Re-engage the inactive prospects on your list for new revenues and profits

A common dilemma for direct marketers is whether to remove or retain inactive names from their lists – those prospects on your list that have not opened or clicked on your email messages over a significant period of time or responded to your direct mail pieces.

On one side of the issue, many will argue that these people should be removed. Email may be affordable but there is a cost to sending thousands of emails that on the surface are not productive.  In addition, ISPs are increasingly filtering emails with a large number of inactive addresses.  Large numbers of inactive prospects can make mail ineffective and environmentally unsound. In addition, removing inactives can give a better picture of performance.

On the other side, some marketers will argue that as long as the emails don’t bounce back and there are no complaints about spam, continuing to e-mail those inactive prospects on your list could eventually spark some interest and ultimately lead to a sale. The same can be said for direct mail – sooner or later you may catch a customer’s interest.  For products with a long selling cycle, in particular B to B businesses, keeping those names could lead to a significant sale with minimal cost in maintaining them on your list.

Before cutting loose the inactive portion of your list, and rather than leaving those inactives on your list with the hope that they may some day re-engage, think of developing a customer re-engagement campaign.  This is particularly important for those with which you have had a transactional relationship in the past. You may have established brand recognition with this group, and the right approach can reactivate them as customers.  They could also be a valuable source of information – ask them why they have become inactive – the answers could help guide you in improving your marketing and selling efforts.

The right time for a ‘re-engagement campaign’ depends on the customer lifecycle.  A product or service that is consumed several times a year would launch re-engagement campaigns much more frequently than products with a long selling cycle.  Regardless of timing and frequency, marketers should be certain they segment the inactive subscribers based on their value and target messages specifically to those segments. And remember that value can mean more than revenue, such as influencing other people and building brand reputation.   Marketers must also be able to identify on and off-line behaviours specific to those segments.

Like any good marketing campaign, innovating and testing are important in developing a re-engagement campaign.  Test different methods and monitor the results, then optimize.  Several tactics can be tried: sending content that inactive subscribers would not expect; send an e-mail on a different day or time; create a ‘welcome back’ campaign with a special incentive; develop a unique dimensional direct mail piece.  And always consider running more than one form of direct marketing in your reengagement campaign.

Finally, measure the activity of re-engaged customers and build on the knowledge for future reengagement campaigns.

Transcontinental can help you re-engage your inactive prospects with an integrated marketing campaign, including database and direct marketing services.  Visit us at transcontinental-printing.com.