We talk about the importance of building and maintaining an email list all the time: your list is an essential plank in your author platform, and it contains the names of your biggest fans. That’s why it’s so easy to focus your email efforts on your most active subscribers. After all, clicks and opens are what email marketing is all about, right? Well, the conventional wisdom around the value of inactive subscribers is shifting. As it turns out, there’s a lot more to successful email marketing than opens and clicks. Although your inactive subscribers may cause you to scratch your head, wondering why they stay subscribed, they are much more valuable than you think!
Before you decide to “prune” your list and remove your inactive subscribers, we encourage you to take a moment to consider their true value.
Why Inactives Are Still Important
If you’re like most authors, you probably assume that the inactive subscribers on your list are people who may have been interested in your books at one time, but your appeal to them has worn off. The truth is actually more complicated than that.
- Inactives see your subject lines, so they’re exposed to you and your message on a regular basis; your emails aren’t being ignored — they’re being experienced like billboards on the highway
- According to research, inactives account for about 40% of email subscribers; this is an enormous audience, so you can’t just dismiss them
- When accounting for the actual revenue generated through email activity, each inactive subscriber is worth one third of an active subscriber — there’s a lot of value there!
Another thing — you’re probably comparing your inactive subscribers to your active subscribers, but what if you compare them to readers who haven’t signed up for your list?
- Subscribers convert about 25% more often than non subscribers, whether they’re active or not
- Subscribers spend about 6% more than non subscribers
- Inactive subscribers are a lot more likely to return to buy additional books from you than readers who have not signed up on your list
Basically, your active subscribers are easy to focus on because they are your biggest, most loyal fans. However, that doesn’t mean that inactive subscribers are ignoring you. In fact, they are exactly the group you should appeal to as you move your campaigns forward. If you don’t, you’re potentially leaving a ton of sales on the table.
Tips to Work With Your Inactive Subscribers
Now that you recognize the value of your inactive subscribers, it’s time to develop a strategy for dealing with them. In the past, you probably bought into the conventional wisdom that said to prune them, but that’s no longer an option!
So how do you move forward with your inactives?
- Begin by identifying them; create a list that contains the email addresses of those subscribers who have not opened or clicked in the past six months
- Avoid the urge to remove them from your list (even though that goes against the conventional wisdom you’ve been fed in the past)
- Work to re engage the inactive subscribers by creating custom content, incentives and offers
- Perform A/B testing on different subject lines to analyze the types of language that inspires inactives to become active
- Remember to look at the big picture — these subscribers may not be as valuable as your active subscribers, but they are considerably more valuable than readers who avoid signing up for your list
Your Inactive Subscribers Are a Potential Gold Mine!
As an independent, self-published author, you need to take advantage of every edge and opportunity you can find. Your email list is the biggest key to your success, but you’ve got to maximize its potential. That means focusing some attention on inactive subscribers. These readers may not be as vocal in their support as your active subscribers, but they are incredibly valuable. Keep working on sending awesome emails and building engagement — this group will reward you!
