Re-engagement emails go to subscribers who have stopped opening or clicking, to win back their attention or let them go. Win-back emails go to customers who have lapsed, to bring them back to buying.
How it works
The two are cousins with different goals.
Re-engagement is about attention. It starts when someone has gone quiet for a set number of days. A short series asks whether they still want your email, sometimes with your best recent work. Anyone who still doesn't respond is unsubscribed. That last step is often called re-permission.
Win-back is about buying. It starts when a customer cancels, or when a subscription is about to end without renewing. It reminds them what they had, sometimes with an offer, and stops the moment they buy again.
Why it matters
- Quiet subscribers weigh on delivery. Google's sender guidelines suggest periodically checking that people want to stay subscribed, and unsubscribing those who don't open or read your mail.
- Letting people go is a result too. A clean "no" is better than years of unread email.
- Lapsed customers already know you. They bought once, so a well-timed reminder starts from trust.
How Mimeo handles it
Both are flows in Mimeo.
Re-engagement uses the inactivity trigger: a set number of days without a human open or click. People enter a daily batch at a time, and you can preview who qualifies first. The usual shape is a "still want these?" email, a 14-day wait, then a prune step, which unsubscribes them with the reason inactive. Anyone who opened or clicked since entering the flow is skipped and stays.
Win-back starts on an event such as subscription_cancelled (money events), or on the subscription ending approaching trigger for people who aren't renewing. A gate waits for a purchase event with an expiry: people who buy take the Criteria met path and can exit, and the rest take Gave up to the next email. See Mimeo terms for pruning and triggers in Mimeo's own words.
- Email sender guidelines. Checked .
- Flows. Checked .
- The event contract. Checked .