Summary
Balancing engagement between active and inactive email audience segments requires a multi-faceted approach centered on segmentation, targeted re-engagement, list hygiene, and leveraging automation. Segmenting audiences based on engagement levels enables tailored messaging, while re-engagement campaigns, often involving exclusive offers and personalized content, aim to revive inactive subscribers. Regularly cleaning the email list by removing unengaged subscribers—often through a defined sunset policy—helps maintain a healthy sender reputation and improves deliverability. Automation simplifies these processes, and the use of SMS as a supplementary channel can boost re-engagement. Finally, tracking engagement metrics is crucial for identifying inactive subscribers and refining strategies.
Key findings
- Segmentation is Key: Segmenting email lists based on engagement levels allows for tailored and effective messaging for active and inactive subscribers.
- Re-engagement Campaigns Boost Revival: Targeted re-engagement campaigns with exclusive offers, personalized content, and win-back series can re-activate dormant subscribers.
- List Hygiene is Essential: Regular list cleaning and the implementation of sunset policies improve deliverability, sender reputation, and engagement rates.
- Automation Streamlines Efforts: Automation of segmentation, re-engagement emails, and customized workflows streamlines email engagement management.
- Metrics Guide Strategy: Monitoring engagement metrics provides insights into subscriber behavior, aiding in the refinement of strategies and identification of inactive users.
- Reconfirmation Campaigns Maintain List Quality: Periodic reconfirmation campaigns verify ongoing subscriber interest, helping to maintain a high-quality, engaged list.
Key considerations
- Negative Impact of Inactives: Inactive subscribers can negatively impact the deliverability and engagement rates of active subscribers.
- Data Deletion Regulations: In certain regions, data privacy regulations may require the deletion of inactive user data after a specific period.
- Frequency of Communication: Active subscribers should receive more frequent and relevant content compared to inactive subscribers.
- Incentives for Re-engagement: The use of incentives, such as discounts or exclusive content, can improve the effectiveness of re-engagement campaigns.
- Engagement Definition and Threshold: Clearly define what constitutes 'engagement' and set appropriate thresholds for inactivity before triggering re-engagement or removal.
- Channel Diversity: Consider using SMS or other channels to reach inactive subscribers and diversify communication efforts.
What email marketers say
12 marketer opinions
Balancing engagement between active and inactive email subscribers involves segmenting audiences and tailoring strategies to each segment. Actively engaged subscribers should receive more frequent, relevant content to maintain their interest, while inactive subscribers require targeted re-engagement campaigns. These campaigns often include exclusive offers, personalized content, or referral incentives to encourage them to become active again. Implementing a 'sunset policy' to remove truly inactive subscribers improves overall deliverability and sender reputation. Automation, segmentation, and SMS marketing are additional tools that can be used to efficiently manage email engagement.
Key opinions
- Segmentation: Segmenting email lists based on engagement levels (active, semi-active, inactive) is crucial for tailored messaging.
- Re-engagement Campaigns: Targeted re-engagement campaigns with exclusive offers and personalized content can help win back inactive subscribers.
- Sunset Policy: Implementing a sunset policy to remove long-term inactive subscribers improves deliverability and sender reputation.
- Automation: Automation simplifies managing email engagement through automated segmentation, re-engagement emails, and customized workflows.
- SMS Marketing: SMS marketing can supplement email campaigns by re-engaging dormant subscribers through personalized text messages.
- Incentives: Incentives like discounts, free shipping, or exclusive content can be effective in boosting engagement with both active and inactive subscribers.
Key considerations
- Impact of Inactives: Inactive subscribers can negatively impact the deliverability and engagement of active subscribers.
- Data Deletion: In certain regions, data of inactive users should be deleted after a certain time to comply with regulations.
- Frequency: Active segments should be sent emails more frequently than inactive segments.
- Personalization: Personalizing re-engagement offers based on subscriber interests increases the likelihood of re-activation.
- Metric Monitoring: Regularly monitoring engagement metrics (open rates, click-through rates) helps identify inactive subscribers and adjust strategies.
- Channel Diversity: Consider diversifying channels by incorporating SMS as another possible engagement channel.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Omnisend Blog proposes that SMS marketing can be used as an additional channel to re-engage dormant email subscribers. Sending personalized text messages with special offers or updates can help re-activate their interest in your brand.
10 Aug 2021 - Omnisend Blog
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that while balancing engagement is the right path, the inactive segment can negatively impact the active segment. He also points out that recipient interaction is the crucial issue, with inactive users potentially causing problems for active ones.
20 Sep 2023 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Experts emphasize the importance of proactively managing inactive subscribers to maintain a healthy and engaged email list. Key strategies include implementing a sunset policy to remove unengaged subscribers after a final re-engagement attempt, carefully monitoring engagement metrics like open rates and click-through rates to identify inactive users, and running reconfirmation campaigns to ensure subscribers still want to receive emails.
Key opinions
- Sunset Policy: Implementing a sunset policy involves removing inactive subscribers after a defined period and a final re-engagement effort.
- Engagement Metrics: Monitoring engagement metrics (open rates, click-through rates, complaint rates) is crucial to identify inactive subscribers.
- Reconfirmation Campaigns: Periodically running reconfirmation campaigns helps weed out inactive or uninterested subscribers.
Key considerations
- Engagement Definition: Clearly define what constitutes engagement (e.g., opens, clicks) and inactivity (length of time without engagement).
- Re-engagement Approach: Plan the re-engagement campaign carefully, offering value and making it easy for subscribers to stay subscribed.
- Metrics Impact: Understand that removing inactive subscribers improves overall engagement metrics and deliverability.
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource shares that paying attention to engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and complaint rates is crucial. By monitoring these metrics, you can identify inactive subscribers and take appropriate action, such as segmenting them into re-engagement campaigns or removing them from your list.
14 Oct 2024 - Spam Resource
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise discusses how reconfirmation campaigns are useful. Periodically sending emails asking your subscribers to reconfirm their subscription will weed out inactive email addresses from your list.
4 Jul 2021 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
3 technical articles
Email marketing documentation consistently emphasizes the importance of actively managing inactive subscribers to maintain a healthy email list and improve deliverability. A key strategy is using automation to send re-engagement campaigns triggered by inactivity, offering subscribers a chance to re-engage or unsubscribe. Regularly cleaning the email list by removing inactive subscribers further enhances deliverability and sender reputation by focusing on engaged recipients.
Key findings
- Automation for Re-engagement: Automated re-engagement emails, triggered by inactivity, are an efficient way to re-engage subscribers.
- List Cleaning: Regularly removing inactive subscribers improves deliverability and engagement rates.
- Deliverability Improvement: Maintaining a healthy list by focusing on engaged subscribers enhances overall deliverability and sender reputation.
Key considerations
- Inactivity Threshold: Define a clear timeframe for inactivity before triggering re-engagement or removal.
- Re-engagement Content: Craft compelling re-engagement emails that offer value and encourage subscribers to re-engage.
- Unsubscribe Option: Always provide a clear and easy way for subscribers to unsubscribe if they are not interested in re-engaging.
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that using automation to send re-engagement emails to inactive subscribers is an efficient strategy. Set up a trigger based on inactivity and send a series of emails to encourage them to re-engage or unsubscribe.
23 Mar 2025 - Mailchimp
Technical article
Documentation from Email on Acid shares that maintaining a healthy email list by focusing on engaged subscribers and removing inactive ones helps improve overall email deliverability and sender reputation.
10 Oct 2023 - Email on Acid
Are re-engagement email subject lines and practices deceptive and how should you deal with engaging with old leads and unsubscribes?
How can I improve email deliverability and open rates for a client with a bad domain reputation, especially with Gmail, and what strategies should I use for unengaged users?
How can I safely message inactive email addresses without damaging my sender reputation?
How do I re-assign domain ownership in Google Postmaster Tools?
How do I target inactive email users without hurting my domain reputation?
How long should I exclude unengaged email subscribers to improve deliverability?
