Re-engage email lists that I haven't emailed in 1-2 years...

You will have to re-introduce yourself. I wouldn't just blast out an unknown email to your list. I would warm them up, get them to remember you, get them to love your product(s) again.. and then eventually pitch them on your new product. Usually i would say don't use humor in your marketing... but in this case, i would recommend it.

Great advice so far everyone. I really, really appreciate this great feedback.

Do you all think I should link to my product's sales page in the first email (after I do what you all recommend with the re-introduction and explaining why I don't bombard them with emails)?...

Or do you think I should do some kind of series where I give away a few things, link to good free blog posts, or just write several helpful emails? ...then hit them with a sales email after a couple days of this?

This is something I've recently done, and I highly recommend you make a quick video with some valuable information/tips. When it's a cold email, a human face and charisma can make people feel connected to you right away.

I agree...video can help.
almost as much as making sure they remember (and liked) the products you sold them before

Chris

3 years is a LONG time on the Internet. Many email addresses would no longer be used and I would imagine majority of the people are no longer interested in what you have to offer. Think about what you were up to 3 years ago and how much has changed in your life since then.

Sorry but that's just the reality of the situation. You may be able to 'rescue' some of them but you'll have a hard time finding an autoresponder that will want to take on lists that are so old and have not emailed. Unless you have them in an autoresponder already in which case you want to be careful because if you end up with a ton of bounce and unsubscribes, they could deactivate your account.

I would at least reach out to the service you are planning to send the emails through before doing so.

you definitely need an introductory text. who you are, something to remind them who you were when they subscribed. then you have to mention that you did not contact them now after 3 years just to sell them your new product...

You're going to have one helluva job! Climbing Everest on a pogo stick would be easier.

Send out a broadcast with a subject something like...
"I'm Back! ... Here's Your Super Free Gift"

Re-introduce yourself and tell them what you've been doing. Then give them something really good... And promise them more.

Good luck! (You'll need it!)

You will need to clean your list before you even email them. Use email cleaning service to remove hard bounces and invalid emails before you start emailing them.

Hey guys,

What do you think about giving a way a 3 day mini course in a related subject? With 3 steps...

The first 2 steps will just be good free content ...then the 3rd day will be some helpful information but will require my new product to complete.

I could either just start sending them this 3 day series OR drive them to a squeeze page and make them opt in (and maybe get some segmentation)...

What do you think of this?

Should it just be 1 free .pdf they opt in for ...or a 3 day mini course they opt in for?

Should I just send this to them ...or make them opt in at a squeeze page?



And what do you think of this email?



----------------------------------------------

Hi there ____,

I know it’s been a while …but this is ___ from _____.

About 2 years ago you signed up on my email list to get information I was working on that would help you [talk about benefits they wanted].

I'm not someone who emails you unless I have something to say...

My small team and I have been working really hard on a little (free) mini-series that will show you [talk about benefits]!

You can check out this free publication here:[opt in page at my website for mini-series]

[tell them this won't be hard with the mini-series ...i.e. sell it]

I want you to have this as my way of saying thank you for being a valued newsletter subscriber (and it’s also my way of saying sorry I haven’t kept in better touch)!

Again, if you want to get the free mini-series, please go here: [link to opt in page]

I hope you enjoy it! And please… let me know about the great results you get!

Talk soon,
________
---------------------------------------------------

...or maybe just start sending them the 3 part series (don't make them opt in) and if they want to take part 3 (on the 3rd day) to the next step they can opt in to learn more.

Then when I have that interested segment I'll do a promotion of my new product to them...

Any thoughts on that? Or on the previous strategy I suggested?

This is a tricky one, I would do something that's a mix of what has been suggested.
My experience with old, disengaged lists shows that they can be painful. You can end-up with a high bounce rate (and with high, after two years, I mean 20% +)

So if you are planning to send it through your primary mailing infrastructure, be sure to cleanse it before. Depending on the size and on the service you choose, this can be expensive. I've been using briteverify, in the past, with mixed feelings - but it surely helps.

Then, I would suggest to re-opt in these customers into another list, especially if you plan to construct a new relationship with them after this single offer. If you just want to sell this single product, then it is not really the case.

Then...do A/B tests, if the list is big enought. You want to see which is the best sending day/time and subject. Take your time.

Finally, I think the copy is too long. I would go for a very short message, possibly with a bit of humour, a very visible call to action... and I'd rather explain what the product is and the benefits in an appropriate landing page.

In my opinion that list is probably burned out and the response rate will be abysmal.

If you are going to try and try to get some life back in the list then you will probably want to start off with a email explaining on who you are, why they are getting the email and probably a link to a page with a video that reintroduces yourself and briefly goes over everything you said in the email.

That will probably be your best bet to try and bring some life back to the list.

I did this, but got it wrong a bit. I went straight into saying Hi again, have a look at this......

It wasn't an offer or anything that cost people money but I think you need to remind them of "That thing they signed up for" before actually going into new information, even if its free.

Sidenote: Wouldn't try any offers for a while too

Email them straight out and tell them the truth and that you are sorry for not keeping in touch. And why not ad a free gift in that initial mail to even make it more valuable?

I think that a great method of reviving your list is to reintroduce yourself with a free offer that provides value in exchange for an opt-in to segment your list.

have them re-optin in another list, most of the owners of these email addresses doesnt know you by know or changed email address already, so what i can suggest is try to re-opt in some active users again by giving in some good info/freebies or a trap like if they subscribe again to your new list they get a freebie

I would not sell to them right away. Get them to know you. Talk about yourself.

Do this in your first few emails and then start to promote what ever you want. Worst thing that can happen is that no one buys and you get a lot of people to unsubscribe.

Email lists are about relationship building and you don't have an established relationship with these people. You had a large list (of possibly responsive subscribers who took time to double opt in) and you ignored them. So now, they will have no reason to respond to you. And, now you will possibly have to build another list for your new product.

Hey I was in a similar situation. I had a old backup of one of lists and completely forgot to load it up into my current autoresponder. It was about 1,000 names that could of been making me money haha.

Anyways I imported them to GetResponse and sent them an email to one of my squeeze pages to get them to re-optin.

The copy was something like:

"Hey this is Edwin and its been a while since I last emailed you.

I was wondering if you're still interested in making money online? If so click here:

http://mywebsite.com

Thanks!

Talk soon,
Edwin"

I used an email almost identical to the one above. Since you're trying to re-engage people try to get the click so make the copy as blind as you can.

Another way to re-engage is sending them free content, but I like getting people to re-optin so I don't waste money on dead subs.