reengagement

Reengagement refers to activities aimed at reviving the participation of previously inactive users, customers, or participants. In marketing and product management, it encompasses efforts to reestablish engagement after a period of inactivity, with goals such as increasing daily active users, converting dormant customers back to paying users, or reducing churn.

Contexts for reengagement include email campaigns, push notifications, in‑app messages, retargeting ads, and win‑back offers. It is commonly used in software as a service, mobile applications, ecommerce, and media platforms to reactivate users who have not engaged recently.

Key metrics used to evaluate reengagement programs include the reengagement rate (the proportion of inactive users who perform a targeted action after a campaign), win‑back rate, churn reduction, revenue impact, and changes in customer lifetime value. Practitioners also monitor engagement depth, such as the actions taken after reengagement and the time to reengage.

Strategies emphasize segmentation by inactivity reason, personalized messaging, time‑bound offers, value reminders, and surveys to identify causes of disengagement. Tactics may combine email, push or SMS messages, in‑app banners, and retargeted ads, along with optional incentives and refreshed preferences. Best practices include respecting frequency limits, ensuring consent and privacy compliance, testing variants, and focusing on relevance rather than volume.

Challenges include diminishing returns from overly broad campaigns, data quality and attribution issues, fatigue, and the risk of annoying users. Reengagement is distinct from onboarding and activation: it targets existing but dormant users and is often followed by reactivation or win‑back efforts to restore a steady baseline of engagement and revenue.