Reactivation Campaign

A win-back campaign is a targeted marketing initiative designed to re-engage and resubscribe users who have previously cancelled or allowed their subscription to lapse. Unlike general reactivation campaigns that target any inactive user, win-back campaigns specifically focus on former paying subscribers — users who previously saw enough value to pay but chose to leave. Win-back campaigns leverage the unique advantage that these users already understand the product, have already provided their payment information (in many cases), and demonstrated willingness to pay at some point. Effective win-back strategies include: personalized email sequences highlighting new features or content added since the user left, limited-time resubscription offers at a discounted rate, Apple and Google's native promotional offers for lapsed subscribers (which can be targeted at specific user segments), push notification re-engagement for users who still have the app installed, and paid retargeting campaigns on social and display networks. Both Apple (through Subscription Offer Codes and promotional offers) and Google (through Resubscribe offers in Play Billing) provide built-in mechanisms for offering special pricing to lapsed subscribers, making it easier to implement win-back offers that feel integrated with the platform experience.

The percentage of users who stop using your mobile app over a specific time period. Churn rate is the inverse of retention rate and serves as a critical health indicator for any app business. For subscription apps, tracking churn is essential since even small reductions in churn can significantly impact revenue and customer lifetime value (LTV). Churn rate, also known as attrition rate, measures the percentage of users who stop using your mobile app over a specific period. In the context of mobile applications, churn represents users who disengage from your app—whether they uninstall it completely, cancel their subscription, or simply stop opening and interacting with it.

Voluntary churn occurs when a subscriber actively decides to cancel their subscription — they make a conscious choice to stop paying, typically because they no longer perceive sufficient value, found an alternative, or their needs changed. Involuntary churn occurs when a subscription lapses without the user's deliberate intent — most commonly due to a failed payment (expired credit card, insufficient funds, bank-side decline) that isn't resolved before the subscription expires. The distinction matters enormously because the two types of churn require completely different intervention strategies. Voluntary churn is addressed through product improvements, value communication, cancellation deflection flows (offering discounts, plan pauses, or downgrades when a user attempts to cancel), and win-back campaigns. Involuntary churn is addressed through payment recovery mechanisms — smart retry logic, grace periods, dunning communications, and frictionless payment update flows. For many subscription apps, involuntary churn accounts for 20–40% of total churn, representing a significant and often underaddressed revenue leak. Apps using web-based billing have more control over involuntary churn recovery because they own the billing relationship and can implement custom retry schedules, direct email communications, and web-based payment update pages without being constrained by app store billing system limitations.

Push notifications are short, clickable messages sent directly to a user's device by mobile apps or websites, even when the app isn't actively in use. They appear on lock screens, notification centers, and banners to deliver timely updates, promotions, reminders, and alerts. For mobile apps, push notifications are one of the most effective tools for driving user engagement, increasing retention, and re-engaging inactive users.

Revenue recovery encompasses all strategies and systems designed to recapture revenue that would otherwise be lost due to failed payments, voluntary cancellation attempts, or expired subscriptions. It is a broader category than payment recovery alone, as it includes not just retrying failed transactions but also cancellation deflection flows (offering discounts, plan changes, or pauses when a user attempts to cancel), win-back offers for recently churned subscribers, and reactivation campaigns for lapsed users. For subscription apps, revenue recovery can represent 15–30% of total revenue that would have been lost without intervention. The most effective revenue recovery programs combine automated mechanisms (smart payment retry logic, grace periods, dunning emails) with personalized interventions (targeted offers based on cancellation reason, usage patterns, and predicted churn risk). Apps with direct billing relationships through web checkout have greater flexibility to implement sophisticated revenue recovery tactics, including real-time payment method updates, custom retry schedules, and personalized retention offers at the moment of cancellation.