My Digital Farmer Podcast: Episode 344

“How to Win Back Customers Who Have Gone Cold”

Host: Corinna Bench
Date: January 14, 2026

Episode Overview

In Episode 344 of the My Digital Farmer Podcast, Corinna Bench dives deep into the concept of "win back campaigns"—a strategic approach to re-engaging customers who have previously purchased from your farm but have since gone cold. Corinna shares actionable tactics, mindset shifts, and proven communication strategies aimed at retail farm businesses looking to boost customer retention, revive sales, and strengthen their brand. She illustrates these marketing lessons with storytelling, memorable metaphors, and step-by-step advice tailored for farmers and CSA operators.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The “Cold Customer” Dilemma

• Metaphor to Illustrate the Challenge:
  Corinna opens with a relatable story about her dog Daisy getting distracted while walking on the farm. Daisy's tunnel vision represents how customers may drift away—not through dissatisfaction, but due to other distractions in their lives.

  "Isn't this like how we have some of our customers that have been with us, they've bought things from us, and then all of a sudden they go dark, they just disappear and we don't see them buying anything. ...In many cases, they aren't gone. They haven't decided that they don't like you anymore. They're just distracted." (09:22)

Why Customers Go Cold

Corinna categorizes the main reasons:

• Life Reasons: Busy seasons, health issues, family changes, financial shifts, travel, or new schedules.
• Timing/Seasonality: CSA or product not suiting their needs for a time; freezer is still full, etc.
• Attention Drift: Overloaded inbox, missing your emails, changed algorithms, lack of brand visibility.
• Offer Misalignment: They like you, but current products or offers aren’t a match.

She stresses not to take it personally:

"So let's not immediately leap to this scarcity mindset of like, oh, I'm terrible, nobody likes me... No, it could be something else." (19:25)

Defining & Identifying Cold Customers

• There is no universal rule; the business must decide their own standard:
  • Example definitions: No purchase in 180 days (for stores), skipped renewal (for CSAs), or no email engagement in 90-120 days.
  • Use email service provider tags to keep track, e.g., “cold customer”, “inactive 90”, “former CSA”.
  • Corinna recommends investing in advanced email tools if possible (she uses Kit/ConvertKit).

The Win Back Campaign: Purpose & Principles

• What It Is:
  A structured, targeted campaign to re-engage only your inactive buyers, not your whole list.

• Core Attributes:

  • Low friction: Easy and irresistible to say yes to.
  • Clear deadline: FOMO with a specific end date.
  • Personal tone: Direct, intentional, and emotionally inviting.
  • Not about margin: It’s about rebuilding the relationship and customer habit, not immediate profit.

  "A win back offer is not a discount that's blasted out to everyone. It is not a desperate sale. ...It’s meant to restart behavior." (25:19)

Win Back Campaigns: Step-by-Step

1. Crafting the Win Back Offer

• Develop an offer exclusive for inactive buyers. Examples include:
  • “One week trial box for free” or a “comeback week” promotion (for CSA).
  • Store or add-on credit: e.g., a $20 store credit.
  • Free product with a qualifying purchase: e.g., “free pack of chicken drumsticks with any order over $75.”
  • Limited-time curated bundles or bonus items.
  • Loyalty restart incentives.
• Test and refine your offers (A/B testing recommended).

2. Identifying Your Cold Customers (41:05)

• Define “cold” for your operation and tag these customers in your system.
• Consider both purchase inactivity and email engagement as qualifiers.

3. Sending the Win Back Offer (43:19)

• Manual Broadcast: One-time, targeted email to cold customers.
• Automated Sequence: Optional 3-part email series over 10 days for further prompting.
• Alternative Channels: SMS or even a mailed handwritten card, if appropriate and permissions exist.

Notable Sample Template (45:43)

• Subject: “It’s been a while, want a little thank you from us?”

• Email copy is warm, concise, acknowledges absence, presents a simple offer, and provides a non-pressuring P.S. option.

  “Hey [First Name], it’s been a little while since we've seen your name pop up on an order and I just wanted to reach out personally. I know life gets full, freezers get stocked… But if you have been missing farm raised chicken or if you’ve been meaning to order and just haven’t gotten around to it, I wanted to make it easy and fun to come back...” (46:32)

4. Handling Responses and Next Steps

If They Take the Offer:

• Over-deliver on the experience:
  • Personal note, clear next offer, extra attention to their order.
• Trigger a “post-purchase love sequence”:
  • A series of emails welcoming them back, expressing gratitude, and promoting a second offer to rebuild habit.

If They Don’t Take the Offer:

• Don’t be pushy; let time pass.

• One final check-in can be sent weeks or months later.

• Ask for preference signals in emails (“not interested,” “still want emails,” etc.) to gauge ongoing interest.

  “A win back campaign, it's not a magic wand. It's an invitation. And some people are going to take it, some people won’t.” (59:41)

If There Is No Engagement:

• Choose to keep them, move them to a low-frequency list, or remove them after 6–12 months.
• List cleaning is respectful—not personal or punitive.
• Remember:

  “Clicks are information, silence is information. And both help you make decisions, better decisions moving forward.” (1:04:05)

5. Automation and Tagging

• Be sure to have backend systems update customer tags correctly (e.g., remove “cold buyer” and add “reactivated” when they engage/buy).
• Automation can trigger welcome sequences for reactivated buyers.
• If someone clicks any link (even non-purchase), they’re considered engaged and moved off the cold list.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On mindset:

  "Silence doesn't mean they're dissatisfied. Silence just maybe means that there's not the right trigger. Not the right offer." (19:12)

• On profit margins:

  “You may actually take a hit in terms of your profit margin, but this is meant to restart buying behavior, not maximize your margin.” (25:37)

• On “love bombing” reactivated customers:

  “Giving a clear next step for the next thing to buy is often something that I see great brands doing… They call it like the love bombing sequence.” (53:49)

• On cleaning your list:

  “Removing someone from your list is not mean, it's not personal. It's actually respectful because you're saying, hey, I'm not going to keep showing up in your inbox if you're clearly not interested.” (1:03:45)

• On the best time to run win back campaigns:

  “What I like to do is have like a time in my year…when I’m not super busy with farming rhythms and to go in and like do this work… and then I try to do it one other time in the year. That's all you gotta do. It's not hard.” (1:06:44)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 09:22 — Daisy the Dog Metaphor & Introduction to Cold Customers
• 19:12 — Why Customers Go Cold (Four Main Reasons)
• 25:19 — What Makes a Strong Win Back Offer
• 41:05 — Defining and Tagging Cold Customers
• 43:19 — Sending Out the Win Back Offer
• 45:43 — Example of a Win Back Email
• 53:49 — Over-Delivering with a Post-Purchase “Love Bomb” Sequence
• 59:41 — Best Practices if Customers Don’t Respond
• 1:03:45 — Healthy List Management and Cleaning
• 1:06:44 — Timing and Repeatability of Win Back Campaigns

Takeaways & Final Thoughts

Corinna emphasizes that reactivating lapsed customers is often easier and more rewarding than finding completely new ones. Establishing a repeatable system for identifying, incentivizing, and welcoming back cold customers not only boosts sales but keeps your brand community strong.

"It's definitely worth a little bit of effort to try this at least a couple times a year… Once you build the system, you just literally repeat it every single time." (1:07:09)

Her advice is delivered with humor, encouragement, and the comforting reminder that, like a distracted dog, customers usually just need the right nudge to come back.

For step-by-step templates and deeper dives, Corinna suggests joining her Farm Marketing School (mydigitalfarmer.com/FMS).

Show notes and resources:
mydigitalfarmer.com/344
Connect with Corinna: Instagram @mydigitalfarmer