A win-back campaign is a series of messages aimed at customers who have stopped buying or responding. It makes economic sense, because these are people who already know you and once trusted you, so the cost of winning them back tends to be lower than acquiring a new customer. Timing derived from the typical purchase cycle is key – weeks for consumer goods, months for services – rather than a blanket approach to all inactive customers at once. A proven structure has three steps: a reminder asking what has changed, an offer of value or news, and finally a clear question about whether they want to stay in touch. The last message also serves to clean up the database, since anyone who doesn't respond even to it belongs on the list for removal.
See also: RFM segmentation, Customer retention, Contact list hygiene.
