The document discusses strategies for re-engaging inactive email subscribers to increase revenue and customer retention. It provides examples of campaigns from companies like itravel2000 and Opodo that tested different subject lines, formats, incentives and frequencies to encourage subscribers to open and click on emails again. Testing found that addressing subscribers directly to end the relationship or prompting them to confirm their preferences increased engagement over incentivizing clicks. Maintaining communication with inactive subscribers can still generate some revenue, but deliverability risks may rise if engagement does not improve.

1. The Global SaaS Leader in Relationship Marketing
Re-lighting the flame
22nd November 2011
Tim Watson
Twitter: @tawatson
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2. Some of our 3000 + clients
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3. Win-back objectives
● Increase revenue
● Avoid deliverability issues
● Gain insight for causes for dis-engagement
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4. Who is inactive?
How to separate the inactive and valuable
from the truly inactive?
Email Valuable
inactive contacts
How to win-back and return to email
engagement?
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5. Users don’t always respond with a click
When you receive an interesting email, please select up to three most likely actions you
would take from the list below?
Source: DMA Email Tracking Study 2011
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6. Nudge effect
● £70,000 generated by
subscribers who had
Mailed non- not opened or clicked
openers on the previous 25 to
40 emails – it was a
Not mailed great offer
● 14% of 2008 revenue
and 7 % of 2009
revenue generated by
subscribers who did
not open or click at all
in 2007
Source: AlchemyWorx
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7. When?
● 3 months?
● 6 months?
● 9 months?
● Depends on product or service type
● What is normal email interaction frequency?
● What is normal purchase frequency?
● When possible segment based on purchase history
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8. Win back strategy
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9. itravel2000 phase 1
Landing page
Email body
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10. Results
● Open 3.6% and click 2%
● Customers once responsive, are more responsive
● x2 difference, between once active and never active
● 80% of respondents clicked “I‟m happy with the emails”
● Even split in responses to:
● My situation has changed. I no longer intend to travel
● I'm not interested in any travel emails
● I would like fewer emails
● itravel2000 offers don't interest me
● I prefer other companies
● None of the above
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11. How to reach in-actives?
● Change your
● Tone
● Format
● Message
● Be transparent and honest
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12. itravel2000 format test
Same subject lines and body copy
Non-graphical formatted HTML text achieved 21% higher click rate
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13. From name
● Hypothesis - Filtering on the display from name?
● Test of the friendly name not email address
● Normal from name tested again CEO‟s name.
● Results
● Change in from name increased opens 33%
● Survey clicks increased 0.8%
● Unsubscribes increased 150%
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14. Competition incentive
Subject line: Subject line:
Firstname, your next click could land you $200 Are we welcome in your inbox?
Open rate increase: 28%
Click response: same
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15. Feedback comments
● I am pleased with the emails from itravel2000 informing me of discount
travel opportunities. I have personally saved a lot of money by booking
vacations through itravel2000. Thanks
● i love your website!, you save me much more than just time; allowing me to
book hotel car etc at once, you also allow me to save MONEY!
● I have been using your company couple times. Everything was good.
Especially good deal in first days in January. Thank you very much!
● My trip to Cuba was booked through Itravel2000 this past spring and
everything was great! I've been traveling to this country for the past 7-8
years and will continue to do so as long as I am able. I'd love to receive
information on any deals you may have for here as well as other southern
destinations. Thank you!
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16. Phase 2 – Two or three choices?
Invite the breakup
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17. Phase 2 – Subject lines
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18. Results
● Click response rate 4.4% (phase 1&2 total 6.4%)
● „Win an iPad, tell us if we're still welcome in your inbox‟
● Total responses reduced by 35.5%
● Absolute number of customers verifying opt-in decreased by
28%
● Prompting the breakup - „no more offers‟
● Overall response increased 16%
● Absolute number of customers verifying opt-in same
● Absolute number of customers unsubscribing increased 353%
● Follow up urgency email had 47% response rate of first email
● Conclusion
● Win subject lines results in less verified opt-ins
● Prompted unsubscribe not detrimental. Only removed those who
didn‟t want to stay anyway.
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19. Overall results
● 5.5% customers responded “don‟t change”
● 1.7% customers would prefer monthly email
● 13% customers opened/clicked emails post win-back
● Nudge effect of win-back
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20. Opodo win-back
● £20 flight voucher incentive
● Reminder of Opodo benefits
● Option of alternative channel
● Twitter
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21. Opodo – subject line test
● Is this goodbye?
● Aren't we good enough for you? Let us change your mind.
● Some good reasons for why you should stop ignoring us
● We miss you
● Was it something we said…?
Highest open rate: „We miss you‟
Highest click rate: „Is this goodbye?‟
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22. Now what?
How to handle those still not responding?
● No deliverability issue?
● Keep communicating. Still a few % revenue potential.
● Danger of low ISP engagement rating?
● Low opens and clicks, high spam complaints?
● Remove never opened/clicked, oldest subscribers first
● Reduce frequency to more recently engaged.
● Historically uncertain list hygiene and data source
management?
● Remove never opened/clicked or not opened/clicked in last 18
months
● Reach out through another channel
● Previous high value via telesales
● SMS
● Social media
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23. Open & click impact analysis
● Take a typical database with 50% of customers neither
opening nor clicking
● If frequency is reduced such that only 1 in 4 emails are
sent to inactive customers, then campaign open and
click metrics increase by 60%
● For example, 10% open rate increases to 16%
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24. Takeaways
● Don‟t ignore or blindly remove customers who don‟t
open/click
● That throws away revenue
● If the message isn‟t working
● Change it!
● Use incentives but don‟t oversell
● Test and optimise – always
● Whatever your result, it can always be improved
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25. www.emailvision.com

26. Contact details
Emailvision UK Ltd
Lynton House
7-12 Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9LT
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7554 4500
Fax: +44 (0)20 7554 4501
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