Many recipients don't open their e-mails or never click the links in the body of their mails. And of course that's the opposite of what we want to achieve: getting people to open our e-mails and responding to them by clicking, sharing, forwarding or replying.

Non-responsive e-mail subscribers all have their reasons not to respond. Assuming their e-mail address still exists of course, they might not like the content anymore or simply be not interested anymore but not taking the necessary action to unsubscribe. They might also want other communication channels. You can imagine thousands of reasons. But, whatever those reasons are, it sure is worthwhile to see how you can get the non-responsive...responsive again.

First, how do you know who's non-responsive? Of course, most e-mail services allow for examination of e-mail marketing campaigns, namely who's responded and/or clicked links. You can then put together a list of non responders for the next big step. 

Before you begin, break them up into different groups based on what you know: types of companies, nationality, etc. 

Here are some more tips to help improve response rates: 

1. Query your recipients with a link to your opt-in form so they can reopt in.

Asking non-responsive subscribers to reopt in is not only a good e-mail practice in general (think customer service, deliverability etc.), especially for non-responsive subscribers it’s a good exercise to do. You might of course want to show some examples of the information you regularly show subscribers and stress the “unique selling points” of your e-mails. In other words, show how much value you pack into your e-mail campaigns. If they don't offer enough value, then start making them better first.

2. Send a coupon or another valuable teaser and innovate.

Offer your recipients something really special just to pique their interest. A special coupon works well, as does limiting the time it's open. You want them clicking today. Of course there are many other ways to ‘tease’ non-responsive subscribers, for instance, by adding new features, advantages, types of content, etc. to your e-mails. Announcing these can help trigger the interest of the non-responsive recipient, who is often a bored recipient. Innovate.

3. Marketing is a discipline, and requires some tough work sometimes via other communications.

You can use other channels to make contact with your non-responsive subscribers, online and even offline. While cold calling someone you don't know is tough, you might consider a quick phone call to non-responsive recipients. Ask them if your records are correct for their e-mail, and maybe even offer them something special. It’s also an excellent opportunity to get their feedback on the relevance and value of your e-mails.

4. Mail your non-responsive subscribers with an open ended question for your headline.   

Send a separate e-mail to non-responsive recipients. Ask them why they haven't responded to your queries, promotions or any other type of content you might send by e-mail. You may want to mention the value of your service but of course no too much. Chances are that people are not-responsive because the value is not OK for them.

5. Organize a poll or survey

If you want to know what people think about your e-mails, you can ask them in the ways I’ve just explained. However, you can also organize a special “subscriber satisfaction” or, broader, customer satisfaction survey. In fact, that’s something that I advise you to do regularly (and then of course take the findings of these surveys or polls serious). You can also organize a survey regarding a specific topic and end the survey with some questions regarding the way you communicate, via e-mail and other channels. Have something ready to reward people that take the time to fill in the survey. White papers often work but it can of course be something completely else.

Still have too many non-responsive subscribers after all this? Then it’s time to get looking at your e-mail marketing in general.

J-P De Clerck is a content, conversion and social media consultant. You can connect with him on Twitter or via his blog.