How to send a win back campaign in Zen Planner

Build your win back list

Zen Planner sorts people by status. Members hold a membership, alumni are former members with none, and prospects have not signed up yet. Your list is recent alumni, members on hold or who stopped coming, and prospects who never joined.

Past members

1. From your dashboard, click new report and choose people.
2. Set the criteria to status, pick is one of, and tick alumni.
3. Add last attendance date, pick after, type 180 days ago, and click the refresh icon.
4. Click save report so the list is ready on every send day.

Members on hold still count as active members, so the alumni filter misses them. Find them with the Holds and drops report type. For members who just stopped coming, use status member with last attendance date before 30 days ago. For drop reasons, open saved reports, then retention, then Drops by reason.

Leads who never joined

Zen Planner calls these prospects. Build a people report with status prospect and last attendance date after 180 days ago, which keeps the ones who actually came in. Prospects whose last attendance date is empty never visited, so they are a colder list.

Start with the most recent

If the list is long, use 60 days ago first and send to that group, then to the rest. People who left recently are the easiest to bring back.

Send the three emails

Open your saved report, tick the people you want, click choose template and search for blank email. Write the message with tags like {FirstName}, fill in the reply to field, and click Send. To reuse an email, save it under Setup, then Document Templates.

• The help pages do not name the address Studio sends from. Put your own inbox in the reply to field so code word replies reach you.
• Studio's help pages do not describe scheduling an email for later, so send each one by hand on its day.
• Every Zen Planner email carries an unsubscribe link. Anyone who clicks it is skipped later and shows as Previously unsubscribed under Setup, then Email history.
• Engage can schedule bulk sends up to 30 days ahead. Its help pages recommend sending from an address on your own dedicated sending domain.

Send the two texts

Studio texts are one way. People cannot reply, only US and Canadian mobile numbers get them, and each costs 2.1 cents on your monthly bill. Texts over 160 characters are split into more than one message.

• Open the same report, tick your people, click choose template, search for blank SMS text, write it and click Send.
• Since no one can reply, each text needs your phone number or booking link and asks people to mention your code word at the front desk.
• The Studio texting article does not cover opt outs. Text only people who agreed to texts, and keep your own note of anyone who asks you to stop.
• Engage texts are two way. Your first one must say to reply STOP to unsubscribe. A STOP reply cancels queued texts and blocks more until the person replies START. Engage also adds a thank you line with your location name to the first text of a bulk send, so leave room for it.

Your ten day plan in Zen Planner

The five messages, ready to fill in, are on the win back email templates page. Both texts there already fit in 160 characters.

Can Zen Planner run it for you?

Partly in Studio, and fully with Engage.

• Studio automations sit under Setup, then Automations. Presets include Dropped Membership, Absent Member (Touch 1) and Prospect Hasn't Returned (Touch 1), all emails. Edit the template, then tick the box to activate it. A custom automation can also send a text.
• A new automation reaches back only two days, then fires on new events. It will not reach people already on your six month list, so send this campaign by hand and let automations handle future drops.
• In Engage, open Workflows, choose Create New Workflow, pick a trigger such as a missed check in, then add emails and texts with their timing.
• Engage's Campaign Marketplace, under Engagement, has a three week Client Reactivation campaign for former clients. Add to Account puts it under Automation, then Workflows, to edit and publish.
• On the pricing page in October 2026, Engage was listed from $249 a month on its own, and the Ultimate package with marketing automation from $348 a month.

See who came back

• Ask your front desk to note anyone who mentions your code word. Studio texts cannot be answered, so this is your main count.
• Run a people report with last attendance date on or after your Day 1 date. Leave out the status line, then look for names from your win back list. They have checked in since.
• Under saved reports, then Members, New sign ups (last 90 days) lists recent sign ups, so look for names from your list. The Retention summary under retention shows the wider trend.
• Reactivate Membership permanently removes the cancel record, so write down who came back before you click it.

Watch out for

• An email with the same subject recently sent to the same person is held back as Duplicate. Give each email its own subject.
• If you teach kids, {PrimaryEmail} goes to the child's address and skips children without one. Zen Planner recommends {ParentEmail}, which reaches the head of household.
• Old addresses bounce. In Engage, a bounce rate over 5 percent can block email for up to twelve hours. Remove addresses marked Invalid or Bounced in Email history first.
• New Engage numbers start with a low daily text limit, and a high opt out rate can lock texting for 24 hours. The policy page gives differing figures, so check yours before texting a long list.
• Do not text someone by hand while an Engage workflow waits for their reply. Zen Planner warns the workflow can get stuck.

Sources

• Send a member an email and send a text message (Zen Planner, July 2026)
• Prospect, member and alumni (Zen Planner, August 2026)
• Attendance reports, custom reports, drops and new signups (Zen Planner, July 2026)
• Membership holds and reactivating a cancelled membership (Zen Planner, August 2026)
• Email editor and email templates (Zen Planner, August 2026)
• Resubscribe emails and email delivery status (Zen Planner, July 2026)
• Automated emails and custom automations (Zen Planner, July and August 2026)
• Engage guide (Zen Planner, July 2026)
• Engage bulk actions, email bounces and workflows (Zen Planner, August 2026)
• Engage messaging policy (Zen Planner, April 2025) and workflows and manual texts (Zen Planner, December 2024)
• Campaign Marketplace help (Zen Planner, August 2026) and Campaign Marketplace page (Zen Planner)
• Zen Planner pricing (Zen Planner, seen October 2026)