Your CRM already holds people who know you. Re-engaging them on social takes four steps: split the list into three segments, invite each segment to follow you, post one content type per segment, and measure replies instead of reach. Run it for 30 days on one channel before you add another.
TLDR: Sort contacts into active, lapsed and never-converted. Invite each group with a different message, give each its own content type, and track replies and DMs. A win-back plan is judged by conversations started, not impressions.
Most teams do the opposite. They post more, hope old contacts notice, and look at reach at the end. But reach can't tell you whether a lapsed customer came back.
Step 1: split the CRM into three segments, not one list
Pull three exports from your CRM. Keep them small and clearly defined.
| Segment | Who is in it | What they need from you |
|---|---|---|
| Active | Bought or replied in the last 90 days | A reason to stay close and tell others |
| Lapsed | Bought before, silent for 6 months or more | A reminder of what's changed since they left |
| Never converted | Enquired or signed up, never bought | Proof that people like them got a result |
Add one column to each export: the social profile they're most likely to use. If your CRM doesn't hold it, use the channel where your last email was opened.
Step 2: invite them to follow, one segment at a time
You can't post to someone who doesn't follow you. So the first job is a warm invitation, not a campaign.
- Active: a short line at the end of an existing email, "we share the behind the scenes on Instagram".
- Lapsed: a personal two-line note from a named person, mentioning one thing that's new.
- Never converted: a link to your best post or your link in bio page, not to a sales page.
Send each in small batches of 50 to 100. You'll see replies and unsubscribes fast, and you can fix the wording before the next batch.
Step 3: give each segment a content type of its own
One calendar, three content types. This is where a shared content calendar earns its place, because you can colour each post by the segment it's written for.
- Active: customer results, how-to tips for what they already bought, short polls.
- Lapsed: "what's changed since you left" posts, new features or offers shown in use, a founder story.
- Never converted: case studies, honest comparisons, answers to the objections your sales team hears most.
Two to three posts a week aimed at these segments is plenty. In Mydrop's September 2026 data, accounts posting 1 to 3 times a week had a median engagement rate of 3.1%, while accounts posting 7 or more times a week sat at 0.7%. That's a correlation between accounts, but it's a good reminder that more volume doesn't mean more response.
Step 4: read replies, saves and DMs, not reach
Reach tells you how many strangers saw a post. A win-back plan needs a different scoreboard:
- Replies and DMs from known contacts (match the handle to the CRM record by hand for the first 30 days).
- Saves and shares on lapsed-segment posts.
- Link clicks to a booking or reorder page, from your link in bio.
- Reactivated accounts: contacts who bought again within 60 days of their first reply.
Put the first three on one weekly view. Mydrop's social inbox collects comments and DMs in one place, so a lapsed customer's reply doesn't sit unseen in a notification you missed.
Hand warm replies to a person within a day
A reply from a former customer is the most valuable thing this plan produces. Decide who answers it before you start. A good rule: any reply from a CRM contact gets a human answer within one working day, and a note on the CRM record afterward.
If the handoff between the community side and the sales side is vague, read the social-to-sales handoff matrix first.
Run the 30-day version this month
Here's the smallest plan that tests the idea:
- Day 1 to 3: export three segments, add the likely channel.
- Day 4 to 10: send the first invitation batches.
- Day 11 to 30: publish two to three segment-tagged posts a week and log every reply.
At day 30, count reactivated accounts per segment. Double down on the segment with the most conversations, and drop the content type that got none. If you want to plan the posts for all three segments in one place, start free with Mydrop and build the calendar there.
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