My last several blog posts have been about why you need to re-engage email subscribers who have stopped reading your emails.
However, you can’t just throw people right back into your standard email sequence. Well… you can, but you might piss them off and cause them to unsubscribe, which means all your re-engagement efforts would go to waste.
Instead, take the time to set up an automated warm-up sequence to remind your re-engaged email subscribers why it’s worth it to be on your list. Deliver value before you start selling again. That way, your subscribers appreciate what you do for them and are more likely to buy.
Why Do You Need to Re-Engage Email Subscribers Before Selling Again?
Wasn’t the whole point of setting up a re-engagement email campaign to get them back on your regular list?
Yes, it was.
But if you are truly building a relationship with your subscribers, you should take a moment to catch up with them before asking them for money.
Think about it. If you had just reconnected with a friend you hadn’t talked to in a while, you’d ask what they’d been up to so you could make sure you didn’t accidentally say something stupid. You’d want to tell them what had happened in your life as well.
Instead of dumping your re-engaged subscribers straight back into the fray, as if nothing had happened, let them know what they missed while they were gone. Catch them up on the important stuff that has happened in your business, especially as it relates to them and their hopes and dreams.
What to Catch Up On with Your Re-Engaged Subscribers
Just like you would with an old friend, tell your subscribers what they’ve missed.
For instance, if your company moved or expanded, you want to let your re-engaged subscribers know where they can find you and how to contact you.
If you have a blog, share recent blog posts they may have missed.
If you started an online forum of some sort, like a Facebook group or LinkedIn group where they can talk to you and fellow subscribers/customers, make sure they know about those new opportunities to connect.
Find out more about them and what they want from your products or services using a survey or quiz. Then, you can customize the rest of your warm-up campaign to each subscriber, based on their responses.
The point of the warm-up campaign is to make your subscriber feel welcome in your virtual community again, like a friend who has been out of touch.
Rebuild the Relationship by Offering Value
Personally, I recommend offering content to your re-engaged subscribers. It provides value right away, as well as re-introducing them to your business, products and services.
Why does value matter?
Because when you give something of value to someone, mentally it sets up an obligation in their head to return the favor.
By providing value to your re-engaged email subscribers, you’re priming them to return the favor by buying your products and services.
Obviously, you want to make sure the value you provide is useful to your subscribers. That’s why I mentioned the survey in the last section. A survey can help you segment your subscribers, so you’re always delivering content that applies specifically to them.
As for what to send your subscribers, I recommend:
- Recent blog posts, especially if they’re relevant to the lead magnet your subscribers opted in for originally.
- Recent lead magnets they may not have received while they were “away.” You can position these as “welcome back gifts.”
- Podcast episodes you created, or that you were featured in.
- Articles you have published on other platforms or in magazines or newspapers.
- Articles or interviews about you and your company published on other platforms or in magazines or newspapers.
Your Email Sequence and Cadence
The next question is: How many emails and how often should you send them?
I recommend 3-5 emails, depending on what you sell and the average length of your sales cycle. If your customers take a while to convert, send 5 emails, if it’s usually an easy sell, your warm-up sequence can be shorter.
Start with a welcome back email that arrives in their inbox as soon as they click on a trigger link in one of your re-engagement emails.
Then, send the rest of your warm-up sequence every other day over the next several days. You want to send these emails more frequently so you can retrain your subscribers to open emails from you.
Make sure you tell your re-engaged email subscribers how often you’ll be emailing to begin with in your welcome back email and ask them to look for your emails in their inboxes. In addition, remind them how often you’ll email them once they’re through this sequence.
In your final warm-up email, remind them again how often you’ll send emails, so they know to expect them.
Telling your subscribers how often you’ll email serves two purposes:
- It lets them know when to look for your emails in their inboxes.
- It sets the expectation for how often they’ll hear from you.
The second purpose is very important. People want to know what to expect in any relationship. Being upfront about how often you’re sending emails (and sticking to that cadence) shows that you respect their time and appreciate their attention.
Easing Your Re-Engaged Email Subscribers Back into Your Regular Email Cadence
Once your subscribers have gone through your warm-up sequence, you can start selling again.
As always, give value before you ask for the sale. Your subscribers will show their appreciation by clicking the “buy now” button.
I’m getting ready to teach a new course on how to create a re-engagement email strategy, write the emails, and automate the entire system, so your email lists cleans itself of unengaged subscribers and helps you re-engage the subscribers who disappeared for a while, so you can convert them into paying customers.
Join the waitlist now to find out more about the upcoming course.