Optimizing Your Email Campaigns, from Welcome to Win Back

Tom Sather, Senior Director of Research, Return Path, writes how marketers can use email campaigns to connect with customers 

Email is one of the top channels for marketers to connect with customers, build valuable relationships, and drive ROI. To make the most of the email channel, marketers must create a cohesive, valuable customer journey consisting of many different message types—including welcome emails, newsletters, promotional messages, purchase confirmations, and more. Each of these is important, but research shows that marketers struggle to get some of them right.

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Welcome campaigns

In any relationship, first impressions lay the foundation for all future interactions. That’s why welcome messages are a key campaign for every email program. A good welcome message makes new subscribers feel valued, provides an introduction to your brand, and sets expectations as to what subscribers can expect going forward. On the other hand, a bad welcome message (or none at all) can cause subscribers to disengage from your program before you even have time to showcase its value. That’s why it is crucial for marketers to start off on the right foot.

Because they are, by definition, the first interaction with a new subscriber, welcome messages face a tougher challenge than other campaigns—both with mailbox providers and recipients. In the 2018 Email Marketing Lookbook, we found that welcome messages had one of the lowest average inbox placement rates (84 percent), as well as the highest average complaint rate (0.62 percent, compared to a recommended maximum of 0.02 percent).

The low inbox placement rate indicates that mailbox providers are diverting these messages to spam at a higher than average rate. The elevated complaint rate is a sign that subscribers either don’t remember signing up for these messages or don’t like the welcome message content—possibly both.

On the positive side, this study found that welcome messages had a high average read rate (23%). So a significant percentage of marketers are doing a good job with their welcome messages, and their subscribers are responding.

To help optimize your welcome messages, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

1. Timing: Your welcome message should arrive in the subscriber’s inbox within 24 hours of signup. You need to reach out to new subscribers while they remember why they wanted to join your email program.

2. Expectations: Make it clear what subscribers can expect from your email program. Let them know what type of content you will be sending and how often they will hear from you. Most importantly, highlight the benefits of your email program to demonstrate that they’ve made a good choice .

3. Opt-out: While this might sound counterintuitive, offering an easy way for a new customer to unsubscribe will help to limit complaints, which can impact your ability to reach your more engaged customers . 

Promotional campaigns

Promotional campaigns are the lifeblood of any successful email program. These campaigns include sale announcements, new product highlights, and special offers—basically any email that’s intended to entice the subscriber to buy. Promotional emails are by far the most common of all campaign types, making up more than 70 percent of all emails in our Lookbook study—so their success (or failure) will have a significant impact on your marketing program’s bottom line.

Our research shows that, on average, promotional emails have a relatively high inbox placement rate (91%). However, just 19% of promotional emails are read by subscribers, and 12% are deleted without being opened at all. Clearly, subscriber engagement for promotional emails could be better—although the high volume helps to ensure that promotional emails are still driving sales. Marketers aiming to make the most of their promotion campaigns should consider the following:

1. Subject lines: Most people spend just a fraction of a second deciding whether to open, ignore, or delete a given message. A well-crafted subject line can grab your subscriber’s attention and entice them to engage with your message rather than moving on. Testing (discussed below) is a great way to try out different subject line variations to see what works.

2. Segmentation: Your subscribers are unique individuals with their own behaviors and preferences, so why would you send them all the same email? You can segment your subscriber list based on many different factors, including their engagement and purchase history, the data you collect at signup, and much more. The more information you have, the more accurately you can segment your list. This will help to ensure that you’re always sending the most relevant content possible, at the right time and the right frequency.

3. Testing: The best way to ensure a successful campaign is to first test it on a small sample of your subscribers, and then use what you’ve learned to optimize the campaign for the rest of your list. Almost any element of an email can be tested—subject line, featured product, offer type, imagery, call to action, and more.

Win back campaigns

Sometimes subscribers stop engaging with your messages, without officially ending the relationship by unsubscribing. Rather than simply removing these inactive subscribers from your list or continuing to send mail as usual, you may find it worthwhile to employ a “win back campaign” as a last attempt to re-engage.

In some cases, sending a simple “we miss you” email can help re-energize subscribers—especially if it’s accompanied by a discount offer. Our research shows that, on average, win back emails saw a 20 percent read rate—which means that one in five subscribers who were previously ignoring your messages may be inspired to re-engage with you.

To take advantage of the win back opportunity, keep these things in mind:

1. Provide options: A win back campaign doesn't have to be all or nothing. Sometimes all your customers need is the opportunity to slow things down a bit, by reducing the frequency or your emails or changing their content preferences. By offering options other than unsubscribing or “business as usual,” you might be able to re-engage some subscribers on their terms. 

2. Give it time: A 2014 study on win back emails found that on average, there was a two month lag between the time subscribers read a win back email and the next time they read a message from that sender. So while win back campaigns may work eventually, it can take time. Rather than immediately removing subscribers who do not respond to a win back message, try reaching out a few more times. You may be able to re-engage more than that initial 20 percent.

To improve the overall success of your email program, take a look at each of these message types (and others) to see where you might be able to improve the customer experience. Whether a subscriber is at the beginning, the middle, or possibly the end of their relationship with your brand, you have the opportunity to turn them into a loyal customer.

Looking for creative inspiration, best in class campaign examples, or data to help you understand how your email campaign performance stacks up against the competition? Check out the 2018 Email Marketing Lookbook.