the first place. This means treating your newest subscribers more carefully than you are right now.
New email subscribers are like milk: They have a "better-by" date on them, which means you should handle them carefully to avoid spoilage.
Typically, these are your most enthusiastic subscribers. However, if you ignore them, or turn the heat up on them too fast, they'll curdle.
Avoid this sour-milk scenario by handling newcomers differently from the rest of your email list in the first weeks or months of your subscriber relationship. Consider doing the following:
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Immediately after opt-in, launch a welcome program or series of emails that builds on your subscriber's high engagement with you.
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Track new subscribers' actions -- opens, clicks, and conversions -- during this "incubation period," and be ready to step in if you detect weariness or inactivity.
I'm amazed at how many email marketing programs either dump their newcomers right into the standard message stream or ignore them until the next scheduled mailing, by which point the expiration date has already passed on many of these new email addresses.
A good email welcome program helps get subscribers on board with your email program quickly, while not overwhelming them with your standard email marketing. This can help you reduce spam complaints, unsubscribes, and inactivity down the road.
A thoughtful welcome program is especially important if someone is subscribing from an affiliate website, where your email subscription was a checkbox next to everyone else's. A welcome letter from you will help you stand out.
The first step
Remember to launch a "welcome" message right after subscription confirmation. Here are the key elements to include:
1. Thank the subscriber for the opt-in and repeat the email address, format, frequency, and items subscribed (also called "managing expectations").
2. Invite the subscriber back to your website to fill out preferences or a profile page, or to fine-tune the subscription for format, frequency, and interests if this didn't happen at opt-in.
3. List contact information for your company (email, web address, postal address, telephone, Twitter, Facebook page, etc.).
4. Link to your current email newsletter or offer, or to past content. If you have an e-newsletter, chances are the content is still relevant. If your special offers have expired, subscribers can still get a taste of what they can expect.
5. Provide the link to a thank-you gift, such as an online coupon, downloadable white paper, discount, etc. An incentive helps to reinforce the value of your email messages and to encourage what you hope becomes a habit -- opening your email. If you hand it out at the same time they opt in or before they confirm, you are practically begging subscribers to ignore your email once they get their hands on the prize.
6. Link to your unsubscribe page in case the subscriber changes his or her mind.
7. Use the same sender name and address as your regular emails but have a stand-out subject line. For example, "Welcome to Your Brand Offers!" You can load a thank-you web page with this information, but it doesn't replace the email follow-up -- especially if you use only single opt-in to collect the address.
The next step
Following your initial welcome email, create a series of timed emails designed to nurture and build engagement. These emails should help deepen the customer relationship. A few examples:
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Messages that you have sent to the general list that have gotten the best results in the past -- in other words, your greatest hits.
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A short survey asking subscribers how they like your emails so far. Link to your preference pages in case they want to change things around or just get out.
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Tips and advice for using your products or services more effectively, or a list of cool things to check out on your website.
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A top 5 or 10 list of most-popular products or articles, as rated by other customers or subscribers via purchases, views, or clicks.
Track subscriber activity during incubation
Your incubation period -- before you move newbies from the welcome program to your main messaging program -- will depend on your email cycle. If you email frequently -- weekly or more often, especially if you send broadcast rather than segmented or triggered email campaigns -- you should track actions more closely in the first 10 to 20 campaigns. You may even want to modify the number and kinds of email you send besides your welcome-program messages.
During the incubation period, track subscriber activity closely. You should be following all subscribers for opens, clicks, and conversions, but separate out your newcomers and see if their actions diverge wildly from your older addresses.
Also, track the source of different newcomers. You likely have a variety of ways people opt in to receive your email. Do they perform differently? Do conference attendees need more of a push than website subscribers? You might find that the tons of leads your affiliates are pushing your way aren't worth the email bandwidth.
This tracking stage works closely with the staggered schedule you use to send out your follow-up welcome emails. Watch for spam complaints, unsubscribes, and inactivity on these and your regular program emails. Be ready to make changes if you detect spikes.
Why it's worth the effort
A welcome program does take some time up front to create messages and a schedule for sending them. However, it pays dividends quickly by increasing engagement and reducing subscriber backlash or inactivity. In addition, you'll have a better handle on how to help newcomers become satisfied veterans and brand advocates.
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About the Author
Wendy Roth is senior manager of training services for Lyris. She works closely with marketing professionals to help them use Lyris' solutions to achieve their highest online marketing objectives, and she collaborates with product development to ensure Lyris' products are based on marketers' changing needs. This article was originally published on iMedia Connection.
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