Win-back email sequence template
Cancelled subscribers are your warmest audience: they already paid once. This four-email win-back sequence gives you the timing, the tone and the offer structure to bring a meaningful share of them back.
How to use this template
- Copy each email into your email platform or your Mocono automated campaigns.
- Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details before sending.
- Trigger the sequence when a subscription reaches its end date, not the moment someone clicks cancel.
- Suppress anyone who resubscribes, and cap the sequence at four emails so you do not burn goodwill.
The template
Highlighted {{placeholders}} are the bits to replace with your own details.
Email 1 — Day 3 after access ends
Acknowledge the cancellation, ask why, keep it human.
Subject: Was it something we wrote? Preview text: A quick question from {{Publication name}} Hi {{First name}}, Your {{Publication name}} subscription ended a few days ago, and we noticed. Before you go for good, could you tell us why? It takes one click and it genuinely shapes what we publish next. [ Too expensive ] [ Not enough time to read ] [ Not the coverage I wanted ] [ Something else ] Whatever you pick, we will read it. If we got something wrong, we would rather know. Thanks for the time you gave us, {{Editor name}} {{Job title}}, {{Publication name}}
Email 2 — Day 10
Remind them what they are missing with your best recent work.
Subject: What you missed at {{Publication name}} this week Preview text: Three stories subscribers are talking about Hi {{First name}}, Since your subscription ended, these are the three pieces our subscribers have spent the most time with: 1. {{Headline 1}} — {{One-line description}} 2. {{Headline 2}} — {{One-line description}} 3. {{Headline 3}} — {{One-line description}} All three are behind the paywall. Restart your subscription and you will have them open in the next minute. {{Restart subscription link}} {{Editor name}} {{Publication name}}
Email 3 — Day 21
The offer. One clear discount, one clear deadline.
Subject: {{Offer headline, e.g. 50% off for three months}} Preview text: Your comeback offer, open until {{Offer end date}} Hi {{First name}}, We would like you back, so here is our best offer: {{Offer detail, e.g. 50% off your first three months, then {{Standard price}} a month}}. It is open until {{Offer end date}} and you can cancel any time. {{Claim offer link}} What your subscription includes: - {{Benefit 1}} - {{Benefit 2}} - {{Benefit 3}} {{Editor name}} {{Publication name}}
Email 4 — Day 30
Last call, then move them to the free list.
Subject: Last call, {{First name}} Preview text: Your {{Offer detail}} closes tonight Hi {{First name}}, This is the last email we will send about coming back. Your offer — {{Offer detail}} — closes at {{Offer end time}} tonight. {{Claim offer link}} If now is not the moment, no problem. We will keep sending you {{Free newsletter name}} every {{Send day}} so you can stay close to the story, and the door is open whenever you want it. Thanks for reading, {{Editor name}} {{Publication name}}
Tips that make this work
- Segment by cancellation reason where you can: price objections need a discount, time objections need a lighter product like a weekly digest.
- Send from a named editor, not a no-reply address. Replies to win-back emails are some of the most useful reader research you will get.
- Measure win-back on 90-day reactivation rate, not opens. A 3–8% reactivation rate on cancelled subscribers is a solid result.
- Never offer a comeback discount that is deeper than your best acquisition offer, or you train subscribers to cancel.