Summary
While anecdotal evidence suggests reactivating old unsubscribes may occur, particularly in certain sectors, the consensus among email marketing experts, platforms, and legal documentation is strongly against this practice. It's considered illegal under GDPR and CAN-SPAM, unethical, and detrimental to deliverability and sender reputation. The recommended approach is to prioritize permission-based marketing, maintain good email list hygiene, and implement re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers.
Key findings
- Legal Risks: Reactivating unsubscribes violates GDPR's consent requirements and CAN-SPAM's unsubscribe provisions.
- Deliverability Problems: Reactivating unsubscribes harms sender reputation, leading to lower deliverability rates.
- Ethical Concerns: Ignoring unsubscribe requests is considered unethical and undermines trust with subscribers.
- Platform Recommendations: Email marketing platforms (Mailchimp, Sendinblue) actively discourage reactivating unsubscribes and offer alternative best practices.
- Alternative Strategies: Permission-based marketing, list hygiene, and re-engagement campaigns are effective and ethical alternatives.
Key considerations
- Legal Compliance: Ensure strict compliance with GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and other relevant data privacy regulations.
- Ethical Standards: Maintain high ethical standards by respecting subscriber preferences and honoring unsubscribe requests.
- Reputation Management: Protect sender reputation by avoiding practices that negatively impact deliverability.
- Re-engagement: Develop and implement effective re-engagement campaigns to re-establish contact with inactive subscribers.
- List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list by removing unsubscribes and inactive subscribers to improve deliverability.
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
Reactivating old unsubscribes is generally considered a bad practice within the email marketing community. Most sources agree it is often illegal (GDPR, CAN-SPAM), unethical, and harmful to deliverability and sender reputation. The consensus is to focus on permission-based marketing, email list hygiene, and re-engagement campaigns instead.
Key opinions
- Legality: Reactivating unsubscribes can violate laws such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM.
- Ethics: It is considered unethical to ignore a user's request to unsubscribe.
- Deliverability: Reactivating unsubscribes negatively impacts deliverability and sender reputation.
- Alternatives: Re-engagement campaigns and improved list hygiene are recommended as alternatives.
- Permission: Respecting subscriber preferences and focusing on permission-based marketing is crucial.
Key considerations
- Legal Compliance: Ensure compliance with GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and other applicable laws regarding unsubscribes.
- Ethical Marketing: Prioritize ethical marketing practices and respect subscriber preferences.
- Sender Reputation: Protect sender reputation by avoiding practices that harm deliverability.
- Re-engagement Strategies: Implement re-engagement campaigns to win back inactive subscribers instead of reactivating unsubscribes.
- List Hygiene: Maintain a clean and healthy email list by regularly removing unsubscribes and inactive subscribers.
Marketer view
Email marketer from HubSpot explains that maintaining good email list hygiene includes removing unsubscribes promptly and focusing on engaging active subscribers. Reactivating unsubscribes hurts deliverability.
16 Oct 2021 - HubSpot
Marketer view
Email marketer from MarketingProfs suggests that instead of reactivating old unsubscribes, focus on improving list hygiene, segmenting audiences, and creating personalized re-engagement campaigns to win back subscribers.
2 Mar 2024 - MarketingProfs
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
While some anecdotal evidence suggests reactivating old unsubscribes may be a somewhat common practice, particularly based on one expert's experiences with past clients, deliverability experts warn strongly against it. Reactivating unsubscribes damages sender reputation, negatively impacts deliverability metrics, and leads to compliance issues by ignoring explicit opt-out requests.
Key opinions
- Observed Practice: Some businesses, based on anecdotal evidence, may reactivate old unsubscribes, suggesting it might be a somewhat common, though ill-advised, practice.
- Deliverability Impact: Deliverability experts emphasize the harmful impact of reactivating unsubscribes on sender reputation and deliverability metrics.
- Compliance Risks: Ignoring unsubscribe requests creates compliance issues.
Key considerations
- Assess Risks vs. Rewards: Carefully weigh the potential short-term gains against the long-term damage to deliverability and sender reputation.
- Compliance: Ensure full compliance with all relevant regulations regarding unsubscribe requests.
- Ethical Implications: Consider the ethical implications of disregarding a user's explicit opt-out request.
- Reputation Management: Prioritize sender reputation and implement strategies to maintain high deliverability metrics.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks shares an experience of a travel company reactivating old unsubscribes and offering a year of access to their website and airport lounges for €4400.
12 Mar 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that the number of old clients that reactivate unsubscribes leads her to believe it is standard industry practice for her old clients.
16 May 2022 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
According to legal documentation (GDPR, CAN-SPAM) and email platform guidelines (Mailchimp, Sendinblue), reactivating old unsubscribes is not a recommended or compliant practice. GDPR requires explicit and freely given consent, while CAN-SPAM mandates honoring unsubscribe requests. Email platforms actively discourage reactivating unsubscribes, promoting best practices like double opt-in and list segmentation instead.
Key findings
- GDPR Violation: Reactivating unsubscribes likely violates GDPR's consent requirements.
- CAN-SPAM Violation: Reactivating unsubscribes violates CAN-SPAM's requirement to honor unsubscribe requests.
- Platform Guidance: Major email platforms actively discourage reactivating unsubscribes.
- Recommended Practices: Double opt-in and list segmentation are recommended as alternatives to improve email marketing performance.
Key considerations
- Legal Ramifications: Consider the legal ramifications and potential penalties for violating GDPR and CAN-SPAM.
- Platform Compliance: Adhere to the guidelines and best practices recommended by your email marketing platform.
- Data Privacy: Prioritize data privacy and respect subscriber preferences regarding communication.
- Alternative Strategies: Implement alternative strategies like double opt-in and list segmentation to build a healthy and engaged subscriber base.
Technical article
Documentation from European Commission states that under GDPR, consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. Reactivating unsubscribes likely violates these requirements.
8 Mar 2025 - European Commission
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that they automatically suppress unsubscribed addresses and advises against importing them back into your audience as active subscribers.
1 May 2024 - Mailchimp
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