Email marketing is without a doubt the best tool to awaken sleeping and inactive customers. But how do you do that? With a beat of a hammer, or by singing a lullaby? We’ve put the two options to the test.
The world of internet applications is under the spell of the freemium business model. If you wish to give the basic services a try, you can always create a free account. If you want to enjoy more services or features, there is a price list and an upgrade available. Because of this trend, we and millions of other Internet users are fast in creating a free account on a web application. And if the application doesn’t meet our expectations, we quickly forget we ever joined. And usually you hear nothing. That’s a shame, because the application received a valuable email address.
Method A
By chance, two web applications alerted us of an inactive account this week. This first one had a fairly aggressive subject line. My account would be removed within fourteen days. We find it a ‘narrow’ interpretation of the principle ‘deadline’ in the subject line. After that, the copy of the email listed all possible payment options, ranging from high to low. The message winded up with the remark that a free account was still possible, but we needed to be fast.The fact that their application may not meet our expectations was apparently not a possibility.
Method B
The email of another application told an entirely different story. They didn’t use the style “we’re going to kick you out”, but “we’ve missed you”. They did offer a paying option, with the message that more features were included that could make the application more interesting for us. But they also asked if there was a reason why we were no longer engaged. That way, the can naturally sharpen our profile. Another benefit of this method is that they can learn from their inactive users where the product might need improvement. Suddenly, the email marketing becomes a two-way conversation. You shouldn’t always measure conversion from a sales point of view. And finally the supporters of method B gave us the advice to once again take the time to give their application a try.
Which method do you think got the most conversion?
