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Bring back subscribers who used to open your emails but have gone quiet. This flow automatically detects customers whose engagement has dropped off and sends them a short series of motivational campaigns to win back their attention.

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When to use this flow

Use this flow when you want to:
  • Re-engage subscribers who previously opened your emails but stopped doing so recently.
  • Clean up your list naturally — customers who never respond to reactivation can be excluded from future sends to protect deliverability.
  • Maintain a healthy sender reputation by keeping engaged contacts active and identifying dormant ones.

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How the flow works

The flow runs on a schedule, screens customers for inactivity, sends them a first reactivation campaign, waits a few days, checks whether they re-engaged, and then sends a follow-up to anyone still silent.
1

Trigger: run on a schedule

Set the flow to launch automatically once a day. A scheduled trigger lets the flow continuously sweep your customer base and pick up anyone who newly qualifies as inactive.
2

Filter inactive but reachable customers

Right after the trigger, add a filter block that selects only customers who match all of the following:
  • Previously opened emails. They have at least one recorded email open in the past — these are real subscribers worth winning back, not contacts who never engaged.
  • Stopped opening recently. They have not opened any email within a recent window (for example, the last 60–90 days), even though they have continued to receive campaigns during that period.
  • Received emails recently. They have actually been sent campaigns in the inactivity window. This rules out customers who simply weren’t messaged.
  • Valid email and subscribed. Their email is valid and they are still subscribed to the email channel. There’s no point trying to reactivate someone who has unsubscribed or whose address is invalid.
Customers who don’t meet every condition exit the flow.
3

Send the first reactivation campaign

Send the first motivational email to everyone who passed the filter. This is your main reactivation message — make the subject line and preheader work hard, because if the customer doesn’t open this one, they aren’t engaging with your brand at all.
4

Wait 3 days

Add a wait block of three days. This gives the customer time to notice the email, open it, and act on it before you decide whether to follow up.
5

Check engagement and eligibility

After the wait, add a second filter block to check:
  • Did the customer open the first reactivation email?
  • Is the customer still subscribed and reachable by email?
If they opened the first email, the flow has done its job — they can exit here. If they didn’t open it and they’re still subscribed, they move on to the next step.
6

Send the second reactivation campaign

Send a second motivational email to customers who still haven’t opened. Use a different angle, subject line, and preheader from the first message — the same hook clearly didn’t work, so try a new one.
7

(Optional) Send a third reminder if you offered a bonus

If your reactivation campaigns include a promo code or bonus points with an expiration date, add an optional third email closer to the expiration to remind the customer to use it before it’s gone. Skip this step if you’re not offering an incentive.
8

Limit how often the same customer enters the flow

In the trigger (start) block, cap how often a single customer can go through this flow. A typical rule: a customer can re-enter the flow only if they have opened at least one email in the last 180 days. This prevents you from hammering the same dormant address with reactivation emails over and over — if half a year of campaigns hasn’t earned a single open, it’s time to stop sending.If you’ve configured a 180-day re-entry condition based on opens, an additional per-customer frequency cap may not be necessary. For other setups, we still recommend adding one.

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What to send in the campaigns

The whole flow lives or dies on whether the customer opens the email, so subject lines and preheaders are the highest-leverage thing to get right. Run A/B tests on both. Effective reactivation content typically uses one of these approaches:
  • Useful content. Lead with something genuinely valuable — a guide, a roundup, a piece of education tied to your product. Remind the customer why they signed up in the first place.
  • Marketing games or interactive content. A quick game, quiz, scratch-card, or wheel-of-fortune mechanic gives the customer a reason to click that’s lighter than “buy something.”
  • Gifts or incentives. A promo code, free shipping, or bonus loyalty points can pull customers back when content alone isn’t enough. If you go this route, set a clear expiration and consider the optional third reminder email above.
Test combinations: a strong subject line with a useful content angle often outperforms a generic discount, but the only way to know for your audience is to A/B test it.

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Tips

  • Don’t reactivate customers who never engaged. The filter requiring at least one historical open is important. Subscribers who have never opened anything are not a reactivation problem — they’re a list hygiene problem.
  • Match the inactivity window to your send frequency. If you email weekly, 60 days of no opens is a clear signal. If you email monthly, give the window more room before declaring a customer inactive.
  • Clean up after the flow. Customers who pass all the way through the flow without opening anything are good candidates to exclude from your regular campaign audience. Continuing to send to them hurts your deliverability and inflates your costs.
  • Mind frequency overlap. Make sure customers in this flow aren’t also being hit by your standard promotional sends on the same days — the reactivation message should stand out, not get buried.