name: winback-engine description: Find dormant subscribers, segment by historical value, draft personalized winback emails per tier, and identify suppression candidates version: "1.0.0" author: Cogny AI requires: cogny-mcp platforms: [klaviyo, mailchimp, rule, get-a-newsletter] user-invocable: true argument-hint: "[aggressive|standard|conservative]" allowed-tools:
Cogny Cloud (aggregated) namespace
- mcp__cogny__klaviyo__*
- mcp__cogny__mailchimp__*
- mcp__cogny__rule__*
- mcp__cogny__get_a_newsletter__*
- mcp__cogny__create_finding
- mcp__cogny__write_context_node
Cogny Solo / Lite (per-ESP direct) namespace
- mcp__klaviyo__*
- mcp__mailchimp__*
- mcp__rule__*
- mcp__get_a_newsletter__*
- Bash
- Read
- Write
Winback Engine
Turn dormant subscribers back into customers. This skill scans your connected ESP for inactive subscribers, segments them by historical value, drafts a personalized winback series per tier, and flags who you should suppress before they tank your deliverability.
Requires: Cogny MCP + a connected ESP. Sign up
The output is a complete, ready-to-run winback campaign — not a report.
Usage
/winback-engine — standard mode (60-day dormancy threshold)
/winback-engine aggressive — 30-day threshold (acts earlier, bigger list)
/winback-engine conservative — 90-day threshold (only chronic dormants)
Prerequisites Check
Detect connected ESP (same pattern as subject-line-lab). If none, prompt user to connect at cogny.com.
Steps
1. Define dormancy thresholds
| Mode | Dormant | Deep dormant | Suppress candidate |
|---|---|---|---|
| aggressive | 30+ days no open | 90+ days no open | 180+ days no open/click, no purchase |
| standard | 60+ days | 180+ days | 365+ days no engagement |
| conservative | 90+ days | 270+ days | 540+ days |
2. Pull subscriber data
From the connected ESP, pull every active subscriber with:
- Subscribe date
- Last open date + last click date (take max as last_engaged)
- Total historical opens / clicks
- Signup source / list
- Tags / segments
- Email domain (gmail, yahoo, hotmail, corporate)
Purchase / LTV data — Klaviyo only. The cogny-mcp-proxy currently exposes purchase data for Klaviyo (via list_events filtered to the "Placed Order" metric, summing the value field per profile). Mailchimp, Rule, and Get a Newsletter in this proxy are engagement-only — they do not expose:
- Total spend / LTV
- Order count
- AOV
- Last order date
Per-ESP tool adapter:
| ESP | Subscriber list | Purchase history | Suppression write |
|---|---|---|---|
| Klaviyo | list_profiles (+ get_profile for detail) | list_events with metric="Placed Order" — use value field per profile for LTV | unsubscribe_profiles |
| Mailchimp | tool_list_members (filter status=subscribed) | Not available | tool_update_member (status=unsubscribed) |
| Rule | tool_list_subscribers | Not available | tool_update_subscriber / tool_list_suppressions |
| Get a Newsletter | tool_list_contacts | Not available | tool_delete_contact or tool_update_contact |
3. Segment into tiers
If Klaviyo (has purchase data): cross-cut by engagement recency × historical value:
| Tier | Criteria | Tone | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|
| A — High value dormant | Dormant + LTV ≥ top quartile OR past purchaser | Personal, apologetic, premium | Strong (20% off, free shipping, exclusive access). This is real money. |
| B — Medium value dormant | Dormant + some past engagement or 1 purchase | Warm, value-forward | Moderate (10–15% off, bundle, content) |
| C — Low engagement dormant | Dormant + never purchased + low engagement history | Direct, honest | Last-chance offer or content-only |
| D — Suppression candidates | Deep dormant + no purchase + no recent engagement | Final email only | "We're removing you unless..." |
If Mailchimp / Rule / Get a Newsletter (engagement-only): tier by engagement depth instead. No purchase data is available from the proxy for these ESPs — LTV-based tiering falls back to:
| Tier | Criteria | Tone | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|
| A — Deep engaged dormant | Dormant now, but historically high open+click rate (top quartile of clicks) | Personal, "we miss you" | Strong offer or exclusive content |
| B — Casual dormant | Dormant, moderate historical engagement | Warm, value-forward | Modest offer |
| C — Low engagement dormant | Dormant, few lifetime opens/clicks | Direct, honest | Content-only or re-opt-in ask |
| D — Suppression candidates | Deep dormant, minimal lifetime engagement | Final email only | Goodbye |
Revenue estimates in the output should be omitted for engagement-only ESPs, or marked estimated_impact_usd: null on findings with a note that the user can pair with their own LTV data to size the opportunity.
Output the tier sizes before drafting:
Winback candidates: <total>
├─ Tier A (high-value dormant): <count> subscribers (est. revenue: $<X>)
├─ Tier B (medium): <count>
├─ Tier C (low engagement): <count>
└─ Tier D (suppression): <count> ← do not keep sending to these
Revenue estimate for Tier A/B: count × historical AOV × expected reactivation rate (use 3-5% for Tier A, 1-2% for Tier B).
4. Draft a 3-email winback series per tier
For each tier (A, B, C), generate 3 emails with cadence:
- Email 1 — day 0, soft reopener ("we noticed")
- Email 2 — day 4, value + offer
- Email 3 — day 8, last-chance / decision
Tone by tier:
Tier A (high-value):
- E1: Personal note, reference last purchase by name if available. No offer yet.
- E2: Show what they're missing — new products in their category, or customer stories
- E3: Strongest offer, explicit decision framing ("if we're not a fit anymore, we'll respect that")
Tier B (medium):
- E1: "We miss you" + social proof
- E2: Content-led (best of what they missed) + modest offer
- E3: Offer + deadline
Tier C (low engagement):
- E1: Direct — "is this still useful?"
- E2: One-click re-subscribe or one-click unsubscribe (reduce friction)
- E3: Final send before suppression
For every email produce: subject, preheader, body, CTA. Same format as /welcome-series.
5. Suppression list (Tier D)
Output a block the user can act on:
Suppression recommendation: <count> subscribers
These haven't opened, clicked, or purchased in <threshold> days. Keeping
them on the list:
• Hurts deliverability (low engagement = more spam placement for everyone)
• Inflates list size → higher ESP costs
• Distorts reporting baselines
Recommended action:
1. Send ONE final "goodbye" email offering resubscribe
2. After 7 days, suppress non-responders
Sample suppression email is included below.
Then include the goodbye email draft.
6. Write-mode: offer to execute
After presenting the plan, ask:
I can push this into your ESP as:
[A] Drafts only (you review + launch)
[B] Full flow installed but paused (you activate when ready)
[C] Just give me the copy, I'll handle it
Which?
If the user picks A or B and the ESP MCP has write tools available, follow the Write Action Protocol (same as the /cogny skill — present the action plan, wait for approval, then execute one step at a time).
7. Create findings
For each significant tier (A, B with >100 subscribers):
{
"title": "Tier A winback: <N> high-value dormant subscribers, est. $<X> recoverable",
"body": "Identified <N> past purchasers with LTV in top quartile who haven't engaged in <days> days. Avg historical AOV: $<Y>. At 4% reactivation, estimated winback revenue = $<X>. 3-email series drafted and ready to install.",
"action_type": "winback_campaign",
"expected_outcome": "Reactivate 3-5% of Tier A dormant, generate $<X> over 30 days",
"estimated_impact_usd": <X>,
"priority": "high"
}
And one for suppression:
{
"title": "<N> subscribers recommended for suppression",
"body": "Deep dormant (<threshold>+ days) with no purchases. Keeping them hurts deliverability and inflates ESP cost. Recommend goodbye email + suppression after 7 days.",
"action_type": "list_hygiene",
"expected_outcome": "Improve overall open rate by 1-3 pp, lower ESP tier cost",
"estimated_impact_usd": <monthly_esp_savings>,
"priority": "medium"
}
Notes
- Never suppress before a winback attempt. Give Tier D subscribers one last chance to re-engage.
- Apple MPP means "last open" is noisy for iPhone users. Weight clicks and purchases higher than opens when assigning tiers.
- Only Klaviyo exposes purchase/LTV data through the cogny-mcp-proxy today. Mailchimp, Rule, and Get a Newsletter fall back to the engagement-only tiering scheme above.
- Get a Newsletter has no flow/automation object. "Install as a flow" isn't available — winback is delivered as scheduled individual sends via
tool_send_draftwithtime_to_send. For Klaviyo, flows install via the Klaviyo UI (the MCP exposeslist_flows/get_flowfor reads only, not create). For Mailchimp/Rule, automations/journeys are read-only too — so "install" means drafting campaigns and scheduling them, not creating a native automation.