How to keep your customers in the Honeymoon Phase
From in love to bored
Hi there,
Firstly, big apologies—there was no newsletter last week! Hiccup on my side: I was in my own honeymoon phase last week, post-wedding, and whilst I had this newsletter ready, I apparently didn’t schedule it.
Since I’m still on Cloud 9, let’s chat about keeping your customers in that phase.
Staying in love long-term
Keeping a customer engaged for the first month is tough. Keeping them engaged for the first year? Even harder. But two to three years down the line, how do you stop them from feeling stuck in a rut?
This recently happened to me, and it got me thinking: Why do we talk so much about winback campaigns, but not more about "loving" campaigns?
In a long-term relationship, you need to keep things exciting and fun. I just got married 1.5 weeks ago (it feels crazy to say that), and I loved that my partner’s vows were about ensuring we continue to go on exciting adventures rather than “I promise to win you back.”
Now I’m definitely not worried about falling out of love with my partner, but I did recently fall out of love with one of my favourite apps.
I fell into a rut with my favourite app
For almost three years, I’ve been in a committed love affair with Deliciously Ella - a fantastic app packed with vegan recipes.
But the other day, I realised I wasn’t as excited about it anymore. I had a case of the wandering eye, and I was noticing other recipe apps.
I didn’t want to stray from my beloved Ella—especially as I had just paid for another year— but I couldn’t help but wonder… what changed? Where had we gone wrong?
I loved Deliciously Ella’s recipes, and I owned all her cookbooks. They were regularly releasing new recipes, so what had gone wrong?
That’s when I realised, looking at competitor apps like Pick Up Limes and MOB Kitchen (sorry, Ella), that the recipes had become repetitive. Sure, they were "new," but they felt similar—nothing about them intrigued or excited me anymore.
The search function was limited, and the app still lacked certain recipe types I was craving, like smoothies or easy lunches.
MOB Kitchen's app opened with a whole section dedicated to packed lunches—perfect! And Pick Up Limes offered recipes from cuisines I’d never tried before.
They felt fresh and exciting. Of course, we’re in the honeymoon phase right now, and they might get boring over time, but for now, they offered the variety and ease I’d been missing.
I didn’t want to leave Ella, but I’m seriously considering it. After almost three years, the app hadn’t evolved enough for me to stay. I had outgrown Ella and her vegan recipes.
When we look at RevenueCat’s incredible data on cancellation reasons in the State of Subscription App Report 2025 we see that “finding a better app” is in the top 5 reasons people cancel, another one is they don’t use the app enough.
People are falling out of that honeymoon phase, and here’s how to prevent it.
Building in variable rewards
If we look at Nir Eyal’s habit loop, reward is a key part:
In Hooked, he discusses variability as key to building a habit loop. Predictability actually decreases the value of the reward.
So, how do you surprise and delight your customers, keeping them engaged and excited?
1. Releasing new variations/content to keep them engaged
In relationships, you keep things fresh with new date night ideas, and the same creativity is needed with your customers.
For example, Vive bars release a new flavour every month, which keeps customers engaged and curious to try the latest offerings, while also attracting new customers.
I’ll admit Lemon Drizzle isn’t my ideal flavour, but the point is that they’re keeping things new in our relationship and giving me more options. Things haven’t become monotonous between me and my chocolate protein bars.
The goal isn’t just to keep up with competitors, but to ensure you're always evolving and keeping things fresh for your customers.
2. Getting them involved in the community
Wild Deodorant has a VIP customer Facebook group, where members not only provide input on new product ideas but also feel like they’re part of the brand and their voices are heard.
Other brands use WhatsApp or third-party platforms, but the key is ensuring a two-way conversation that makes customers feel engaged and valued.
Let’s be honest. Does anyone like having their partner drone on at them without any room to respond? We all want a significant other who can take feedback, whether that’s deodorant scents or putting dirty socks in the laundry basket.
3. Celebrate and reward their milestones
Peloton is the queen of celebrating successes. In every class, you’ll hear “[Username], congrats on your Xth ride” at least five times. It makes users feel seen and that their loyalty is truly appreciated.
I also received this email from them:
Even though I only actively used Peloton for 2-3 months that year, it still made me feel recognized and valued. When others are celebrated, I feel like a part of that, too.
They also share specific stats, which leads me to my next point.
4. Personalise content to them
While my achievements may not be that exciting, they still feel good. Especially the Broadway achievement, as nothing beats cycling to Hamilton—I'm a total musical lover.
It gives me a sense of progress and accomplishment. Even with physical products, you can share an order number and reward or thank your customers. Imagine getting a short video from the founder for your 20th order? How appreciated would you feel?
So, here are the four tips to keep that honeymoon phase going:
Releasing new variations/content to keep them engaged
Getting them involved in the community
Celebrating and rewarding milestones
Personalising content for them
Recommendation
In every edition of Growth Waves, I also share a related resource to check out related to the week's topic.
One way to stay attuned to your customers is by conducting regular user interviews with your long-term customers.
They’ll likely be less critical than newer ones, but understanding their needs and how to serve them better will help you avoid having to go into winback mode.
I recently came across an interesting tool, thanks to a client, that helps organize those findings—Dovetail. It even has a great free version!
Dovetail is a tool designed to organise and analyse customer research, particularly user feedback and interview data.
It helps teams collect insights from user research (like interviews, surveys, and usability tests) in one place, making it easier to analyse patterns, tag important themes, and share findings with others.
After writing this advice, I realised why I fell out of love with Deliciously Ella. They hadn’t done any of these things. I’d used their app consistently for years, but I didn’t feel like they saw me, asked for my feedback, or evolved at the pace I needed them to.
The content didn’t feel personalised or tailored to my needs. I couldn’t easily indicate the recipe type I was looking for, nor could I always find what I wanted.
As with any long-term relationship, I want to give them a chance and make it work. But if nothing changes in the coming year, I might be looking for a new recipe app. Recommendations are welcome!
Until next week,
Daphne