How do you create an active and engaged list?

IBC had a database built up over several annual shows, but a large portion of subscribers had not engaged with their emails for a long time. As a result, IBC was unclear on the real size of their active audience and did not want to continue emailing contacts who had ’emotionally unsubscribed’. IBC wanted a way to clean their list and re-engage contacts who still wanted to receive emails from them.

Adestra helped them find out which list members were still interested

The IBC used Adestra to launch a two-pronged re-engagement campaign. They started by finding out what portion of their large but partially dormant mailing list actually opened their emails. Then they invited inactive users to re-activate their subscription. With their refreshed list, they were able to get better insight into their subscribers’ interests and deliver more relevant content.

IBC created a more focused list of subscribers

The IBC team designed a two-stage re-engagement strategy. The initial automation was a series of three emails sent to all contacts who had not opened an email in over two months. The emails contained content relating to the 2017 show and registration launch. If they opened any of these three emails, they were fed back into IBC’s active list and removed from the program. Anyone who did not engage during this program was fed into a second re-engagement journey – again a series of three emails, but this time with a more direct call to action asking recipients to re-activate their subscription and complete their preferences.

The emails reminded people of ‘the best bits of being part of the IBC community’. Eye-catching subject lines were used to encourage opening, for example: ‘<Firstname> Come Back to IBC Today!’ and ‘Last chance or we’ll have to say goodbye!’. Those contacts who did not open or click any of the three emails were unsubscribed.

Now, the IBC team can better understand their audience. Discover IBC’s final results by downloading the full case study below.

Download the case study