One question to everyone who signed up and stalled
Email everyone who signed up but never reached first value, one at a time and from the founder: a single sentence asking what stopped them. The replies are the most specific onboarding research you will get, a few people come back because someone asked, and telling them when the thing they named is fixed often brings more back.
By The Marketinque TeamReviewed June 2026
The play
Write personally to each person who signed up and never reached first value: one sentence, from the founder, asking what stopped them. Answer every reply, fix what several people name, and tell them when it is fixed.
Watch out for
- Personal and plain text: a templated blast with a merge tag reads as exactly what it is.
- Never pitch in the first message; the only ask is the question.
Best for
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Plays like this one
- The first-value email: one action, one link, sent the day they sign upSend every new signup one email on day zero that names the single action after which your product is worth using, links straight to where they take it, and says how long it takes. A welcome email that lists features spreads attention thin; one that points at the first win gets it done, and the rest of onboarding follows.
- Curated weekly roundup with one original takeSend subscribers a short weekly roundup of the best things in your niche — articles, tools, launches — with one original take they can’t get elsewhere. Curation builds a reliable open habit and positions you as the person who filters the noise, so your occasional product mention lands with an already-engaged, trusting audience.
- The month-two email: what to do when the quick wins are doneAround week five, email customers the habit or feature that keeps paying off once setup is done, with one concrete example of it working. Usage quietly drops in the second month when the first wins are behind people; an email that hands them the next level of value gives them a reason to keep the tab open.
- "What we shipped, what we learned" — a changelog with a pulseSend a recurring "what we shipped and what we learned" issue: the changes, the reasoning, one honest miss, one lesson. Customers get a reason to log back in, prospects get visible momentum, and the archive becomes public proof the product is alive — the cheapest retention email you’ll ever write.