Retargeting Disengaged Customers With Special Offers and Deals

Introduction

When customers become inactive or fail to renew contracts, aggressive save tactics are required. Targeted retargeting campaigns with special promotions prompt disengaged users to give your business another chance.

This guide covers best practices for re-engaging at-risk and lost customers through retargeting. We’ll review:

• Identifying disengaged customer segments
• Crafting compelling win-back offers
• Retargeting through multiple channels
• Optimizing messages and creative
• Automating for scale
• Mitigating offer abuse risks
• Measuring re-engagement impact

With relentless and creative outreach, significant revenue and lifetime value walks out the door when customers leave can often be recovered. Let’s dive in!

Recognizing And Tagging Disengaged Customers

First, analysts must identify user segments disengaging so they can be targeted for re-engagement.

Review Usage Data

Analyze product usage data to pinpoint customers with declining logins, feature adoption etc.

Monitor Transaction Times

Flag customers who haven’t purchased, renewed or upgraded in extended periods based on past frequencies.

Detect Negative Sentiment

Scan support interactions and surveys to tag customers expressing dissatisfaction or considering leaving.

Note Declined Upsells

Log when customers reject add-ons, expansions or renewals to identify reservations.

Track Engagement Drops

Identify customers opening emails and notifications less frequently over time as potential signs of waning interest.

Mark Involuntary Churns

Tag users whose contracts expired due to lapsed payments vs. deliberate non-renewal.

Leverage External Signals

Incorporate external signals like industry economic trends to identify customers potentially at risk.

Crafting Win-Back Offers and Messaging

With at-risk users flagged, create promotions and messaging aimed at reactivating them.

Lead With Exclusivity

Position special pricing and access as exclusive offers just for re-engaging customers.

Include Limited Availability Calls-to-Action

Urgency messaging around deals expiring increases conversion urgency.

Offer Discounted Reinstatement

For expired contracts, allow seamless resubscription at reduced promotional rates.

Provide Generous Trial Periods

For SaaS, extended free trial periods allow users to re-experience your product risk free.

Highlight New Features and Content

Tout new capabilities and expansions since disengaged users last interacted.

Address Known Pain Points

If you received feedback on their issues, assure those problems have been addressed.

Apologize For Problems

Take accountability for any dissatisfaction you caused and offer amends.

Retargeting Across Multiple Touchpoints

Reach disengaged users through multiple channels from email to social media and more.

Send Drip Campaigns

Follow up initial outreach with ongoing nurture messaging if no response.

Display Targeted Ads

Serve targeted ads to inactive users browsing elsewhere online to intercept with offers.

Retarget Across Devices

Track and serve ads tied to user profiles across mobile, desktop and apps.

Advertise on Social

Sponsor posts and social ads promoting the offer matched to their interests and demographics.

Run Retargeting PPC Ads

Bid on their past on-site search keywords in PPC ads with win-back messaging.

Mail Direct Mailers

Send a series of direct mail flyers with promotions to their physical address.

Append Offers in Receipts

Include win-back offers in receipts from any recent purchases made for other businesses.

Optimizing Creative and Messaging

Test various creative approaches and copy to identify what motivates target groups.

Spotlight Benefits Received

Remind users of the key benefits, features and value they leveraged in the past.

Feature Case Studies

Displaying success stories can reignite possibilities of what they could achieve.

Emphasize Ease of Reactivation

Simplify call-to-actions and highlight limited steps needed to restore service.

Demonstrate Product Improvements

Touting specific upgrades and new capabilities counters outdated perceptions.

Pull on Nostalgia

Use creative like old logos and images users relate to that trigger positive emotions.

Personalize Based on Past Interests

Cater imagery, offers and messaging to their unique past behaviors and profile.

Check Resistance Factors

Survey users on retargeting efforts to identify irritating or off-putting elements that can be removed.

Automating Retargeting Campaigns

Automation makes large-scale personalized re-engagement feasible. Leverage tactics like:

Programmatic Ad Serving

Upload disengaged segments for programmatic ad platforms to algorithmically target with relevant creative.

Triggered Emails

Send automated win-back email campaigns when customers meet inactive criteria.

Behavioral Analytics

Use data platforms to identify lookalike audiences resembling disengaged users to target.

Predictive Modeling

Leverage predictive algorithms to model users with highest reactivation potential to prioritize outreach.

Dynamic Creative Optimization

Automatically generate and test combinations of images, headlines and layouts to optimize ads.

Smart Recommendations

Suggest tailored pricing, feature bundles and educational content using machine learning models.

Deterring Offer Misuse and Abuse

To avoid overuse of promotions, implement safeguards.

Limit to Lapsed Customers

Restrict special offers specifically to users who already had subscriptions or accounts.

Allow Limited Redemptions

Set one-time use policies for each disengaged user and watch for duplicates.

Personalize Distribution

Share unique single-use codes individually vs. publishing openly to prevent sharing.

Monitor Unusual Activity

Watch for suspicious spikes in usage from inactive customers and restrict abusers.

Require Identity Verification

Upon redemption, require confirming identifying details like name and account number to validate legitimate eligibility.

Set Reasonable Caps

For unlimited use promotions, set volume caps on what any one user can redeem during terms.

Measuring Re-Engagement Rates and Impact

Analyze data to quantify effectiveness of campaigns and fine-tune approaches.

Calculate Reactivation Percentage

Measure the percentage of targeted customers who redeem offers or renew after outreach.

Review Sales Values

Determine the average order value and expansion revenue generated by reactived users.

Calculate Incremental Profit

Weigh incremental revenue driven against costs to serve those customers.

Monitor Churn After Reactivation

Track churn rate of reactived users to assess if short-term savings translate to retained value.

Quantify Uplift Over Passive

Compare re-engagement rates to a control group that didn’t receive retargeting.

Segment Performance

Break down conversion rates by demographic factors like region and loyalty status to guide resource allocation.

Optimize Based on Results

Iteratively eliminate underperforming message styles, offers and channels as results dictate.

Key Takeaways

With dedicated re-engagement campaigns, significant revenue and lifetime value can be recovered from at-risk and lost customers. Keep these tips in mind:

• Identify disengaged users early based on behaviors
• Make irresistible exclusive offers specifically for defectors
• Retarget across multiple digital and offline channels
• Test creative variations and personalize messaging
• Automate for scalable, personalized reach
• Monitor activity closely to prevent abuse
• Quantify incremental revenue and retention achieved

With persistent yet relevant win-back initiatives, you can ultimately build durable, resilient relationships.