Like many people, I have dedicated a specific email account for my retail email newsletter sign-ups. What I have noticed of late, is that I only check this email account occasionally and have now accumulated an enormous number of unread messages. From time to time, I may scroll through the list of email subject lines to see if one grabs my attention. I may also refer to this mailbox to check for a coupon or offer while waiting in line to make a purchase.

For the most part, I am pretty much the “unengaged subscriber” that occupies many marketers email lists.  I am not alone and likely in good company with many email subscribers.

Some marketers may drop my unengaged email address from their list in 6, 9, 12 months to keep their list “clean”.  They may send me more emails to try and “re-engage me”. The may just keep sending me emails forever in hopes that I may one day open and click their message to potentially become a conversion.

What is an Email Marketer to Do?

By adding additional channels to your marketing mix, you can keep your subscribers engaged with your brand and message, and potentially find better ways to connect with your customers.

3 Ways that Marketers Can Engage Their Customers Better Using Additional Channels

1. SMS – Mobile Text: Many marketers are giving their customers the option to receive their marketing newsletter through an SMS Text message.  This direct method can be very productive for engaging your customers with immediate notifications and can also be a very effective method for re-engaging those subscribers who stopped opening your emails.

For unengaged emails – have you consider that your customer may have abandoned the email account that they were using to receive your emails?

With SMS text messaging you can send your customer a text message with a custom link to have them update their email address. (this could be made into an automated process to save a customer and keep them connected to your marketing messaging!)

2. Push Message:  Whether you have your own mobile app, a Web page, or if your customers use a web browser, it is possible to send a push message to your subscribers.  As long as you are able to detect that it is your subscriber, a push message can be sent.  These messages can be generic or personalized specifically for your customer. They can also include links back to your site or to a custom web page just for them.  A push message could also be a way to connect with your customers while they are “in the moment” and make for a better customer experience.

3.  Printed Message: Print may seem old school and be more costly than a digital message but for the right scenario and with the use of proper segmentation and strategic targeting, using print could provide a big return; thanking a loyal customer, providing a strategic physical message, or reengaging and retaining a lost customer.  A printed personal letter can go a long way to building customer loyalty.

Did you know that it is possible to capture digital engagement from a printed letter?  Through the creative use of QR codes or short links printed on a letter, pointing to a personalized landing page, a marketer could bring their customer back to the digital world.

Bonus:  Once you have your customer re-engaged, make an extra effort to personalize the emails you send.  Using behavioural data and tagged content, stored on your customers profile could influence the content of your messages:  previous purchases, interests, gender, style, etc.   If you are able to build a profile for your customer, you will be able to offer them messaging that speaks to them specifically.

Conclusion:

Email still offers marketers the best ROI of any marketing communication channel.  Using only email marketing to engage your customers may limit your marketing reach.

By adding additional channels to your marketing program, you can communicate more effectively with your customers and build stronger connection to your brand (plus get more opens, clicks and conversions from you email marketing efforts!!)