Churn is inevitable. Customers lose interest or find another brand. Worse, their experience with your brand might have left a sour taste in their mouth.
For the most part, these things are out of your control. However, what you do about lost customers is in your hands.
The biggest tool in your kit for combating churn is a reengagement or winback campaign. This is a type of campaign where you lure customers back to your brand in strategic ways.
Let’s explore how you can execute this campaign flawlessly and rekindle your relationship with your customers.
We’ve compiled a list of great winback email campaigns thanks to Panoramata.co, where you can find email inspiration for just about any campaign you want to create.
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
What is a win-back campaign?
A winback campaign aims to regain lost or disengaged customers (or subscribers, in the case of email) through a series of targeted messages.
For instance, a winback email campaign is a sequence of emails (email flow) that reminds the customer of your brand and entices them using discounts and other promotional offers or incentives.
A winback campaign is also created for:
- Visitors of your website who haven’t returned or made a purchase
- Recipients of your newsletter who have clicked on your email/s in the past
A customer winback benchmark study concluded that winback gives significant revenue at a low to no hard costs.
The average winback campaign generated $242,700 in the first year for small and medium size businesses (SMBs). The benefits of winback campaigns increase over time since regained customers have been shown to stay for an average of 2 years.
ROI for winback campaigns is between 32 and 182 times, depending on the campaign costs.
Most notably, over 71 percent of the study’s participants found that “winback [campaigns] delivered the best ROI of any marketing tactic they’d implemented”.
These are very persuasive reasons to start or beef up a winback campaign as soon as possible to maximize retention and revenue.
When should you send a win-back email?
You may be wondering when the right time to send a win-back email is. First you have to ask: When do you consider a customer lost or inactive?
The answer is it depends. Your industry and product dictate how long before you should implement a win-back email campaign.
Most notably, over 71 percent of the study’s participants found that “winback [campaigns] delivered the best ROI of any marketing tactic they’d implemented”.
If you send a win-back email too early, you might annoy customers. If you send a win-back email too late, your lost customers are gone for good.
A rule of thumb is to wait after a few months of inactivity before reaching out.
Why should you wait months before acting?
If a customer replaced you with another brand or vendor, after a few months, that newness starts to wear off and they might even discover that the replacement does not deliver.
On the other hand, if the customer left because of a bad experience, giving them space allows those feelings to fade.
That’s why a few months after the last contact is the prime time to reconnect with your customer.
10 Win-Back Email Examples
Thanks to Panoramata.co, we found these excellent winback email campaigns you can take inspiration from.
Yendy Skin sends an optimistic winback email
Subject line: “This is the last email you'll ever see…”
The skincare brand Yendy Skin’s winback email is as simple as it get, but it doesn’t sacrifice substance.
This nearly plain text email mentions that they haven’t seen the subscriber lately and recommends changing subscription preferences if they want to stop receiving emails.
Despite that, it doesn’t sound too negative and even encourages the recipient to start interacting with the brand again.
Takeaways from this winback email: Keep it simple and positive.
Mimi and Lula crafts a simple yet persuasive winback email
Subject line: “It's been a while (first name)...”
Preview text: “Not getting what you expected? Change your email preferences ͏ ”
The kids brand Mimi and Lula also opted to go simple with their winback email. It calls the recipient by name in the subject line to pique interest.
Then, in the email body, they explain their reason for reaching out while reminding the reader what they might miss out on if they unsubscribe.
For added persuasion, the brand includes pictures and prices of accessories below their signoff.
Takeaways from this winback email: While offering the subscriber ways to opt out of your emails, give reasons why they should stay on your email list and promote your products while you’re at it.
Youth To The People uses discounts to regain lost customers
Subject line: Life Update: We Miss You, [Name]
Preview text: “Here’s 20% off + see what’s new.”
In this email, the brand leverages the power of a good discount. They emphasize a 20 percent off for all products, just because they’ve noticed their subscriber hasn’t purchased from them recently.
The CTA “Go Get It” is a good nudge, while the section just below gets the customer up to date about the new things the brand is offering.
Takeaway from this winback email: Give an ample discount and showcase what’s new to encourage the subscriber to check out your store.
Sunday cultivates a friendly atmosphere in their winback email
Subject line: “Oh hey 👋 We miss you and your lawn!”
Preview text: “Here’s what’s new at Sunday ➡️͏“
The lawn care brand Sunday’s winback email is reminiscent of a friend who has come in for a chat to update you with what’s been going on in their life. The emojis in the subject line give a casual feel.
The email header is “So, what’s new” and they proceed to list two things that they’ve developed (a new payment method and a pest control plan).
But what’s really interesting is below, where they show before and after photos and testimonials from buyers.
Takeaway from this winback email: Integrate multiple forms of social proof in your winback emails and include several CTAs.
Otherland applies emotion and wit to their winback campaign copy
Subject line: “We miss you [Name]!”
Preview text: “🎉 30% off code inside 🎉͏ “
Otherland is proof that an appeal to emotion can also apply to winback emails.
From the subject line (“We miss you”) to the heading “Has the spark really died?”, they pull out all stops to make the reader feel that their presence is appreciated.
The 30 percent off code doesn’t hurt their cause either–that and their final sentence: “Let’s reignite the flame”. It’s hard to resist this email for sure.
Takeaway from this winback email: Make the subscriber know and FEEL that they are missed through words and images.
Olipop promotes several discounts in one winback email
Subject line: “Baby come back 🥺🎵”
Preview text: “Take 20% off with code COMEBACK20”
Olipop has a similar approach to Otherland but they build on it by offering not just a discount code on a one-time order but an even bigger discount when the recipient signs up for a subscription.
That way, if the first discount doesn’t work, the second discount swoops in to save the day, stacking benefit upon benefit (15 percent discount on every recurring shipment, early access to new flavors, to name a few).
Takeaway from this winback email: Who says you have to stop at one discount coupon? Stack coupons and emphasize the benefits of each discount.
Muddy Bites’ winback email is fun and helpful
Subject line: “I'm sad, haven't seen you in awhile!”
Aside from the touching subject line, the Muddy Bites email strikes a chord with its cute illustrations of the brand’s persona Buddy the Bite and clever copywriting. It also adds humor throughout the email, thus making the reader feel happy to oblige.
Ultimately, this winback email is about cleaning their email list but they don’t waste precious space. At the end, they even have direct CTA links to different product categories and an offer to help with any questions.
Takeaway from this winback email: Make the recipient feel guilty about unsubscribing, but do it with humor. Bonus points if you add a discount and an email address they can reach out to for any questions.
Smart Sweets proves why they’re worth coming back to in their winback email
Subject line: “Baby come back”
Preview text: “We've changed...we promise”
Smart Sweets sings the familiar winback refrain (“Baby come back”), but they give the lost customer a reason to check out the brand again.
In this email, they emphasize that they have improved, thanks to customer feedback, and that they’re excited for their customers to try the new version of their flavors.
Notably, there are no CTAs in this email. It’s really just an excuse to drop by and announce their new offerings.
Takeaway from this winback email: If you have something new or have improved on a product or service, a winback email is a great avenue to show that off and lure customers back.
Flowium emphasizes that they are looking to improve
Subject line: “Have a second?”
And speaking of improvement, this winback email by Flowium switches gears by asking subscribers to give their feedback in a survey.
The email conveys that they care about their customer’s preferences and interests and politely asks for a moment of their time.
Below, they also include links to video resources and details of their referral program.
Takeaway from this winback email: Make your customers feel seen by asking for feedback.
1800Contacts gains trust in their winback email
Subject line: “It's been a while.”
The vision care service 1800Contacts uses its winback email to emphasize its value proposition. They showcase the variety of brands they have in their catalog and details about how customers can renew prescriptions online and order contact lenses.
At the very bottom, we like that they include their guarantee of offering the best prices and after-sales service. Through just one email, they instill trust in their brand and reignite the interest that made customers come to them in the first place.
Takeaway from this winback email: Show off your value proposition and back it up with a happiness guarantee to promote trust.
Craft winning winback campaigns with Panoramata
That ends our winback email campaign roundup. We hope this was informative and gave you fresh ideas for your own winback emails.
Find more inspiration on Panoramata where you can track any brand’s email campaigns from winback emails to lost checkout email journeys (and many, many more).
Want more ideas and inspiration? Check out our email swipe file with over 100 newsletter ideas you can use for your next campaign.
FAQs
What is a winback campaign?
A winback campaign is a series of targeted messages aimed at regaining lost or disengaged customers through strategies like discounts, promotions, or reminders of the brand's value.
When is the best time to send a winback email?
The best time to send a winback email is typically a few months after a customer becomes inactive, as it allows time for any negative feelings to fade or for new experiences to potentially not meet expectations.
Why are winback campaigns important?
Winback campaigns are important because they help businesses retain customers, generate revenue with a high ROI, and ultimately build stronger customer relationships.
