It is natural to think that your marketing campaigns are successful if you have a longer list. To some extent, this might be true. It means you are getting people to sign up to your email list, which is a good thing. However, the other point of view comes up once people sign in. How do you distinguish potential customers from joyrides? After all, quality is more important than quantity when it comes to your email list.
Having fewer active subscribers is vital compared to many inactive subscribers. It might be a good idea to remove inactive subscribers from your directory.
Is having Many Inactive Subscribers Harmful?
The simple answer is, yes. Inactive subscribers can do your online campaign more harm than good for you in two ways.
- You spend money to accommodate for your email subscribers. You pay more money as your list grows. Paying for people who do not open your messages is not getting value for your money. You need to weed out those who cost you without bringing in any returns.
- Inactive subscribers negatively affect the delivery rate of your email marketing campaign. Email service providers categorize emails depending on how the recipients treat them. If your delivery rate is low, your emails end up in the spam folder. If your emails end up here, the chances of the receiver opening them is very low.
Best Time To Remove Inactive Subscribers
The right time to weed out inactive mail subscribers is when planning to move to the next pricing tier. GetResponse offers different packages depending on the number of people in your directory. The lowest package of up to 1000 people bills at a monthly rate of $15. The next level, you start paying more monthly subscription fee of $40.
If your membership increases to the next level, you start paying more money. Therefore, ensure that you are getting value for money by only paying for active subscribers.
Related Post: How GetResponse Works
Finding Inactive Subscribers
Inactive subscribers are the people who fail to confirm their subscription; you got rid off from your directory or those whose emails bounced. You can find them by clicking on the search icon located in the search contact page.
Two options are at your disposal for finding the dormant subscribers. Option one allows you to view all removed, unconfirmed or bounced contacts. You can narrow down the results to the necessary list. Option two permits you to locate a list of contacts you removed for a given reason or using a chosen method.
Steps To Follow to Locate Dormant Contacts
1. On the dashboard, press the list-icon and select the search tab.
2. You will be directed to the search contacts page and from here, click the inactive link. The link indicates the number of dormant contacts linked to your account. You will proceed to the list of your inactive contacts.
3. On the list, your dormant contacts will display in categories. The three groups shown are removed, bounced, and unconfirmed. The page shows only one class at a time, but you can choose the list you want by pressing on this tab.
Find Bounced Emails, Removal Method or Bounce Type
- Go to your dashboard, click the list tab then click on the search icon
- Select the Advanced search tab found on the search contacts page. This command offers you options for your search
- Among the Advanced Search choices, opt for the lists you need.
- Select the Add condition to add more search instructions.
Your Search Condition
- Select contacts actions in the first drop down
- Scroll through the choices in the next dropdown. Click on the relevant Unconfirmed, Bounced, or Unsubscribed icons.
- Limit the possible outcomes by method or type.
- Select the Apply tab to view all the contacts that qualify for the given criteria.
- You may also narrow down the possible outcomes to an individual or entity by adding the email address or name in your search entry.
- You may also base your search on the date of subscription. This option provides newcomers a chance of opening the email before being categorized as inactive by the program; hence, your elimination criteria.
Dealing With Inactive Contacts
Locating inactive subscribers is simply the first step. You may deal with them in two ways. One is to be aggressive, while the other way is by using a gentle approach. Before choosing either of the two methods, click the “choose all” tab on the upper left-hand section of the page. This command selects all the all the entities on that page.
The Aggressive Approach
After selecting the contacts, you will have choices for your next course of action upon selecting the “Actions” tab. You can choose the “Remove from the account” option to get rid of the chosen contacts from your GetResponse account. This course of action is permanent, and the only way you can get the contacts back is if they voluntarily want to subscribe.
A Gentle Approach
You may opt for a gentle approach to deal with inactive contacts. The soft approach can be in two ways.
- First, give them a second chance to be active in your campaign. Send them a catchy email making them to engage, and if they act accordingly, this can be a good sign. However, if they do not open this email, you can delete their contact information from your GetResponse account.
- Alternatively, shift them to a reactivation campaign. In this campaign, email the group of people you move to this category two or three times a week with helpful content.
- Entice them with offers and a catchy subject. If they fail to open your email, send them to one last polite email. The email ought to outline your intentions of removing them from your active directory unless they do something that indicates that they are interested in remaining in the list. The specific course of action can be clicking a link on the final email is add a “subscribe by email” in the GetResponse campaign.
Sustaining an extensive yet ineffective email list is a waste you need to manage. Not only does it cost you unnecessary but also you risk sending your messages to the recipient’s spam folder. You must identify the inactive contacts in your email directory in GetResponse.
Identify them based on their categories such as bounced, unopened, and those you remove from the list. Once you have identified them, find the best course of action. You may choose to remove their association with your account immediately. Alternatively, give them another chance through an email seeking re-engagement or place them in your reactivation campaign.
These actions not only weed out dormant clients but also ensure your email marketing efforts have a good chance of succeeding.