As you plan the marketing strategy for the rest of the year, don’t forget to include a reactivation campaign in the mix.

Reactivation campaigns are a must for businesses of every size and industry, and for good reason: they can result in big, fast jumps in revenue and profitability!

Here’s what you need to know:

What is a Reactivation Campaign?

You may also hear reactivation campaigns called re-engagement campaigns. This is a campaign with the primary goal of marketing to people who previously engaged with your business but haven’t in a long time. It can include people who signed up for your newsletter, bought something, visited your website, and created an account, or any other action.

Essentially, you want to get those previously active people to become active again. Now that you understand what a reactivation campaign is, why do you need one?

Why use Reactivation Campaigns?

Increase Revenue and Profitability

As we stated above, customer reactivation campaigns often result in big, fast jumps in revenue and profitability.

Simply reselling to dormant customers will improve profits. Results will be even better if you manage to upsell them as well.

And because these are existing relationships, your marketing costs to generate these sales are typically much lower than the costs of acquiring a new customer, which means more falls to the bottom line.

Improve Client Relationships

During your reactivation campaign, you are also likely to strengthen the relationships you have with existing customers.

One of the best ways to do this is to figure out why customers became dormant in the first place. You can then use that knowledge to make those customers active again. At the same time, you can change your strategies or processes to prevent currently active customers from becoming dormant for the same reason.

Gather Important Data

As with any marketing campaign, your reactivation campaign will also be an incredibly useful source of data.

You can use it to learn why customers become dormant and prevent it. You can take this to the next level and get specific information on why they prefer certain competitors over you. Use this data to your advantage both when winning them back and when planning for the future.

Why do Reactivation Campaigns work so well?

You Already Put in the Effort

One reason to use a reactivation campaign is that you already put in the effort to reach these people in the past. While you don’t want to fall for the sunk cost fallacy and keep putting money into a losing strategy, a reactivation campaign can ensure that initial time and financial investment were worth it.

They Are Already Primed

Consider the fact that a reactivation campaign will target people who have already interacted with you. This means that they have already taken the important step of reaching out in some way. Essentially, they have already expressed interest.

The fact that these people are already aware of your brand and your offerings makes them easier to convert than a brand-new customer. Another way to put it is that these people have already progressed a step or two (or more) on your sales funnel. Encouraging them to go further along the funnel makes more logical and financial sense than starting over with new people.

You Already Have Data on Them

Depending on how these dormant customers interacted with you, you likely already have valuable data on them that you can use to help with reactivation. The most important piece of information will be the past purchases. If they didn’t buy anything, you can use data on what they placed in their carts or on what items they browsed.

Using this data lets you create a highly targeted marketing strategy. For example, you can target them with emails or display ads focusing on related products to their initial purchase.

How to do your first Reactivation Campaign

By now you should be dreaming up your first reactivation campaign, and you may be wondering how to pull it off. Here’s our advice:

Step 1: Create a VIP Offer

Since your remarketing campaign is being used to target existing relationships, a very effective strategy is to recognize them by making them feel special.

Let them know that this offer is exclusively for existing customers, and thank them for their previous business.

Existing customers often feel like it’s only new customers that get the best deals (don’t those mobile phone offers for ‘new subscribers only’ drive you nuts?!), so doing something special for them will really stand out.

Step 2: Find your most cost-effective channel

Since this is your first reactivation campaign, test it using your most affordable communication channels.

We prefer email and SMS campaigns because they cost almost nothing to execute, and they are incredibly effective.

So dust off that database and get ready to hit send!

Step 3: Add a deadline

Always put a deadline on your offer. Human beings are driven by urgency and scarcity, and nothing will drive conversions like the fear of missing out.

Step 3: Follow up…several times

The single biggest mistake we see businesses make in their reactivation campaigns (or any campaigns for that matter) are that they fail to follow up.

Floating your offer out there one time will barely move the needle. You need to repeat your offer several times (probably more than you feel comfortable with at first), particularly when it comes time to remind them of the looming deadline.

Don’t make the mistake of taking your foot off the gas!

Some Data for Inspiration

For those who focus on numbers, there is data to support reactivation campaigns. Consider that increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost your profits by up to 125%.

Reactivation campaigns are just one customer retention strategy. Combine this with other methods as well, such as loyalty programs or feedback requests, and you should see a nice boost to retention.

Another important figure is the difference in the likelihood you will sell to a new customer versus an existing customer. For new customers, it is just 5-20%. For existing customers, it is 60-70%.

Here’s The Bottom Line

A reactivation campaign lets you bring back existing customers or anyone who expressed an interest in your business and products but has since gone dormant. They are an efficient use of your marketing funds and can quickly boost your bottom line.

Add them to the marketing mix this year and let us know your results!