According to studies and surveys, we know that sell to existing customers is at least 50% easier than to generate a new list of potential leads. It is quite common when you find out that your users become inactive after the first week of sign up or download. It wouldn’t be surprise when the studies said 45% of the total users will not be retained. Therefore, re-engagement or a win-back campaigns are the perfect solution to win back those who have abandoned your services.

It is extremely important to clean up your email lists and to capture some of those inactive subscribers. A good win-back campaign will definitely help you to target your lost customers and encourage them to come back at your business once again. Below are some tips to get you started the win-back campaign.

Your customers’ data could speak. Analyze your email lists and segmenting your lapsed customers is the key. Filter out the dead emails. Unlike new customers, your old customers are already familiar with you. To win them back, it is important to determine and create a list of your targeted accounts with marketing campaigns designed just for them. Spent some time to review their past purchase history with you and you can consider to include a special promotion to entice them according to their needs. It is critical to target your customers’ purchase behaviors on an individual level so that you can create relevant messages that result in increased engagement.

One of the ways to increase email open rates is to personalize your win-back subject lines. Research suggests that using a shorter but informative subject line is more effective in win-back emails. Review some subject lines that actually get our emails opened is a must.

• We Miss You, [Name]
• [Name], We Want You Back
• [Name], Something You’ve Missed
• Did You Forget About Your [Company Name] Account?

You can try with common subject line like mentioned on top but you are recommended to focus on what’s in it for the customer. Include some specific terms like:

• $-off Discounts for [Product’s Name]
• Complimentary Coffee Just For You, [Name]
• One Month Left for [Product’s Name] Offer
• Did You Forget to Claim Your [Product’s Name] Voucher?

There are several ideas you can try to make efforts for bring back customers they haven’t seen in quite a while. Dive into the mindset of your customer and start to think what they need and how you can convince them to come back. Be creative and informative as this maybe the last chance to convert lapsed customers into customers. Here are some approaches you can consider.

Cheeky discounts and offers

We all love getting free stuff and discounts. Providing a discount incentive to lapsed customers is a good way to bring them back. You can also offer a discount to further motivate the customer to make another purchase. Some technology platforms will be able to tell if a customer has been active on your site, but just not purchased anything. If a customer has been browsing but not buying, they may be waiting for some better offers or they are not ready to buy at that point. Send them a greeting email with products that they’ve viewed or shown an interest in. You can includes a special offer with a strong call to action.

Highlight what they’re missing

Reminding inactive customers about the new updates and highlights some of your most popular products lately can encourage them to return. Also, takes the opportunity to share updates customers might have missed while they weren’t engaging like, “Hi, we’ve made some improvements since you are away. Try out …”. This is an opportunity to restate the valuable or exclusive information, services, or deals you provide. Give them a juicy deal, send them discounted vouchers following a recent purchase and telling them that they have missed the sale and your customers will be delightful for sure.

A follow-up email

We understand that every person who tries out free or trial products has the potential of returning. If your users seem to be silent after sometime, begin our cadence of follow up emails by sending them a friendly reminder and gentle nudge to encourage for a response.

Try making your intentions clear and short as this should really be a last-ditch option. Things you may include in the follow-up email are:

• Re-permission – whether they still want to hear from you after some time
• Simple feedback form – to know how they think about you
• A short survey – to understand what they need and what are the areas of improvements
• Say thank you and show your appreciation

Don’t delete your lapsed subscribers if you don’t get an immediate response unless they have clearly stated that they wish to unsubscribe from you. You know, you can tickle them when you have major things on going in the future.
To keep your win-back campaign success, utilize your data to win-back your lapsed customers, test, analyze and be personalized. Remember this: If you are not willing to win them, you are willing to lose them!