Re-engagement emails: examples & tips to win back customers

Reading Time: 9 minutes

If you’re noticing a decline in engagement and a dwindling customer base, a re-engagement email might be what you need. When done right, these emails have the potential to revive relationships with inactive customers.

These customers may have already lost interest, but reconnecting with them can lead to potential benefits. For example, you can increase customer lifetime value and generate additional revenue. 

So, how do you do this effectively?

The solution lies in crafting re-engagement emails that capture attention and offer genuine value, giving customers a reason to return. To help you do this, we’ll look at successful customer engagement email examples and share strategies you can follow to win back your customers.

What is a re-engagement email?

A re-engagement email is a message sent to subscribers who haven’t interacted with your emails in a while.

It’s normal for customers to stop opening emails, visiting websites, or making purchases over time. This can happen for various reasons, such as changes in preferences or brand choices.

A re-engagement email campaign can serve as a gentle reminder of your brand’s offerings to rekindle your customers’ interest. 

The best re-engagement emails use compelling subject lines and personalized content to catch the subscriber’s attention. They might offer a special discount, remind users of the benefits of being a subscriber, or ask for feedback on why they’ve been inactive. 

Some customer re-engagement email examples even provide subscribers the option to update their preferences or confirm continued interest in receiving emails.

These emails are essential for maintaining an active email subscriber base. By reaching out to inactive subscribers, you can either win them back or clean up your list by removing those who no longer want to engage.

10 great re-engagement email examples

A well-crafted re-engagement email campaign can reignite your connection with customers. To inspire your own marketing efforts, we’ll explore 10 great re-engagement email examples that drive results. 

1. Share new features

People love to know what’s new. Pique your customers’ interest again in your brand by highlighting new and exciting features they may have missed. This strategy is perfect for any re-engagement email campaign as you’re not only informing your customers, you’re also enticing them with the potential benefits of returning.

Take a cue from this email by Venmo, which showcases new features in a concise way. The email is structured to be easy to scan, with clear headings highlighting different functionalities. This makes it easy for recipients to find the necessary information:

2. Refresh their memory

A re-engagement email should remind customers why they loved your brand in the first place. This example from the London North Eastern Railway does this perfectly. 

With a warm, personal tone, the email highlights a key memory: in this case, a past journey. The email is straightforward and uses a simple design that directs attention to the main message. 

This kind of customer re-engagement email works because it taps into the customer’s nostalgia:

3. Share personalized recommendations

One of the best ways to win back inactive customers is through personalized recommendations. An effective re-engagement email should suggest products or services tailored to the recipient’s interests to spark renewed interest. 

This email from Forever 21 is an example to take note of. It offers a personalized selection of items that the customer previously viewed. It also includes a compelling discount to encourage subscribers to make a purchase. 

This strategy caters to the customer’s preferences while also providing a strong incentive to return:

4. Use humor

Humor can be a powerful tool when sending a re-engagement email. It catches the reader’s attention and makes your brand memorable. Incorporating humor in your re-engagement email subject lines can also increase open rates. 

Bonobos’ re-engagement email below has mastered this. It showcases how businesses can use a fun tone to rekindle relationships with customers. 

The email uses playful language to ease any concerns the recipient might have while inviting them back. It’s a smart way to win over customers who may have disengaged due to a previous negative experience:

5. Offer special discounts

You can also reclaim inactive customers by offering them exclusive discounts and offers. This strategy works because it taps into their desire for a bargain and incentivizes them to return to your store to see what they’re missing out on. 

GoDaddy uses this strategy in its customer re-engagement email. It entices customers with a 30% discount on their new order. Although it’s not a limited-time offer, the discount can still motivate customers to take advantage of it:

6. Celebrate their anniversaries

Incorporating anniversaries that mark the date customers joined your brand is another way to remind them of your brand and reinforce their positive experience. This type of re-engagement email often includes personalized messages, special offers, or even a simple thank-you note.

Let’s look at an example from Grammarly’s Happy Grammarversary email. It acknowledges the anniversary of the user’s signup date. It also offers a 40% discount on the premium plan for the next two days as a gift. It’s a thoughtful way to make customers feel valued and encourage them to re-engage:

7. Tell them you miss them

A proven re-engagement email campaign tactic is expressing to your customers how much you miss them. This approach can create a sense of belonging and motivate customers to return and reconnect with your brand.

Teespring’s email is a great example of this strategy. It starts with a friendly nudge, telling the recipient, “We haven’t seen you launch a campaign in a little while.” The email also highlights the user’s achievements since joining Teespring. This can remind them of their connection with the brand. 

The call to action is clear, inviting them to launch another campaign. This blend of recognition and encouragement makes a standout strategy for writing effective re-engagement emails:

8. Send teasers of what’s coming

We all love a nice surprise, but sometimes, a little teaser can be even more enticing. This is why the re-engagement email tactic of sending teasers of upcoming products or services works like a charm. 

This can pique your customers’ interest and get them to re-engage to see what’s coming. An example of this is the email from Halfdays. It hints at an upcoming release without revealing too much. 

With a concise email copy, it creates a sense of mystery around its trail collection that’s launching soon and prompts customers to sign up for SMS to stay informed:

9. Share social proof

Another re-engagement email strategy is sharing social proof. This reassures customers by showing them what others think about your brand. 

Milk Bar’s email is a perfect example of this strategy. It proudly shares that it has celebrated 153,653 birthdays this year, reinforcing its popularity. To sweeten the deal, it includes a 20% discount to motivate customers to join its impressive number of satisfied customers.

Sharing stats like this is just one review marketing tactic. You can also feature customer testimonials and success stories to enhance your credibility:

10. Ask for feedback

Customers are the heart of your business, and their feedback is invaluable for improving your products and services. Sending a re-engagement email that politely asks for customers’ feedback can help you maintain communication with them. By showing that you value their opinion, you can re-establish a connection and encourage them to re-engage with your brand. 

Sightglass Coffee exemplifies this approach in its re-engagement email, which stands out because of its simplicity and focus. The content is brief, with a personal touch that invites the recipient to share their thoughts. It also discloses how long the survey will take and includes a bold call to action that directs the customer to the next step:

Best practices for writing re-engagement emails

When customers stop engaging with your brand, it’s time to act. Re-engagement emails can help you restore that connection and bring them back into the loop.

However, to get the best results, these emails must be crafted carefully. Here are some best practices to help you write re-engagement emails that drive action:

Segment your subscriber list

One of the ways to increase the effectiveness of your re-engagement emails is by segmenting your list and sending tailored messages. 

When you send the same email to everyone, it may not be as relevant. Segmenting your list allows you to target your re-engagement emails based on different factors like behavior, demographics, purchase history, and more. 

Here’s a representation of how segmentation works:

Start by identifying inactive subscribers. Use their activity data to segment them. For example, you can create groups of subscribers who haven’t opened emails in the last 30 days, 60 days, or even longer. 

Next, consider segmenting based on purchase history. Subscribers who haven’t purchased in a while may need a reminder of your brand’s value. 

Finally, demographic data like age, location, or interests can help you tailor your message for increased relevance.

Omnisend offers advanced email segmentation tools that make this process simple. With this tool, you can use different filters and tags based on customer data to create segments that boost engagement rates.

Personalize your emails

Tailoring your re-engagement emails to your customers’ interests is important for capturing their attention. It helps you reconnect with inactive subscribers on a deeper level, making them feel valued.

So, how do you implement email personalization for your re-engagement campaign?

Firstly, you can start your re-engagement email with the recipient’s name to make it feel more personal and less like a mass email. This simple gesture can make a big difference in how the email is perceived. 

To go beyond this, tailor the content to their preferences. For instance, if they’ve purchased certain products before, suggest similar items. If they’ve shown interest in a specific category, highlight relevant offers.

Referencing their past interactions with your brand is another tactic. Mentioning past purchases can help jog the subscriber’s memory and remind them of their connection with your brand.

Use strong call to actions (CTAs)

Your re-engagement email has one primary goal — get inactive subscribers to engage. A strong call to action can be a deciding factor in achieving this goal.

Here are some ways to increase the effectiveness of email CTAs in your re-engagement campaign:

• Make the buttons stand out: Ensure your CTA button is distinct from the rest of the email. Use contrasting colors, larger fonts, and sufficient white space around the button to make it pop. Also, make sure it’s clickable on all devices, including mobile.
• Be clear and concise: Your CTA should be brief and concise. Use action-oriented words and persuasive language to tell recipients exactly what you want them to do. Keep it short, ideally no more than four words.
• Place CTAs strategically: Position your CTA where it’s easy to find. It can be at the beginning, middle, or end of the email. Just make sure it’s in a prominent location. For longer emails, you can space your CTAs throughout the email.

Use incentives or offers

To get your inactive subscribers to start engaging again, using incentives or offers can be a powerful strategy. People need a reason to reconnect, and a well-timed offer can be that reason. Incentives like discounts and free shipping can make subscribers feel that they’re getting something extra. This tactic can enhance their perception of your brand’s value.

Exclusive access to new products, sales, or content can also be a great motivator. Everyone likes to feel special. Offering something they can’t get anywhere else can create that sense of exclusivity and value. 

The incentives or offers provided in your re-engagement email should be simple, clear, and easy to redeem. Include details of any conditions attached to the offers to avoid confusion. The goal is to make re-engagement as effortless as possible. 

Wrap up

Re-engagement email campaigns play a vital role in rebuilding relationships with inactive customers. Each email can be a step in restoring trust, reigniting interest, and ultimately driving action. 

From the re-engagement email examples we’ve explored in the blog, it’s evident that approaches like sharing new features, celebrating anniversaries, and using humor can capture attention and evoke positive emotions. 

Additionally, segmenting your subscriber list and personalizing messages are crucial for relevance and increasing the likelihood of re-engagement.

Whether it’s through offering exclusive discounts, showcasing new features, or simply reminding customers that they’re missed, your re-engagement emails can be the hook to drive sales and profits.