How do I target inactive email users without hurting my domain reputation?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 16 Jun 2025
Updated 19 Aug 2025
5 min read
Dealing with inactive email users presents a significant challenge for marketers. On one hand, you want to maximize your reach and potentially re-engage segments of your audience that have gone quiet. On the other hand, indiscriminately blasting emails to an unengaged list can severely damage your domain reputation and lead to serious deliverability issues.
When internet service providers (ISPs) see low engagement rates, high spam complaints, or increased bounces from your sends, they flag your domain as a potential spam source. This can result in your emails landing in spam folders, or worse, being rejected entirely, even for your most active and valuable subscribers.
The key is to approach inactive segments strategically, balancing the desire for re-engagement with the critical need to preserve your sender reputation. I will outline how to navigate this delicate balance to safely target inactive users.
Understanding the risks of inactive users
Sending emails to inactive users carries several risks that can negatively impact your email program and overall domain health. These risks go beyond just wasted sends, directly threatening your ability to reach the inbox for any of your recipients.
One of the primary concerns is hitting spam traps. These are email addresses deliberately set up by ISPs and anti-spam organizations to identify senders with poor list hygiene. Mailing a spam trap can instantly (or quickly) get your IP address or domain added to a blocklist (or blacklist), leading to widespread delivery failures.
Another major risk is accumulating a high number of spam complaints. When inactive users receive emails they no longer want, they are more likely to mark your messages as spam. Even a small percentage of complaints can signal to ISPs that your emails are unwanted, subsequently lowering your sender reputation and increasing the likelihood of future messages going to the spam folder, or even being blocked.
High bounce rates, particularly hard bounces from non-existent addresses within your inactive segment, also negatively impact your reputation. These signals tell ISPs that your list is not well-maintained, indicating a potentially irresponsible sender. Understanding these risks is the first step toward developing a safe and effective strategy for re-engaging your dormant subscribers.
Strategies for re-engagement and list hygiene
Before you even consider sending to inactive users, prioritizing list hygiene is crucial. This involves identifying and removing problematic email addresses that can harm your domain reputation. List validation services can help you identify invalid, dormant, or risky addresses before you hit send.
Once your list is clean, a thoughtful re-engagement campaign can be initiated. Instead of sending your regular marketing emails, craft specific content designed to pique the interest of your inactive subscribers. This might include special offers, updated service information, or simply asking if they still wish to receive your emails. It is a good idea to send these campaigns in smaller, segmented batches.
If, after multiple attempts, inactive users still do not engage, it's often better to sunset them from your active mailing list. While it might seem counterintuitive to remove subscribers, maintaining a smaller, highly engaged list is far more beneficial for your email deliverability than holding onto unresponsive contacts.
To prevent future accumulation of inactive users, implement best practices like double opt-in for new subscribers. This ensures that only genuinely interested individuals are added to your list, reducing the chances of attracting disengaged contacts or spam traps from the outset.
Technical safeguards and monitoring
Beyond list management, strong technical foundations are essential for maintaining a robust domain reputation. Ensuring your emails are properly authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is fundamental. These protocols help ISPs verify that your emails are legitimate and haven't been tampered with, building trust in your sending practices.
I also recommend consistent monitoring of your domain and IP reputation. Tools like Mailgun's resources on deliverability or SendX's guide on domain reputation can provide valuable insights. Pay close attention to feedback loops and ISP postmaster tools for early warnings about potential issues, such as increased spam complaints or blocklist (blacklist) listings.
Maintaining a consistent sending volume and avoiding sudden spikes, especially when sending to less engaged segments, also contributes to a stable reputation. ISPs prefer predictable sending patterns, and abrupt changes can trigger suspicion.
Protecting your email sending future
To safely target inactive email users without compromising your domain reputation, I recommend a multi-faceted approach. It combines meticulous list hygiene, strategic re-engagement campaigns, and robust technical infrastructure. Remember, a healthy sender reputation is built on consistent positive sending behavior and attentive management of your email list.
Prioritizing the quality and engagement of your active subscribers while carefully managing dormant segments will yield the best long-term deliverability outcomes. By doing so, you ensure your important messages reach the inbox, maintaining trust with ISPs and your audience alike. This proactive approach will help your email program thrive.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Implement a phased re-engagement strategy for inactive users.
Prioritize regular list hygiene to remove unengaged contacts and spam traps.
Segment inactive users based on their last engagement to tailor re-engagement efforts.
Leverage DMARC reports for comprehensive insights into email authentication results and potential issues.
Common pitfalls
Sending to large, unsegmented lists of inactive users without prior validation.
Ignoring high bounce rates and spam complaints from re-engagement campaigns.
Failing to properly authenticate emails with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Expecting all inactive users to re-engage, leading to reluctance in list cleaning.
Expert tips
Conduct thorough email validation before any re-engagement campaign.
Consider non-email channels for re-engagement before trying email again.
Be prepared to sunset (remove) contacts who do not re-engage to protect your domain.
Focus on risk minimization and understanding the downsides before mailing large inactive lists.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says that warming up a new IP is crucial, and mixing active with inactive users is far from ideal as it risks deliverability for engaged contacts.
2020-10-21 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that if a client is fixed on mailing inactive users, it's essential to focus on risk minimization to lower the chances of harming good mail.
