How to Re-engage Inactive Subscribers on Your Healthcare Email List

Author: Charles Berry

Healthcare is a competitive field and the internet is filled with overwhelming information about health and lifestyle. In such cases where the consumption of healthcare information is high, it becomes crucial to provide essential and authentic information to the target audience and patients. One brilliant way of educating the healthcare audience is by giving them the right information through personalized healthcare email campaigns and data-driven email marketing strategies.                   

Maintaining a strong and engaged email list helps healthcare organizations nurture patient relationships, promote services, and drive business growth. However, over time, even the most carefully curated email lists can become stagnant, with subscribers becoming less responsive or completely inactive. This presents a significant challenge for healthcare marketers: how to re-engage these inactive subscribers and improve healthcare email deliverability.

Re-engaging inactive subscribers requires a strategic approach that balances empathy, value, and creativity. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore why subscribers become inactive, how to identify them, and most importantly, effective strategies to re-engage them and optimize healthcare email open rates.   

Reasons Why Subscribers Become Inactive?                                

Before diving into re-engagement strategies and ways to boost inactive healthcare subscriber response, it’s essential to understand why subscribers may have become inactive in the first place. There are several common reasons:                  

1. Relevance of Content: Subscribers may lose interest if the content of your emails no longer resonates with their needs or interests. In the healthcare sector, this could be due to changes in their health status, new priorities, or simply because the content has become repetitive or overly promotional.   

2. Email Frequency: Bombarding subscribers with too many emails can lead to fatigue, causing them to tune out or unsubscribe. On the other hand, too few emails can lead to disengagement, with subscribers forgetting why they signed up in the first place.               

3. Overcrowded Inboxes: In today’s digital age, people are inundated with emails daily. Healthcare emails may get lost in the noise, leading to lower open rates and engagement.                

4. Personal Life Changes: Subscribers’ life circumstances may change, such as moving to a new area, switching healthcare providers, or experiencing changes in their health that make your emails less relevant.

5. Technical Issues: Sometimes, emails may not be delivered properly due to technical issues like being flagged as spam, landing in the promotions folder, or email addresses becoming outdated.

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 The Process of Identifying Inactive Subscribers              

The next step is to identify which subscribers on your email list are inactive. This involves analyzing your email metrics to determine who has not opened, clicked, or interacted with your emails over a specific period—usually 3 to 6 months, depending on your typical email frequency.                 

1. Define Inactivity: Set a clear definition of what constitutes an “inactive” subscriber for your organization. For example, you might classify a subscriber as inactive if they haven’t opened or clicked on any emails in the past 6 months.

2. Segment Your List: Use your email marketing platform to create a segment of inactive subscribers. This will allow you to focus your re-engagement efforts on this specific group without affecting your active and engaged subscribers.

3. Analyze Behavior: Look at the engagement history of these inactive subscribers. Are there specific patterns, such as a drop-off after a certain type of email or during a particular time period? Understanding these patterns can inform your re-engagement strategy. 

Effective Strategies to Re-engage Inactive Subscribers

Once you’ve identified your inactive subscribers, it’s time to re-engage them with thoughtful and targeted inactive subscriber engagement tactics. Here are some effective approaches:       

 1. Send a Re-engagement Campaign            

A re-engagement campaign is a targeted email campaign specifically designed to win back inactive subscribers. The goal is to remind them of the value your emails provide and encourage them to start engaging again.

• Craft a Compelling Subject Line: The subject line is your first opportunity to grab the subscriber’s attention. Use a subject line that stands out, such as “We Miss You!” or “Is This Goodbye?” to create curiosity and prompt them to open the email.
• Personalize the Content: Personalization is key to making subscribers feel valued. Use their name, reference their previous interactions, and tailor the content to address their specific needs or interests.
• Highlight Value: Remind subscribers of the benefits they receive from staying on your list. This could include exclusive health tips, early access to webinars, special offers, or important updates about your services.
• Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Encourage subscribers to take a specific action, such as updating their preferences, confirming they still want to receive emails, or taking advantage of a special offer.

 2. Offer an Incentive        

Incentives can be a powerful motivator to re-engage inactive subscribers. Consider offering a special promotion, discount, or exclusive content as a reward for re-engaging.

• Discounts or Special Offers: Offer a limited-time discount on healthcare services, craft targeted healthcare email content on wellness products, or a special consultation. This not only incentivizes engagement but also drives revenue.
• Exclusive Content: Provide access to exclusive content such as an e-book, a health guide, or a webinar. This positions your brand as a valuable resource and encourages subscribers to re-engage.
• Contests or Giveaways: Run a contest or giveaway where subscribers can enter by clicking a link or filling out a short survey. This adds an element of fun and can significantly boost engagement.   

3. Ask for Feedback

Sometimes, the best way to re-engage subscribers is to simply ask them what they want. Send an email asking for feedback on your email content, frequency, or overall experience.

• Simple Surveys: Create a short, easy-to-complete survey asking subscribers about their preferences, what content they find valuable, and what they’d like to see more of.
• Two-Way Communication: Encourage subscribers to reply directly to your email with their thoughts. This not only provides valuable insights but also fosters a sense of connection and engagement. To boost two-way communication leverage data appending for healthcare email lists, and send emails to relevant subscribers that have shown significant interest.
• Adjust Content Based on Feedback: Use the feedback you receive to refine your email content and strategy. When subscribers see that their input leads to positive changes, they’re more likely to stay engaged.

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 4. Segment and Personalize Further 

If your initial re-engagement efforts don’t yield the desired results, it may be time to dive deeper into segmentation and personalization.

• Behavioral Segmentation: Segment inactive subscribers based on their past behavior, such as the types of emails they used to engage with most, their purchase history, or their demographic information.
• Personalized Recommendations: Use the data you have to offer personalized recommendations, such as suggesting relevant articles, services, or health tips based on their past interactions.
• Dynamic Content: Use dynamic content blocks to tailor different parts of the email to different segments. For example, younger subscribers might see content about preventive care, while older subscribers might receive information about managing chronic conditions.

5. Test and Optimize      

It is not a one-size-fits-all approach to re-engaging inactive subscribers and boost inactive healthcare subscriber responses. So it’s important to test different strategies and continually optimize your efforts.

• A/B Testing: Test different subject lines, email content, CTAs, and incentives to see what resonates best with your audience. Analyze the results to refine your approach.
• Monitor Metrics: Keep a close eye on key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates for your re-engagement campaigns. Use this data to make informed decisions about future campaigns.
• Iterate Based on Results: If a certain approach isn’t working, don’t be afraid to try something new. Re-engagement requires flexibility and a willingness to adapt to what your audience responds to.

6. Consider a Win-Back Automation

If manual re-engagement efforts don’t yield the desired results, you might consider setting up an automated win-back email series.

• Automated Workflow: Create a series of automated emails that are triggered when a subscriber becomes inactive. This could include a reminder email, followed by a special offer, and finally a last-chance email.
• Time-Based Triggers: Set triggers based on specific time frames of inactivity, such as 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months, to ensure your emails are timely and relevant.
• Gradual Re-engagement: Start with subtle nudges and gradually increase the urgency or value of the offer to coax inactive subscribers back into engaging.

7. Know When to Let Go

Despite your best efforts, not all inactive subscribers will re-engage. It’s important to know when to let go and clean up your email list.

• Sunset Policy: Implement a sunset policy where subscribers who remain inactive after your re-engagement attempts are gradually removed from your list. This helps maintain a healthy and engaged email list.
• Send a Final Goodbye Email: Before removing subscribers, consider sending a final email letting them know you’ll be unsubscribing them unless they choose to stay. This last touchpoint can sometimes prompt re-engagement.
• Focus on Quality Over Quantity: A smaller, more engaged email list is far more valuable than a large list of inactive subscribers. Regularly cleaning your list ensures your emails reach those who are most interested in your services.

Conclusion

Re-engaging inactive subscribers on your healthcare email list is a vital part of maintaining a strong and effective email marketing strategy. By understanding the reasons behind inactivity, identifying your inactive subscribers, and implementing targeted re-engagement strategies, you can revitalize your email list and foster stronger relationships with your audience. Whether through personalized re-engagement campaigns, offering incentives, asking for feedback, or automating win-back efforts, our company provides the tools and strategies to help you reconnect with your audience. Remember, the key to successful re-engagement lies in delivering value, showing empathy, and being willing to adapt your approach based on what resonates with your subscribers.