When business owners talk about business growth, we tend to focus on customer acquisition and retention strategies, recognizing the significantly higher investment required to garner new customers. But there is a hidden strategy that straddles the line – and that’s re-engaging with past customers.
At my marketing studio, Tote + Pears, re-engagement is an essential part of our marketing strategy – and one we recommend to our clients as well. That’s because customers choose to disengage from companies for various reasons, and often it has nothing to do with the value of your product or service. So, staying in touch with this segment can be an efficient strategy for driving revenue.
What Is a Re-engagement Campaign?
A re-engagement campaign targets specific segments of your former customers. Through personalized messages and offers, you can remind this audience about your products and services and the value you offer.
However you build your campaign, the key is getting in front of those customers you’ve lost touch with. We often forget our former customers and leads as an audience, but when you rekindle that connection, you can create renewed opportunities to grow your business.
I find reconnecting with this audience is best when you’re introducing new products or after a lapse in customer activity.
Strategies will vary depending on your business type (services or products) and business model (e-commerce, SaaS, brick and mortar).
For example, my company is a boutique, service-based business. We employ a blend of high-touch outreach tactics (phone calls, personalized emails, and gifts with handwritten cards) to reconnect with clients and potential clients. Then we measure the success of our re-engagement campaigns with specific KPIs such as email open and click rates, engagement metrics, meetings booked, and deals closed. We track these KPIs over time and iterate on the campaigns to improve our strategies and performance.
The Value of Re-engagement Campaigns for Your Business
Lower Marketing Costs
It costs more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. Re-engagement campaigns allow you to build on past marketing efforts. Because this segment is familiar with your brand, you can invest more in converting them into customers rather than on education and awareness like you would if they were at the top of the sales funnel.
Shorter Sales Cycles
Re-engagement campaigns also naturally decrease the length of the sales cycle, allowing your business to drive revenue faster.
A recent client of ours had experienced a drop in sales and needed to bring in revenue quickly. They had tried updating their product and increasing their advertising and marketing spend, but their sales cycle took months, and they didn’t have the time. We recommended and implemented a re-engagement campaign that targeted old customers and warm leads – leveraging their recent rebrand and new service offerings as the focal point. The result was outstanding. Within three months they had rebounded by exceeding their quarterly revenue goals.
Focusing on warm leads shortens the sales cycle, creating value through reduced costs, greater efficiency, and quicker revenue generation.
Growth Through Insights
In addition to decreasing costs and increasing efficiency, a re-engagement strategy also uncovers new insights that can help drive the business forward. When you reconnect with past customers and leads, you have an opportunity to understand better why you were unable to convert in the first place. What missed the mark? Are there areas of opportunity to better service them? Is there a better way to communicate our products/services?
Digging into the data from past campaigns can provide these answers.
Getting Started With a Re-Engagement Campaign
For companies that want to maximize their marketing dollars, shorten their sales cycle, and discover new insights to help fuel growth, a re-engagement campaign can be the answer.
Getting started with a re-engagement campaign can be easy. You can start by reviewing your marketing analytics to find customers who haven't engaged with your brand in a while. Analyze the data to see if you can spot any trends.
For example, if you own a retail store, you may find a pattern of customers who have not visited your website since the holidays. A SaaS company might identify a list of customers who canceled their subscriptions six or more months ago and haven’t received any communications.
Once you've identified the opportunity, create an enticing offer like a special event or a one-time discount to capture their attention. This is also an opportunity to share announcements about new or updated products or services and other exciting changes in your business.
Now that you know what you are communicating and to whom, it's time to build the campaign assets and execute your plan. You can run the campaign as long as needed. My recommendation is usually six to 12 weeks, with a metrics analysis halfway through to determine if you want to make any creative or messaging changes.
However you build your campaign, the key is getting in front of those customers you’ve lost touch with. We often forget our former customers and leads as an audience, but when you rekindle that connection, you can create renewed opportunities to grow your business.
Photo: Getty Images
