Engaged subscribers are an asset to every marketer and business owner. They click your links, read your content, and take action. Having more engaged subscribers in your contact list gives inspiration. It is also a good indication that your marketing campaign is progressing fine.

But then, not all active subscribers in your email list will remain active. After six months or even less, some of them will likely become inactive or opt-out of your email list.

The best way to handle inactive subscribers is not to remove them from your contact permanently. A wise approach is to launch a re-engagement campaign to win them back. And here are five action steps you can deploy to reactivate your inactive subscribers. Read on!

1. Know your inactive customers or subscribers

Your first approach is to identify those who are not responding to your email messages. You can identify them by the length of time they have been inactive. And the two factors that can help you identify them based on the period of inactivity are:

• Your send frequency – How often do you send out emails?
• The type of business (products or services) that you offer.

These two factors will help you identify your inactive customers or subscribers quickly. For instance, if your product has a shorter sales cycle, then inactive subscribers would be those who haven’t opened your last five email campaigns. If your marketing is seasonal, then it will take close to a year or more for any subscriber on your list to be tagged inactive.

2. Segment your inactive subscribers into groups

Your re-engagement campaign needs to target the right persons. So once you identify your inactive subscribers, divide them into various segments. One segment might contain those who haven’t clicked any of your links since they signed up. Another can have subscribers who were once active but are no longer responding.

You can also have a segment for inactive subscribers based on purchasing habits or for any data you feel is vital to your re-engagement campaign.

3. Pick a powerful subject line

You need to come up with a subject line that will convince your contacts to click on your link. Remember you are dealing with people who have little to no interest in your product or service. So you must work hard to create a captivating headline that will create that urgency in them to click and read your content.

One easy step to build a compelling subject line is to write at least two or more subject lines for the same content. Then use the CoSchedule Headline Analyzer to check the score for each headline. You can make use of the headline that has the highest score.

4. Build your content

At this stage, you already know your inactive subscribers and placed them in different segments. Bravo! Your next step would be to create top-notch content that will awaken their interests.

Again, content drafted for inactive subscribers who haven’t clicked any of your campaigns will be different from those who were once active. Keep that in mind when writing your content.

Below are tips to help you write killer content.

• Make it concise and straightforward. No time for fluff or beating around the bush.
• Edit your content ruthlessly to eliminate errors.
• Use a compelling CTA (Call to action).
• Make your readers believe you need them.

If you are not a good content writer, you can hire a freelancer or set up a remote team to help with this task. Let them handle the content-writing aspect while you do the sending since you have a better idea of your subscribers.

5. Introduce some incentives

You can’t catch a fish without bait. Same goes for your inactive subscribers. If you want most of them to click, read your content, and take action, offer something that will be difficult for them to turn down. But then, you should never make promises you cannot fulfill. Your incentives should also be of great value to your subscribers.

Below are incentives you can use to lure your inactive subscribers:

• Coupon
• Promo code
• Free eBooks
• Online contest

You can also use online surveys or polls to attract your subscribers. Ask them to complete a survey or poll to win a gift. You can offer free eBook, promo code, or bonus as the gift. Data from the surveys or polls can also enable you to understand your inactive subscribers better and take the right steps to win them back.

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