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According to EmailStatCenter, only 1 percent of 500 surveyed retailers are sending a welcome series to engage new email subscribers. And while 500 people might be a pretty small sample size, it’s large enough to know that a lot of retailers aren’t sending welcome messages to their new subscribers.

In fact, I can tell you from personal experience that I’m subscribed to the email lists of more than a dozen companies, and not one of them sent me a welcome message when I signed up for their list.

Why is it important to send a welcome message to new subscribers?

First, you want to immediately engage the new subscriber. It’s important to start building that relationship as soon as possible. Otherwise, there could be a gap of a few weeks before you send their first, regularly-scheduled email. And by that time, they may have already forgotten about you or become disinterested in your company.

Most importantly, now is the time when you have the prospect’s attention. This is your big chance to make a strong impression. You may never have their full attention like this again. They gave you their permission to send them an email, and you need to capitalize on it.

So, how can you send a great welcome message to new subscribers?

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Too much email marketing is done in a vacuum. Companies bombard their subscribers with offers they think are great, but when they don’t get the response they’d hoped for, they wonder why. In some cases, they blame it on the medium of email marketing, saying that it’s dead and ineffective.

But the truth is email marketing still works. Last year alone, it generated a return of about $45 for every $1 spent on it. In a recent survey, 57% of internet users worldwide said they’re more likely to buy a product after getting a marketing email.

Email marketing works. But it’s important for marketers to remember they’re not operating in a vacuum. More than likely, their subscribers are also subscribed to the email lists of other companies. In some cases, they may also be receiving emails from competitors.

Why does this matter? Because while you might think your free shipping offer or 20% off coupon is irresistible, they’re probably getting similar offers from the other email lists they’re subscribed to. In short, your offer is probably unremarkable when compared to all of the other offers they’re getting.

The value of your offer depends not only on the quality of your offer but also on the quality of the other offers your subscribers are receiving.

This means you have to focus on standing out in your subscribers’ inboxes. You have to make sure you really are making irresistible offers, and you have to use strong subject lines that make your subscribers see just how special your offer really is.

That’s why I’m subscribed to a lot of different email lists. I like to see what kind of offers are out there. I want to know what consumers are receiving, so I can figure out how to make an offer that feels new and exciting to them. By getting a feel for what everyone else is offering, I can better create an offer that stands out from the rest.

Take an honest look at what you’re offering your email subscribers. Is it truly irresistible?

An email marketing campaign is only as effective as your list will allow it to be. You can have great offers presented in a clean format, but if you don’t have a good list to send it to, it’s all really for nothing. So before you can get your email marketing campaign rolling, you need to focus on collecting email addresses to build up your list.

Now, I’ve talked a little in the past about building email lists, but today, I want to offer even more ways to help you reach your goals.

1. Include a signup link in your email signature—If you’re like me, you probably send dozens of emails every single day. This presents a great opportunity to further promote your email list. Include a call to action/signup link in your email signature. This way, every time you send out an email, the recipient will see the signup link for your newsletter. I bet more than a few people will click it.
2. Promote your newsletter on print marketing materials—It’s easy to get caught up only in online efforts for building up your email list, but offline promotion can be effective too. Place a call to action and a URL on your print marketing materials driving readers to a signup page for your newsletter. You can include this on brochures, flyers, and even on the back of your business cards.
3. Get emails from your direct mail list—Have a postal list that you send physical mail to? Shoot them an offer that drives them to a landing page and requires their email address before they can access the deal. If the offer is sweet enough, you’ll have a lot of people willing to sign up.
4. Push your freebies on social media—Giveaways can be a powerful tool for building email lists. But as I recently mentioned, just because you’re offering freebies doesn’t mean people will jump at the opportunity to get them. You need to actively promote your giveaways to get people interested, and one simple way to do this is by pushing them in your social media efforts.
5. Advertise your newsletter in other newsletters—Have friends in other businesses with email newsletters? See if you can work out a swap where they promote your newsletter and you promote theirs. This cross-promotion is a good way to benefit both businesses, earning you more signups.

I know you all have some interesting tactics you use to collect email addresses. Let’s hear them!

Like it or not, your email campaign has them. Every email marketing campaign does. I’m talking about inactive subscribers. These are the people who have mentally and emotionally unsubscribed long ago, but they just haven’t gotten around to actually clicking the unsubscribe button. A few traits of inactive subscribers include:

• They don’t open your emails.
• They open them but don’t click through on any of the links.
• They only occasionally open your emails (maybe when they see an interesting offer, or they just have some time to kill)

What should you do with these people? Your main goal should be to reengage them. You need to find a way to once again spark their interest so that they start interacting and paying attention to you again. You want to get them interested in your offers, and if they aren’t interested any longer, you need to know that so you can drop them from your list.

How can you reengage and win back inactive email subscribers?

• Find the inactive users—You need to segment the inactive users in your list. To do that, you have to first define what you consider to be inactive. Is it someone who hasn’t opened an email in 2 months? 6 months? Maybe someone who hasn’t ever made a purchase or clicked through on a link? Create a definition for inactive users, and weed them out.
• Create strong, aggressive win-back mailings that are difficult to ignore—These mailings should have strong offers (incentive-laden messages), and they should be sent in a series over the course of a couple of weeks.  Offer rewards to those who come back and take action. Those who don’t respond to the first message should be placed in a new segment and sent another fresh message. Those who don’t respond to the second mailing should be placed in their own segment and sent a third message.

Your goal is to either win these subscribers back, or at the very least, confirm they’re not interested so you can keep them off your main mailing list.

• Get rid of the non-responders—After you’ve given them several chances to re-engage, it’s time to cut the portion of your email list that’s just no longer interested in what you have to say. They’re doing you no good being on your list as it causes your open rates and click through stats to get all skewed since they don’t account for people who have mentally unsubscribed long ago.

How do you handle inactive subscribers on your email list? When’s the last time you tried to reengage them?

Despite the numerous reports of its death, email marketing is still alive and well. And when used properly, it can improve customer loyalty and drive up sales. Of course, at the core of most email marketing campaigns is the e-newsletter. Some companies send them each month, others send them out more often.

Unfortunately, most newsletters suck. Trust me. I receive a number of them from various companies, and I can almost never tolerate reading them. So, what can you do to get more from your e-newsletters? Here are 7 fast tips you can put into practice immediately.

1. Keep it short and easy to scan—Nobody wants to read a long email newsletter. Keep it short and sweet. And always make sure your copy is easy to scan. Prioritize your newsletter content by placing the most important information up top.
2. Get feedback from your readers—What better way to give your subscribers an e-newsletter they care about than to ask them what they’d like to see? Make it easy for subscribers to send their feedback.

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