If you’ve been working on your email list, you may have focused on setting up your email list and growing it. Unfortunately those are just two steps and they’re missing an important one – EMAILING your list! Uh oh. If quite some time has gone by since they’ve heard from you, they are now what we call “cold subscribers”. They may not remember who you are, or how you got their email, or why they signed up for your newsletter in the first place. Let’s fix that with this process for re-engaging cold subscribers on your email list.
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you!
What is a cold subscriber?
A cold subscriber is someone who is no longer active on your email list. They don’t open your emails, click your emails or fully engage with what you’re sending out. Or, if you weren’t sending emails in the first place so they didn’t have anything to open, they may become cold that way!
There are different time frames to consider when looking at warm vs cold subscribers, but a time frame of 3-6 months without engaging in any content is a good place to start to find your cold subscribers.
Identify Cold Subscribers
If you haven’t been emailing your list at all, you can skip this step. We’ll assume your whole list is cold, and you can move on to re-engaging. If you consistently email your list, there’s no need to re-engage everyone. It’s more likely that you have a mix of warm and cold. If that’s the case, you’ll need to find your cold subscribers before you can re-engage them.
Many email service providers make it very simple to find your cold audience. I’ve shared before how I love Flodesk, and this is no exception!
When you log into Flodesk, select your Audience, then click Filter. From there, you can select the time frame and find your cold subs.
Once you’ve chosen your time frame, you can select them all, and add them to a segment. I recommend naming the segment something clear like “Cold Subscribers (TIMEFRAME)”.
Re-engaging Cold Subscribers
Next, you’ll send a series of emails to this segment. The goal here is to either get them to open or to have them unsubscribe to you. Either way, they’re no longer colds! If at the end of the series they’re still not opening, you can delete them from your list because it’s clear they’re not into what you’re offering right now (and that’s okay!).
A great option is to essentially re-welcome your cold audience to your list by tweaking your email welcome sequence. Instead of welcoming and introducing, you’ll re-intro, remind them of how you can support them, and talk to them about your vision for how you can serve them. See more details on the email welcome sequence and get one you can use here!
Here’s what that series can look like:
- Re-introduce yourself and re-send a freebie (it can be one they’ve gotten before, they may have even forgotten they had it!)
- Show them the best of what you have to offer
- Remind them how you support them in their goals
If you’d like more specific templates and wording you can grab, I highly recommend this free resource from my friend Liz. It includes:
- Welcome Sequence
- 3 Newsletters
- 52 Subject Lines
That’s basically everything you need with your list for the next year!
After sending the series of emails, you will hopefully have a percentage of your colds re-engage with your list so you can go back to serving them!
What’s next for your email subscribers?
After your colds are warm again, it’s your job to serve them consistently. That might mean emailing them once a month, maybe 2x a month, maybe even weekly! Whatever your goal for your list, make your plan and stick to it.
One more thing for you – if you’re serious about email, marketing + making real cash with it…I want you to grab this.
My business friend Liz Wilcox has a $9/month membership where she sends out a newsletter template every single week for you to take and make your own.
It’s called Email Marketing Membership. It’s gold.
These are literal templates (not email “swipes” you can’t use) inside. As of right now, there are over 100 of them. All with mini-trainings on how to use them.
She also has emails on promoting your podcast, guest spots, selling to your list, pre-launching, actually getting clicks + replies, etc…
Related Posts
- Getting Started with Email: Glossary of Terms
- You Need an Email List – TODAY.
- Why I Love Using Flodesk for Email Marketing
- Why I Switched from Mailchimp to Flodesk
- How to Switch from Mailchimp to Flodesk
- How to Grow Your Email List on Instagram
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