Retargeting dormant leads and accounts
How to go about thawing and warming dormant leads and accounts over email
Lead generation often takes so much of our focus as marketers, that we tend to keep warming up dormant leads and accounts in the backseat. ( I'm going by the marketers manual that defines dormant leads as leads who haven't responded in 28–60 days 😉 )
When we marketers sit peacefully with our spreadsheets, the Customer acquisition cost(CAC) is always more than customer retention cost. In fact, a WNS Study says it’s 3–10 times more expensive to acquire new leads than to reactivate unresponsive customers.
Therefore resurrecting a seemingly dead or dormant lead is not just cheaper but quicker as well. This means keeping your CRM databases properly updated critical. How else will we know which lead dropped off to slumber mid-process? Use the right tags to classify which lead went cold and why.
How to begin:
- The first step is to map out your entire customer journey, visualize the detailed process and figure out the drop off points.
2. Once you have figured out the drop off points, brainstorm on the top 5 causes of dropping off at each of these points. This will give you clarity on how to handle the situations when you have clarity on the context.
3. Once you’ve figured out the causes of drop off, its time to brainstorm on what top 3 ways can get the prospect re-interested — Discounts, extended customer support, additional free credits, Favour exchanges etc.
4. Now extract lists from your CRM or database wherever you're maintaining the dormant leads. Depending upon the similar drop off points, created segmented lists which you can target eg. dormant leads who were looking for additional credit limits can be offered 500 additional free credits if they sign up in 48 hours.
Some ideas on thawing dormant accounts over email:
- Mail an update on what you’ve been up to these past few months.
- Pick up the most recent positive news or update about the brand and mail them to congratulate. (You create a custom field in your email campaign if you want to do this in bulk.)
- Write in a note to mention if the account manager in charge of their account has changed.
- Send in a case study of a competitor or from the industry which will foster new ideas in the prospects mind.
- Send in a reactivation discount coupon or extended free trial of your services.
- Invite them to an event in their city or for coffee if you’re in the neighborhood
- Pique their interest by sending an email with a subject line like “ Are you still interested in quadrupling your Marketing ROI?“
Has your business invested time in retargeting dormant accounts? How do you go about it?
