Summary
Excluding unengaged email subscribers is a critical step for improving email deliverability and sender reputation. The duration for which these subscribers should be excluded depends on several factors, including your current deliverability issues, sending frequency, and re-engagement strategy. While a precise universal timeline doesn't exist, industry experts, marketers, and documentation offer guidance ranging from a few weeks to several months, or even permanent removal if re-engagement efforts fail.
Key findings
- Deliverability Improvement: Excluding unengaged users is fundamental to boosting your sender reputation and ensuring emails reach the inbox. This process contributes significantly to a healthier domain reputation.
- Varied Exclusion Periods: The optimal exclusion duration is not fixed, with recommendations ranging from two weeks to three to four months, or even longer depending on the specific situation and business model.
- Re-engagement Risks: Attempting to re-engage very old or cold segments carries risks, including low re-opt-in rates (as low as 2-3%) and increased spam complaints, especially if not handled with a carefully crafted strategy. This is particularly true if the re-engagement is sudden after a long silence.
- Holistic Approach: Excluding inactive subscribers is one part of a comprehensive deliverability strategy; it won't resolve all issues on its own.
- Quality Over Quantity: A smaller, highly engaged list consistently outperforms a large list burdened by inactive subscribers.
Key considerations
- Define Engagement: Clearly define what 'unengaged' means for your specific business, considering your sending frequency and audience behavior. This may require setting specific thresholds for inactivity.
- Strategic Re-engagement: If you plan to re-introduce previously excluded subscribers, develop a thoughtful, segmented re-engagement campaign with compelling content to minimize negative impacts. Klaviyo Help Center suggests that excluding unengaged contacts improves deliverability over time.
- Monitor Metrics: Continuously monitor your engagement rates, spam complaint rates, and sender reputation before, during, and after implementing exclusion policies.
- Management Buy-in: Educate stakeholders on the long-term benefits of list hygiene for overall email program health, even if it means a smaller list initially.
What email marketers say
Email marketers widely agree that proactively managing and excluding unengaged subscribers is a critical step in maintaining a healthy email program and improving deliverability. While the specific duration for exclusion can vary, many emphasize the immediate benefits to sender reputation. However, a significant concern among marketers is the potential for increased spam complaints if attempts are made to re-engage very cold segments without a tailored, cautious approach.
Key opinions
- Essential for Deliverability: Excluding unengaged subscribers is seen as a fundamental action required to improve deliverability and prevent negative impacts on sender reputation. Mailchimp Resources highlights this practice as vital for optimal deliverability.
- Low Re-engagement Rates: Attempts to re-engage audiences that have been inactive for a year often yield very low re-opt-in rates, sometimes as low as 2-3%, suggesting that efforts might be better focused elsewhere or require highly compelling content.
- Proof of Concept: Marketers recommend demonstrating the benefit of exclusion to management by showing the stark difference in engagement metrics between active and unengaged segments. This helps to persuade management to remove unengaged subscribers.
- Risk of Spam Complaints: Not sending for a long time and then suddenly sending a campaign to unengaged users can lead to a spike in spam complaints, as recipients may no longer recognize or remember subscribing.
- Long-term Benefits: Removing non-engagers can lead to a consistently good reputation within a few months, resulting in a smaller but more engaged list.
Key considerations
- Custom Re-engagement Messaging: If re-engaging, use custom messages that acknowledge the inactivity and clearly offer a choice to continue receiving emails. This applies even with a rebrand, as sustained engagement isn't guaranteed just by a new look.
- Automated Processes: For non-seasonal businesses, consider implementing automated re-engagement flows or processes to 'put them on ice'.
- Preventing Harm: Remember that removing unengaged subscribers is a must for deliverability to avoid issues like lower open/click rates and increased spam complaints.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks cautions that abruptly re-engaging subscribers after a long exclusion period can be risky. Recipients who haven't received emails for an extended time may forget they subscribed, leading to a significant increase in spam complaints when they are suddenly re-added to an active sending list. This abrupt change can harm sender reputation. They further theorize that the longer the gap in communication, the higher the likelihood of this negative reaction. This emphasizes the importance of a thoughtful re-engagement strategy to avoid adverse impacts on deliverability.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks indicates that trying to re-engage an audience that has been unengaged for a year typically yields low re-opt-in rates, often around 2-3%. Therefore, any re-engagement campaign must contain compelling content that genuinely motivates recipients to open, click, and reaffirm their desire to receive emails. It's also pointed out that inactive email subscribers might still be engaging with the brand on other channels, so a rebrand email, while a good touchpoint, doesn't guarantee sustained email engagement. If the overall content strategy doesn't evolve, these subscribers may quickly revert to being unengaged.
What the experts say
Email deliverability experts consistently advocate for aggressive list hygiene, emphasizing that removing or carefully managing unengaged subscribers is non-negotiable for sender reputation. They highlight that while exclusion is a vital step, it's part of a multi-faceted approach to deliverability. Experts also discuss advanced techniques to identify potentially active email addresses even among those not engaging with your specific mail, alongside strategies for cautious re-engagement.
Key opinions
- Crucial for Reputation: Removing unengaged subscribers is critical for maintaining good sender reputation, although it may lead to eventually sun-setting a portion of the list if re-engagement fails.
- Beyond Exclusion: Exclusion alone is unlikely to solve all deliverability issues; a holistic approach addressing multiple factors is often required.
- Dynamic Inactivity Definition: The period for defining 'unengaged' should be dynamic and dependent on email frequency, potentially shorter than a year for frequent senders. Suped details good engagement thresholds for monitoring.
- Identifying Active Accounts: Tools exist to identify email addresses that are engaging elsewhere, providing insights into whether 'unengaged' truly means inactive or just inactive with your brand.
- Aggregate Impact: Consistently low engagement from a segment can negatively affect the overall sender reputation, impacting delivery to even active subscribers.
Key considerations
- Gradual Re-introduction: If attempting to re-engage, consider sampling a small percentage of inactive names into regular broadcasts (e.g., 5% of non-opens over 90 days) to test the waters and slowly re-touch the segment without risking a large complaint spike. Suped provides guidance on targeting inactive users without hurting your domain reputation.
- Comprehensive Strategy: Address deliverability issues holistically; exclusion is a critical piece, but not the only solution. The Webbula blog discusses the debate on inactive email subscribers.
- Data-Driven Decisions: Utilize all available data, including third-party activity indicators where legal and appropriate, to make informed decisions about who to keep or remove from your lists.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks cautions against relying on a single tactic, such as merely excluding unengaged subscribers, to resolve a comprehensive deliverability crisis. They emphasize that while list hygiene is crucial, it's typically one component of a broader strategy needed to 'dig out of a deliverability hole'. This perspective highlights that real and lasting improvement often requires addressing multiple factors, including content quality, sending frequency, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and managing complaint rates. A holistic approach is essential for sustainable deliverability.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks commends the strategic decision to exclude unengaged subscribers, noting it is a fundamental step for achieving good deliverability. They suggest that after stabilizing deliverability and implementing re-engagement campaigns, it may become necessary to 'sunset' or permanently remove a significant portion of these contacts if re-engagement efforts fail. Furthermore, they advise that the definition of 'unengaged' may need to be shorter than a year, depending on the email frequency, as continuous sending to truly inactive users can rapidly degrade sender reputation. They also reinforce that engagement is rarely the sole issue, urging senders to investigate other potential problems.
What the documentation says
Official documentation from various email marketing platforms and industry resources consistently emphasizes the critical role of list hygiene and active management of unengaged subscribers for optimal email deliverability. They often provide guidelines on how to define inactivity and the benefits of implementing strategies like sunset policies. The core message is that maintaining a clean, engaged list is paramount for signaling trustworthiness to inbox providers and avoiding filtering into the spam folder.
Key findings
- Improved Engagement Metrics: Removing disengaged contacts directly improves engagement metrics, showing inbox providers that your list is current and interested.
- Inactivity Definition: Inactivity is often defined by a lack of opens for 90 days or more, though this can vary based on sending frequency (e.g., 3-4 months for a weekly newsletter).
- Sunset Policies: A 'sunset policy' is a recommended practice for systematically identifying and managing unengaged subscribers, often involving a phased reduction of sends before removal.
- Negative Signals: Continuing to mail an unengaged list leads to lower open/click metrics, increased spam complaints, and a higher likelihood of messages being filtered or blocklisted.
Key considerations
- Tailored Inactivity Criteria: Customize your definition of an unengaged subscriber to align with your specific business and email frequency, rather than using a generic timeframe. This is part of the best practices for managing email lists.
- Implement Clear Policies: Establish a clear policy for handling inactive subscribers, whether through re-engagement campaigns, suppression, or opt-out options, ensuring compliance and positive sender signals. Consider different email marketing best practices.
- Quality Over Quantity: A healthy list, even if smaller, is inherently more valuable for deliverability and ROI than a large list containing many inactive contacts. Mailgun suggests ways to improve your email program and enhance deliverability.
Technical article
Documentation from Klaviyo Help Center highlights a key strategy for improving email deliverability: the systematic exclusion of unengaged contacts from routine email sends. By doing so, businesses significantly reduce the volume of emails sent to recipients who consistently show no interaction (opens or clicks). This practice leads to a healthier engagement rate for the active portion of the list. This focused approach sends positive signals to internet service providers (ISPs), demonstrating that the sender is committed to sending relevant content to an interested audience. Over time, this disciplined list management can result in a measurable improvement in overall deliverability and sender reputation, helping emails consistently reach the inbox.
Technical article
Documentation from EmailTooltester.com stresses that removing disengaged contacts from your email list is a crucial step for boosting key engagement metrics. This proactive list hygiene clearly communicates to inbox providers that your list is up-to-date and comprises genuinely interested recipients. ISPs use these signals to determine sender trustworthiness and ultimately, inbox placement. By maintaining a lean, active list, senders can avoid triggers that might lead to messages being marked as spam or blocked, thereby optimizing their email marketing performance. It’s about quality over quantity when it comes to subscriber lists.
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