Customer retention won’t cost you a fortune: use email to win back clients

Because of the recent situation with COVID-19 clients have become much less active. So, the overriding aim for all the businesses nowadays is customer winback. And the majority of entrepreneurs have tight budgets for winning back lost customers as they have sustained losses during quarantine. But how to manage customer retention with minimum costs? Many marketing channels are really expensive. The only exception is email. It doesn’t require extremely high spending. All you need to buy is the software for sending the newsletters. And you will be able to send thousands or even millions of emails without any further investments. So, let’s talk more detailed on how to launch win back email campaigns.

What is retention email?

This is the newsletter for returning the old clients who haven’t purchased anything for a while. Its purpose is to remind the receiver that your company or brand exists. Also, it gives some reasons to return to using your services or buying your products.

How to win customers back with an email: the main principles

Relations with clients is key to success. If you’ve lost them you lost the chance to save their loyalty. But you can return customers and save the reputation. We’ll help you with it. Here are the stages of launching customer retention campaign:

• Checking the contact list.
• Creating the customer retention strategy.
• Writing the text and subject line for rejection email.
• Choosing the software and sending an email campaign.

Let’s look at each of them in detail.

Preparing the contact list for win back email sending

If your email database is old we recommend sorting the emails depending on how long ago a person contacted your brand. Also, it’s important to check the validity of email addresses. Some mailboxes may become fulfilled or abandoned by their owners. So, use the validator to delete bad addresses. When you have already divided the people into the group according to the time of the last purchase and have got rid of invalid emails, then you are ready to create the strategy of a win back campaign. So, let’s discuss how to do this.

Creating the strategy of customer retention

Sometimes one email is not enough. So, you need to plan the sequence of the newsletters. A plenty of successful win back email campaign examples say that the optimal number of them is five. You need to act progressively:

• The first email just reminds the clients of your company.     The company reminds the old client that it exists, and offers to check the assortment
 
• The second one gives the old clients some bonuses in case they return.     Starbucks coffee seller offers 15% off in case of returning. The clients will be motivated for returning because they can save some money.

• The third email asks old customers to give feedback on your company.     Anthropologie, an American clothes retailer, asks to give the feedback. People like to share their opinions, so, there is a high possibility that the receivers will react to this email.
 
• The fourth one gives a person the last chance to stay with you.     Framebridge, a company which produces frames, notifies a person that they will remove he/she from the contact list. But there is the possibility to click the button for staying. So, the people who are really still interested in the brand will click it and won't be removed from the list.

• And the last one is the goodbye email.     BetaList, a platform that notifies people about the latest Internet startups, tells a person that he/she is removed from the mailing list, but gives the opportunity to subscribe again

So, you already have an idea on how to create a strategy for email retention campaigns. Now let’s discuss the matter of how to write the text for all five types of the newsletters.

Writing win back email of different types

As you have learned from the previous part, it’s better to send the sequence of five letters with various purposes. So, let’s look at all of them.

The reminding win back email

Tell the clients what your brand is like one more time. For this, you don’t need to say more. If a person used to be your client he/she will recognize you by logo. So, compulsorily add it to the header of the win back customer email template. Also, you can use the short slogan. Point out the advantages of your products. Make this newsletter plain and short. Emphasize that you remember the client and haven’t seen him/her for a while.     Here is the sample email to win back old clients from Asana, the platform for team organizing. It is short and simple. There is the logo and slogan, the main advantage of the product, and the mentioning that the client hasn’t used the service for a while.

Win back email with the reasons to return

Describe your advantages in more detail. And give the bonus in case of returning (discount or gift).     One of the effective win back email examples from the Spy museum. More benefits are mentioned and 20% discount is offered if a person returns

Win back email asking for feedback

This trick helps to stimulate a person to interact with you. People like to share their opinion. And simultaneously it helps to return some old customers. While giving feedback a person will remind why he/she used your services before, and there are high chances for the new purchase.     Unsplash, the website with stock photos, asks for the feedback. The chances that people will react to such an email are high because everyone likes to share his/her opinion.

The last but one win back email

If this newsletter hasn’t led to any reaction just remove the person from your list.     Paul Mitchell, the producer of cosmetics, sends the last email before removing a person from the list. The people who are even the least bit still interested in this brand’s products will click the CTA button and will remain in the mailing list. Others will be deleted, and that’s not bad. because there is no need to send emails to the people that are not interested.

Goodbye newsletter as the end of the win back email campaign

It gives to the old clients the opportunity to subscribe to your mailing again at any time they like. This way, you won’t bother a person who hasn't responded to the previous newsletters or hasn't clicked CTA buttons in them. But at the same time, he/she will be able to return at any time if needed. Some clients can return even within years.     Stripo, an email templates constructor, has removed the ex client from the contact list and deleted the account. But there is the possibility to reactivate it if it will be needed. So, the company won’t waste their effort on emailing the people who are not interested. But at the same time, the old clients have the opportunity to return at any time they like if the interest in the brand appears again.   So, now you know how to write retention emails. Let's discuss when to send them and what software to choose for this.

When is the best time to send a win back email?

It’s better to send the first one not earlier than 1-3 month after the last purchase. But you can do it later. As for the next emails in the sequence, make a week's pause before sending each following one.

Choosing the software for win back email sending

If choosing between services and programs the second variant is more preferable. Buying software is a one-time spending while online tools require either monthly payment or for the number of sent emails. While selecting the software make sure that it is:

• affordable;
• user-friendly;
• has helpful 24/7 customer support.

All these qualities are combined in Atomic Mail Sender. And one more advantage is a wide range of features. The most useful of them are:

• Free templates. There is no need to create the win back customer email template by yourself.
 
• Personalization. Just use special tags, and they will be automatically replaced by the personal information of the receiver. Personalization helps to find favor. It shows to the old client that you haven’t forgotten them and their name.
 
• Unsubscribe link adding. It’s compulsory to add it if you want to be regarded as a spammer. Even though you send the newsletters to the old clients, an unsubscribe link should be present. Otherwise, you risk not just to lose the client but also to spoil your reputation. If some receivers mark your newsletters as spam there is a high probability that all the next ones will appear in the Spam folder at once.
 
• Scheduled sending. You can create all the emails from the sequence of your campaign at once and set the time and date of sending for each win back email separately.

For sending email with the help of Atomic Mail Sender you need just to:

1. Upload your mailing list to the program    
2. Choose the template or create your own one in the HTML editor. Paste the text of the email there and click “OK”.    
3. Click “Send”:     Win back email campaign has been launched!

Conclusion

Win customers back with no big spending with the help of emails. They are very cheap and effective at the same time. So, write the texts and develop the design for the sequence of win back emails, and Atomic Mail Sender will send them quickly to the unlimited number of recipients!