# From Dead-Weight to Lead: Strategies To Get Back Inactive Users

15 minutes

August 19, 2025

The engagement strategy is a marketing strategy that focuses on getting users to engage with your company’s marketing content. It aims to create an emotional connection between the user and the brand by providing value, entertainment, and utility for the customer. But what happens when you have a marketing campaign and no one shows up? You have marketing material that no one is seeing. It’s like people are walking by your marketing collateral, but they are not stopping to look at it because nothing is interesting about it or the information provided in your marketing campaign. Read more to learn how to make your inactive users engage with your brand again.

## **What Is User Engagement in Email Marketing?**

[User engagement](https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-engagement-guide) in email marketing is a measurement of how your contacts interact with the messages you send them. It takes into account metrics that assess how often people open, click, and follow through with your desired actions.

Staying updated with your email campaign’s statistics and learning how to measure user engagement can let you make changes to improve how you design your emails and their content. The goal here is to make your campaigns even more effective than its previous iteration.

Marketers should constantly monitor customer engagement they get from their emails because it allows them to reveal prospective issues and identify solutions to resolve them immediately. Neglecting email engagement concerns could easily lead to major problems that can make it difficult for senders to recover from.

Every email marketer wants their campaigns to get recipients to open their messages and complete the actions they want. But before you can calculate user engagement and assess your campaigns, you first need to know what [metrics](https://www.mailmonitor.com/6-key-deliverability-metrics-to-keep-in-mind/) to look out for.

## **What Is a Re-Engagement Campaign?**

An engagement campaign is a marketing effort that is specifically geared to [re-engage users](https://www.mailmonitor.com/reengage-your-inactive-subscribers/) and assist in calculating the cost per acquisition. This could be due to many reasons, such as boredom with the content, no longer seeing value in what you are providing, or simply forgetting about your product or service. Moreover, a re-engagement campaign is also a great way to calculate user engagement and remind them about your product or service and encourage them to come back and check out what you have to offer.

Reasons why companies may want to run a re-engagement campaign:

### **1. To Increase Customer Loyalty and Customer Retention**

If you can successfully reengage your inactive users, you are more likely to keep them as customers. This is because they will have a renewed interest in what you offer and could potentially be converted into long-term, loyal new customers.

Product teams may also see a re-engagement campaign as an opportunity to cross-sell or upsell their products or services. Product and marketing teams often see a higher conversion rate for new users, so it can be a great way to increase revenue.

### **2. To Remind Active Users About the Product or Service**

A re-engagement campaign is also a great way to follow up with users about your product or service. This is especially important if you have been away from the market for some duration, as highly engaged users may have forgotten you and your product or service.

Moreover, a re-engagement campaign can also help to increase user engagement with your brand awareness. As users engage with your relevant content, customers may start sharing it with their friends and family, which could lead to more people becoming aware of your product or service.

### **3. To Target Customers Who Have Stopped Engaging With Your Content**

Some businesses may find they get increased engagement from their existing customers, but only a small percentage of monthly active users. Product teams may want to consider running a re-engagement campaign in order to target and re-engage the customers who have stopped engaging with their content.

This can be a great way to improve user engagement rate, as well as increase the number of active and engaged users. Your inactive users may also start to engage with your content if you can successfully reengage them.

### **4. To Revive Old Leads That Have Gone Cold**

If you have a database of leads that you have been nurturing for some time but this has not resulted in any sales, a re-engagement campaign may be the answer. Oftentimes, all it takes is a touchpoint or two to get these old leads interested in your product or service again.

Different businesses may also want to consider running a re-engagement campaign. If customers are experiencing a high churn rate, a re-engagement campaign can help you to reduce the number of customers who are leaving your business.

## **Why Do Customers Become Inactive?**

There are many reasons why an engaged user stops using your product, social media app, or becomes inactive. But we would say that the most common reason is that customers simply forgot about your product or service and never returned to check it out again. Their primary focus has shifted elsewhere.

Some other common causes of user disengagement include:

### **1. Mismatched Expectations**

If you promise something that isn’t delivered upon, this could cause an issue between you and the engaged user who signed up.

### **2. Dislike Changes on Your App**

If you recently made a major update or new feature on your website or app, people may not like it at first since they’re used to seeing things done in certain ways.

### **3. Frustration With How Your Product or Service Works**

If engaged users sign up for something but then don’t know how to use it or what they’re supposed to do, this can cause them frustration.

### **4. Negative Experiences**

If customers have had a negative experience with your business in the past, they likely will not want to return.

### **5. Lack of Time**

Between work, school, family responsibilities, and other obligations, people are busier than ever nowadays.

### **6. Lack of Value**

If users feel that product teams don’t offer anything new or different, then they’ll likely lose interest.

### **7. Competition’s Platform Looks More Appealing**

If users feel that your site or app looks outdated, then customers may switch to a different platform.

## **Campaign Strategies To Re-engage Your Inactive Users**

### **1. Create an Emotional Connection**

One of the best ways to get someone interested in returning is by creating an emotional connection through personalized messages.

### **2. Create Special Offers With Discounts or Free Items**

Offering discounts or free items is a great way to entice users to return.

### **3. Remind Them Why They Engaged With Your Brand in the First Place**

Reminding users why they interacted with your company can help draw them back.

### **4. Make Them Know You’ve Improved Your Product/Service**

Inform users that you’ve made improvements or added new features since their last engagement.

### **5. Ask Customers If They Still Want To Know About Your Brand**

Engaging users by asking if they want to receive information can be effective.

### **6. Make Them Know About New Relevant Products/Services**

Informing users about new products can help maintain their interest.

### **7. Make Customers Know They’re Important for the Brand and That You Miss Them**

Sending notifications to show users they are valued can encourage re-engagement.

### **8. Silly Jokes and Funny Messages Connect Better With the Audience**

Humor can help break the ice and get users interested again.

## **Measuring the Success of Your Re-engagement Strategy**

After implementing a re-engagement strategy, measuring its success is crucial for optimizing future efforts.

Various methods, such as surveys or analytics tools, can help track the impact of your campaigns.

## **Examples of Businesses That Have Successfully Reengaged Their Users**

**Amazon:** Known for re-engaging inactive users by offering services like “Amazon Prime.”

**Apple:** Regularly sends reminders about their products to keep their brand top of mind.

## **Conclusion**

Reactivating users can seem daunting, but by implementing effective strategies, you can win back customers and enhance your business's future.
