5 Reliable Methods For Email Subscriber Retention

I still remember the time when I first began gaining subscribers, I was a little clueless, motivated, and willing to conquer the world of email marketing. Ah, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.

As newbie marketers, we are all somewhat in the same lane, we’re desperate to do whatever it takes to get on top of the game. We get so absorbed in our goals of achieving maximum subscribers, that we forget about the people who have already chosen our brands.

Some particularly important aspects of strategizing for email subscriber retention include your email design, optimization of the CTA button, quality of opt-in subscribers, consistent and helpful content, and re-engagement campaigns.

Personally, I feel that there isn’t enough talk about subscriber retention- and for valid reasons. It is natural to be focused on growth and growth only, and thus we leave out an especially important factor: maintenance.

In today’s blog, I will be discussing some quite reliable tips on how to keep your subscribers happy and engaged.

TABLE OF CONTENT
1/ Hyper-Personalization
2/ The 'OPT-IN' Guide
3/ Consistency FTW
4/ Email Design
5/ Re-Engagement Campaigns

1/ Hyper-Personalization

The most important question that crops up after gaining a good number of subscribers is how you would keep them happy and engaged. More importantly, how to prevent them from unsubscribing?

Well folks, here’s where personalization comes in. Personalization in email marketing is a chunk of the puzzle. By delivering hyper-relevant messages to the inbox of individuals or groups of customers, you show your customers you truly “get” them. It makes your customers feel important.

Here are five personalization strategies for you to try today!

• With advanced behavioral tracking, you can create sections within your list of email subscribers that are segmented into distinctive audiences based on activities such as purchases, feedback given, rewards earned, amount spent, etc.
• Placing product recommendations in emails is an underutilized personalization tactic. This can not only enhance the relevancy of your emails, but it’s a smart way to increase your sales and order value too.
• I also recommend sending re-engagement campaigns for subscribers on your list who have not opened or clicked on an email from you in a while. This is crucial to get them back to interacting with your brand.
• Personalized email campaigns requesting customer feedback are also an important form of initiative-taking customer support. It also helps in gathering data that can be used to create more personalized campaigns.
• Building up a VIP segment that adds customers who reach more than the average spending threshold is a straightforward way to automate rewards for your loyal customers. An added incentive is that your sales might boost from the charm of the VIP benefits.

2/ The ‘OPT-IN’ Guide

I am sure you’ve heard the term opt-in being thrown around like confetti in this arena of marketing. Unless you have prior experience in marketing, it can get tricky to understand opt-in subscribers in the initial phase.

In the most minimal terms, opt-in subscribers are the ones who receive and read your emails because they wish to. The whole point of opting in is that the subscribers have permitted the said marketer to send them marketing emails.

I think it’s clear how important creating an opt-in form is. It could be for free content such as a template, quizzes, free classes, audio meditation, or simply a PDF checklist. The possibilities are endless!

In layman’s terms, your subscribers will be happy ONLY if they have consented to receiving your emails, and not under force.

Confused about where to start? When I started out with email marketing, I included a short bio explaining who I am and what I did, an incentivized opt-in, ways to contact me, links to other sections on my website, and a simple email subscription form that asked for consent. Easy, right?

After doing the above, the task gets a little real. Driving the initial traffic to your opt-in can take some time. As we have already discussed, a surefire way to do that is by sending personalized emails to your recipients. Offering free trials, special offers or any incentive also goes a long way!

I always recommend considering double opt-in because these individuals are less likely to unsubscribe or make spam complaints. It also defends your list from suspicious activity because you can check that the owner of the email address was the person who signed up to receive your emails.

3/ Consistency FTW

Email marketing tools have become so self-sufficient that they end up doing everything for you. The only crucial task left out is designing and planning strong content. Remember, content is your main player here.

However, it should be noted that merely sending out quality content won’t suffice. Consistency comes to play here. To really leave a mark on your recipient’s mind, you need to plan your content calendar in such a manner that your subscribers don’t forget you. Here are some pointers for you to plan out the schedule for sending out your newsletters.

• Stick to a consistent schedule, and try not to miss out on a single email.
• Don’t overdo it. Keep in mind that you don’t want to frustrate your customers with a huge influx of marketing emails regularly.
• Do not send out your mail to your entire list at once. Organize them into groups to pave a path for personalization.
• Remember to send out a welcome mail to every new recipient who opts- in. Welcome emails get a whopping 85% higher open rates than regular emails. Moreover, it makes a good first impression.
• Consistency should be in perfect coordination with quality. It would make no sense if you sent out a bland email every day. That would have a negative impact on your open rate.

I have often talked about consistency in your campaigns, that’s because it is the simplest yet most efficient key to keeping your subscribers engaged.

A good email marketer and a loyal subscriber are two connected dots. There needs to be an equal exchange of engagement from one side and content from another.

4/ Email Design

Designing your emails in such a manner that pleases your readers can have a lasting effect. A useful design goes a long way!

One of the most important trends I recommend when it comes to design is to keep it responsive. By building your emails responsive, more people will be able to open and engage with them. By getting your responsive design correct, you’ll be able to present your products and services to all your potential customers without the trouble that they can’t access them at any given time.

Email design will help you analyze your recipient’s behaviors. Subscriber behavior is the key to subscriber retention. By learning how your audience responds to specific design elements, you’ll ideate how to refine your approach for the highest engagement. Here are some interactive element ideas for you:

• Build attractive carousels with AMP.
• Use videos that identify with your niche.
• Use gamification elements like customer points and feedback.
• CSS animated buttons are visually pleasing.
• Embedded forms increase user engagement.

Hyper-personalization and dark mode are some more trends that you should definitely check out!

Here are some more options for you that can help you build a brilliant design for your new campaign:

• Go for a design that fosters increased privacy.
• Including the relevant data in your email helps win your customer’s trust.
• Including social proof, for example, customer reviews, in your email design shows your credibility.
• Using animated elements in your email design is always an attractive idea.
• Avoid too generic images in your email. Get a custom graphic designed as per your brand to build trust and consistency.

I think you’re now ready to design (or re-design maybe?) your email in such a manner that makes your subscribers realize how hard you’ve worked!

5/ Re-Engagement Campaigns

Let’s be honest. No matter how good your product is, no matter how strong your marketing strategies are, there will always be customers who drop out of your subscription.

Although a few tactics, like proper engagement, feedback surveys, and personalization may reduce the number of subscribers lost, it is certain that some subscribers will eventually stop. However, that does not mean you totally give up on the customers you lost.

Customer reactivation is a highly efficient and cost-effective way of addressing lost customers. Unless a customer changed their email address, the email sent to the unsubscribers will be recognized and opened.

Here are some tips for your re-engagement content:

• Give your contacts the value of staying subscribed. This could be anything from brand updates, discounts on new products, or exclusive offers for subscribers only.
• The use of empathy is also a great tactic. This can be an emotional message or a humorous animated gif that shows what it feels like without those customers. Be creative.
• Assure those customers that you would be glad to have them back. Encourage them by adding a CTA button in those emails.
• Asking questions like “What changed between the time you subscribed and now?” helps those customers remember why they signed up for your list in the first place.
• It should be noted that you can’t appear desperate. Brands thrive on reputation and self-respect, don’t try way too hard. You can add an unsubscribe button at the bottom if needed.

Wrap Up

It can be overwhelming when you’re navigating the email marketing world as a beginner, and you see subscribers opting out. Don’t worry. I promise you we are all in the same boat.

The above tactics are surefire ways to boost your traffic, thus improving engagement and subsequently your subscriber retention. The only thing that you need to have is patience.

Good luck out there, see you on the top!