There's a pattern I see in almost every SaaS product. About 20% of users are power users who log in frequently and use multiple features. About 50% are casual users who log in occasionally and use one or two features. And about 30% are barely active, logging in rarely and at risk of churning.
The difference between these groups isn't intelligence or motivation. It's habits. Power users have built your product into their workflow. Casual users haven't. And that's where email comes in.
You can't force people to use your product more. But you can create triggers that bring them back, surface value they'd miss otherwise, and build the habit loops that turn casual users into regulars.
Understanding Usage Patterns
Before trying to increase usage, understand what "healthy" usage looks like for your product.
Define Your Usage Cadence
Different products have naturally different usage frequencies:
Daily-use products (project management, communication, CRM): Users should be logging in most workdays. If they're only checking in twice a week, there's room to grow.
Weekly-use products (email marketing, analytics, reporting): Users should engage 1-3 times per week. Daily usage might not be realistic, but weekly is essential.
Periodic-use products (invoicing, contract management, recruiting): Users engage on specific cycles (monthly, quarterly). Consistent engagement within those cycles is the goal.
Don't try to make a weekly-use product into a daily-use product. That's a product problem, not an email problem. Focus on getting users to engage at the natural cadence for your product type.
Product Usage Cadence Table
Usage emails work when they respect the natural rhythm of the product. A daily trigger for a weekly-use tool creates fatigue; a monthly reminder for a daily-use tool arrives too late.
| Product type | Healthy cadence | Best email trigger | Example email |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily-use SaaS | Most workdays | Morning task or update | Today's priorities |
| Weekly-use SaaS | 1-3 sessions per week | Weekly summary or kickoff | This week in your account |
| Periodic SaaS | On workflow cycle | Deadline or scheduled task | Month-end checklist |
| Passive automation tool | When results happen | Activity alert | Your automation produced results |
| Analytics/reporting tool | When insight changes | Metric movement | Something changed in your dashboard |
Identify Your "Magic Number"
Look at your data and find the usage frequency that separates retained users from churned users. For many SaaS products, there's a clear threshold:
- Users who log in 3+ times per week retain at 95%
- Users who log in 1-2 times per week retain at 70%
- Users who log in less than once per week retain at 30%
Your "magic number" is the minimum engagement frequency that predicts retention. Your email strategy should focus on getting users above that threshold.
Email Strategies for Increasing Usage
Strategy 1: The Value Delivery Email
Instead of asking users to come back, deliver value directly to their inbox that makes coming back natural.
The Weekly Digest
Subject: "Your [Product] weekly summary"
"Hey [name],
Here's your week in [Product]:
- [Key metric 1, e.g., "Emails sent: 3,240 (up 12%)"]
- [Key metric 2, e.g., "New subscribers: 89"]
- [Key metric 3, e.g., "Top-performing campaign: [name] (42% open rate)"]
Worth checking out:
- [Actionable insight, e.g., "Your Tuesday emails consistently outperform Friday sends"]
- [Suggestion, e.g., "3 subscribers replied to your last campaign - check their responses"]
[CTA: View Full Dashboard]
[Name]"
Weekly digests work because they:
- Remind users the product is doing things for them
- Surface insights they wouldn't see without logging in
- Create a weekly touchpoint that builds routine
- Provide specific reasons to click through
The Activity Alert
Subject: "[Something happened] in your [Product] account"
"Hey [name],
Quick update: [specific event, e.g., "Your campaign just crossed 1,000 opens" or "A new subscriber matched your VIP segment"].
[Brief context on why this matters]
[CTA: Check it out]"
Activity alerts create real-time reasons to engage. They turn passive usage into an interactive feedback loop.
Strategy 2: The Habit Loop Email
Habits have three components: trigger, routine, reward. Email can serve as the trigger.
The Morning Trigger
For daily-use products, a brief morning email can kickstart the daily habit:
Subject: "Your [Product] today: [brief preview]"
"[3 items that need attention today, e.g., tasks due, messages waiting, metrics to check]
[CTA: Start your day in [Product]]"
Keep this ultra-short. It's a trigger, not a newsletter. Users should be able to scan it in 5 seconds and know whether to click through.
The Weekly Kickoff
For weekly-use products, a Monday or Tuesday email that previews what needs attention:
Subject: "This week in [Product]"
"Hey [name],
Here's what's on deck for this week:
- [Item needing action]
- [Scheduled event or deadline]
- [Suggestion based on last week's data]
[CTA: Plan your week]"
The Milestone Trigger
When a user crosses a meaningful threshold, celebrate it and suggest the next milestone:
"You just hit [milestone]! Here's what that means: [brief context]. Next goal: [next milestone] - here's how to get there: [suggestion]."
Milestones create a sense of progress that makes people want to keep going.
Strategy 3: The FOMO Email
Show users what they're missing by not being more active.
Subject: "Here's what happened while you were away"
"Hey [name],
You haven't checked [Product] in a while. Here's what's been going on:
- [Event 1, e.g., "12 new subscribers joined your list"]
- [Event 2, e.g., "Your automated sequence sent 340 emails"]
- [Event 3, e.g., "Open rates on your last campaign: 38%"]
[CTA: Catch up now]"
This works because it shows the product is actively working for them. They're missing results, not features. That distinction matters.
Strategy 4: The Challenge Email
Create structured activities that build usage habits over a defined period.
Subject: "7-day [Product] challenge: [outcome]"
"Hey [name],
I'm putting together a quick challenge for [Product] users. The goal: [specific outcome, e.g., "double your email open rates" or "automate your first workflow"].
Here's the plan:
- Day 1: [Simple action]
- Day 3: [Build on day 1]
- Day 5: [Apply to real work]
- Day 7: [Review results]
I'll send you a quick email on each day with exactly what to do. Takes about 10 minutes per day.
Want in? Just [click here / reply "yes"] and I'll start you off tomorrow.
[Name]"
Challenges work because they create commitment, provide structure, and have a clear endpoint. Users who complete challenges often maintain higher usage afterward.
| Usage email | Best segment | Value delivered | Desired behavior |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly digest | Regular users | Summary and insight | Log in to review details |
| Activity alert | Users with meaningful events | Real-time account update | Act on new information |
| Habit trigger | Users near healthy cadence | Routine prompt | Start daily or weekly workflow |
| FOMO recap | Inactive users | What happened while away | Return session |
| Challenge email | Motivated but inconsistent users | Structured plan | Complete repeated actions |
Segmenting Users by Usage Level
Different usage levels need different approaches:
Power Users (Top 20%)
Don't try to increase their usage. They're already engaged. Instead, focus on:
- Deepening feature adoption
- Encouraging team expansion
- Expansion revenue opportunities
- Making them advocates
Regular Users (Middle 50%)
Your primary target for usage increase. These users get value from the product but haven't built strong habits. Focus on:
- Weekly digests and summaries
- Feature discovery emails
- Habit loop triggers
- Workflow suggestions
At-Risk Users (Bottom 30%)
Re-engagement before usage increase. These users need a reason to come back before you can build habits. Focus on:
- "What you're missing" emails
- Personal check-ins
- Value reminders
- Help offers
Don't send the same usage-building emails to all three segments. A power user doesn't need a "come back!" email. An at-risk user doesn't need an advanced workflow tip.
The Usage-Value Cycle
The relationship between usage and value is cyclical:
- User engages with the product (triggered by email or habit)
- Product delivers value (results, insights, completed tasks)
- User recognizes the value (reinforced by summary emails)
- User is more likely to engage again (stronger habit)
- Repeat
Your emails should support every stage of this cycle:
- Trigger emails initiate step 1
- Activity alerts support step 2
- Summary/digest emails reinforce step 3
- Milestone celebrations strengthen step 4
| Cycle stage | Email support | What to show | Metric |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engage | Trigger email | Specific next action | Email-to-session rate |
| Receive value | Activity alert | Result or event | Click-through rate |
| Recognize value | Summary email | Outcome and trend | Dashboard return rate |
| Build habit | Milestone email | Progress and next goal | Repeat session frequency |
| Repeat | Ongoing digest | New reason to return | WAU/MAU ratio |
What Kills Product Usage
No reason to come back. If your product works passively (set it and forget it), you need to create reasons to check in. Reports, alerts, recommendations, and summaries all create reasons.
Slow or frustrating experience. No email can overcome a product that's slow, buggy, or confusing. Fix the product experience before trying to drive more traffic to it.
Too many notifications. If you send alerts for every minor event, users will mute them all. Reserve email notifications for things that genuinely require attention or deliver meaningful value.
No clear workflow. Users who don't know what to do when they log in will stop logging in. Your emails should always suggest a specific action, not just "check out your dashboard."
Measuring Usage Impact
Track these weekly:
- DAU/WAU/MAU ratios: Daily, weekly, and monthly active users as a percentage of total users
- Session frequency: Average sessions per user per week
- Feature breadth: Average number of features used per session
- Time in product: Average session duration (but be careful with this one - sometimes shorter sessions mean higher efficiency)
- Usage trend by cohort: Are newer users more or less active than older ones?
- Email-to-session conversion: % of email recipients who log in within 24 hours of receiving an email
The email-to-session conversion rate is the most directly actionable metric. It tells you which emails are actually driving product engagement.
Best Fit by Usage-Driving Email Type
Best email marketing tool for weekly usage digests
Choose a platform that can summarize account activity, trends, and next actions from product events. Usage digests work when they give users a reason to return, not just a recap.
Best email marketing tool for inactivity-to-session triggers
Choose Sequenzy or another behavior-triggered platform when declining usage should start a specific return path. The email should point to the user's most familiar valuable workflow.
Best email marketing tool for meaningful activity alerts
Choose a tool that can separate important account events from noise. Activity alerts should only send when something happened that genuinely deserves attention or action.
Start Here
- Today: Calculate your "magic number" - the usage frequency threshold that separates retained users from churned users.
- This week: Set up a weekly digest email that summarizes each user's activity and surfaces actionable insights.
- Next week: Create an activity alert for your product's most important events. When something meaningful happens in a user's account, email them.
- Ongoing: Track DAU/WAU ratios weekly and test new usage triggers to move casual users above your magic number.
With Sequenzy, you can build usage-driving sequences with inactivity triggers. If a user hasn't logged in for X days, the sequence fires automatically. Combine it with event tracking to send activity alerts when meaningful things happen in their account. The behavioral approach means each user gets emails matched to their actual usage pattern.