We have often talked about engagement rates, list segmentation, and overall interaction with your subscribers. However, this week, we're going to dig a little deeper and take a high level view of your list in terms of activity level/level of interest.

You'll want to look at each of these overall populations for your each of your segments.

We have:
- New subscribers
- Moderate activity subscribers
- Highly active subscribers
- and inactive subscribers

With each of these, there are certain objectives we want to meet. Sure.. ideally we want all of them to buy what we're selling! But there's are more granular objectives we should be looking at first. The "action steps" to get them there, if you will.

New Subscribers
These would be people that have registered within the last 30 days on your website. Goals here would include completing their first purchase, completing a second purchase, logging in to the membership site X times, etc. What you're looking to do here is grab them while they're hot and indoctrinate them into your story. If you miss this window, you'll probably lose them for good, so focus early on on these objectives.

Moderate Activity Subscribers
Once you've gotten past the new user phase, you want to try to help increase the level of activity, and not just "opens" or "clicks" but real engagement. You want to increase their purchase frequency and prevent list churn. Get them commenting on articles or posts, purchasing additional 'low risk' products and so on.

Highly Active Subscribers
These are your rabid fans. They open every email. They buy just about everything you're selling. They're the gold in your list. You want to give these subscribers the white glove treatment to help maintain their level of activity (engagement AND purchase frequency), but these are also going to be great affiliates and promoters of you and your business.

Inactive Subscribers
We've talked about these folks many, many times, but it's important to get clear on the objectives. It's one thing to get them to open an email to "technically" re-engage them. But really, what you're wanting to do is get them to get involved with you again. In other words, you want them to log back into the website, start purchasing products again, etc. You've almost got to treat these folks (once you get them to raise their hand and show you they MIGHT be interested in resuming the relationship with you) like new users. You want to go back to the baby steps that help them know you, like you, and trust you.

Ultimately, we are looking to optimize each subscriber, but it's important to look at the micro steps required to bring people where they are now to the next level. So consider tweaks in your marketing that can do this... And remember, you will want to think about these levels for each segment of your list.

For over a decade Heather Seitz used email marketing to build successful companies and had to solve the biggest barrier to consistent profitability: deliverability. Today she is the Co-Founder and CEO of Email Delivered.

For more information on dissecting your email list for maximum response rates and profitability visit:  http://www.emaildelivered.com/dissecting-your-email-list/. Remember to sign up for the FREE Email Delivered Pulse newsletter for articles, tips, and recommended resources for email marketers.

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