How to awaken your clients?

Have you ever wondered: How to not spend a lot of time and money to convince new clients to leave their money with you, and help old ones bring it to you again and again?

Since existing customers already know you, they have some information about you and trust you more than those who don't know you yet, which means it's easier for them to give you their money.

Today, I want to talk specifically about clients who know you better than new ones, but haven't placed orders with you in a while.

You invested money and time to get them to place an order with you. And you are willing to let them go after a single purchase?

They are the best source of new orders, regardless of how many new clients you attract or intend to attract.

Reactivating (re-engaging) former clients is like picking low-hanging fruit.

If you track the numbers after customer reactivation, you will see that it is much cheaper than acquiring the same number of new customers.

General principles of customer reactivation

Who is your target audience?

When working with a large database, you need to approach each segment of «old» clients differently. How often do you contact clients from your database who haven't made a purchase from you in 3 months? 6 months? 12 months?

When working with the customer service department, address customers who have not used your products/services (depending on the specifics of the business) for more than two weeks, one/three/six months, or one/two/three years.

What is your purpose?

You might want your customers to buy from you again, renew their subscriptions, or otherwise re-engage with you.

Perhaps you want to tell/sell/present new products or services to them, invite them to a seminar/training, introduce them to your new manager or partner.

What reason did these customers stop buying from you?

It would be desirable to figure out why your clients are no longer buying from you. What could be the reasons? Is it possible they can purchase much cheaper from someone else? Perhaps you haven't had any new items in your assortment for a long time? Or maybe they don't like your goods/services? Perhaps they have simply forgotten about you?

This can be found out through newsletter emails. You are requesting feedback request for feedback (This is very useful, especially if you haven't been sending out mailings yet - it allows you to easily re-establish contact.).

Knowing the reasons, you can easily create a message that can get a great response.

What do you know about clients?

When you have the opportunity use purchase history and personal data - You can significantly increase your response rate. Don't send emails like, «We'd be happy if you came back to us.» Use the same principles as in email marketing.

For example, to create a message that feels personal – use the customer data you have. It is not advisable to offer bonuses for large purchases to those who mainly buy in small amounts.

To get reactivation – test various stimulation methods

if your clients haven't made a purchase from you in a while, then Offer them a discount coupon – is one of the simplest ways to provoke them to buy. And it's better to give them the opportunity to order with a discount than to lose them altogether.

Of course, not all customers will be hooked by your discounts. Some will be more interested in free shipping, if it used to be paid, others in a package of more extensive services at the same price – if they used to be paid separately. And other offers can bring back your customers who haven't bought from you for a long time for one reason or another.

Start reactivation with a small group of clients

It might turn out to be a very good offer, and if you send it out to your database (especially if it's large), it might be difficult to fulfill all the orders. You might find that if you miscalculate or make a mistake in your offer or discount, it will be disadvantageous for you or the clients themselves.

It is advisable to test the sending time

Try sending emails on different days and at different times and see how clients respond. Some time frames will yield better responses, while others will yield worse. Everything needs to be tested.

Think through the content

Avoid clichés and stock phrases Something like: «If you come to us, we’ll give you a 20% discount»—be creative and take a personalized approach.

For example, if you sell goods or services, inform about new products, interesting facts, and stories on your topic, etc. In general, maintain contact with customers who make purchases from you, and also add an interesting offer to the email so they want to take advantage of it. This way, you will not only show your customers that you remember them, but also care for them.

Simplify customer returns

Create an automated authorization system for clients (in the form of a link in an email) so that password and login recovery is not required, but there is a simple way to log in (recover password) to the website or service.

The simpler and clearer your participation and registration conditions are, the fewer clients you will lose. If you have offered a discount coupon, clearly indicate where to enter it.

If the client is not interested in your offer at the moment, don't limit them. Tell them about alternative ways to take advantage of your special offer—for example, buying something as a gift or passing the coupon to acquaintances.

Make the unsubscribe link prominent—there's a high chance some customers will want to unsubscribe. And if they can't find the unsubscribe link, there's a high probability they'll mark your email as spam, which can negatively affect future email deliverability.

Additional tips

Do you collect your clients' contact information? Various communication channels with your clients increase response conversion. Does your company have social media pages? Are these clients followers of those pages? If so, send them a private message. You can also use the phone. The availability of a client's phone number also makes it possible to help those clients who have placed an order but have not paid for it for some reason.

Reactivation should be carried out periodically. For example, once a month, select those who haven't purchased for more than two months and send them a special offer (based on tests from previous steps). When conducting reactivation campaigns, it's important to know how long customers haven't purchased and why, what changes in your business will encourage their return, and what incentive to offer them.

At a minimum, if you're not distinguishing your reactivation emails from others, change the subject line. Include phrases like «We'd be happy to see you again,» «We look forward to seeing you,» «Place an order with us and get a discount...,» or «You haven't visited us in a while.»

Make the unsubscribe link noticeable – there's a high probability that «dormant» clients will want to unsubscribe. And if they don't find the unsubscribe link, there's a high chance they'll mark your email as spam, which can worsen future email deliverability.

For a reactivation campaign to have a good response, it must be prepared using all the steps we have reviewed.

You can get even more useful tips, tools, «hacks,» and templates in the section «Free materials»

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