How to Re-Engage Lost Customers via Email and Win Them Back for Good
How to Re-Engage Lost Customers via Email and Win Them Back for Good
How to Re-Engage Lost Customers via Email and Win Them Back for Good
Email Campaigns
Email Campaigns
Email Campaigns
Jun 10, 2025
When a customer stops engaging with your business, it can feel like a death in the family. The truth is, most customers don't immediately stop responding to your emails after purchasing your product. Instead, they take their time. They stop opening your emails, then they stop visiting your website, and they stop buying. If you still don’t catch their attention with your outreach efforts at this point, they will be lost for good. This is why learning how to re-engage lost customers is so important, and powerful email closing lines would help the cause. This article will provide you with valuable insight to help you effortlessly win back lost customers, boost retention, and reignite long-term loyalty, all without wasting time or budget on ineffective outreach.
To help you achieve your objectives, Inframail's email infrastructure solution helps your emails land where they belong: the inbox. With our help, you can effortlessly reconnect with lost customers, boost retention, and reignite long-term loyalty.
Table of Contents
Why Use Email for Customer Re-engagement?
Customer churn is part of doing business. It happens to everyone, no matter how hard you try to prevent it. The key is not to panic when it happens. With the right tactics and tools in place, businesses can ensure that their leads stay hot long enough for them to convert into loyal customers. Losing customers is especially damaging for service-based businesses that rely on long-term client relationships. Every lost customer represents not only lost revenue but also lost trust and potential referrals. With the right customer win-back strategy, businesses can re-engage past clients and rebuild relationships, thereby improving their chances of regaining lost customers.
What Is a Lost Lead?
A lost or dead lead is an individual or company that initially showed interest in buying your product or service but then disappeared without any contact or activity. This can result from the lead being forgotten, ignored, or overwhelmed with too many marketing emails. Lost leads can occur for various reasons, such as failing to connect with them on time, delivering incorrect information or messages, and more. Unfortunately, it’s often challenging for businesses to determine why someone has become a lost lead. But it’s essential to know the reasons before we start re-engaging lost leads.
Why Do You Lose Leads?
To win back the lost leads, you must dig deeper and identify why they got lost in the first place. Below are the top seven reasons for losing leads.
1. Asking for Too Little or Too Much Information
Asking for too little or too much information can significantly deter any lead-generation effort. Often, when prospects are invited to share too much information, they become overwhelmed and hesitant to proceed. On the other hand, if a lead gen form is too short or asks for only minimal information, you risk not gathering enough data on your leads to make informed decisions. This lack of data can result in missed opportunities for personalizing your offers. As such, it is always a good idea to find your sweet spot by asking the right questions that provide the necessary information to qualify your leads without overwhelming them.
2. Being Too Pushy
Being too pushy or salesy in the sales process can turn off leads. You must avoid this at all costs to avoid lost leads and unhappy customers. When engaging with potential clients, take a step back and sound helpful instead of salesy. Focus on building and nurturing relationships before attempting to move them down the sales funnel. Sending too many emails or pushing too hard for sales can be perceived as intrusive and cause people to lose interest or switch to a different company.
Respecting Buyer Readiness: Why Timing and Empathy Matter in Re-Engagement
Remember, everyone moves at a different pace; not everyone is ready to buy immediately. Reaching out too often or pushing someone who’s already expressed disinterest can result in an even bigger turnoff. Take the time to get to know their needs and desires better, so you can better understand what they are looking for in your product or service. This way, you’ll come across as genuine and trustworthy, leading to better customer retention rates in the long run.
3. Offering Helpful Content Late
Customers may lose interest and drop out of the sales funnel if companies offer helpful content too late. Or they may not respond quickly to communication. Timing is key here, and businesses must provide the right content at the right time. Many prospective customers are researching different products and services online.
Speed and Relevance: The Role of Timely Communication in Customer Trust
They expect a prompt response when they receive an email or something else. If their questions are left unanswered for too long, they may move on to another option that can provide answers more quickly. Offering helpful content too late in the sales process can leave customers feeling like their time was wasted. Having relevant and timely information helps build customer trust, which is essential for businesses to maintain leads in the sales funnel.
4. Focusing on Too Many Offers
Focusing on too many offers can be detrimental to lead generation. A business with multiple offerings can easily overwhelm potential leads who are unfamiliar with its products or services, leading to excessive confusion. Promoting too many different offers can cause the message to become muddled and incoherent, reducing its effectiveness in driving conversions. However, with a clear focus for each campaign and pushing on one offer at a time, businesses will have better success in converting leads into paying customers.
5. Not Delivering the Claimed Benefit
Failing to fulfill promises made in your ad and landing page is a significant cause of losing leads. If these claims are not backed up with solid evidence, customers are less likely to believe you and trust your brand. Customers may become dissatisfied and spread negative word-of-mouth about your product or service. To prevent this from happening, ensure that your ads accurately describe the benefits of your products or services and deliver on those promises when customers make a purchase. Also, ensure that the sales and marketing teams are aligned. Doing so will help build customer loyalty and trust over time, which can lead to more leads and better sales results.
6. Not Targeting the Right Audience
One of the primary reasons companies lose leads is a lack of understanding and improper targeting of their desired audience. Creating content that engages your customer base and encourages them to convert is impossible when you don’t know who you’re marketing to. Companies must invest in research and analysis to identify their target market, attract the right people, and nurture lost leads. Once this data is collected, marketers can tailor their messaging and content to best connect with this targeted group. Otherwise, businesses will continue to lose money if they do not show the right offer to the right people.
7. Customers Don’t Know What to Do Next
An often-overlooked issue can result in lost leads and missed opportunities. When customers are in your sales funnel, they must be aware of the next step they need to take to move closer to a sale. Businesses must ensure that the right call-to-action (CTA) is in place at the right time and in the right place. For example, if a customer reaches a product page but doesn’t complete the purchase, adding a CTA redirecting them to a payment page can help guide them down the funnel.
When Do You Need to Re-Engage Lost Leads?
Re-engaging lost leads is an integral part of a successful sales and marketing strategy. Businesses must re-engage lost leads as soon as they’re lost. This will maximize the likelihood of re-engaging and converting them into paying customers. Re-engagement must include sending emails, calls, and even direct mail campaigns that offer special discounts or exclusive offers for those who have not yet engaged with your business.
Email Retargeting: Turning Missed Opportunities into Meaningful Conversions
Companies can utilize email retargeting tactics to reconnect with leads who have already visited but have not made a purchase. Have meaningful conversations with each lead to better understand their needs and tailor future offers accordingly. Reaching out promptly is crucial for successful lead conversion and can also enhance customer satisfaction.
Why You Should Use Email for Customer Re-Engagement
Perhaps email wouldn’t be the first approach you’d take to re-engage inactive customers. You may prefer to contact them directly through a dedicated team member, such as a customer success manager. Or you could feel it’s not wise to focus your strategy on them, and you’d rather invest in rewarding loyal customers or acquiring new ones. Using email marketing and email automation for customer re-engagement serves several strategic purposes. Here are the most important ones:
Educating Customers
Win-back campaigns help brands share helpful content about their value proposition in every step of the customer journey. From tips on how to get started to comprehensive guides on how to use advanced features, you educate users effectively and reduce the risk of customer churn.
Offering Multiple Options to Reconnect
Email excels at customer re-engagement by providing readers multiple ways to reconnect with your brand. Whether it’s claiming a discount, completing a survey, or reaching out to a customer service agent, you cater to different customer preferences, unlike methods like retargeting ads that just direct customers back to your site.
Improving Customer Relationships
With re-engagement emails, you can personalize your communication and boost brand loyalty. It might be through an email survey or an email preference center. Either way, subscribers will point you in the right direction; they’ll tell you what kind of content they prefer, how often they’d like to receive emails, or which products they’re interested in.
Keeping a Healthy Email List
Disengaged subscribers are one of the reasons your deliverability is dropping. Low engagement sends a signal to email providers that recipients may not want to receive and interact with your emails. But sending win-back emails helps you decide which recipients are worth keeping. If some subscribers don’t engage with these emails, consider removing them to maintain a healthy list.
Related Reading
• Cold Sale
• Cold Prospecting
• Outreach Methods
• Professional Email Example
• Collaboration Email Template
• How to Get Email Address From Facebook Url
• Email Audit
• Targeted Lead Generation
• Cold Email Personalization
How to Re-engage Lost Customers Via Email (With Examples)
Keep It Simple: Re-Engagement Emails Don’t Need to Be Complicated
Re-engagement emails aim to demonstrate the value of your product or service, thereby earning back customer trust. But how you deliver that message matters just as much as the message itself. Depending on your audience and resources, you can approach this in different ways. One common misstep? Trying too hard to impress.
Cut the Clutter: Why Focused Messaging Wins in SaaS Win-Back Emails
In win-back campaigns, that often translates into cluttered layouts and information overload. The temptation to showcase every feature, embed multiple how-to guides, and squeeze in upcoming events is understandable, but it rarely works. In SaaS marketing, especially, it’s far more effective to focus each email on a single, clear message. For instance, instead of a catch-all email packed with everything new, you might send a targeted campaign highlighting one feature the user hasn’t explored. This focused approach, paired with a minimalistic design, helps cut through the noise and re-engage users more effectively.
Ask yourself:
What do I have to offer now that’s new or improved?
Why should this user return?
Designing for Action: Best Practices for High-Converting Re-Engagement Emails
Your email should revolve around answering those questions above. Every design choice, from fonts to visuals, should serve that core message. To help you craft re-engagement emails that convert, follow these proven tips:
Lead with the message: Put the key benefit of re-engaging front and centre. Remind users why they signed up and what they’re missing.
Stick to one CTA: A single, clear call-to-action guides users to the next step without overwhelming them.
Prioritise readability: Use white space, legible fonts, short paragraphs, and bullet points to reduce visual fatigue and highlight key elements, especially your CTA.
Use minimalist templates: Most email platforms offer clean, responsive templates that save time while maintaining a practical and straightforward layout.
One example: this SaaS re-engagement email template by Moosend gets it right. It centres around a single announcement, with a strong CTA and a countdown timer that creates urgency. The clean design draws attention exactly where it should, helping dormant users take quick, decisive action.
Offer Exclusive Discounts and Perks to Bring Back Old Customers
If you’ve used incentives in your lead generation strategy, there’s no reason not to apply the same principle to your re-engagement emails. Exclusive discounts, perks, and personalised rewards can effectively prompt inactive users to return. They signal that you value loyalty and are willing to offer something meaningful in return.
Tailored Incentives: Why Relevance and Exclusivity Drive Re-Engagement
The key is relevance. Generic offers won’t move the needle, but tailored incentives based on user behaviour can.
For instance:
Did they try one of your services but drop off? Offer a discount on an upgrade of that same service.
Have they engaged with a particular content type? Share an early look at an upcoming post or resource.
Do you offer a loyalty programme? Invite them to join, clearly listing the rewards that come with it.
Exclusivity goes a long way. When readers feel like they’re getting something reserved just for them, they’re far more likely to act. That effect only intensifies when you pair it with urgency. People value free perks, but they also hate missing out.
Bring It to Life: A Personalised Re-Engagement Offer in Action
Example:
Imagine a customer who hasn’t logged in for 60 days receives an email with the subject line:
“We Miss You. Enjoy 20% Off Your Next Upgrade”
It’s simple, targeted, and personal. This isn’t just a discount, it’s a loyalty reward, offered based on their prior use of a specific feature. That personalised relevance gives the incentive real weight.
How to Make It Work:
Tailor your offer: Align incentives with users’ past behaviours or preferences.
Create urgency: Set a clear deadline to trigger the fear of missing out (FOMO) and encourage prompt action.
Keep it simple: Use a clear CTA that reinforces the exclusive nature of the offer.
Suggested Subject Line:
“We saved these, and got you 20% off.”
Combine Personalised Recommendations with Time-Limited Offers
In this re-engagement email, Forever 21 uses the recipient’s browsing history to recommend products they’ve shown interest in. The brand also throws in a 20% discount to sweeten the deal. Adding phrases like “before they’re gone” and highlighting that the offer will be active only for 7 days prompts immediate action.
Use Humor to Hook Inactive Customers
Consumers respond well to brands that make them smile. One study found that 72% of people would choose a brand that uses humour over one that doesn’t. Why? Because humour feels human. It breaks down the transactional wall and reminds customers of genuine, real-life connections, ones not driven by money. In re-engagement emails, humour can be as simple as a well-placed emoji, a witty subject line, or a relevant meme. But it’s not just about visuals, you can also bring humour into your copy. Use light-hearted phrasing to say you miss them.
Humour with Purpose: When to Use It, and When to Hold Back
Add a pop culture reference they’ll recognise. Inject personality that makes your message memorable, even if they don’t convert right away. Because let’s be honest. Everyone remembers a good laugh.
But use this tactic wisely.
Humour isn’t one-size-fits-all. If it doesn’t align with your brand tone, it could feel off-brand or forced. It’s also important to consider your audience. A playful meme might resonate with Gen Z or Millennials but come off as unprofessional to a more formal, B2B crowd. Test small before you scale.
A Light Touch with Real Impact: Humour in Action
Example:
Imagine sending a re-engagement email with the subject line:
“We’re Not Crying, You’re Just Missing Out” Paired with a clever graphic, it draws attention while softening the sales pitch. It says: We’re still here, and we care.
How to Make It Work:
Use playful language and visuals, but stay true to your brand voice.
Test humorous messages on a small segment before rolling them out widely.
Balance humour with substance: be funny, but still show how you add value.
Suggested Subject Line:
These reminders don’t seem to be working.
Use Gentle Humour to Disarm, Not Distract
Humor isn’t always a ha-ha thing. It can be pretty subtle. In this email from Duolingo, the copy doesn’t include funny words or memes. All they do is add a cute image of Duolingo and ask if he came on too strong. They give the recipient space and time by reassuring them they won’t receive more reminders until they’re ready to come back. This gentle and calm approach could be enough to revive the relationship.
Educate to Rebuild Trust
If a customer stopped engaging because of the product itself, a simple discount might not be enough to win them back. Instead of leading with an offer, show them what’s changed and why it matters. One practical approach is to highlight new features or improvements that demonstrate your product’s ongoing evolution. For example, you might summarise key updates to showcase what they’ve missed or share educational content that reaffirms your brand’s value and expertise.
Reconnect with Relevance: Use Behaviour-Based Personalisation to Win Them Back
Personalisation matters here. Review their past behaviour, what pages they visited, which tools they tried, or what content they downloaded. If a user once explored your analytics dashboard but never upgraded, and you’ve since introduced real-time reporting or one-click exports, that’s your angle. Highlight the new functionality in a targeted re-engagement email. You could also send tailored educational content that helps them get more out of your product. Case studies, how-to videos, or product walkthroughs can address their needs directly and reduce friction. The goal is to demonstrate, not merely state, how your product now delivers more value.
Turn Product Updates Into Comebacks: Highlight What They’ve Been Missing
Example:
Your platform recently launched a real-time analytics feature. You send a concise email with a short demo video, a peer case study on productivity gains, and a clear CTA like “Discover the New Feature.” It’s informative, personalised, and focused, giving inactive users a reason to take another look.
What to Do:
Showcase relevant product updates or enhancements.
Include snackable educational content:
Tutorials
Guides
Infographics
Personalise based on previously viewed features or content.
Educate Through Social Proof and Practical Use Cases
Sharing educational content doesn’t mean listing everything new in my business. Create short snippets and an actionable email CTA that encourages subscribers to “Read more” or “Shop now.” Bathing Culture shares tips from their customers themselves, combining social proof with educational content. The email outlines various use cases for their products, along with their associated benefits. No better way to win back inactive consumers than to show how my products make my customers happy.
Announce Limited Time Offers to Re-Engage Customers
Offering a limited-time offer to dormant customers creates excitement while providing value. Besides that, nothing sparks action like the fear of missing out on a privilege about to expire. Picture this: an email arrives with a subject line like “Your Exclusive 7-Day Renewal Bonus – Don’t Miss Out!” The email features a countdown timer and highlights the benefits of taking immediate action, such as a discount on annual subscriptions or an upgrade offer. This creates a fear of missing out (FOMO) that compels users to act quickly.
Turn Urgency Into Action With Thoughtful, Time-Limited Offers
The key is to create a sense of urgency and make the offer irresistible. Here’s how:
Craft an attention-grabbing subject line that mentions the offer, using phrases like “limited time offer” or “don’t miss on,” etc.
Highlight what customers will gain from claiming the offer, keeping the message concise and helpful.
Set a clear deadline to reinforce urgency in your email content. Specify the time left, e.g., “Offer ends in X hours/ days.”
Tailor the offer to the customer’s past behavior. For instance, offer a discount on a more advanced version of the product they initially subscribed to.
Mind the use of CTAs. While it’s preferable to stick to a single CTA, eCommerce brands might leverage the occasion to promote several product categories.
Leverage visuals to emphasize the fleeting nature of the deal. Think of countdown timers, bold colors and fonts, and prominent CTAs.
Say why I offer what I do. Ensure I mention that this is not yet another promotional offer. Instead, I share it because I want to reconnect.
Blend Milestones With Offers to Rekindle Trust and Drive Action
Subject line: Did you see our BIGGEST Anniversary Sale? This email by Brooklinen is a mix-and-match of two effective email strategies for customer re-engagement. Brooklinen announces a 10-year anniversary sale, offering discounts of up to 45% off on its bundles. But they also made sure to list essential milestones, inviting readers to take a “walk down memory lane” with them. Notably, one of the milestones involves reaching more than 100,000 customer reviews. Social proof works wonders in displaying my brand’s growth and the ongoing trust that consumers place in my products.
Ask for Customer Feedback to Gain Valuable Insights
Asking inactive customers for feedback is counterintuitive. If they haven’t engaged in a while, why would they take the time to respond? When positioned thoughtfully, a feedback request can become a powerful re-engagement tool if you demonstrate that it’s mutually beneficial. Start by explaining why their input matters. Frame it as a way to help shape your product and marketing efforts around what they need. Make it clear that their feedback can directly lead to improvements, whether in your product, customer experience, or content. Ask questions that get to the heart of their disengagement: What made them step away? What could bring them back?
Make It Effortless, and Worth Their While
To boost response rates, remove friction. Avoid lengthy, multi-step forms. Instead, embed a short survey or poll directly in the email, or link to a form with a clear explanation of how long it will take. When users see that it’s quick and easy, they’ll be more inclined to respond. A small incentive can also go a long way. Offering a discount, early access, or a free resource shows you value their time and input.
Turn Feedback into a Two-Way Street
Example:
Send an email titled “We’d Love Your Feedback – Help Us Improve!” featuring a one-question survey embedded in the email itself. It’s direct, low effort, and reinforces that their voice matters.
What to Do:
Keep the feedback request fast and straightforward to complete.
Emphasise how their input influences product and service improvements.
Offer a small reward, such as a coupon or a free event, to thank them for participating.
Subject line: Workday Quiz: Got 30 Seconds?
Make Feedback Fun and Functional
Time Bellroy created a brilliant feedback request email. They used an engaging interactive quiz to increase engagement. The brand crafted this campaign to gather valuable data while recommending the most relevant products on the spot based on the answers. It’s easy, it’s fun, and, more importantly, it’s educational. That way, dormant customers can find exactly what they need and understand why they need it.
Segment Your Audience for Maximum Impact
One-size-fits-all messaging rarely works on disengaged customers. That’s where personalisation makes all the difference. In re-engagement campaigns, tailoring content to each user’s behaviour and preferences is key. Start by reviewing past interactions.
Have they opened your emails recently?
Clicked a link?
Or gone completely silent?
This helps you decide what kind of message to send. Active users might welcome new content or features. Dormant users may respond better to a clear, compelling incentive.
Match the Message to the Moment: Segment by Behaviour, Industry, and Tone
Take your segmentation further. Were some customers previously active but have since dropped off? Offer them early access to new features and let them know you value their past engagement. For those who signed up for a free trial but didn’t convert, send practical resources, such as how-to guides or demo videos, to help them understand the product’s value. Context matters, too. Segment by industry to address specific pain points:
Healthcare professionals prioritize compliance
Nonprofits require cost-effective tools.
Demographics also guide tone; Gen Z may appreciate memes or casual language, while B2B users prefer a professional tone.
Tailor the Fix to the Friction: Use Behavioural Segmentation to Rebuild Engagement
Example: One user may have stopped logging in after encountering a minor issue. Another may never have thoroughly explored the product. By using customer data platforms (like Custify), you can identify these differences and craft messages that speak directly to each scenario, be it a gentle reminder or an informative offer.
What to Do:
Segment users by engagement level, industry, and behavioural history.
Create tailored messages for each group—trial users, once-loyal customers, or long-term inactive contacts.
Continuously refine your segments based on updated user data and campaign performance.
Retargeting Ads
These ads appear as users browse other websites or social platforms, subtly reminding them of your brand. By using cookies, you can track visitors who interacted with your site—whether they browsed products, started a checkout, or simply lingered—without completing a purchase.
Why it works:
Retargeting keeps your brand top of mind and gives customers a reason to return. And when done well, it feels less like an ad and more like a helpful nudge.
Example:
Set up a retargeting campaign with a message like: “We miss you! Come back and enjoy 20% off your next purchase.”
Use Dynamic Retargeting To Deliver Hyper-Relevant Offers
To boost effectiveness, make your ads personal. Tailor content based on previous behaviours, such as products viewed or categories explored. Dynamic ad formats enable you to display to customers the exact items they were considering or suggest similar alternatives.
Example:
“Hi [First Name], still thinking about [Product]? Here’s 20% off—just for you.” This type of targeted messaging increases relevance, fosters familiarity, and provides customers with an apparent reason to return and convert.
Perfect Your Timing to Re-Engage Customers at the Right Moment
A perfectly crafted message sent at the wrong time could be spam. To nail my timing, I’ll check my customers’ historical usage patterns.
When do they typically log in?
What time zone are they in?
Which day of the week saw the highest activity?
Once I have these details, it’s time to send my first message. Studies show that Tuesdays and Thursdays have the highest engagement rates for B2B professionals. With that in mind, I’ll consider sending re-engagement emails on Tuesday mornings (their time). Then, follow up on Thursday with a different angle and close next Tuesday with my best offer.
Related Reading
• Unprofessional Email Address Examples
• Omnichannel Lead Generation
• Sales Funnel Email Sequence
• Nurture Email Sequence
• How to Change Email Signature in Outreach
• Email Outsourcing
• Email Management Tips
• Find Email of Twitter Account
• Partnership Email Template
• Nudge Email
8 Tips to Stop Customer Churn Before It Starts
1. Evaluate the ROI for Lost Leads
When you want to nurture lost leads, you must know how to measure the success of your efforts. Companies must track their ROI for lost leads to determine if it’s worth it and understand which strategies are most effective. It’s also important to consider the total cost of ownership and how your product or service can help reduce it. For example, if you’re selling a CRM system, you’ll want to focus on how your system can help save the company money by reducing downtime and increasing sales.
2. Track the Dead Lead Changes
It’s important to know what happened to the dead lead before you can begin to re-engage them. Take a look at your customer journey analytics to determine when and why the lost lead left the sales funnel in the first place. Analyzing the data can reveal any problems or disconnects that lead to dropping out of the process. By understanding this, companies can quickly address any issues and ensure that customers have a smooth experience. One of the most important things to remember about dead leads is that they’re not always truly dead. In many cases, they may simply need a little extra attention or have experienced a change in circumstances. For example, someone who wasn’t interested in your product last month may be ready to buy.
3. Survey the Lost Leads
There’s no question that surveys and polls can be useful tools for marketing research and lead generation. Surveys and polls can be even more valuable when it comes to winning back lost leads. These studies help you understand why a lead was lost in the first place. Was it because of a poor experience with your product or service? Or was it because they simply couldn’t afford it?
Surveys and polls can also help you identify the needs and interests of a lead. You can use this information to create targeted marketing campaigns. Surveys and polls provide an opportunity to engage directly with a potential lead. This direct communication can build rapport, establish trust, and convince the lead to give your company another chance. You can run surveys and polls using:
Email
SMS
CRMs
Simple forms
4. Reconnect With Dead Leads via Trigger Events
A trigger event is any significant change or update in a lead’s circumstances. It’s an event that unleashes a marketing or sales opportunity. Businesses can use this information to re-engage a dead lead. For example, if a customer opens an email newsletter, you can send them targeted follow-up messages. Or, if a customer views a product page on your website, you can reach out to them with a special offer or discount. Reaching out after each trigger event can help build a stronger connection with the lead and keep them from going cold.
5. Retarget Lost Leads
There are many ways to nurture lost leads. One of the most effective ways is to retarget them with ads or email drip campaigns. Using these methods, you can reach a larger audience and increase your chances of converting them into customers or clients. But it’s essential to test the waters first. Start by running an ad campaign with a small budget and see how it performs. If the results are good, you can increase spending and scale it up. Retargeting campaigns should be tailored to the needs of each lead. Relevant messages that provide value will make them more likely to convert.
Test Formats, Not Just Messages: Use Rich Media To Re-Engage
Try using different media types, such as audio, video, and images, to create a more engaging experience. Retargeting lost leads with ads and email drip campaigns is effective because it allows you to test different subject lines and messages. This way, you can determine the most effective ways to get people to respond to your campaigns.
6. Build Your Early Warning System
Most companies wait for the cancellation email before taking action. By then, you're fighting an uphill battle. A better approach is to set up automated monitoring that identifies issues well before customers consider leaving. Start with login patterns, they tell the real story of customer engagement. When a power user who logs in daily suddenly switches to weekly check-ins, you know something's wrong. Login data alone doesn't reveal the entire picture. You need to track how customers use your product, not just when they show up. Set up monitoring for three key metrics:
Feature adoption depth
Support ticket sentiment
Workflow completion rates
When customers stop using advanced features or suddenly flood support with basic questions, they show classic signs of disengagement. The key is catching these signals early enough to intervene.
7. Map Your Customer Recovery Journey
Different warning signs need different approaches. Here's how to match your response to the risk:
For early-stage warnings, focus on education and quick wins. Show customers features they haven't discovered or workflows that could save them time.
Make it easy for them to see immediate value without requiring massive changes to their process. With medium-risk accounts, dig deeper into their business goals.
Schedule quarterly reviews focused on ROI and strategic alignment. Show them what similar customers achieved with your product and create a clear path to those same results.
For high-risk customers actively planning their exit, direct intervention is necessary. Engage your product team to identify feature gaps and opportunities.
Offer migration support if they're struggling with data.
Sometimes, saving a relationship means admitting where you fell short and showing how you'll make amends.
8. Set KPIs for Re-engagement Campaigns
To effectively measure re-engagement, retailers should establish clear key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with their business objectives. Common KPIs for re-engagement campaigns include:
Customer Lifetime Value: The projected revenue that a reactivated customer is expected to generate reflects the duration of their relationship with the brand.
Reactivation Rate: The percentage of inactive customers who make a purchase or engage with the brand again after a re-engagement effort.
Average Order Value: The average amount spent by reactivated customers per transaction.
Redemption Rates: The percentage of customers who use re-engagement offers, discounts, or loyalty points.
Repeat Purchase Rate: The rate at which reactivated customers make additional purchases within a specified period.
Engagement Metrics: Metrics such as email open rates, click-through rates, and response rates to personalised messages and offers.
Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today
If you're serious about cold emailing, you need to take deliverability seriously. No one wants to spend hours crafting the perfect email only to have it go to the spam folder or get blocked altogether. This is where Inframail shines.
Why Cold Outreach Teams Need Infrastructure, Not Just Inboxes
At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We provide Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup to help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently. Main benefits of using our service:
Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup
Dedicated email servers for each user
16-hour priority support daily
Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup while you focus on reaching more prospects. Whether you're an agency looking to scale outreach, a recruiter connecting with candidates, or an SDR driving sales, Inframail provides the robust email infrastructure you need without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs. Start buying domains now and set up your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.
Related Reading
• How to Sign an Email Professionally
• How to Cold Email for Research
• How to See if Someone Read Your Email on Outlook
• Sales Accepted Lead vs Sales Qualified Lead
• Email Quote Template
• How to Cold Email for an Internship
• How Many Emails Can Be Sent at Once in Gmail
• Lead Nurturing Tools
• How Long Should a Newsletter Be
• PR Pitch Email Example
• Podcast Email Examples
• Best Sales Acceleration Tools
When a customer stops engaging with your business, it can feel like a death in the family. The truth is, most customers don't immediately stop responding to your emails after purchasing your product. Instead, they take their time. They stop opening your emails, then they stop visiting your website, and they stop buying. If you still don’t catch their attention with your outreach efforts at this point, they will be lost for good. This is why learning how to re-engage lost customers is so important, and powerful email closing lines would help the cause. This article will provide you with valuable insight to help you effortlessly win back lost customers, boost retention, and reignite long-term loyalty, all without wasting time or budget on ineffective outreach.
To help you achieve your objectives, Inframail's email infrastructure solution helps your emails land where they belong: the inbox. With our help, you can effortlessly reconnect with lost customers, boost retention, and reignite long-term loyalty.
Table of Contents
Why Use Email for Customer Re-engagement?
Customer churn is part of doing business. It happens to everyone, no matter how hard you try to prevent it. The key is not to panic when it happens. With the right tactics and tools in place, businesses can ensure that their leads stay hot long enough for them to convert into loyal customers. Losing customers is especially damaging for service-based businesses that rely on long-term client relationships. Every lost customer represents not only lost revenue but also lost trust and potential referrals. With the right customer win-back strategy, businesses can re-engage past clients and rebuild relationships, thereby improving their chances of regaining lost customers.
What Is a Lost Lead?
A lost or dead lead is an individual or company that initially showed interest in buying your product or service but then disappeared without any contact or activity. This can result from the lead being forgotten, ignored, or overwhelmed with too many marketing emails. Lost leads can occur for various reasons, such as failing to connect with them on time, delivering incorrect information or messages, and more. Unfortunately, it’s often challenging for businesses to determine why someone has become a lost lead. But it’s essential to know the reasons before we start re-engaging lost leads.
Why Do You Lose Leads?
To win back the lost leads, you must dig deeper and identify why they got lost in the first place. Below are the top seven reasons for losing leads.
1. Asking for Too Little or Too Much Information
Asking for too little or too much information can significantly deter any lead-generation effort. Often, when prospects are invited to share too much information, they become overwhelmed and hesitant to proceed. On the other hand, if a lead gen form is too short or asks for only minimal information, you risk not gathering enough data on your leads to make informed decisions. This lack of data can result in missed opportunities for personalizing your offers. As such, it is always a good idea to find your sweet spot by asking the right questions that provide the necessary information to qualify your leads without overwhelming them.
2. Being Too Pushy
Being too pushy or salesy in the sales process can turn off leads. You must avoid this at all costs to avoid lost leads and unhappy customers. When engaging with potential clients, take a step back and sound helpful instead of salesy. Focus on building and nurturing relationships before attempting to move them down the sales funnel. Sending too many emails or pushing too hard for sales can be perceived as intrusive and cause people to lose interest or switch to a different company.
Respecting Buyer Readiness: Why Timing and Empathy Matter in Re-Engagement
Remember, everyone moves at a different pace; not everyone is ready to buy immediately. Reaching out too often or pushing someone who’s already expressed disinterest can result in an even bigger turnoff. Take the time to get to know their needs and desires better, so you can better understand what they are looking for in your product or service. This way, you’ll come across as genuine and trustworthy, leading to better customer retention rates in the long run.
3. Offering Helpful Content Late
Customers may lose interest and drop out of the sales funnel if companies offer helpful content too late. Or they may not respond quickly to communication. Timing is key here, and businesses must provide the right content at the right time. Many prospective customers are researching different products and services online.
Speed and Relevance: The Role of Timely Communication in Customer Trust
They expect a prompt response when they receive an email or something else. If their questions are left unanswered for too long, they may move on to another option that can provide answers more quickly. Offering helpful content too late in the sales process can leave customers feeling like their time was wasted. Having relevant and timely information helps build customer trust, which is essential for businesses to maintain leads in the sales funnel.
4. Focusing on Too Many Offers
Focusing on too many offers can be detrimental to lead generation. A business with multiple offerings can easily overwhelm potential leads who are unfamiliar with its products or services, leading to excessive confusion. Promoting too many different offers can cause the message to become muddled and incoherent, reducing its effectiveness in driving conversions. However, with a clear focus for each campaign and pushing on one offer at a time, businesses will have better success in converting leads into paying customers.
5. Not Delivering the Claimed Benefit
Failing to fulfill promises made in your ad and landing page is a significant cause of losing leads. If these claims are not backed up with solid evidence, customers are less likely to believe you and trust your brand. Customers may become dissatisfied and spread negative word-of-mouth about your product or service. To prevent this from happening, ensure that your ads accurately describe the benefits of your products or services and deliver on those promises when customers make a purchase. Also, ensure that the sales and marketing teams are aligned. Doing so will help build customer loyalty and trust over time, which can lead to more leads and better sales results.
6. Not Targeting the Right Audience
One of the primary reasons companies lose leads is a lack of understanding and improper targeting of their desired audience. Creating content that engages your customer base and encourages them to convert is impossible when you don’t know who you’re marketing to. Companies must invest in research and analysis to identify their target market, attract the right people, and nurture lost leads. Once this data is collected, marketers can tailor their messaging and content to best connect with this targeted group. Otherwise, businesses will continue to lose money if they do not show the right offer to the right people.
7. Customers Don’t Know What to Do Next
An often-overlooked issue can result in lost leads and missed opportunities. When customers are in your sales funnel, they must be aware of the next step they need to take to move closer to a sale. Businesses must ensure that the right call-to-action (CTA) is in place at the right time and in the right place. For example, if a customer reaches a product page but doesn’t complete the purchase, adding a CTA redirecting them to a payment page can help guide them down the funnel.
When Do You Need to Re-Engage Lost Leads?
Re-engaging lost leads is an integral part of a successful sales and marketing strategy. Businesses must re-engage lost leads as soon as they’re lost. This will maximize the likelihood of re-engaging and converting them into paying customers. Re-engagement must include sending emails, calls, and even direct mail campaigns that offer special discounts or exclusive offers for those who have not yet engaged with your business.
Email Retargeting: Turning Missed Opportunities into Meaningful Conversions
Companies can utilize email retargeting tactics to reconnect with leads who have already visited but have not made a purchase. Have meaningful conversations with each lead to better understand their needs and tailor future offers accordingly. Reaching out promptly is crucial for successful lead conversion and can also enhance customer satisfaction.
Why You Should Use Email for Customer Re-Engagement
Perhaps email wouldn’t be the first approach you’d take to re-engage inactive customers. You may prefer to contact them directly through a dedicated team member, such as a customer success manager. Or you could feel it’s not wise to focus your strategy on them, and you’d rather invest in rewarding loyal customers or acquiring new ones. Using email marketing and email automation for customer re-engagement serves several strategic purposes. Here are the most important ones:
Educating Customers
Win-back campaigns help brands share helpful content about their value proposition in every step of the customer journey. From tips on how to get started to comprehensive guides on how to use advanced features, you educate users effectively and reduce the risk of customer churn.
Offering Multiple Options to Reconnect
Email excels at customer re-engagement by providing readers multiple ways to reconnect with your brand. Whether it’s claiming a discount, completing a survey, or reaching out to a customer service agent, you cater to different customer preferences, unlike methods like retargeting ads that just direct customers back to your site.
Improving Customer Relationships
With re-engagement emails, you can personalize your communication and boost brand loyalty. It might be through an email survey or an email preference center. Either way, subscribers will point you in the right direction; they’ll tell you what kind of content they prefer, how often they’d like to receive emails, or which products they’re interested in.
Keeping a Healthy Email List
Disengaged subscribers are one of the reasons your deliverability is dropping. Low engagement sends a signal to email providers that recipients may not want to receive and interact with your emails. But sending win-back emails helps you decide which recipients are worth keeping. If some subscribers don’t engage with these emails, consider removing them to maintain a healthy list.
Related Reading
• Cold Sale
• Cold Prospecting
• Outreach Methods
• Professional Email Example
• Collaboration Email Template
• How to Get Email Address From Facebook Url
• Email Audit
• Targeted Lead Generation
• Cold Email Personalization
How to Re-engage Lost Customers Via Email (With Examples)
Keep It Simple: Re-Engagement Emails Don’t Need to Be Complicated
Re-engagement emails aim to demonstrate the value of your product or service, thereby earning back customer trust. But how you deliver that message matters just as much as the message itself. Depending on your audience and resources, you can approach this in different ways. One common misstep? Trying too hard to impress.
Cut the Clutter: Why Focused Messaging Wins in SaaS Win-Back Emails
In win-back campaigns, that often translates into cluttered layouts and information overload. The temptation to showcase every feature, embed multiple how-to guides, and squeeze in upcoming events is understandable, but it rarely works. In SaaS marketing, especially, it’s far more effective to focus each email on a single, clear message. For instance, instead of a catch-all email packed with everything new, you might send a targeted campaign highlighting one feature the user hasn’t explored. This focused approach, paired with a minimalistic design, helps cut through the noise and re-engage users more effectively.
Ask yourself:
What do I have to offer now that’s new or improved?
Why should this user return?
Designing for Action: Best Practices for High-Converting Re-Engagement Emails
Your email should revolve around answering those questions above. Every design choice, from fonts to visuals, should serve that core message. To help you craft re-engagement emails that convert, follow these proven tips:
Lead with the message: Put the key benefit of re-engaging front and centre. Remind users why they signed up and what they’re missing.
Stick to one CTA: A single, clear call-to-action guides users to the next step without overwhelming them.
Prioritise readability: Use white space, legible fonts, short paragraphs, and bullet points to reduce visual fatigue and highlight key elements, especially your CTA.
Use minimalist templates: Most email platforms offer clean, responsive templates that save time while maintaining a practical and straightforward layout.
One example: this SaaS re-engagement email template by Moosend gets it right. It centres around a single announcement, with a strong CTA and a countdown timer that creates urgency. The clean design draws attention exactly where it should, helping dormant users take quick, decisive action.
Offer Exclusive Discounts and Perks to Bring Back Old Customers
If you’ve used incentives in your lead generation strategy, there’s no reason not to apply the same principle to your re-engagement emails. Exclusive discounts, perks, and personalised rewards can effectively prompt inactive users to return. They signal that you value loyalty and are willing to offer something meaningful in return.
Tailored Incentives: Why Relevance and Exclusivity Drive Re-Engagement
The key is relevance. Generic offers won’t move the needle, but tailored incentives based on user behaviour can.
For instance:
Did they try one of your services but drop off? Offer a discount on an upgrade of that same service.
Have they engaged with a particular content type? Share an early look at an upcoming post or resource.
Do you offer a loyalty programme? Invite them to join, clearly listing the rewards that come with it.
Exclusivity goes a long way. When readers feel like they’re getting something reserved just for them, they’re far more likely to act. That effect only intensifies when you pair it with urgency. People value free perks, but they also hate missing out.
Bring It to Life: A Personalised Re-Engagement Offer in Action
Example:
Imagine a customer who hasn’t logged in for 60 days receives an email with the subject line:
“We Miss You. Enjoy 20% Off Your Next Upgrade”
It’s simple, targeted, and personal. This isn’t just a discount, it’s a loyalty reward, offered based on their prior use of a specific feature. That personalised relevance gives the incentive real weight.
How to Make It Work:
Tailor your offer: Align incentives with users’ past behaviours or preferences.
Create urgency: Set a clear deadline to trigger the fear of missing out (FOMO) and encourage prompt action.
Keep it simple: Use a clear CTA that reinforces the exclusive nature of the offer.
Suggested Subject Line:
“We saved these, and got you 20% off.”
Combine Personalised Recommendations with Time-Limited Offers
In this re-engagement email, Forever 21 uses the recipient’s browsing history to recommend products they’ve shown interest in. The brand also throws in a 20% discount to sweeten the deal. Adding phrases like “before they’re gone” and highlighting that the offer will be active only for 7 days prompts immediate action.
Use Humor to Hook Inactive Customers
Consumers respond well to brands that make them smile. One study found that 72% of people would choose a brand that uses humour over one that doesn’t. Why? Because humour feels human. It breaks down the transactional wall and reminds customers of genuine, real-life connections, ones not driven by money. In re-engagement emails, humour can be as simple as a well-placed emoji, a witty subject line, or a relevant meme. But it’s not just about visuals, you can also bring humour into your copy. Use light-hearted phrasing to say you miss them.
Humour with Purpose: When to Use It, and When to Hold Back
Add a pop culture reference they’ll recognise. Inject personality that makes your message memorable, even if they don’t convert right away. Because let’s be honest. Everyone remembers a good laugh.
But use this tactic wisely.
Humour isn’t one-size-fits-all. If it doesn’t align with your brand tone, it could feel off-brand or forced. It’s also important to consider your audience. A playful meme might resonate with Gen Z or Millennials but come off as unprofessional to a more formal, B2B crowd. Test small before you scale.
A Light Touch with Real Impact: Humour in Action
Example:
Imagine sending a re-engagement email with the subject line:
“We’re Not Crying, You’re Just Missing Out” Paired with a clever graphic, it draws attention while softening the sales pitch. It says: We’re still here, and we care.
How to Make It Work:
Use playful language and visuals, but stay true to your brand voice.
Test humorous messages on a small segment before rolling them out widely.
Balance humour with substance: be funny, but still show how you add value.
Suggested Subject Line:
These reminders don’t seem to be working.
Use Gentle Humour to Disarm, Not Distract
Humor isn’t always a ha-ha thing. It can be pretty subtle. In this email from Duolingo, the copy doesn’t include funny words or memes. All they do is add a cute image of Duolingo and ask if he came on too strong. They give the recipient space and time by reassuring them they won’t receive more reminders until they’re ready to come back. This gentle and calm approach could be enough to revive the relationship.
Educate to Rebuild Trust
If a customer stopped engaging because of the product itself, a simple discount might not be enough to win them back. Instead of leading with an offer, show them what’s changed and why it matters. One practical approach is to highlight new features or improvements that demonstrate your product’s ongoing evolution. For example, you might summarise key updates to showcase what they’ve missed or share educational content that reaffirms your brand’s value and expertise.
Reconnect with Relevance: Use Behaviour-Based Personalisation to Win Them Back
Personalisation matters here. Review their past behaviour, what pages they visited, which tools they tried, or what content they downloaded. If a user once explored your analytics dashboard but never upgraded, and you’ve since introduced real-time reporting or one-click exports, that’s your angle. Highlight the new functionality in a targeted re-engagement email. You could also send tailored educational content that helps them get more out of your product. Case studies, how-to videos, or product walkthroughs can address their needs directly and reduce friction. The goal is to demonstrate, not merely state, how your product now delivers more value.
Turn Product Updates Into Comebacks: Highlight What They’ve Been Missing
Example:
Your platform recently launched a real-time analytics feature. You send a concise email with a short demo video, a peer case study on productivity gains, and a clear CTA like “Discover the New Feature.” It’s informative, personalised, and focused, giving inactive users a reason to take another look.
What to Do:
Showcase relevant product updates or enhancements.
Include snackable educational content:
Tutorials
Guides
Infographics
Personalise based on previously viewed features or content.
Educate Through Social Proof and Practical Use Cases
Sharing educational content doesn’t mean listing everything new in my business. Create short snippets and an actionable email CTA that encourages subscribers to “Read more” or “Shop now.” Bathing Culture shares tips from their customers themselves, combining social proof with educational content. The email outlines various use cases for their products, along with their associated benefits. No better way to win back inactive consumers than to show how my products make my customers happy.
Announce Limited Time Offers to Re-Engage Customers
Offering a limited-time offer to dormant customers creates excitement while providing value. Besides that, nothing sparks action like the fear of missing out on a privilege about to expire. Picture this: an email arrives with a subject line like “Your Exclusive 7-Day Renewal Bonus – Don’t Miss Out!” The email features a countdown timer and highlights the benefits of taking immediate action, such as a discount on annual subscriptions or an upgrade offer. This creates a fear of missing out (FOMO) that compels users to act quickly.
Turn Urgency Into Action With Thoughtful, Time-Limited Offers
The key is to create a sense of urgency and make the offer irresistible. Here’s how:
Craft an attention-grabbing subject line that mentions the offer, using phrases like “limited time offer” or “don’t miss on,” etc.
Highlight what customers will gain from claiming the offer, keeping the message concise and helpful.
Set a clear deadline to reinforce urgency in your email content. Specify the time left, e.g., “Offer ends in X hours/ days.”
Tailor the offer to the customer’s past behavior. For instance, offer a discount on a more advanced version of the product they initially subscribed to.
Mind the use of CTAs. While it’s preferable to stick to a single CTA, eCommerce brands might leverage the occasion to promote several product categories.
Leverage visuals to emphasize the fleeting nature of the deal. Think of countdown timers, bold colors and fonts, and prominent CTAs.
Say why I offer what I do. Ensure I mention that this is not yet another promotional offer. Instead, I share it because I want to reconnect.
Blend Milestones With Offers to Rekindle Trust and Drive Action
Subject line: Did you see our BIGGEST Anniversary Sale? This email by Brooklinen is a mix-and-match of two effective email strategies for customer re-engagement. Brooklinen announces a 10-year anniversary sale, offering discounts of up to 45% off on its bundles. But they also made sure to list essential milestones, inviting readers to take a “walk down memory lane” with them. Notably, one of the milestones involves reaching more than 100,000 customer reviews. Social proof works wonders in displaying my brand’s growth and the ongoing trust that consumers place in my products.
Ask for Customer Feedback to Gain Valuable Insights
Asking inactive customers for feedback is counterintuitive. If they haven’t engaged in a while, why would they take the time to respond? When positioned thoughtfully, a feedback request can become a powerful re-engagement tool if you demonstrate that it’s mutually beneficial. Start by explaining why their input matters. Frame it as a way to help shape your product and marketing efforts around what they need. Make it clear that their feedback can directly lead to improvements, whether in your product, customer experience, or content. Ask questions that get to the heart of their disengagement: What made them step away? What could bring them back?
Make It Effortless, and Worth Their While
To boost response rates, remove friction. Avoid lengthy, multi-step forms. Instead, embed a short survey or poll directly in the email, or link to a form with a clear explanation of how long it will take. When users see that it’s quick and easy, they’ll be more inclined to respond. A small incentive can also go a long way. Offering a discount, early access, or a free resource shows you value their time and input.
Turn Feedback into a Two-Way Street
Example:
Send an email titled “We’d Love Your Feedback – Help Us Improve!” featuring a one-question survey embedded in the email itself. It’s direct, low effort, and reinforces that their voice matters.
What to Do:
Keep the feedback request fast and straightforward to complete.
Emphasise how their input influences product and service improvements.
Offer a small reward, such as a coupon or a free event, to thank them for participating.
Subject line: Workday Quiz: Got 30 Seconds?
Make Feedback Fun and Functional
Time Bellroy created a brilliant feedback request email. They used an engaging interactive quiz to increase engagement. The brand crafted this campaign to gather valuable data while recommending the most relevant products on the spot based on the answers. It’s easy, it’s fun, and, more importantly, it’s educational. That way, dormant customers can find exactly what they need and understand why they need it.
Segment Your Audience for Maximum Impact
One-size-fits-all messaging rarely works on disengaged customers. That’s where personalisation makes all the difference. In re-engagement campaigns, tailoring content to each user’s behaviour and preferences is key. Start by reviewing past interactions.
Have they opened your emails recently?
Clicked a link?
Or gone completely silent?
This helps you decide what kind of message to send. Active users might welcome new content or features. Dormant users may respond better to a clear, compelling incentive.
Match the Message to the Moment: Segment by Behaviour, Industry, and Tone
Take your segmentation further. Were some customers previously active but have since dropped off? Offer them early access to new features and let them know you value their past engagement. For those who signed up for a free trial but didn’t convert, send practical resources, such as how-to guides or demo videos, to help them understand the product’s value. Context matters, too. Segment by industry to address specific pain points:
Healthcare professionals prioritize compliance
Nonprofits require cost-effective tools.
Demographics also guide tone; Gen Z may appreciate memes or casual language, while B2B users prefer a professional tone.
Tailor the Fix to the Friction: Use Behavioural Segmentation to Rebuild Engagement
Example: One user may have stopped logging in after encountering a minor issue. Another may never have thoroughly explored the product. By using customer data platforms (like Custify), you can identify these differences and craft messages that speak directly to each scenario, be it a gentle reminder or an informative offer.
What to Do:
Segment users by engagement level, industry, and behavioural history.
Create tailored messages for each group—trial users, once-loyal customers, or long-term inactive contacts.
Continuously refine your segments based on updated user data and campaign performance.
Retargeting Ads
These ads appear as users browse other websites or social platforms, subtly reminding them of your brand. By using cookies, you can track visitors who interacted with your site—whether they browsed products, started a checkout, or simply lingered—without completing a purchase.
Why it works:
Retargeting keeps your brand top of mind and gives customers a reason to return. And when done well, it feels less like an ad and more like a helpful nudge.
Example:
Set up a retargeting campaign with a message like: “We miss you! Come back and enjoy 20% off your next purchase.”
Use Dynamic Retargeting To Deliver Hyper-Relevant Offers
To boost effectiveness, make your ads personal. Tailor content based on previous behaviours, such as products viewed or categories explored. Dynamic ad formats enable you to display to customers the exact items they were considering or suggest similar alternatives.
Example:
“Hi [First Name], still thinking about [Product]? Here’s 20% off—just for you.” This type of targeted messaging increases relevance, fosters familiarity, and provides customers with an apparent reason to return and convert.
Perfect Your Timing to Re-Engage Customers at the Right Moment
A perfectly crafted message sent at the wrong time could be spam. To nail my timing, I’ll check my customers’ historical usage patterns.
When do they typically log in?
What time zone are they in?
Which day of the week saw the highest activity?
Once I have these details, it’s time to send my first message. Studies show that Tuesdays and Thursdays have the highest engagement rates for B2B professionals. With that in mind, I’ll consider sending re-engagement emails on Tuesday mornings (their time). Then, follow up on Thursday with a different angle and close next Tuesday with my best offer.
Related Reading
• Unprofessional Email Address Examples
• Omnichannel Lead Generation
• Sales Funnel Email Sequence
• Nurture Email Sequence
• How to Change Email Signature in Outreach
• Email Outsourcing
• Email Management Tips
• Find Email of Twitter Account
• Partnership Email Template
• Nudge Email
8 Tips to Stop Customer Churn Before It Starts
1. Evaluate the ROI for Lost Leads
When you want to nurture lost leads, you must know how to measure the success of your efforts. Companies must track their ROI for lost leads to determine if it’s worth it and understand which strategies are most effective. It’s also important to consider the total cost of ownership and how your product or service can help reduce it. For example, if you’re selling a CRM system, you’ll want to focus on how your system can help save the company money by reducing downtime and increasing sales.
2. Track the Dead Lead Changes
It’s important to know what happened to the dead lead before you can begin to re-engage them. Take a look at your customer journey analytics to determine when and why the lost lead left the sales funnel in the first place. Analyzing the data can reveal any problems or disconnects that lead to dropping out of the process. By understanding this, companies can quickly address any issues and ensure that customers have a smooth experience. One of the most important things to remember about dead leads is that they’re not always truly dead. In many cases, they may simply need a little extra attention or have experienced a change in circumstances. For example, someone who wasn’t interested in your product last month may be ready to buy.
3. Survey the Lost Leads
There’s no question that surveys and polls can be useful tools for marketing research and lead generation. Surveys and polls can be even more valuable when it comes to winning back lost leads. These studies help you understand why a lead was lost in the first place. Was it because of a poor experience with your product or service? Or was it because they simply couldn’t afford it?
Surveys and polls can also help you identify the needs and interests of a lead. You can use this information to create targeted marketing campaigns. Surveys and polls provide an opportunity to engage directly with a potential lead. This direct communication can build rapport, establish trust, and convince the lead to give your company another chance. You can run surveys and polls using:
Email
SMS
CRMs
Simple forms
4. Reconnect With Dead Leads via Trigger Events
A trigger event is any significant change or update in a lead’s circumstances. It’s an event that unleashes a marketing or sales opportunity. Businesses can use this information to re-engage a dead lead. For example, if a customer opens an email newsletter, you can send them targeted follow-up messages. Or, if a customer views a product page on your website, you can reach out to them with a special offer or discount. Reaching out after each trigger event can help build a stronger connection with the lead and keep them from going cold.
5. Retarget Lost Leads
There are many ways to nurture lost leads. One of the most effective ways is to retarget them with ads or email drip campaigns. Using these methods, you can reach a larger audience and increase your chances of converting them into customers or clients. But it’s essential to test the waters first. Start by running an ad campaign with a small budget and see how it performs. If the results are good, you can increase spending and scale it up. Retargeting campaigns should be tailored to the needs of each lead. Relevant messages that provide value will make them more likely to convert.
Test Formats, Not Just Messages: Use Rich Media To Re-Engage
Try using different media types, such as audio, video, and images, to create a more engaging experience. Retargeting lost leads with ads and email drip campaigns is effective because it allows you to test different subject lines and messages. This way, you can determine the most effective ways to get people to respond to your campaigns.
6. Build Your Early Warning System
Most companies wait for the cancellation email before taking action. By then, you're fighting an uphill battle. A better approach is to set up automated monitoring that identifies issues well before customers consider leaving. Start with login patterns, they tell the real story of customer engagement. When a power user who logs in daily suddenly switches to weekly check-ins, you know something's wrong. Login data alone doesn't reveal the entire picture. You need to track how customers use your product, not just when they show up. Set up monitoring for three key metrics:
Feature adoption depth
Support ticket sentiment
Workflow completion rates
When customers stop using advanced features or suddenly flood support with basic questions, they show classic signs of disengagement. The key is catching these signals early enough to intervene.
7. Map Your Customer Recovery Journey
Different warning signs need different approaches. Here's how to match your response to the risk:
For early-stage warnings, focus on education and quick wins. Show customers features they haven't discovered or workflows that could save them time.
Make it easy for them to see immediate value without requiring massive changes to their process. With medium-risk accounts, dig deeper into their business goals.
Schedule quarterly reviews focused on ROI and strategic alignment. Show them what similar customers achieved with your product and create a clear path to those same results.
For high-risk customers actively planning their exit, direct intervention is necessary. Engage your product team to identify feature gaps and opportunities.
Offer migration support if they're struggling with data.
Sometimes, saving a relationship means admitting where you fell short and showing how you'll make amends.
8. Set KPIs for Re-engagement Campaigns
To effectively measure re-engagement, retailers should establish clear key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with their business objectives. Common KPIs for re-engagement campaigns include:
Customer Lifetime Value: The projected revenue that a reactivated customer is expected to generate reflects the duration of their relationship with the brand.
Reactivation Rate: The percentage of inactive customers who make a purchase or engage with the brand again after a re-engagement effort.
Average Order Value: The average amount spent by reactivated customers per transaction.
Redemption Rates: The percentage of customers who use re-engagement offers, discounts, or loyalty points.
Repeat Purchase Rate: The rate at which reactivated customers make additional purchases within a specified period.
Engagement Metrics: Metrics such as email open rates, click-through rates, and response rates to personalised messages and offers.
Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today
If you're serious about cold emailing, you need to take deliverability seriously. No one wants to spend hours crafting the perfect email only to have it go to the spam folder or get blocked altogether. This is where Inframail shines.
Why Cold Outreach Teams Need Infrastructure, Not Just Inboxes
At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We provide Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup to help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently. Main benefits of using our service:
Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup
Dedicated email servers for each user
16-hour priority support daily
Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup while you focus on reaching more prospects. Whether you're an agency looking to scale outreach, a recruiter connecting with candidates, or an SDR driving sales, Inframail provides the robust email infrastructure you need without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs. Start buying domains now and set up your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.
Related Reading
• How to Sign an Email Professionally
• How to Cold Email for Research
• How to See if Someone Read Your Email on Outlook
• Sales Accepted Lead vs Sales Qualified Lead
• Email Quote Template
• How to Cold Email for an Internship
• How Many Emails Can Be Sent at Once in Gmail
• Lead Nurturing Tools
• How Long Should a Newsletter Be
• PR Pitch Email Example
• Podcast Email Examples
• Best Sales Acceleration Tools
When a customer stops engaging with your business, it can feel like a death in the family. The truth is, most customers don't immediately stop responding to your emails after purchasing your product. Instead, they take their time. They stop opening your emails, then they stop visiting your website, and they stop buying. If you still don’t catch their attention with your outreach efforts at this point, they will be lost for good. This is why learning how to re-engage lost customers is so important, and powerful email closing lines would help the cause. This article will provide you with valuable insight to help you effortlessly win back lost customers, boost retention, and reignite long-term loyalty, all without wasting time or budget on ineffective outreach.
To help you achieve your objectives, Inframail's email infrastructure solution helps your emails land where they belong: the inbox. With our help, you can effortlessly reconnect with lost customers, boost retention, and reignite long-term loyalty.
Table of Contents
Why Use Email for Customer Re-engagement?
Customer churn is part of doing business. It happens to everyone, no matter how hard you try to prevent it. The key is not to panic when it happens. With the right tactics and tools in place, businesses can ensure that their leads stay hot long enough for them to convert into loyal customers. Losing customers is especially damaging for service-based businesses that rely on long-term client relationships. Every lost customer represents not only lost revenue but also lost trust and potential referrals. With the right customer win-back strategy, businesses can re-engage past clients and rebuild relationships, thereby improving their chances of regaining lost customers.
What Is a Lost Lead?
A lost or dead lead is an individual or company that initially showed interest in buying your product or service but then disappeared without any contact or activity. This can result from the lead being forgotten, ignored, or overwhelmed with too many marketing emails. Lost leads can occur for various reasons, such as failing to connect with them on time, delivering incorrect information or messages, and more. Unfortunately, it’s often challenging for businesses to determine why someone has become a lost lead. But it’s essential to know the reasons before we start re-engaging lost leads.
Why Do You Lose Leads?
To win back the lost leads, you must dig deeper and identify why they got lost in the first place. Below are the top seven reasons for losing leads.
1. Asking for Too Little or Too Much Information
Asking for too little or too much information can significantly deter any lead-generation effort. Often, when prospects are invited to share too much information, they become overwhelmed and hesitant to proceed. On the other hand, if a lead gen form is too short or asks for only minimal information, you risk not gathering enough data on your leads to make informed decisions. This lack of data can result in missed opportunities for personalizing your offers. As such, it is always a good idea to find your sweet spot by asking the right questions that provide the necessary information to qualify your leads without overwhelming them.
2. Being Too Pushy
Being too pushy or salesy in the sales process can turn off leads. You must avoid this at all costs to avoid lost leads and unhappy customers. When engaging with potential clients, take a step back and sound helpful instead of salesy. Focus on building and nurturing relationships before attempting to move them down the sales funnel. Sending too many emails or pushing too hard for sales can be perceived as intrusive and cause people to lose interest or switch to a different company.
Respecting Buyer Readiness: Why Timing and Empathy Matter in Re-Engagement
Remember, everyone moves at a different pace; not everyone is ready to buy immediately. Reaching out too often or pushing someone who’s already expressed disinterest can result in an even bigger turnoff. Take the time to get to know their needs and desires better, so you can better understand what they are looking for in your product or service. This way, you’ll come across as genuine and trustworthy, leading to better customer retention rates in the long run.
3. Offering Helpful Content Late
Customers may lose interest and drop out of the sales funnel if companies offer helpful content too late. Or they may not respond quickly to communication. Timing is key here, and businesses must provide the right content at the right time. Many prospective customers are researching different products and services online.
Speed and Relevance: The Role of Timely Communication in Customer Trust
They expect a prompt response when they receive an email or something else. If their questions are left unanswered for too long, they may move on to another option that can provide answers more quickly. Offering helpful content too late in the sales process can leave customers feeling like their time was wasted. Having relevant and timely information helps build customer trust, which is essential for businesses to maintain leads in the sales funnel.
4. Focusing on Too Many Offers
Focusing on too many offers can be detrimental to lead generation. A business with multiple offerings can easily overwhelm potential leads who are unfamiliar with its products or services, leading to excessive confusion. Promoting too many different offers can cause the message to become muddled and incoherent, reducing its effectiveness in driving conversions. However, with a clear focus for each campaign and pushing on one offer at a time, businesses will have better success in converting leads into paying customers.
5. Not Delivering the Claimed Benefit
Failing to fulfill promises made in your ad and landing page is a significant cause of losing leads. If these claims are not backed up with solid evidence, customers are less likely to believe you and trust your brand. Customers may become dissatisfied and spread negative word-of-mouth about your product or service. To prevent this from happening, ensure that your ads accurately describe the benefits of your products or services and deliver on those promises when customers make a purchase. Also, ensure that the sales and marketing teams are aligned. Doing so will help build customer loyalty and trust over time, which can lead to more leads and better sales results.
6. Not Targeting the Right Audience
One of the primary reasons companies lose leads is a lack of understanding and improper targeting of their desired audience. Creating content that engages your customer base and encourages them to convert is impossible when you don’t know who you’re marketing to. Companies must invest in research and analysis to identify their target market, attract the right people, and nurture lost leads. Once this data is collected, marketers can tailor their messaging and content to best connect with this targeted group. Otherwise, businesses will continue to lose money if they do not show the right offer to the right people.
7. Customers Don’t Know What to Do Next
An often-overlooked issue can result in lost leads and missed opportunities. When customers are in your sales funnel, they must be aware of the next step they need to take to move closer to a sale. Businesses must ensure that the right call-to-action (CTA) is in place at the right time and in the right place. For example, if a customer reaches a product page but doesn’t complete the purchase, adding a CTA redirecting them to a payment page can help guide them down the funnel.
When Do You Need to Re-Engage Lost Leads?
Re-engaging lost leads is an integral part of a successful sales and marketing strategy. Businesses must re-engage lost leads as soon as they’re lost. This will maximize the likelihood of re-engaging and converting them into paying customers. Re-engagement must include sending emails, calls, and even direct mail campaigns that offer special discounts or exclusive offers for those who have not yet engaged with your business.
Email Retargeting: Turning Missed Opportunities into Meaningful Conversions
Companies can utilize email retargeting tactics to reconnect with leads who have already visited but have not made a purchase. Have meaningful conversations with each lead to better understand their needs and tailor future offers accordingly. Reaching out promptly is crucial for successful lead conversion and can also enhance customer satisfaction.
Why You Should Use Email for Customer Re-Engagement
Perhaps email wouldn’t be the first approach you’d take to re-engage inactive customers. You may prefer to contact them directly through a dedicated team member, such as a customer success manager. Or you could feel it’s not wise to focus your strategy on them, and you’d rather invest in rewarding loyal customers or acquiring new ones. Using email marketing and email automation for customer re-engagement serves several strategic purposes. Here are the most important ones:
Educating Customers
Win-back campaigns help brands share helpful content about their value proposition in every step of the customer journey. From tips on how to get started to comprehensive guides on how to use advanced features, you educate users effectively and reduce the risk of customer churn.
Offering Multiple Options to Reconnect
Email excels at customer re-engagement by providing readers multiple ways to reconnect with your brand. Whether it’s claiming a discount, completing a survey, or reaching out to a customer service agent, you cater to different customer preferences, unlike methods like retargeting ads that just direct customers back to your site.
Improving Customer Relationships
With re-engagement emails, you can personalize your communication and boost brand loyalty. It might be through an email survey or an email preference center. Either way, subscribers will point you in the right direction; they’ll tell you what kind of content they prefer, how often they’d like to receive emails, or which products they’re interested in.
Keeping a Healthy Email List
Disengaged subscribers are one of the reasons your deliverability is dropping. Low engagement sends a signal to email providers that recipients may not want to receive and interact with your emails. But sending win-back emails helps you decide which recipients are worth keeping. If some subscribers don’t engage with these emails, consider removing them to maintain a healthy list.
Related Reading
• Cold Sale
• Cold Prospecting
• Outreach Methods
• Professional Email Example
• Collaboration Email Template
• How to Get Email Address From Facebook Url
• Email Audit
• Targeted Lead Generation
• Cold Email Personalization
How to Re-engage Lost Customers Via Email (With Examples)
Keep It Simple: Re-Engagement Emails Don’t Need to Be Complicated
Re-engagement emails aim to demonstrate the value of your product or service, thereby earning back customer trust. But how you deliver that message matters just as much as the message itself. Depending on your audience and resources, you can approach this in different ways. One common misstep? Trying too hard to impress.
Cut the Clutter: Why Focused Messaging Wins in SaaS Win-Back Emails
In win-back campaigns, that often translates into cluttered layouts and information overload. The temptation to showcase every feature, embed multiple how-to guides, and squeeze in upcoming events is understandable, but it rarely works. In SaaS marketing, especially, it’s far more effective to focus each email on a single, clear message. For instance, instead of a catch-all email packed with everything new, you might send a targeted campaign highlighting one feature the user hasn’t explored. This focused approach, paired with a minimalistic design, helps cut through the noise and re-engage users more effectively.
Ask yourself:
What do I have to offer now that’s new or improved?
Why should this user return?
Designing for Action: Best Practices for High-Converting Re-Engagement Emails
Your email should revolve around answering those questions above. Every design choice, from fonts to visuals, should serve that core message. To help you craft re-engagement emails that convert, follow these proven tips:
Lead with the message: Put the key benefit of re-engaging front and centre. Remind users why they signed up and what they’re missing.
Stick to one CTA: A single, clear call-to-action guides users to the next step without overwhelming them.
Prioritise readability: Use white space, legible fonts, short paragraphs, and bullet points to reduce visual fatigue and highlight key elements, especially your CTA.
Use minimalist templates: Most email platforms offer clean, responsive templates that save time while maintaining a practical and straightforward layout.
One example: this SaaS re-engagement email template by Moosend gets it right. It centres around a single announcement, with a strong CTA and a countdown timer that creates urgency. The clean design draws attention exactly where it should, helping dormant users take quick, decisive action.
Offer Exclusive Discounts and Perks to Bring Back Old Customers
If you’ve used incentives in your lead generation strategy, there’s no reason not to apply the same principle to your re-engagement emails. Exclusive discounts, perks, and personalised rewards can effectively prompt inactive users to return. They signal that you value loyalty and are willing to offer something meaningful in return.
Tailored Incentives: Why Relevance and Exclusivity Drive Re-Engagement
The key is relevance. Generic offers won’t move the needle, but tailored incentives based on user behaviour can.
For instance:
Did they try one of your services but drop off? Offer a discount on an upgrade of that same service.
Have they engaged with a particular content type? Share an early look at an upcoming post or resource.
Do you offer a loyalty programme? Invite them to join, clearly listing the rewards that come with it.
Exclusivity goes a long way. When readers feel like they’re getting something reserved just for them, they’re far more likely to act. That effect only intensifies when you pair it with urgency. People value free perks, but they also hate missing out.
Bring It to Life: A Personalised Re-Engagement Offer in Action
Example:
Imagine a customer who hasn’t logged in for 60 days receives an email with the subject line:
“We Miss You. Enjoy 20% Off Your Next Upgrade”
It’s simple, targeted, and personal. This isn’t just a discount, it’s a loyalty reward, offered based on their prior use of a specific feature. That personalised relevance gives the incentive real weight.
How to Make It Work:
Tailor your offer: Align incentives with users’ past behaviours or preferences.
Create urgency: Set a clear deadline to trigger the fear of missing out (FOMO) and encourage prompt action.
Keep it simple: Use a clear CTA that reinforces the exclusive nature of the offer.
Suggested Subject Line:
“We saved these, and got you 20% off.”
Combine Personalised Recommendations with Time-Limited Offers
In this re-engagement email, Forever 21 uses the recipient’s browsing history to recommend products they’ve shown interest in. The brand also throws in a 20% discount to sweeten the deal. Adding phrases like “before they’re gone” and highlighting that the offer will be active only for 7 days prompts immediate action.
Use Humor to Hook Inactive Customers
Consumers respond well to brands that make them smile. One study found that 72% of people would choose a brand that uses humour over one that doesn’t. Why? Because humour feels human. It breaks down the transactional wall and reminds customers of genuine, real-life connections, ones not driven by money. In re-engagement emails, humour can be as simple as a well-placed emoji, a witty subject line, or a relevant meme. But it’s not just about visuals, you can also bring humour into your copy. Use light-hearted phrasing to say you miss them.
Humour with Purpose: When to Use It, and When to Hold Back
Add a pop culture reference they’ll recognise. Inject personality that makes your message memorable, even if they don’t convert right away. Because let’s be honest. Everyone remembers a good laugh.
But use this tactic wisely.
Humour isn’t one-size-fits-all. If it doesn’t align with your brand tone, it could feel off-brand or forced. It’s also important to consider your audience. A playful meme might resonate with Gen Z or Millennials but come off as unprofessional to a more formal, B2B crowd. Test small before you scale.
A Light Touch with Real Impact: Humour in Action
Example:
Imagine sending a re-engagement email with the subject line:
“We’re Not Crying, You’re Just Missing Out” Paired with a clever graphic, it draws attention while softening the sales pitch. It says: We’re still here, and we care.
How to Make It Work:
Use playful language and visuals, but stay true to your brand voice.
Test humorous messages on a small segment before rolling them out widely.
Balance humour with substance: be funny, but still show how you add value.
Suggested Subject Line:
These reminders don’t seem to be working.
Use Gentle Humour to Disarm, Not Distract
Humor isn’t always a ha-ha thing. It can be pretty subtle. In this email from Duolingo, the copy doesn’t include funny words or memes. All they do is add a cute image of Duolingo and ask if he came on too strong. They give the recipient space and time by reassuring them they won’t receive more reminders until they’re ready to come back. This gentle and calm approach could be enough to revive the relationship.
Educate to Rebuild Trust
If a customer stopped engaging because of the product itself, a simple discount might not be enough to win them back. Instead of leading with an offer, show them what’s changed and why it matters. One practical approach is to highlight new features or improvements that demonstrate your product’s ongoing evolution. For example, you might summarise key updates to showcase what they’ve missed or share educational content that reaffirms your brand’s value and expertise.
Reconnect with Relevance: Use Behaviour-Based Personalisation to Win Them Back
Personalisation matters here. Review their past behaviour, what pages they visited, which tools they tried, or what content they downloaded. If a user once explored your analytics dashboard but never upgraded, and you’ve since introduced real-time reporting or one-click exports, that’s your angle. Highlight the new functionality in a targeted re-engagement email. You could also send tailored educational content that helps them get more out of your product. Case studies, how-to videos, or product walkthroughs can address their needs directly and reduce friction. The goal is to demonstrate, not merely state, how your product now delivers more value.
Turn Product Updates Into Comebacks: Highlight What They’ve Been Missing
Example:
Your platform recently launched a real-time analytics feature. You send a concise email with a short demo video, a peer case study on productivity gains, and a clear CTA like “Discover the New Feature.” It’s informative, personalised, and focused, giving inactive users a reason to take another look.
What to Do:
Showcase relevant product updates or enhancements.
Include snackable educational content:
Tutorials
Guides
Infographics
Personalise based on previously viewed features or content.
Educate Through Social Proof and Practical Use Cases
Sharing educational content doesn’t mean listing everything new in my business. Create short snippets and an actionable email CTA that encourages subscribers to “Read more” or “Shop now.” Bathing Culture shares tips from their customers themselves, combining social proof with educational content. The email outlines various use cases for their products, along with their associated benefits. No better way to win back inactive consumers than to show how my products make my customers happy.
Announce Limited Time Offers to Re-Engage Customers
Offering a limited-time offer to dormant customers creates excitement while providing value. Besides that, nothing sparks action like the fear of missing out on a privilege about to expire. Picture this: an email arrives with a subject line like “Your Exclusive 7-Day Renewal Bonus – Don’t Miss Out!” The email features a countdown timer and highlights the benefits of taking immediate action, such as a discount on annual subscriptions or an upgrade offer. This creates a fear of missing out (FOMO) that compels users to act quickly.
Turn Urgency Into Action With Thoughtful, Time-Limited Offers
The key is to create a sense of urgency and make the offer irresistible. Here’s how:
Craft an attention-grabbing subject line that mentions the offer, using phrases like “limited time offer” or “don’t miss on,” etc.
Highlight what customers will gain from claiming the offer, keeping the message concise and helpful.
Set a clear deadline to reinforce urgency in your email content. Specify the time left, e.g., “Offer ends in X hours/ days.”
Tailor the offer to the customer’s past behavior. For instance, offer a discount on a more advanced version of the product they initially subscribed to.
Mind the use of CTAs. While it’s preferable to stick to a single CTA, eCommerce brands might leverage the occasion to promote several product categories.
Leverage visuals to emphasize the fleeting nature of the deal. Think of countdown timers, bold colors and fonts, and prominent CTAs.
Say why I offer what I do. Ensure I mention that this is not yet another promotional offer. Instead, I share it because I want to reconnect.
Blend Milestones With Offers to Rekindle Trust and Drive Action
Subject line: Did you see our BIGGEST Anniversary Sale? This email by Brooklinen is a mix-and-match of two effective email strategies for customer re-engagement. Brooklinen announces a 10-year anniversary sale, offering discounts of up to 45% off on its bundles. But they also made sure to list essential milestones, inviting readers to take a “walk down memory lane” with them. Notably, one of the milestones involves reaching more than 100,000 customer reviews. Social proof works wonders in displaying my brand’s growth and the ongoing trust that consumers place in my products.
Ask for Customer Feedback to Gain Valuable Insights
Asking inactive customers for feedback is counterintuitive. If they haven’t engaged in a while, why would they take the time to respond? When positioned thoughtfully, a feedback request can become a powerful re-engagement tool if you demonstrate that it’s mutually beneficial. Start by explaining why their input matters. Frame it as a way to help shape your product and marketing efforts around what they need. Make it clear that their feedback can directly lead to improvements, whether in your product, customer experience, or content. Ask questions that get to the heart of their disengagement: What made them step away? What could bring them back?
Make It Effortless, and Worth Their While
To boost response rates, remove friction. Avoid lengthy, multi-step forms. Instead, embed a short survey or poll directly in the email, or link to a form with a clear explanation of how long it will take. When users see that it’s quick and easy, they’ll be more inclined to respond. A small incentive can also go a long way. Offering a discount, early access, or a free resource shows you value their time and input.
Turn Feedback into a Two-Way Street
Example:
Send an email titled “We’d Love Your Feedback – Help Us Improve!” featuring a one-question survey embedded in the email itself. It’s direct, low effort, and reinforces that their voice matters.
What to Do:
Keep the feedback request fast and straightforward to complete.
Emphasise how their input influences product and service improvements.
Offer a small reward, such as a coupon or a free event, to thank them for participating.
Subject line: Workday Quiz: Got 30 Seconds?
Make Feedback Fun and Functional
Time Bellroy created a brilliant feedback request email. They used an engaging interactive quiz to increase engagement. The brand crafted this campaign to gather valuable data while recommending the most relevant products on the spot based on the answers. It’s easy, it’s fun, and, more importantly, it’s educational. That way, dormant customers can find exactly what they need and understand why they need it.
Segment Your Audience for Maximum Impact
One-size-fits-all messaging rarely works on disengaged customers. That’s where personalisation makes all the difference. In re-engagement campaigns, tailoring content to each user’s behaviour and preferences is key. Start by reviewing past interactions.
Have they opened your emails recently?
Clicked a link?
Or gone completely silent?
This helps you decide what kind of message to send. Active users might welcome new content or features. Dormant users may respond better to a clear, compelling incentive.
Match the Message to the Moment: Segment by Behaviour, Industry, and Tone
Take your segmentation further. Were some customers previously active but have since dropped off? Offer them early access to new features and let them know you value their past engagement. For those who signed up for a free trial but didn’t convert, send practical resources, such as how-to guides or demo videos, to help them understand the product’s value. Context matters, too. Segment by industry to address specific pain points:
Healthcare professionals prioritize compliance
Nonprofits require cost-effective tools.
Demographics also guide tone; Gen Z may appreciate memes or casual language, while B2B users prefer a professional tone.
Tailor the Fix to the Friction: Use Behavioural Segmentation to Rebuild Engagement
Example: One user may have stopped logging in after encountering a minor issue. Another may never have thoroughly explored the product. By using customer data platforms (like Custify), you can identify these differences and craft messages that speak directly to each scenario, be it a gentle reminder or an informative offer.
What to Do:
Segment users by engagement level, industry, and behavioural history.
Create tailored messages for each group—trial users, once-loyal customers, or long-term inactive contacts.
Continuously refine your segments based on updated user data and campaign performance.
Retargeting Ads
These ads appear as users browse other websites or social platforms, subtly reminding them of your brand. By using cookies, you can track visitors who interacted with your site—whether they browsed products, started a checkout, or simply lingered—without completing a purchase.
Why it works:
Retargeting keeps your brand top of mind and gives customers a reason to return. And when done well, it feels less like an ad and more like a helpful nudge.
Example:
Set up a retargeting campaign with a message like: “We miss you! Come back and enjoy 20% off your next purchase.”
Use Dynamic Retargeting To Deliver Hyper-Relevant Offers
To boost effectiveness, make your ads personal. Tailor content based on previous behaviours, such as products viewed or categories explored. Dynamic ad formats enable you to display to customers the exact items they were considering or suggest similar alternatives.
Example:
“Hi [First Name], still thinking about [Product]? Here’s 20% off—just for you.” This type of targeted messaging increases relevance, fosters familiarity, and provides customers with an apparent reason to return and convert.
Perfect Your Timing to Re-Engage Customers at the Right Moment
A perfectly crafted message sent at the wrong time could be spam. To nail my timing, I’ll check my customers’ historical usage patterns.
When do they typically log in?
What time zone are they in?
Which day of the week saw the highest activity?
Once I have these details, it’s time to send my first message. Studies show that Tuesdays and Thursdays have the highest engagement rates for B2B professionals. With that in mind, I’ll consider sending re-engagement emails on Tuesday mornings (their time). Then, follow up on Thursday with a different angle and close next Tuesday with my best offer.
Related Reading
• Unprofessional Email Address Examples
• Omnichannel Lead Generation
• Sales Funnel Email Sequence
• Nurture Email Sequence
• How to Change Email Signature in Outreach
• Email Outsourcing
• Email Management Tips
• Find Email of Twitter Account
• Partnership Email Template
• Nudge Email
8 Tips to Stop Customer Churn Before It Starts
1. Evaluate the ROI for Lost Leads
When you want to nurture lost leads, you must know how to measure the success of your efforts. Companies must track their ROI for lost leads to determine if it’s worth it and understand which strategies are most effective. It’s also important to consider the total cost of ownership and how your product or service can help reduce it. For example, if you’re selling a CRM system, you’ll want to focus on how your system can help save the company money by reducing downtime and increasing sales.
2. Track the Dead Lead Changes
It’s important to know what happened to the dead lead before you can begin to re-engage them. Take a look at your customer journey analytics to determine when and why the lost lead left the sales funnel in the first place. Analyzing the data can reveal any problems or disconnects that lead to dropping out of the process. By understanding this, companies can quickly address any issues and ensure that customers have a smooth experience. One of the most important things to remember about dead leads is that they’re not always truly dead. In many cases, they may simply need a little extra attention or have experienced a change in circumstances. For example, someone who wasn’t interested in your product last month may be ready to buy.
3. Survey the Lost Leads
There’s no question that surveys and polls can be useful tools for marketing research and lead generation. Surveys and polls can be even more valuable when it comes to winning back lost leads. These studies help you understand why a lead was lost in the first place. Was it because of a poor experience with your product or service? Or was it because they simply couldn’t afford it?
Surveys and polls can also help you identify the needs and interests of a lead. You can use this information to create targeted marketing campaigns. Surveys and polls provide an opportunity to engage directly with a potential lead. This direct communication can build rapport, establish trust, and convince the lead to give your company another chance. You can run surveys and polls using:
Email
SMS
CRMs
Simple forms
4. Reconnect With Dead Leads via Trigger Events
A trigger event is any significant change or update in a lead’s circumstances. It’s an event that unleashes a marketing or sales opportunity. Businesses can use this information to re-engage a dead lead. For example, if a customer opens an email newsletter, you can send them targeted follow-up messages. Or, if a customer views a product page on your website, you can reach out to them with a special offer or discount. Reaching out after each trigger event can help build a stronger connection with the lead and keep them from going cold.
5. Retarget Lost Leads
There are many ways to nurture lost leads. One of the most effective ways is to retarget them with ads or email drip campaigns. Using these methods, you can reach a larger audience and increase your chances of converting them into customers or clients. But it’s essential to test the waters first. Start by running an ad campaign with a small budget and see how it performs. If the results are good, you can increase spending and scale it up. Retargeting campaigns should be tailored to the needs of each lead. Relevant messages that provide value will make them more likely to convert.
Test Formats, Not Just Messages: Use Rich Media To Re-Engage
Try using different media types, such as audio, video, and images, to create a more engaging experience. Retargeting lost leads with ads and email drip campaigns is effective because it allows you to test different subject lines and messages. This way, you can determine the most effective ways to get people to respond to your campaigns.
6. Build Your Early Warning System
Most companies wait for the cancellation email before taking action. By then, you're fighting an uphill battle. A better approach is to set up automated monitoring that identifies issues well before customers consider leaving. Start with login patterns, they tell the real story of customer engagement. When a power user who logs in daily suddenly switches to weekly check-ins, you know something's wrong. Login data alone doesn't reveal the entire picture. You need to track how customers use your product, not just when they show up. Set up monitoring for three key metrics:
Feature adoption depth
Support ticket sentiment
Workflow completion rates
When customers stop using advanced features or suddenly flood support with basic questions, they show classic signs of disengagement. The key is catching these signals early enough to intervene.
7. Map Your Customer Recovery Journey
Different warning signs need different approaches. Here's how to match your response to the risk:
For early-stage warnings, focus on education and quick wins. Show customers features they haven't discovered or workflows that could save them time.
Make it easy for them to see immediate value without requiring massive changes to their process. With medium-risk accounts, dig deeper into their business goals.
Schedule quarterly reviews focused on ROI and strategic alignment. Show them what similar customers achieved with your product and create a clear path to those same results.
For high-risk customers actively planning their exit, direct intervention is necessary. Engage your product team to identify feature gaps and opportunities.
Offer migration support if they're struggling with data.
Sometimes, saving a relationship means admitting where you fell short and showing how you'll make amends.
8. Set KPIs for Re-engagement Campaigns
To effectively measure re-engagement, retailers should establish clear key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with their business objectives. Common KPIs for re-engagement campaigns include:
Customer Lifetime Value: The projected revenue that a reactivated customer is expected to generate reflects the duration of their relationship with the brand.
Reactivation Rate: The percentage of inactive customers who make a purchase or engage with the brand again after a re-engagement effort.
Average Order Value: The average amount spent by reactivated customers per transaction.
Redemption Rates: The percentage of customers who use re-engagement offers, discounts, or loyalty points.
Repeat Purchase Rate: The rate at which reactivated customers make additional purchases within a specified period.
Engagement Metrics: Metrics such as email open rates, click-through rates, and response rates to personalised messages and offers.
Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today
If you're serious about cold emailing, you need to take deliverability seriously. No one wants to spend hours crafting the perfect email only to have it go to the spam folder or get blocked altogether. This is where Inframail shines.
Why Cold Outreach Teams Need Infrastructure, Not Just Inboxes
At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We provide Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup to help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently. Main benefits of using our service:
Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup
Dedicated email servers for each user
16-hour priority support daily
Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup while you focus on reaching more prospects. Whether you're an agency looking to scale outreach, a recruiter connecting with candidates, or an SDR driving sales, Inframail provides the robust email infrastructure you need without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs. Start buying domains now and set up your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.
Related Reading
• How to Sign an Email Professionally
• How to Cold Email for Research
• How to See if Someone Read Your Email on Outlook
• Sales Accepted Lead vs Sales Qualified Lead
• Email Quote Template
• How to Cold Email for an Internship
• How Many Emails Can Be Sent at Once in Gmail
• Lead Nurturing Tools
• How Long Should a Newsletter Be
• PR Pitch Email Example
• Podcast Email Examples
• Best Sales Acceleration Tools
Table of Content
Address
© Inframail LLC. 2023
228 Park Ave S.
PMB 166934
New York, New York 10003-1502
Compliance
Compare
© 2023 Inframail. All Rights Reserved.
Address
© Inframail LLC. 2023
228 Park Ave S.
PMB 166934
New York, New York 10003-1502
Compliance
Compare
© 2023 Inframail. All Rights Reserved.
Address
© Inframail LLC. 2023
228 Park Ave S. PMB 166934
New York, New York 10003-1502
Compliance
Compare
© 2023 Inframail. All Rights Reserved.
Address
© Inframail LLC. 2023
228 Park Ave S.
PMB 166934
New York, New York 10003-1502
Compliance
Compare
© 2023 Inframail. All Rights Reserved.