Effective email marketing requires more than merely keeping in touch. If your subscribers aren’t engaging, it’s time to revisit your content and approach. On average, 60% of subscriber lists are inactive, so you’re clearly not alone. Consider the following steps to bring a lethargic list back to life!

Identify Inactive Subscribers

The first step to reviving sleepy subscribers is to understand who they are. Move these subscribers to a separate list where you can analyze further and plan your approach. Why do people stop engaging? Well, it could be inconsistent frequency, lackluster subject lines, poor quality content, an aggressive sales approach or “all promo and no value”. Once you’ve figured out who, it’s time to test out different approaches in order to re-engage them.

Rebuild Your Relationship

There’s a reason people subscribed to your email list in the first place. Look back at your most successful emails (those with the highest open rates and click-thru rates) and figure out what they have in common. Is it the content, the layout, subject line— or all of these combines? Strategize a way to implement these elements into future emails.

Keep It Consistent

Consistency is important when developing trust with your audience. A regular email schedule will keep the engagement alive. Email automation is a great way to regularly keep in touch with your subscribers, but don’t forget that emailing too frequently can get irritating! Sending one email per week is the most common frequency if you’re delivering content (not promotions), but every audience is different. Some product sites deliver specials daily, and that works for them. Other organizations send monthly with success. The only way to get it right is either to survey your readership and ask for their preferences, offer frequency options in their online subscription account, or test several approaches and let the data speak for itself.

Know When It’s Time To Say “Goodbye”

No matter how much effort you put into it, some subscribers may never be receptive. People can either be too busy or not know how to unsubscribe from your list—or perhaps they no longer use the email address they originally used to subscribe. Whatever the case may be, it might be time to say “goodbye” to these inactive subscribers and remove them from your list manually. Try these strategies to grow your subscriber list and replace the inactive with the invigorated!

Remember, a small, highly active subscriber list will always trump a large list with very low engagement. As with most digital marketing, quality wins over quantity.