Summary
Re-engaging stale email subscribers is a critical strategy for recovering from and preventing deliverability issues, as it directly contributes to improved email list health and sender reputation. The process involves strategically segmenting inactive users, particularly focusing on those with some prior engagement. It's recommended to deploy re-confirmation messages or targeted 'win-back' campaigns offering compelling value to prompt re-engagement. Crucially, any subscribers who do not respond to these efforts after multiple attempts should be promptly removed from the mailing list to prevent further harm to deliverability, reduce spam complaints, and ensure emails reach a genuinely engaged audience. This approach emphasizes caution, particularly avoiding sending to very old or completely dormant segments that pose significant risks to sender reputation.
Key findings
- Deliverability Improvement: Re-engagement campaigns are vital for improving audience health, which directly impacts deliverability by reducing complaints and bounce rates that harm sender reputation.
- Re-confirmation Best Practice: Sending a re-confirmation message, potentially two or three times, is considered the best approach to verify user engagement, especially for segments where engagement is uncertain.
- Targeted Value Offers: Crafting targeted re-engagement campaigns with valuable content, incentives, or compelling offers is recommended to prompt interaction and reconfirm interest from inactive subscribers.
- List Cleaning is Essential: Subscribers who do not respond to multiple re-engagement attempts should be removed from the list. This proactive list hygiene is crucial for improving engagement metrics, protecting sender reputation, and ensuring higher inbox placement for engaged recipients.
- Supports Sender Reputation: Re-engagement, followed by removal of unengaged contacts, helps maintain a clean, active subscriber list that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) view favorably, which is key for restoring and maintaining good deliverability.
Key considerations
- Strategic Segmentation: Segmenting inactive subscribers is a foundational step, allowing marketers to target the 'most engaged of the unengaged' first, such as those who previously opened emails or made purchases.
- Slow and Steady Approach: When re-engaging, it is crucial to proceed slowly and avoid blasting emails, as rushing can severely risk sender reputation. One rule of thumb is to send no more than 50% of your normal daily volume to uncertain segments, or that these sends should not exceed one-third of the total daily volume.
- Beware of Very Old Lists: Attempting to re-engage very old, dormant email subscribers, especially those inactive for two or more years, is generally not recommended due to a high risk of encountering spam traps and invalid addresses, which significantly damages deliverability.
- Define Inactivity Clearly: It's important to define 'inactive' based on your list's specific engagement patterns, for example, no opens or clicks in 3-6 months, to ensure targeted efforts are applied appropriately.
What email marketers say
14 marketer opinions
To effectively address and recover from email deliverability issues, re-engaging stale email subscribers is a pivotal step. This process aims to revitalize your email list by identifying inactive users, carefully segmenting them, and then deploying strategic re-engagement campaigns. The ultimate goal is to prompt a clear reconfirmation of interest from these subscribers while responsibly removing those who remain unresponsive, thereby improving overall list hygiene and signaling a healthier audience to Internet Service Providers. This approach not only helps restore sender reputation but also ensures that future communications reach a genuinely engaged audience.
Key opinions
- Essential for Reputation Repair: Re-engagement campaigns are fundamental for restoring email list health and improving sender reputation following deliverability challenges, by identifying and retaining active subscribers.
- Segmentation is Key: Segmenting inactive subscribers is a prerequisite for effective re-engagement efforts, allowing marketers to target the 'most engaged of the unengaged' first, such as those who previously opened emails or made purchases.
- Re-permission Campaigns: Utilizing re-permission or re-confirmation campaigns, sometimes over several attempts, is a highly recommended approach to explicitly verify user engagement and interest.
- List Cleansing is Critical: Removing subscribers who do not respond to re-engagement efforts is crucial for long-term deliverability success, as it improves engagement metrics and signals a healthier list to Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
- Supports Favorable ISP View: A healthy, actively engaged subscriber list, cultivated through re-engagement and subsequent clean-up, is viewed favorably by ISPs, leading to better inbox placement and overall deliverability.
Key considerations
- Patience and Phased Approach: Proceed with extreme caution and patience, especially when sending to previously unengaged segments, to avoid further harming your sender reputation. A gradual ramp-up is crucial.
- Personalization and Value: Craft compelling, value-driven content and offers that give inactive subscribers a strong reason to re-engage, rather than generic outreach. Personalization can significantly increase response rates.
- Clear Subscriber Choice: Always provide clear options for subscribers to easily reconfirm their interest, update preferences, or opt-out. This respects their choice, maintains compliance, and ensures future emails are sent to a truly interested audience.
- Strategic Sending Volumes: Adhere to strict volume limits when re-engaging, such as sending no more than 50% of your normal daily volume to uncertain segments or ensuring these sends do not exceed one-third of total daily volume.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that a reconfirmation message can be used if unsure about user engagement, suggesting to send it two or three times before unsubscribing the user.
1 Jan 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that reconfirmation is the best approach and recommends targeting the "most engaged of the unengaged" users, such as those who previously opened emails or made purchases. They strongly advise taking it slow and avoiding blasting emails, emphasizing that rushing a re-engagement could risk sender reputation.
8 Jun 2023 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
2 expert opinions
When addressing email deliverability issues, the approach to re-engage stale subscribers must be highly judicious. While strategic efforts can improve list health, experts strongly caution against attempting to revive very old, dormant email addresses, especially those unengaged for two years or more, as this significantly risks triggering spam traps and increasing bounce rates. Instead, the focus should be on nurturing active subscribers and clearly defining 'inactive' within a shorter, more manageable timeframe, such as 3-6 months. For moderately inactive segments, a single, targeted re-engagement email offering strong value is recommended, with a critical follow-up of removing any subscribers who fail to respond to this attempt. This disciplined approach protects sender reputation and maintains list integrity.
Key opinions
- Deeply Dormant Risk: Attempting to re-engage email subscribers who have been dormant for two or more years is strongly discouraged due to high risks of encountering spam traps and invalid addresses, significantly harming deliverability.
- Strategic Value for Moderate Inactivity: Re-engaging moderately inactive segments, defined by specific engagement patterns like 3-6 months of no activity, can strategically benefit deliverability.
- Single, Compelling Attempt: For such moderately inactive subscribers, a single, highly targeted re-engagement email with a strong call to action and incentive is recommended.
- Crucial List Cleansing: Non-responsive subscribers must be removed from active mailing lists to prevent continued negative impacts on sender reputation and to improve inbox placement.
- Active List Focus: Prioritizing the nurturing of active subscribers and growth through new, confirmed opt-ins yields better deliverability outcomes than widespread attempts to revive very old, unengaged lists.
Key considerations
- High Risk with Deep Dormancy: Proceed with extreme caution and generally avoid re-engaging subscribers who have shown no activity for two or more years due to the heightened risk of spam traps and increased complaints.
- Precise Inactivity Definition: Establish a clear definition of 'inactive' specific to your audience's typical engagement, such as no opens or clicks within a 3-6 month window, to guide re-engagement efforts.
- One Targeted Attempt: Limit re-engagement efforts for moderately inactive segments to a single, well-crafted email containing a strong call to action and a compelling incentive.
- Prompt Unsubscribe Management: Be ready to immediately remove any subscribers who do not respond to your re-engagement attempt to avoid further negative impact on your sender reputation.
- Explicit Re-Confirmation Option: For certain moderately inactive segments, consider implementing an explicit re-confirmation process as a safer alternative to direct re-engagement emails.
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that attempting to re-engage very old, dormant email subscribers, especially those who haven't engaged in two or more years, is generally not recommended as it significantly risks damaging deliverability. Such lists often contain spam traps and invalid addresses, leading to bounces and complaints. Instead, focus should be on nurturing active subscribers and growing the list with new, confirmed opt-ins. If re-engagement is considered, it should only target moderately inactive segments with extreme caution and potentially through explicit re-confirmation processes rather than direct email sends.
21 May 2024 - Spam Resource
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that re-engaging inactive subscribers can be beneficial for deliverability, but it requires a strategic approach. It's crucial to define 'inactive' based on your list's engagement patterns (e.g., no opens/clicks in 3-6 months). A single, targeted re-engagement email with a strong call to action and compelling incentive should be sent. Subscribers who do not respond to this re-engagement attempt should be removed from the active mailing list to prevent further negative impact on sender reputation and inbox placement.
8 Apr 2023 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Major email service providers consistently advocate for re-engaging stale email subscribers as an essential practice to recover from and prevent future deliverability challenges. This approach involves strategically identifying and reaching out to inactive contacts to ascertain genuine interest, thereby enhancing overall audience health. A fundamental aspect of this strategy is the systematic removal of subscribers who do not respond to re-engagement efforts, which is critical for bolstering sender reputation, reducing problematic metrics like bounce rates, and ensuring messages consistently reach active, engaged inboxes.
Key findings
- Deliverability Enhancement: Re-engagement campaigns are crucial for improving overall audience health, which directly leads to better deliverability by reducing complaint and bounce rates.
- Sender Reputation Protection: Proactive re-engagement combined with the removal of unengaged contacts is essential for strengthening and protecting sender reputation, ultimately ensuring higher inbox placement.
- Segmentation Necessity: Effective re-engagement strategies begin with segmenting inactive contacts, allowing for targeted outreach that helps identify and retain truly engaged subscribers.
- Mandatory List Cleansing: All major email service providers underscore the critical need to remove subscribers who do not respond to re-engagement attempts to prevent negative impacts on deliverability metrics.
Key considerations
- Purpose of Re-engagement: The core purpose of re-engagement is to identify genuinely engaged contacts and responsibly remove those who no longer wish to receive emails, rather than simply attempting to reactivate everyone.
- Consequences of Non-Removal: Failing to remove unresponsive subscribers after re-engagement efforts directly contributes to ongoing deliverability issues, including increased spam complaints, higher bounce rates, and a damaged sender reputation.
- Targeted Outreach: Employ a specific re-engagement series for inactive segments, tailored to prompt interaction, instead of generic or untargeted email blasts.
- Continuous Hygiene: Treat re-engagement and subsequent list cleaning as an ongoing, fundamental aspect of email marketing to consistently maintain a healthy, high-performing subscriber list.
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp Knowledge Base explains that re-engagement campaigns are vital for improving audience health, which directly impacts deliverability. By segmenting and reaching out to inactive subscribers, businesses can identify genuinely engaged contacts and remove those who no longer wish to receive emails, thus reducing complaints and bounce rates that harm sender reputation.
19 Oct 2022 - Mailchimp Knowledge Base
Technical article
Documentation from ActiveCampaign Help Center advises that re-engaging inactive subscribers is critical for maintaining good deliverability and open rates. They suggest segmenting inactive contacts and running a specific re-engagement series to prompt interaction, warning that subscribers who still don't engage after multiple attempts should be removed to prevent negative impacts on sender reputation.
23 May 2025 - ActiveCampaign Help Center
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