Summary
Sending privacy updates to a large, disengaged email list requires a strategic approach encompassing segmentation, engagement evaluation, legal compliance, and list hygiene. Experts and documentation recommend initially segmenting the list based on engagement metrics like last activity or signup date, prioritizing the most active subscribers. Consider whether sending the update is even necessary; perhaps data removal or anonymization is more appropriate. It's crucial to verify that you have the legal right to contact subscribers, especially given GDPR and similar regulations. Implement a re-engagement campaign offering personalized content, incentives, and clear unsubscribe options. Finally, consistently prune your list by removing unresponsive subscribers to safeguard your sender reputation and enhance deliverability. Consulting your ESP and adhering to best practices, such as M3AAWG guidelines, are also essential.
Key findings
- Segmentation & Prioritization: Segment the email list based on engagement metrics (e.g., last open date, signup date) and prioritize sending to the most engaged segments first.
- Re-engagement Campaigns: Implement re-engagement campaigns offering personalized content, clear calls to action, incentives, and easy unsubscribe options.
- List Pruning: Consistently remove unengaged subscribers (those who haven't opened or clicked emails in a defined period) to improve sender reputation and deliverability.
- Legal Compliance: Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR) by verifying consent, providing clear privacy notices, and offering easy ways for subscribers to manage their preferences.
- ESP Consultation: Consult with your Email Service Provider (ESP) for guidance on best practices and to leverage their infrastructure to minimize deliverability issues.
- Sunset Policies: Establish a 'sunset policy' outlining the criteria and process for identifying and removing inactive subscribers.
- Necessity Assessment: Evaluate the necessity of sending the privacy update and consider alternative strategies, such as data removal or anonymization, to minimize potential risks.
Key considerations
- Deliverability Risks: Sending to a disengaged list can significantly harm your sender reputation and lead to deliverability problems. Take precautions to mitigate these risks.
- Engagement Metrics: Define clear criteria for identifying unengaged subscribers, such as the number of months since their last open or click.
- Subscriber Acquisition: Understand how you acquired subscribers' email addresses and ensure that you have the appropriate permissions to contact them.
- Legal Counsel: Consult with legal counsel to ensure compliance with all applicable data privacy regulations.
- Campaign Monitoring: Closely monitor the performance of your re-engagement campaigns to assess their effectiveness and make adjustments as needed.
- Alternative Communication: Consider alternative communication channels (e.g., website banners, in-app notifications) to reach disengaged users with privacy updates, if appropriate.
- Data Security: Prioritize data security measures to protect subscriber information and maintain trust.
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
When sending privacy updates to a large, disengaged email list, experts recommend a multi-faceted approach focusing on list hygiene, compliance, and re-engagement. This includes consulting with your ESP, following best practices for deliverability, and considering legal requirements. Segmentation is key to targeting re-engagement campaigns effectively, and sunset policies are important for removing inactive subscribers. Personalization, incentives, and clear unsubscribe options are also crucial for re-engaging subscribers or removing them if they are no longer interested. Data privacy regulations, such as GDPR, must be considered when contacting subscribers.
Key opinions
- ESP Consultation: Consulting with your Email Service Provider (ESP) is recommended to leverage their expertise and infrastructure setup for sending to disengaged lists.
- List Segmentation: Segmenting your email list based on engagement is essential for targeted re-engagement campaigns and improved deliverability.
- Sunset Policies: Implementing sunset policies helps manage inactive subscribers by defining a re-engagement process before removing them from the list.
- Re-engagement Campaigns: Personalized re-engagement campaigns with compelling content and incentives can encourage inactive subscribers to re-engage.
- Unsubscribe Options: Providing clear and easy unsubscribe options is crucial for maintaining compliance and a healthy sender reputation.
- Legal Compliance: Consulting legal counsel and adhering to data privacy regulations, such as GDPR, is essential for compliant email marketing practices.
- List Pruning: Regularly removing unengaged subscribers improves sender reputation and deliverability metrics.
Key considerations
- Deliverability: Poor list hygiene and low engagement rates can negatively impact email deliverability. Prioritize list cleaning and engagement to maintain a good sender reputation.
- Legal Requirements: Data privacy regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, impose strict requirements on obtaining consent and processing personal data. Ensure compliance to avoid legal repercussions.
- Segmentation Strategy: Determining the appropriate segmentation criteria and cutoff points for identifying inactive subscribers is important for effective re-engagement and list pruning.
- Incentives: Offer incentives (e.g. discounts, freebies) that will motivate your inactive subscribers to re-engage.
Marketer view
Email marketer from SuperOffice advises if you cannot demonstrate consent to hold someone’s data and contact them, you must remove them from your database. You cannot email them 'just in case' something might be of interest to them in the future.
9 Jun 2022 - SuperOffice
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks advises consulting with the ESP, as they may have processes in place and can help with infrastructure setup. Also, suggests following M3AAWG guidelines.
28 May 2024 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Experts recommend a strategic approach when sending privacy updates to a large, disengaged email list. This includes segmenting the list based on engagement, potentially foregoing sending the update altogether if unnecessary, and ensuring proper permission before contacting subscribers. Crucially, removing consistently unengaged subscribers is vital for maintaining sender reputation and deliverability.
Key opinions
- Segmentation: Segmenting the email list by last engagement or signup date allows for a prioritized sending strategy, starting with the most engaged subscribers.
- Necessity Assessment: Evaluating the necessity of sending the update at all and considering alternative solutions, such as removing data, can minimize risks.
- Permission Verification: Verifying that proper permission was obtained to contact subscribers is critical, particularly for disengaged lists, to avoid deliverability issues and potential legal repercussions.
- List Pruning: Removing consistently unengaged subscribers from the email list is essential for maintaining a healthy sender reputation and improving deliverability.
Key considerations
- Delivery Issues: Be prepared for potential delivery issues when sending to a disengaged list and have a strategy in place to mitigate them.
- Data Minimization: Consider anonymizing or removing unnecessary data to reduce the risk associated with holding personal information.
- Acquisition Methods: Understand how email addresses were acquired and ensure compliance with relevant regulations regarding consent.
- Sender Reputation: Prioritize maintaining a positive sender reputation by proactively managing list hygiene.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise advises it's vital to know how you acquired the emails and whether you have permission to contact subscribers. For a disengaged list, re-engagement campaigns should be carefully managed to avoid deliverability issues.
13 Jan 2024 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Spamresource states to remove consistently unengaged subscribers from your list. List pruning improves your sender reputation and deliverability.
8 Jun 2025 - Spamresource
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
When sending privacy updates to a large, disengaged email list, documentation suggests employing a re-engagement campaign to target inactive subscribers. This involves segmenting the list based on inactivity, sending personalized emails with incentives to re-subscribe. Crucially, one must ensure a lawful basis for processing personal data, such as consent or legitimate interest. Unresponsive subscribers should be removed, and clear unsubscribe options provided. Suppression of unengaged contacts is key for future campaigns.
Key findings
- Re-engagement Campaigns: Re-engagement campaigns are recommended to target inactive subscribers, encouraging them to re-engage with emails.
- Segmentation: Segmentation based on inactivity is crucial for effectively targeting re-engagement efforts.
- Personalization & Incentives: Personalized emails with incentives can increase the likelihood of re-engagement.
- Lawful Basis for Processing: Ensuring a lawful basis for processing personal data (e.g., consent, legitimate interest) is essential for legal compliance.
- Removal of Unresponsive Subscribers: Subscribers who do not respond to re-engagement efforts should be removed from the list.
- Easy Unsubscribe: Provide a clear and easy path for subscribers to unsubscribe if they no longer wish to receive emails.
- Contact Suppression: Suppress unengaged subscribers for future campaigns to improve deliverability and maintain a healthy sender reputation.
Key considerations
- Subscriber Preferences: Respect subscribers' choices, offering clear options to unsubscribe or update their preferences.
- Data Privacy: Comply with relevant data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR) when handling personal data and contacting subscribers.
- Campaign Effectiveness: Monitor the effectiveness of re-engagement campaigns to assess whether they are achieving the desired results and adjust your strategy as needed.
- List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list by removing unengaged subscribers to improve deliverability and sender reputation.
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that a re-engagement campaign targets inactive subscribers to encourage them to re-engage with your emails. It suggests segmenting your list based on inactivity, sending personalized emails, and offering incentives to encourage them to stay subscribed.
21 Aug 2021 - Mailchimp
Technical article
Documentation from Klaviyo says if you want to remove unengaged subscribers, you should set up a segment of people who haven't opened or clicked an email in a while, then export and suppress these contacts.
4 Jun 2022 - Klaviyo
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