Inactive subscribers quietly hurt your deliverability and skew your metrics. A win-back flow gives them one more chance to re-engage before you clean them from your active list.
Defining 'inactive'
Most brands define inactivity as 60-120 days without an open or click, though the right window depends on your typical purchase frequency - a low-frequency category needs a longer window than a consumable product.
Structuring the win-back flow
- Email 1: A friendly 'we miss you' message highlighting what's new since they last engaged.
- Email 2: A stronger incentive - a meaningful discount or exclusive offer.
- Email 3: A direct question: ask if they still want to hear from you, with a clear unsubscribe option.
Klaviyo vs Mailchimp for win-back
Klaviyo's predictive analytics can flag subscribers likely to churn before they go fully cold, letting you intervene earlier. Mailchimp's pre-built re-engagement automation is simpler to launch if you want a straightforward flow without predictive scoring.
After the flow
Subscribers who don't respond to the full sequence should be suppressed or removed - a smaller, engaged list consistently outperforms a large, unengaged one on deliverability and revenue per send.