Latest / The DTC Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Direct-to-Consumer Brands, Shopify, and E-Commerce Growth / How DTC Brands Use Email to Win Back Lapsed Customers
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, we talk a lot about acquisition on this show, but there's a quieter, often overlooked revenue stream sitting in every DTC brand's database: the lapsed customer. Someone who bought once, maybe twice, and then went dark for ninety days or more. Luna: Right, and most brands just let those people fade away. They might send a generic newsletter, but they never actually try to win them back with a dedicated campaign. Lucas: Exactly. And today I want to dig into the anatomy of a proper email win-back sequence. We're not talking about a single 'we miss you' blast. I'm talking about a structured, multi-email flow that uses data to speak to why that person left in the first place. Luna: I love that. And I know you have a specific example in mind. What's the case? Lucas: So there's a skincare brand, let's call them Bloom & Ritual, not their real name, but they're a Shopify-based DTC company selling serums and moisturizers. They had a typical churn problem: customers would buy a starter kit, love it, but then not repurchase within the expected ninety-day cycle. Luna: That's a pretty common pattern in beauty. The product lasts a while, so people forget to reorder. Lucas: Right. So they built a win-back flow that triggered on day ninety after the last purchase. And here's the kicker: they segmented those lapsed customers not just by how long they'd been inactive, but by what they had bought. Luna: So someone who bought a cleanser gets a different email than someone who bought a moisturizer. That makes sense. Lucas: Exactly. And the first email in the sequence wasn't a discount. It was a simple reminder of the product they bought, with a tip on how to get the most out of it. 'Hey, your vitamin C serum works best in the morning, don't forget to pair it with SPF.' Something genuinely useful. Luna: And that's smart because it re-engages without immediately asking for money. It's a value-add. Lucas: And they saw a fifteen percent reactivation rate from that first email alone. People clicked through to the product page, and a surprising number actually repurchased without any incentive. Luna: Wow. So the reminder was enough for a lot of them. But what about the ones who didn't bite? Lucas: So for those who didn't open or click, the flow advanced to a second email, sent three days later. That one shifted the angle to a soft social proof: 'Join the 2,000 customers who've repurchased their serum this month.' No discount, but a gentle nudge that others are coming back. Luna: That's a nice psychological trigger. It taps into the bandwagon effect without being pushy. Lucas: And it worked for another chunk. But the real winner was the third email in the sequence, sent five days after that. This one had a tangible incentive: fifteen percent off their next order, with a clear expiration date. And here's where the segmentation paid off. The offer was tailored to the specific product they'd bought, so it felt personal. Luna: So instead of a generic 'here's 15% off everything,' it's 'here's 15% off your refill of the moisturizer you're likely running low on.' Lucas: Exactly. And that email drove the highest revenue per send of the whole sequence. The combined flow, over a two-week period, brought back about twenty-two percent of lapsed customers who hadn't purchased in over a hundred days. Luna: Twenty-two percent is massive. And I imagine the cost of that is just the email infrastructure, which is basically nothing compared to acquisition ads. Lucas: And that's the key point. These are people who already know the brand, they've already trusted you with their credit card once. The cost per acquisition for a reactivated customer is a fraction of what you'd pay for a new one on Meta or TikTok. And we should mention, this isn't a one-size-fits-all playbook. The timing and offer need to match your product cycle. A consumable like skincare has a natural repurchase window. A durable good like a backpack won't have a ninety-day cycle. Luna: Right. So for a backpack brand, maybe it's a seasonal win-back, like 'summer's coming, here's a fresh colorway.' Lucas: Exactly. And that's the kind of nuance we're getting at. But before we go deeper into the segmentation and how to actually build this in your ESP, I want to take a quick moment to mention something that keeps our show ad-free and independent. We're able to have these detailed, practical conversations because of listeners who support the show directly. If these marketing deep-dives have ever helped you rethink a campaign, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small gesture that goes a long way in keeping this podcast exactly what we want it to be. Luna: Yeah, and we're so grateful for that community. It really does make a difference in the kind of content we can bring you. Lucas: Alright, back to the win-back flow. So the segmentation piece is crucial, but there's another layer that Bloom & Ritual nailed: the subject lines. They A/B tested their subject lines for each email, and the winners had a consistent thread. They used curiosity and personalization. Luna: Give me an example. What kind of subject line actually got opens? Lucas: So for the first email, the reminder, the winning subject line was 'Your skin misses this' with a preview text that said 'and so do we.' It's playful, it's personal, and it hints at a benefit without being salesy. Luna: That's clever. It's not 'We miss you,' which is kind of needy. It's about the product, not the brand. Lucas: Right, and the second email's winner was 'See what others are saying about your serum.' That's tapping into social proof but it's also a bit of a cliffhanger. You want to click to see the reviews. Luna: And the third one, the one with the discount? I'm guessing it was more straightforward. Lucas: It was, 'Your 15% off is waiting' with a countdown timer in the email. That urgency, combined with the explicit offer, drove the highest conversion rate of the entire flow. Luna: So the subject line really is the gatekeeper. You could have the best email content in the world, but if no one opens it, it's pointless. Lucas: And that's where a lot of brands stumble. They send a win-back email with a bland subject line like 'We miss you' or 'Come back,' and it just gets lost in the inbox. You need to earn the open with something that stands out. Luna: So we've talked about the email sequence and the subject lines. What about the actual email design? Does that matter for win-back? Lucas: It does, but maybe not in the way you'd think. Bloom & Ritual found that a simple, almost plain-text email outperformed their more polished, image-heavy design for the first email in the sequence. It felt more personal, more like a genuine message from a founder than a marketing blast. Luna: That's interesting. So sometimes, stripping back the design can actually increase authenticity. Lucas: Exactly. And it aligns with the idea that a win-back email should feel like a nudge from a friend, not a corporate reminder. They even tested signing it from the founder's name instead of the brand, and that lifted response rates further. Luna: So personal, but not fake personal. It's got to be consistent with your brand voice. Lucas: Right. And now, let's talk about the metrics that actually matter here. The obvious one is reactivation rate, which we already touched on. But there's another one that often gets overlooked: revenue per email sent. Luna: Because you might have a high open rate and a decent click rate, but if those clicks aren't converting to purchases, the flow isn't really doing its job. Lucas: Exactly. And Bloom & Ritual tracked that carefully. The first email had a low direct revenue per send, because it was more of a reminder. But it was the highest in terms of attributed long-term revenue, because it brought people back to the site and they browsed other products. Luna: Ah, so you need to look at the whole customer journey, not just the last click. Lucas: And that's where a unified analytics platform helps. You can see that someone clicked through the win-back email, then came back three days later organically and made a purchase. That's still a win-back win, even if it's not directly attributed. Luna: So what's the biggest mistake you see brands make with win-back emails? Besides the boring subject lines, I mean. Lucas: I think it's giving up too early. A single email is not a win-back campaign. The data shows that it often takes three to five touchpoints to re-engage someone who's truly gone cold. And you need to space them out, but not so long that they forget you entirely. Luna: So it's a marathon, not a sprint. You have to be patient and persistent. Lucas: And the last thing I'd mention is that you should always be testing. Bloom & Ritual's flow is a great starting point, but your audience might respond differently. Maybe your customers react better to a free shipping offer than a percentage discount. Maybe they prefer a quiz to find their perfect product. The only way to know is to test and iterate. Luna: So if a listener wants to steal this framework today, what are the key takeaways? Lucas: First, segment your lapsed customers by their purchase history, not just by inactivity. Second, build a multi-email sequence that starts with value, not a discount. Third, personalize your subject lines and offers. And fourth, track reactivation rate and revenue per email, not just opens and clicks. Luna: That's a solid framework. And I love that it's data-driven but also human at its core. It's about reconnecting with someone who once chose you, not just chasing a sale. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the beauty of email. It's one of the few channels where you can have a genuine conversation with your customers, if you're willing to listen and respond to their behavior. Luna: Well said, Lucas. I think we've given our listeners a lot to chew on today. Next time we'll dive into how to build these flows in Klaviyo or your ESP of choice, step by step. Lucas: Absolutely. Until then, go look at your lapsed customer list and see what stories it's telling you.