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How to keep subscribers engaged

by AJMontoya
17 replies
I've been building up a handful of lists and have been mailing my subscribers a few times a week. I have sent them both helpful articles/videos, as well as high quality PLR products centered on their specific interests. I have only tried to sell to my readers a few times but not going overboard with selling. The problem is, the open rates are dropping. The click through rates are even lower. Any advice on how to get your subscribers active again?
#engaged #subscribers
  • Profile picture of the author David Maschke
    Hey AJ,

    I'm guessing that's your name.

    It was a few years ago when I was in that niche and I built a list, but I'll tell you what I did and learned.

    During the opt-in, I told the visitor I sold resale rights and PLR stuff all the time, and if they wanted, I'd alert them when new products hit the market.

    Then when I sent messages, I really didn't know what to put in the subject line, so I just went with "New Product Alert"

    It wasn't until later that it sort of had symmetry to my original promise during the signup phase.

    That's what worked best for me, but I couldn't say if it would still work today.

    Question for you...

    Is it tough to get thru spam filters these days?

    Oh ya, one more thing. A few years ago, Mike Filsaime release his "Butterfly" script with PLR. I figured what the heck, I downloaded it and hacked the crap out of it. Kinda tough for me since I'm not a programmer.

    I called my hack "MemberClone." It allows people to copy your membership site. It sorta like keys, it both locks and unlocks downloads. Anyway, it's one heck of a Unique Selling Position, one that I have never seen before. I'm not gonna use it. Just the thought of screwing around with thousands of files and having members bug me just sounds irritating.

    So you can use it if you want, I'm going to be giving it away for free anyway.


    Dave

    P.S. Mike Filsaime said I could only give away the modified files, and not his script. But anyone can download it for free from him anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author Moneymaker2012
    Sales and marketing are great for you, but as a consumer, no one likes being constantly marketed to.
    You want their 100% attention, you need to be selective, what offers you send to them and how often you send.
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    It could be as simple as asking them what they want. A little mea culpa and a request for help.

    Just tell them that you're diligent in sending them stuff they want, but it appears you might be missing the mark. Ask them what you could do differently, and what they would love to see.
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  • Profile picture of the author Victor Edson
    Hey AJ, I'm assuming you're building these lists just for fun?

    Why else would someone give away everything for free?

    I've tried the give, give, give approach you're using and no one really 'respects' that business model. I'd recommend 2 things...

    1. build an emotional connection with people and entertain them better.
    2. sell content instead of giving it away for free.
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  • Profile picture of the author theimfactor
    Get more visual!
    Here is a link to a great article about how FaceBook is using more "visual" methods to keep subscribers engaged.

    Facebook Gets More Visual to Keep Its Users Engaged | MIT Technology Review

    Between "offers" send your subscribers informative, educational, or current event "video emails" (not just links) that you think may be of "VALUE" to them.
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  • Profile picture of the author faisalmaximus
    My personal opinion is, when I subscribe to any mail list and start receiving a lot of emails with various products/services, then I just start ignoring further mails from them. After that, if number of email gets higher, I just simply unsubscribe. So, here is a matter of thinking that how many email should be sent weekly/monthly to individuals.
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  • Profile picture of the author Henlus
    Try sending out a survey to your subscribers. Attach a valuable freebie to the survey for anyone who complete it.
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    • Profile picture of the author AJMontoya
      Wow, tons of great feedback. Thanks everyone!

      Originally Posted by David Maschke View Post

      During the opt-in, I told the visitor I sold resale rights and PLR stuff all the time, and if they wanted, I'd alert them when new products hit the market.

      Then when I sent messages, I really didn't know what to put in the subject line, so I just went with "New Product Alert"

      It wasn't until later that it sort of had symmetry to my original promise during the signup phase.

      That's what worked best for me, but I couldn't say if it would still work today.

      Question for you...

      Is it tough to get thru spam filters these days?
      David, that's a good idea. I may have to mix up the opt in page and implement something similar to what you suggested. As for the spam filters, I haven't had any issues with unsent emails or spam complaints. I had one person complain about an email they received, but that's because they forgot they opted in. :rolleyes: Other than that, no issues!

      Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

      It could be as simple as asking them what they want. A little mea culpa and a request for help.

      Just tell them that you're diligent in sending them stuff they want, but it appears you might be missing the mark. Ask them what you could do differently, and what they would love to see.
      John, I've tried this before, asking what the readers want rather than sending things I think they might want. So far, I've gotten no replies.

      Originally Posted by Victor Edson View Post

      Hey AJ, I'm assuming you're building these lists just for fun?

      Why else would someone give away everything for free?

      I've tried the give, give, give approach you're using and no one really 'respects' that business model. I'd recommend 2 things...

      1. build an emotional connection with people and entertain them better.
      2. sell content instead of giving it away for free.
      Thanks Victor, I'm actually making sure not to give everything away for free. The emails I send out are a mix of informative, motivational, and freebies. Of course, they do get the occasional sales email, but not as often. I will have to work on connecting with them on an emotional level.

      Originally Posted by theimfactor View Post

      Get more visual!
      Here is a link to a great article about how FaceBook is using more "visual" methods to keep subscribers engaged.

      Facebook Gets More Visual to Keep Its Users Engaged | MIT Technology Review

      Between "offers" send your subscribers informative, educational, or current event "video emails" (not just links) that you think may be of "VALUE" to them.
      Thanks for the article!

      Originally Posted by faisalmaximus View Post

      My personal opinion is, when I subscribe to any mail list and start receiving a lot of emails with various products/services, then I just start ignoring further mails from them. After that, if number of email gets higher, I just simply unsubscribe. So, here is a matter of thinking that how many email should be sent weekly/monthly to individuals.
      I'm right there with you. I do the same thing, so I know my readers don't want to have their inboxes bombarded everyday. I try to keep the emails to 3-5 times a week, instead of everyday like others suggest.
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        Originally Posted by xismfofx22 View Post

        John, I've tried this before, asking what the readers want rather than sending things I think they might want. So far, I've gotten no replies.
        Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

        A lot depends on how you ask. Most of the "what do you want" emails I get are actually "what should I sell you". Not that there's anything wrong with selling people things, but if people get the idea that you are only pretending to want to help them, they turn off.

        What's worked best for me is to show genuine confusion and ask for help.

        "I'm confused. I thought you signed up for my newsletter because you wanted more information and resources about [topic]. So I've been sending out stuff I thought you might find valuable. Apparently, I'm missing the mark because fewer and fewer of you are even opening my emails, much less looking at the stuff I'm sending you.

        Please help me out here. Where did I go wrong?"

        As you found out, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The only way to find out is to try it with this list.
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  • Profile picture of the author XponentSYS
    Hey, I actually posted a report I wrote about how I keep my lists engages over in this thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/make-mon...igh-opens.html

    It's a free download for warriors and a quick read.
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    • Profile picture of the author AJMontoya
      Thanks Ben! I downloaded it and will give it a read this evening

      Originally Posted by XponentSYS View Post

      Hey, I actually posted a report I wrote about how I keep my lists engages over in this thread: http://www.warriorforum.com/make-mon...igh-opens.html

      It's a free download for warriors and a quick read.
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  • Profile picture of the author arkina
    Really good interesting content, possibly connecting to something that is currently trending. Helpful things. I don't know what your niche is- but I know from the emails I get if I see a title that really grabs me, something that can help me, I click it. Everyone wants to be healthy, happy, have more time, make more money...those are all things that grab people. And they want these things to be easy. Another idea is to perhaps have contests. You can also be more interactive sending out polls or questions to your list.
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  • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
    Can you do a survey for them and see what they want then segment the list and put them where they belong. Might take a few to get most to open though.
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  • Profile picture of the author MKCookins
    I think the two big things that could help you, as a few other people mentioned, are...

    1. First ask what your readers would like to know more about. Then everyone that responds, send them a personal email message.

    This may take time, but taking time to send a personal email to everyone of your subscribers will really make them trust and like you.

    Also you can start basing your future emails, around the most popular topics you are asked.

    2. Be upfront with what you will be offering them, and how often you will be emailing them from day 1.

    When you tell people what they should expect, like 3 emails a week with useful tips, they then know when to open and look for your emails.

    Just doing these two things -- I believe will help your open rates tremendously.
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  • Profile picture of the author flovin
    Great share. Thanks all.
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    • Profile picture of the author M Thompson
      If you entertain your subscribers they'll open your emails in fact they'll email you and ask if they missed on if you don't email for a day or 2.

      So how do you do this...?

      First up you need to know what to email your subscribers about...

      So add a survey or questionnaire to the Thank you page..

      Next provide Information that's relevant to what they want..

      Rule 1... Never send an email without a link in it, it doesn't matter if it's to an article blog post or a product... you must have a link.

      Rule 2: Give the Whys and sell the How's

      Rule 3: Don't believe the Myths you get told by most marketers.. for example you'll see marketers with things like "F.ree" or "no cost" in their subject lines.... why?

      Because they've read "Free" get caught in spam filters...

      I recently sent an email with the subject line:

      "Never Put FREE in the Subject line and other myths"

      Guess what.... same open rate as normal.

      Test everything for yourself... what do you think will happen if you email almost everyday?

      Most people say you'll get unsubscribes and low open rate..

      I found the opposite... I now get a 45-55% open rate up from 20-25%

      Rule 4: The content is more important than the offer
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  • Profile picture of the author amcg
    Add value, not too often. If you look at the most effective campaigns that come into your inbox, you see this. I remember email from Apple, 37Signals etc because it's timely (i.e regular but not too much) and designed well.
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