#23 Re-Marketing: The Most Overlooked Growth Lever in Marketplaces

Most marketplace founders spend their early days obsessed with supply and demand side acquisition. Rightfully so, getting supply and demand to transact quickly is the first existential challenge. But once past the early wiggle of PMF (product market fit), a different problem emerges: buyers churn.

Sometimes they return months later. Sometimes it’s years. And because your platform is constantly evolving and features are improving, the platform they return to may be very different. That’s where re-marketing comes in—a high-leverage but wildly underutilized growth lever.

Why Re-Marketing Matters

• Dormant users aren’t dead users
  They’re often paused users— still warm to your platform, but needing the right context to re-engage.

• Re-marketing is cheaper than reacquisition
  You’ve already paid the CAC. Now the challenge is relevance, not reach.

• Your platform evolves and users needs evolve
  You may have added new subcategories to meet buyer/seller demands and/or new features or services that better meet customers needs.

Here’s a framework for building a re-marketing program, followed by 10 example tactics to try:

1. Define Dormancy

The first step in remarketing is defining when a user is dormant or at-risk of going dormant. This requires data and tracking of top of funnel intent signals (e.g., visits, logins) as well as purchases. This also requires selecting which activity or purchase measures you use to label a customer. There are typically 4 buckets for a churn pyramid:

🟢 ACTIVE (Normal behavior patterns)

🟡 AT-RISK (Decline in engagement, frequency drop)

🟠 DORMANT (No activity in X days, past expected cycle)

🔴 CHURNED

The thresholds will vary by business – by definition some categories will have quarterly purchasing cycles, or monthly or daily. Ideally, you have a top of funnel behavior metric that’s an early signal of identifying when a customer is at-risk or dormant.

2. Segment Dormant Users

Not all dormant users are created equal. Group dormant users by their behavior and intent so you can tailor messaging.

Example Segments:

• Buyers Who Never Transacted – Need value reinforcement

• Buyers Who Transacted Once – Need fresh inventory/intent triggers

• Power Buyers Gone Cold – Likely LTV, deserve personalized outreach

• Suppliers Who Listed but Didn’t Convert – Need demand visibility

• Suppliers Who Fulfilled and Churned – Need to re-sell success story

3. Craft Reactivation Campaigns

See examples at the bottom of this post. At a high-level, you have 4 channels to reach dormant users:

• Email (batch + trigger-based)

• SMS or Push (if high-intent)

• On-site/app banners

• In-app chat (if available)

4. Build Lightweight Re-Onboarding Flows

If a user returns to your website, help them re-orient quickly and express updated intent.

Examples:

• “Has anything changed?” prompt

• Let users update location, category, availability

• Suggest relevant actions: “Start here →”

5. Track Reactivation KPIs

Examples of KPIs to track are email open rate, email click rate, return-to-site rate, conversion/listing rate, and time to reactivation.

6. Automation & Tooling

You don’t have to build these programs from scratch! There are tools you can use:

• Email: Customer.io, Postmark, Braze

• User segmentation: Amplitude, Mixpanel, Segment

• Triggering: Zapier, Retool, OneSignal for push

• Onsite reactivation: Intercom, Appcues, custom modals

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Once you’ve set up your high level framework, you’re ready to start testing tactics. Here are 10 tried and true tactics to get you started:

10 Tactics for Reactivating Dormant Users

1. Personalized Re-Engagement Campaigns

• What to do: Send highly personalized emails or notifications based on past usage.

  • “Still looking for an excavator? New, better-rated excavators are now available near your business.”

Flexport re-engages dormant importers/exporters with updates on lane-specific logistics trends (e.g., rising rates from Vietnam to LA).

2. Behavior-Triggered Re-Onboarding

• What to do: If a dormant user logs in or visits your site, don’t treat them like a new user. Show a lightweight 2–3 screen re-onboarding.

  • Has anything changed?

  • What are you looking for now?

  • Did you know we now have X new categories or features?

  • Would you like help updating your profile or preferences?

Turo surfaces “new cars recently added near you” when a dormant user resumes activity.

3. Targeted Incentives

• What to do: Offer contextual, not blanket, discounts:

  • “10% off the item you viewed last month”

  • “List a new item this week and get boosted to the top of search results”

  • “Refer a friend and both of you get $20”

Faire does this well—If a retailer typically reorders every X weeks and doesn’t, Faire sends “Time to restock?” nudges with reorder shortcuts or discounts from previously ordered brands.

4. Push Notifications and SMS Nudges

• What to do: Use this channel carefully, as users get easily annoyed by intrusive/aggressive SMS and push notifications.

  • “The part you liked is now 20% off”

  • “Someone nearby just booked a trailer like yours”

5. Re-Match or Re-Quote Triggers

• What to do: If a user abandoned a match or quote, re-match them as new inventory becomes available:

  • “New sitters have joined in your area”

  • “3 new buyers are looking for a tractor like yours”

Fiverr and Upwork both re-engage freelancers with job matches that resemble past interest.

6. Seasonal or Life Event-Based Reactivation

• What to do: Use moments that matter and tie campaigns to relevant inventory or use cases.

  • End of year, use-it-or-lose-it budgets

  • Holidays

  • Tax season

  • Local events

Flexport sends seasonal shipping alerts – e.g., “Lunar New Year shutdowns in China—book now to avoid delays.”

7. Search Recovery Emails

• What to do: If a user searched for something but didn’t book or buy, send a follow-up:

  • “Prices have dropped for your recent search”

  • “Still looking for a graphic designer? Here are 3 new top-rated ones.”

8. UI-Level Prompts on Return

• What to do: Add subtle nudges when a dormant user logs back in:

  • “Let’s get you caught up”

  • “Since your last visit, here’s what’s new”

  • “Pick up where you left off”

9. Reactivate the Supply Side Through Buyer Demand

• What to do: Show suppliers they’re missing out:

  • “You missed 3 leads this week”

  • “Customers near you are searching for services you offer”

10. Segment and Score for Smart Outreach

• What to do: Use churn likelihood scoring to prioritize outreach.

• Segment by:

  • Last transaction date

  • Session recency

  • Power vs casual user

  • Supply vs demand side
    
    

Bonus Thought: Multi-Touch Campaigns Work Best

The most successful reactivation strategies don’t rely on one message. They combine:

• Email → App notification → On-site prompt → Incentive offer

• Delivered over 1–2 weeks, varying the message content

Founders and marketplace operators, how have you used remarketing and are there tactics you’ve found that work best? We’d love to share your insights - message us at contact@snak.vc.

Weekly Deals

What We’re Reading

• The Marketplace Multiplier: Scalable Growth Through Digital Ecosystems - This piece outlines how marketplaces leverage partner networks, co-selling, and embedded offerings to amplify growth and build defensibility - Forbes

• Vampire Attacks: How Marketplaces Overcome the Chicken-and-Egg Problem -

  The chicken or the egg growth strategy that helped launch marketplaces like Airbnb, Uber, and Thumbtack by pulling users from established platforms like Craigslist and Indeed - Take Rate

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