How does sunsetting inactive subscribers actually improve deliverability?

Sunsetting improves deliverability by removing subscribers who don't engage with your emails. Sending to inactive addresses can harm your sender reputation, increase spam complaints, and lead to blocklisting (or blacklisting), causing your emails to land in spam folders. By removing these, you signal to mailbox providers that your list is engaged and valuable.

What is a typical timeframe to consider a subscriber 'inactive'?

A typical timeframe for inactivity can range from 90 to 180 days without any opens or clicks. However, this depends on your sending frequency and industry. For high-volume senders, a shorter period might be more appropriate. It's crucial to define what 'inactive' means for your specific email program.

How many emails should be in a re-engagement campaign?

A re-engagement campaign usually consists of 2-3 emails. These emails should have clear subject lines, compelling offers, or a direct question asking if they want to remain subscribed. The goal is to prompt a positive action like an open, click, or preference update.

Can I ever re-engage subscribers after they've been suppressed?

Yes, it is possible, but it requires extreme caution. If you have a very strong sender reputation, you might periodically re-engage very small subsets of suppressed contacts, very slowly and carefully. This should only be done if your initial attempts at re-engagement were unsuccessful due to factors like timing, rather than complete disinterest.

Should sunsetting apply to all types of emails, including transactional?

While transactional emails are generally expected and have high engagement, marketing or newsletter emails directly impact your sender reputation based on engagement. Therefore, sunsetting policies are primarily applied to non-transactional email lists to protect overall deliverability.

What are the best practices for sunsetting inactive email subscribers to improve deliverability? - Sender reputation - Email deliverability - Knowledge base

Managing inactive email subscribers is a critical aspect of maintaining a healthy sender reputation and achieving optimal email deliverability. While it might seem counterintuitive to remove contacts from your mailing list, holding onto unengaged subscribers can actually do more harm than good. I've often seen the misconception that keeping a large list, even if unengaged, is beneficial, perhaps for perceived reach or to avoid 'wasting' prepaid email volume.

However, the reality is that major mailbox providers, like Gmail and Yahoo, heavily weigh subscriber engagement when determining inbox placement. Sending emails to inactive addresses can lead to lower open rates, higher spam complaint rates, and increased bounces, all of which signal to ISPs that your emails are not valued, potentially landing you on a blocklist (or blacklist).

The true cost of inactive subscribers

The true cost of inactive subscribers goes far beyond just paying for unused email volume. Continuously emailing a segment of your list that shows no engagement can severely degrade your sender reputation. ISPs interpret low engagement as a sign that your content is irrelevant or unwanted. This can trigger spam filters, leading to your emails, even those sent to engaged subscribers, being routed to the spam folder or blocked entirely.

Furthermore, inactive email addresses can sometimes be converted into spam traps. These are email addresses mailbox providers use to identify spammers. If you send to a spam trap, your sender reputation takes a massive hit, often resulting in your IP or domain being added to a blocklist (blacklist). Recovering from such an event is a far more arduous and costly process than proactively managing your list, as it impacts your ability to reach any recipient.

Risks of not sunsetting

Damaged sender reputation: Low engagement signals tell ISPs your mail isn't valuable.
Increased spam complaints: Disengaged recipients are more likely to mark your emails as spam.
Higher bounce rates: Inactive addresses often become invalid over time, leading to hard bounces.
Spam trap hits: Sending to abandoned or recycled email addresses can land you on a blocklist.
Reduced inbox placement: Overall deliverability suffers, affecting even your most engaged subscribers.

Maintaining a healthy sender reputation isn't about saving money on email sends, but about ensuring your messages actually reach the inbox. If your emails consistently go to the spam folder, your entire email marketing effort becomes ineffective, regardless of the list size or content quality. The priority should always be deliverability first, which directly impacts your potential revenue and communication effectiveness.

Crafting your sunset policy

A sunset policy is a systematic approach to managing inactive subscribers by attempting to re-engage them before eventually removing them from your active mailing list. The first step is to identify what inactive means for your brand. This typically involves defining a period, such as 90, 120, or 180 days, during which a subscriber has not opened or clicked any of your emails. This timeframe can vary based on your sending frequency and industry norms, but generally, shorter periods are safer for highly engaged lists.

Once identified, these inactive subscribers should be segmented into a separate group. This allows you to tailor your communication specifically for them, often starting with a re-engagement campaign. The goal of this campaign is to reignite their interest and get them interacting with your emails again. If re-engagement fails, then the final step is to suppress or remove them to protect your overall sender reputation and deliverability.

Key steps in a sunset policy

Define inactivity: Determine what constitutes an inactive subscriber based on opens, clicks, or website activity over a set period.
Segment your audience: Create a separate segment for inactive users to manage them distinctly.
Execute re-engagement: Send a targeted series of emails to try and win them back.
Suppress or remove: For those who remain unengaged, remove them from your active mailing lists.

The balance between trying to re-engage and knowing when to let go is crucial. While a re-engagement campaign can sometimes revive interest, it's vital to have a clear cut-off point. Continuing to send to genuinely inactive subscribers will harm your deliverability, regardless of how valuable your newsletter content might be.

Executing the re-engagement and suppression process

Executing a re-engagement campaign typically involves a series of 2-3 emails sent over a defined period (e.g., 2-3 weeks). These emails should be distinct from your regular content, with clear subject lines indicating a potential unsubscribe if no action is taken. You might offer exclusive content, a special discount, or simply ask subscribers if they still wish to receive your emails. It is often recommended to send 3 to 5 re-engagement emails as part of a sunset flow.

If a subscriber engages (opens, clicks, or updates preferences) with any email in the re-engagement series, they are moved back to your active list. If they do not engage after the final re-engagement attempt, they should be suppressed from all future marketing emails. This suppression isn't necessarily a permanent deletion; you might retain their data for other purposes, but they should no longer receive regular email campaigns. Some sources even suggest that if you have a really good sender reputation, you can revisit these suppressed contacts very carefully later on.

It's important to differentiate between general newsletters and transactional emails. Transactional emails (e.g., password resets, order confirmations) are expected and usually have very high engagement. Your sunset policy should primarily apply to marketing or newsletter emails, where engagement directly impacts your sender reputation.

Process for managing inactive subscribers

Initial identification: Segment users who haven't opened/clicked in X days.
Re-engagement campaign: Send a targeted series of 2-3 emails (e.g., subject line: "Don't miss out").
Engagement check: If they engage, return them to active status.
Final suppression: If no engagement, move them to a suppressed list.
Periodic review: Revisit suppressed lists cautiously, perhaps with very slow, limited sends.

Maintaining a healthy list long-term

Beyond just sunsetting, maintaining continuous list health is paramount. This includes implementing a double opt-in process for new subscribers to ensure they genuinely want your emails. Regularly validate your email list to catch invalid or defunct addresses before they become issues.

One argument against sunsetting is the idea of "silent readers" (those who value your content but don't open/click). While this concept exists, it's often outweighed by the negative impact on deliverability. If these readers aren't opening, mailbox providers assume they don't want your emails, and your deliverability for everyone suffers. It's a risk to your entire email program to keep sending to non-engagers, even if they theoretically value your content.

The argument against sunsetting

Some argue that removing inactive subscribers is purely a cost-saving measure, especially if email volume is pre-paid. They might believe that a larger list, even with low engagement, still offers some value or potential reach.

The concept of "silent readers" suggests that some subscribers gain value from your emails without opening or clicking them (e.g., scanning subject lines). Therefore, removing them would mean losing potential future engagement.

Why sunsetting is essential

Sunsetting is fundamentally about email deliverability and sender reputation. ISPs use engagement metrics to determine inbox placement. High numbers of inactive subscribers hurt these metrics, causing all your emails to land in spam folders or be blocked.

Sending to inactive users increases the risk of hitting spam traps, which can lead to your domain or IP being put on a blocklist. Recovering from a blocklist is far more damaging and costly than managing your list proactively.

By proactively removing subscribers who show no interest, you signal to mailbox providers that your list is engaged and that your emails are valued. This, in turn, improves your overall deliverability rates and ensures your messages reach the inboxes of those who truly want to receive them. It's a continuous process of list hygiene that pays dividends in long-term email program success.

Views from the trenches

Best practices

Actively segment your list by engagement level and implement a clear sunset policy.

Prioritize deliverability over list size, as poor engagement leads to lower inbox placement.

Use re-engagement campaigns as a final effort before suppressing inactive subscribers.

Proactively clean your list, especially before major sending periods like holidays.

Common pitfalls

Believing a large email list is always better, regardless of subscriber engagement.

Ignoring low open and click rates from inactive segments, which hurts overall reputation.

Reluctance to remove subscribers due to perceived 'cost savings' or fear of losing contacts.

Sending to very old, unengaged lists without extreme caution, risking blocklisting.

Expert tips

Segment active and inactive groups to prove the point about engagement and deliverability.

Even if you sunset contacts for a longer period, you can carefully re-engage them later if your reputation is strong.

Consider targeting inactive contacts through other channels before fully letting them go.

Focus on the 'why' behind low engagement - content, deliverability, or audience changes.

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says that sunsetting inactives boosts engagement, which in turn significantly increases the chances of inbox delivery, especially for major providers like Gmail. The argument about 'cost savings' for basic email sending is not the primary driver, as deliverability and list health are the real concerns.

2024-09-05 - Email Geeks

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says that proactively maintaining a good sender reputation is much easier than recovering from a bad one. Segmenting active and inactive groups and comparing their performance statistics will quickly demonstrate the inefficiency of mailing disengaged segments.

2024-09-05 - Email Geeks

Protecting your email program's future

Sunsetting inactive email subscribers is a non-negotiable best practice for anyone serious about email deliverability. It's not just about reducing costs, but fundamentally about protecting and enhancing your sender reputation. By proactively identifying, re-engaging, and ultimately suppressing unengaged contacts, you ensure that your email program maintains high engagement metrics, avoids spam traps and blacklists (or blocklists), and consistently reaches the inbox of your active and valuable subscribers. Embrace a robust sunset policy to safeguard your email channel's long-term health and effectiveness.