Dive Brief:

• An email marketing automation platform conducted research on all its win-back emails sent in Q2 2017 and found the average open rate among all the campaigns was 32.09%, and out of the top 20 performers based on revenue per recipient, 16 had three or fewer emails in the series, per a report made available to Marketing Dive. While win-back series with more emails will still get open rates over 20%, the revenue per recipient begins dropping after three emails, Phil Weltman, Klaviyo’s content marketing manager, said in a statement.
• According to the research, the top three subject lines for win-back campaigns are: “It’s been awhile,” with a 35% open rate; “We miss you,” with a 30.29% open rate, and “Discount included,” with a 27.9% open rate.
• Klaviyo also found that while discounts can incentivize inactive customers to visit a website and make a purchase, email copy can produce the same results. Some examples of successful types of copy include: updating email recipients on company happenings since they last visited the website; sharing information on new products, company policies or other changes; prompting recipients to change preferences or unsubscribe from the email list, and including a promotion or incentive in the email.

Dive Insight:

Despite all the talk about augmented reality, artificial intelligence and other shiny new marketing tactics, email is still a dependable workhorse for digital marketers. As the crucial holiday shopping season ramps up, savvy marketers should be looking at how to leverage email to reengage inactive subscribers in their database, including people who have engaged in the past by making purchases or opening previous emails but haven't engaged for a period of time. Klaviyo's research reinforces the importance of win-back campaigns, which can have a high open rate, while providing insight into how to build a successful win-back email strategy. 

The correct period of time to wait before deploying a win-back campaign is dependent on a number of factors, such as the industry and the types of products sold, according to Klaviyo. To determine what constitutes an inactive customer, marketers should define their customer buyer cycle to understand when to expect purchases. For example, furniture retailers should plan for less frequent purchases than clothing stores. Like many elements in email marketing, the timing for a win-back effort is best tested to find out how specific audiences respond to the email series.

A win-back series can be an effective email marketing tactic because it’s based on an audience that has already been proven to engage with the brand. And if the marketer includes an unsubscribe option in the win-back series, it can do double duty conducting data hygiene on the email list by culling subscribers no longer interested in the company.