When a patron cancels their membership or becomes inactive, many creators tend to move on quietly. However, what if a significant number of those patrons would be willing to return — if only you reached out in the right way?
This is where win-back campaigns come in. They are designed to help you reconnect with former supporters, rebuild relationships, and recover recurring revenue that you thought was lost.
In this article, we will explore how win-back campaigns work, assess their effectiveness, and explain why every subscription-based creator should consider automating them.
A win-back campaign, also known as a re-engagement campaign, is a way to bring back people who used to subscribe but have stopped. It usually involves sending a series of messages, such as emails, direct messages, or texts, over a period of days or weeks. The purpose is to remind supporters why they signed up in the first place.
For Patreon creators, these campaigns can help reconnect with patrons who may have drifted away for several reasons, including:
According to Braze, the most successful win-back campaigns reintroduce value and give users a reason to return, rather than relying on discounts alone.
The data shows clear evidence that they work: Win-back campaigns can recover 20–30% of churned users on average (PropelloCloud). Some brands see reactivation rates up to 40% when using multiple reminders and clear incentives (PropelloCloud). The likelihood of selling to a lapsed customer is 60–70%, compared to just 5–20% for a brand-new one (FasterCapital). A simple reactivation email sequence generated over $8,000 in revenue for one campaign, far exceeding benchmarks (Stripo). For creators, this means win-back automation can directly reduce subscriber churn, stabilize revenue, and extend patron lifecycles — all with minimal manual effort once set up.
Most creators focus on acquiring new patrons, but few invest in reacquiring old ones. That's a huge oversight: you already earned their trust once. These subscribers liked your content enough to pay for it. Acquisition is expensive. It costs less to reactivate a past supporter than to find a new one. It's a form of churn prevention. By re-engaging lapsed members, you reduce your overall churn rate and protect monthly income. Failing to set up win-back flows means your community constantly needs to "refill the bucket," instead of building long-term sustainability.
Effective win-back campaigns share three traits: timing, personalization, and persistence.
Not every lapsed subscriber should get the same message. Segment your outreach by:
As Recharge notes, timing the outreach within the first 30–60 days of churn increases the chance of recovery.
A single "We miss you" email usually doesn't do the trick. Instead, try sending a series of 3 to 5 messages in different ways. Each message should connect to the last one, starting with friendly reminders and moving to more urgent nudges According to Klaviyo, brands that use a series of win-back emails do much better than those that only send one message
How you say things matters. Instead of using robotic phrases like "reactivate now," try this:
Also, don't be afraid to add a bit of humor or surprise! For example, Stripo used the subject line "You could've gone skydiving" and it worked really well for them.
Good incentives don't always mean discounts. For creators, small rewards or special perks can work even better. Here are some ideas:
Make rejoining feel special, like they're getting something extra, not just paying again.
Spread out your messages like this:
Sending them too close together can feel annoying, but waiting too long might make people forget about you. Keep an eye on what your audience likes and change things up if you need to.
Just like any marketing campaign, keeping track of your results and making improvements is really important. Here are some key things to watch:
A good goal to aim for is to win back about 20–30% of the people you contacted who had stopped subscribing. If you're not hitting that target, try changing up the wording, the timing of your messages, or the incentives you're offering. (FullEnrich)
Turning win-back flows into automated processes can really help bring back customers without a lot of extra work. With Elytics, creators can:
This way, win-back efforts become an easy yet effective way to reduce cancellations, allowing creators to focus on what they love most, making their work, rather than worrying about losing customers
Losing patrons is inevitable. But losing them forever isn't.
Losing supporters happens, but it doesn't have to be permanent. Win-back campaigns give you another chance to bring them back, and research shows that they're worth the effort. By creating an automated and friendly process, you can reduce subscriber churn, bring back important income, and remind your fans why they enjoyed being part of your community originally.