Latest / The Retention Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Email, SMS, and Loyalty for Repeat Customers / How Peloton Uses Email to Retain Churned Subscribers
Transcript
- Lucas: When a subscriber cancels, most companies send one email — usually something like ‘We’re sorry to see you go’ — and then they move on. Peloton took a different approach, and their numbers tell a pretty compelling story. Luna: Are we talking about the post-pandemic subscriber cliff? Because I remember Peloton losing hundreds of thousands of paying members in 2023. Lucas: Exactly. After the pandemic boom, Peloton’s connected fitness subscriptions peaked at over three million in early 2022. Then they dropped sharply — down to about two point six million by mid 2023. That’s a four hundred thousand subscriber loss in roughly eighteen months. But instead of just accepting churn as a cost of doing business, their retention team designed a targeted email campaign aimed specifically at people who had paused or canceled within the previous 90 days. Luna: So they weren’t just blasting everyone. They segmented by recency of churn. Lucas: Right. And they called it the ‘comeback win-back’ series — a three-email sequence triggered when a member’s subscription status changed to lapsed or paused. The first email acknowledged the pause without any hard sell. It basically said: ‘Your bike’s still there. Your account’s still there. Take a break, no pressure.’ Luna: That’s smart. If you just canceled, the last thing you want is a pushy ‘come back now’ email. You want to feel understood. Lucas: Exactly. They led with empathy. The second email came three days later, and this one was the real workhorse. It included a personalized recap of the user’s workout history — total rides, total minutes, milestones they’d hit. One user might see ‘You crushed 50 rides with Emma Lovewell.’ Another might see ‘You logged 2,000 minutes in the last quarter.’ Luna: So it’s basically a nostalgia play, but data-driven. Reminding you of the positive experience you had, not just the fact that you left. Lucas: Precisely. And according to internal data that Peloton shared at a marketing conference last fall, that second email had a click-through rate of nearly 14 percent — compared to their standard promotional emails which averaged around 3 percent. The third email, sent five days after the second, offered a limited-time content unlock — access to a premium class series that was normally behind an additional paywall. Luna: The content unlock feels like the closer. It’s not a discount on the membership — it’s extra value, which is a different psychological trigger. Lucas: Right. They’re not saying ‘Here’s 20 percent off to come back.’ They’re saying ‘Here’s something you couldn’t get before, just for re-engaging.’ And the whole sequence together lifted re-engagement rates — defined as a user logging back into their account or taking a class — by 22 percent compared to the control group that received no email. Luna: That’s a meaningful lift. For a company with millions of lapsed subscribers, that 22 percent could translate into tens of thousands of reactivated users. Lucas: And that’s exactly what happened. Peloton reported that the campaign contributed to a net reduction in churn of about 8 percent in the quarter it was deployed. But the lesson here goes beyond Peloton. Any subscription business — whether it’s a streaming service, a software platform, or a gym — can apply this same framework. Luna: So let’s break that framework down. Step one: acknowledge the churn without any sales pressure. Step two: remind them of the value they already experienced, personalized. Step three: give them a reason to come back that isn’t just a price cut. Lucas: That’s exactly the sequence. And the timing matters too. Peloton spaced the emails three days and five days apart, respectively. Not too fast, not too slow. They tested a two-day gap and a seven-day gap, and the three-five rhythm performed best. Luna: It makes sense — three days is enough time for the initial ‘I’m glad I canceled’ feeling to wear off, but not so long that the user forgets about the brand entirely. Lucas: Now, one thing I want to emphasize is that this campaign didn’t rely on discounts. That’s a key distinction. Many retention campaigns default to offering a discount or a free month, which can train customers to churn and wait for a deal. Peloton’s approach reinforced the core value of the product itself — the content, the instructors, the community. Luna: And the content unlock in the third email was smart because it created a sense of exclusivity without devaluing the subscription. It’s like ‘here’s a bonus, not a price cut.’ Lucas: Exactly. So if you’re running a subscription business, the question is: what is your version of that exclusive content? For a SaaS company, it might be access to a premium feature for a limited time. For a media site, maybe a behind the scenes series or an exclusive newsletter. The principle is the same. Luna: Do you know if Peloton segmented further within the lapsed group? Like, did they treat someone who paused for a month differently from someone who canceled after two years? Lucas: Great question. They did. They segmented based on the length of the hiatus. Users who had been lapsed for less than 30 days received a slightly different version of the first email — more gentle, almost like ‘we noticed you haven’t been on the bike in a bit.’ Users who had been gone 60 to 90 days got the full three-email series. And users who had been gone over 90 days got a separate ‘long lost’ campaign, which focused more on new features and content they might have missed. Luna: That’s smart segmentation. A user who’s been gone three months needs more convincing than someone who just skipped a week. Lucas: Exactly. And the results bore that out. The 60-to-90-day segment had the highest re-engagement rate at about 18 percent, compared to 12 percent for the under-30-day group. The long-lost group came in at around 9 percent, which is still meaningful given the size of that segment. Luna: So the sweet spot is actually the people who’ve been gone long enough to feel detached, but not so long that they’ve completely moved on. Lucas: Right. And that’s a key insight for any retention marketer. The 60-to-90-day window is the critical reactivation zone. Too early and the user is still in ‘breakup mode.’ Too late and they’ve formed new habits. Luna: If today's episode was useful to you and you want to keep it ad-free, buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo helps. Lucas: Yeah, it really does. Even a small contribution goes toward keeping these conversations going without any sponsor interruptions. Luna: Alright, so back to the campaign — the three-email sequence and the segmentation. Was there any A/B testing on the subject lines or the content? Lucas: Yes, they tested quite a bit. For the second email — the personalized recap — they tested subject lines that included the user’s name versus subject lines that mentioned a specific milestone, like ‘You hit 100 rides.’ The milestone-focused subject lines had a 7 percent higher open rate. That makes sense because it’s more specific and triggers a sense of accomplishment. Luna: So the personalization wasn’t just about using the name — it was about using the data that mattered. Lucas: Exactly. And they also tested the placement of the call to action button. In the control version, the CTA was at the bottom of the email. In the test version, they placed it right below the personalized recap, before any additional text. That version saw a 12 percent higher click-through rate. So the lesson there is: don’t bury your CTA under fluff. If you’ve already delivered the value — the recap — give them the action right then. Luna: That’s a tactical takeaway any email marketer can implement tomorrow. Put the CTA right after the value. Lucas: And one more nuance: Peloton didn’t just send these emails from a generic ‘Peloton’ address. They sent them from the user’s favorite instructor — or at least from an email address that included the instructor’s name, like ‘Emma from Peloton.’ That personal touch added another layer of connection. Luna: So the sender name became part of the personalization. That’s clever. Lucas: It worked because Peloton’s instructors are a central part of their brand identity. Users develop real attachments to specific instructors. Seeing an email from ‘Emma Lovewell’ feels more like a message from a friend than a corporate blast. Luna: So the overarching lesson here is that retention marketing isn’t just about preventing churn in the first place — it’s about having a thoughtful strategy for when churn happens. Because even the best products lose subscribers. Lucas: Absolutely. Churn is inevitable. But how you respond to it determines whether that churn is permanent or just a pause. Peloton’s campaign shows that with the right sequence, the right timings, and the right personalization, you can bring a significant portion of those users back — without resorting to discounts that undermine your pricing power. Luna: And that’s the kind of retention marketing that builds a sustainable business, not just a quick fix. Lucas: Exactly. So next time you’re looking at your churn numbers, don’t think of it as a loss. Think of it as an opportunity to re-engage. And start with that 60-to-90-day window.