What is the best strategy for a one-time email reactivation campaign to recently inactive users?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 15 Jul 2025
Updated 17 Aug 2025
6 min read
A one-time email reactivation campaign to recently inactive users can be a powerful tool for re-engaging subscribers and boosting overall list health. The goal is to bring back those who have shown interest but have recently disengaged, without harming your sender reputation or triggering spam filters.
The key is precision and caution. Rushing into a broad send can lead to significant deliverability issues, including high bounce rates, increased spam complaints, and even blocklisting. This strategy focuses on a measured approach to maximize positive outcomes while minimizing risks.
Defining your inactive audience
Before you even think about sending, you need a precise definition of "recently inactive." This isn't just a casual term, it directly impacts your deliverability. Typically, this refers to users who haven't engaged (opened or clicked) with your emails for a period like three to six months, but definitely not more than 12 months.
The longer a subscriber remains inactive, the higher the risk associated with emailing them. Older, completely disengaged email addresses are often converted into spam traps, which are designed to identify senders with poor list hygiene. Hitting a spam trap can quickly get your domain or IP address listed on a blocklist (or blacklist), severely impacting future email campaigns.
The danger of old lists
Sending to email addresses that have been inactive for over 12 months poses a significant risk. These are prime candidates for spam traps, which can lead to your domain or IP being added to a blacklist, hurting your sender reputation across all providers. Be extremely cautious or avoid sending to these segments entirely.
Once you've defined your inactive threshold, segment this audience further. Consider dividing them based on their past engagement type (e.g., made a purchase vs. didn't, opened specific content). This allows for more targeted messaging, increasing your chances of success and reducing the likelihood of being marked as spam.
Recently inactive (< 6-12 months)
Risk profile: Lower risk of hitting pure spam traps; higher chance of re-engagement.
Strategy: Focus on reminding them of value, new features, or exclusive offers. Start with a smaller segment.
Content: Personalization based on their last known activity. Ask for preferences.
Long-term inactive (> 12 months)
Risk profile: High risk of spam traps, bounces, and complaints. Can severely damage domain reputation.
Strategy: Consider suppression or a much more controlled, very small, segmented approach if absolutely necessary.
Content: High-value, last-ditch effort. Strong call-to-action to re-confirm interest.
When approaching a one-time send, starting with a manageable subset of your recently inactive audience, such as 10-15% of your typical active send volume, is a prudent approach. This allows you to gauge response and monitor for any adverse deliverability signals before expanding to a larger group.
Crafting your message and offer
The message itself is paramount for a one-time reactivation. Your subject line needs to grab attention and clearly indicate the purpose without sounding desperate or spammy. Consider emotional appeals, direct questions, or mentioning what they might have missed.
The email content should be concise, compelling, and offer a clear value proposition. Remind them why they subscribed in the first place. Highlight recent improvements, popular content, or new features. Personalization, beyond just their name, can make a significant difference. Reference their past interactions or interests if possible.
Acknowledge inactivity: "We miss you" or "Haven't heard from you in a while?"
Reiterate value: What benefits are they missing out on?
Clear call to action: What do you want them to do next? (e.g., visit site, update preferences).
Incentivize (optional): Discounts, exclusive content, or early access to new features can be highly effective.
An incentive can often be the tipping point for re-engagement. This could be a small discount, a free resource, early access to a new product, or an invitation to an exclusive event. The key is that the incentive should be valuable enough to warrant action but not so significant that it attracts only opportunistic, low-quality engagement.
Always include a clear and prominent call-to-action. What do you want the recipient to do next? Visit a landing page? Update their preferences? Make it as easy as possible for them to take that desired action. A well-placed unsubscribe link is also critical to ensure those who truly don't want to hear from you can opt out gracefully, rather than marking your email as spam.
Deliverability strategies for a single send
For a one-time reactivation, a slow and controlled send is almost always the safest approach. Instead of sending to your entire recently inactive segment at once, divide it into smaller batches. Start with the most recently inactive users, as they are likely to have the highest engagement rates and lowest risk of becoming spam traps. Monitor the performance of each batch closely before proceeding with the next.
Keep a very close eye on your key deliverability metrics during and after the send. Pay particular attention to your bounce rate, especially hard bounces, and your spam complaint rate. High numbers in either of these categories are strong indicators that your emails are not reaching the inbox, or worse, are being flagged as unwanted. Sudden spikes can negatively affect your sender reputation.
Communicate with your ESP
It's always a good practice to inform your Email Service Provider (ESP) about your plan to send a one-time reactivation campaign to an inactive segment. They can provide specific guidance based on their platform's policies and your sending history, and may even offer tools to help manage the send more safely.
A high complaint rate, even from a small segment, can lead to your domain being placed on a blocklist. Monitoring your blacklist status is critical. Should your domain or IP end up on a significant blocklist, it will drastically impact your ability to deliver emails, even to your most active subscribers. Regular blocklist monitoring can help you detect issues early and take corrective action.
Most damaging. Leads to blacklisting, direct spam folder placement.
Strong call-to-action to re-engage or unsubscribe. Provide clear value.
Spam trap hits
Indicates very poor list hygiene; almost guaranteed blocklist placement.
Strictly target recently inactive users (less than 6-12 months).
If a one-time send yields poor results, resist the urge to keep sending to that segment. It's often more beneficial for your long-term deliverability to gracefully sunset these subscribers rather than risking your sender reputation. A smaller, highly engaged list is always better than a large, problematic one.
Summary of best practices
Executing a successful one-time reactivation campaign to recently inactive users hinges on a combination of strategic segmentation, compelling messaging, and diligent deliverability monitoring. By defining "recently inactive" clearly (e.g., within 3-6 months) and segmenting your audience appropriately, you can focus your efforts on those most likely to re-engage.
Crafting a personalized message that provides real value or an attractive incentive is crucial for capturing attention. Finally, a cautious sending approach, starting with smaller batches and closely monitoring your email performance metrics, will help safeguard your sender reputation and ensure your efforts don't lead to emails going to spam.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always define your inactive threshold clearly (e.g., 3-6 months no engagement).
Segment your inactive audience by last activity, purchase history, or other relevant data.
Start with a very small, highly engaged subset of your inactive list (e.g., 10-15% of your regular send volume).
Monitor deliverability metrics (bounces, complaints, blocklists) in real-time.
Craft compelling, value-driven messages with clear calls to action and easy unsubscribe options.
Common pitfalls
Sending to an entire inactive list at once, especially if it includes very old addresses.
Ignoring high bounce rates and spam complaints, which can severely damage sender reputation.
Not informing your ESP about a large, one-time reactivation send.
Using generic, un-personalized messages that offer no clear value or incentive.
Failing to suppress or remove subscribers who still don't engage after the campaign.
Expert tips
Consider a short, multi-email reactivation series instead of just one email, but keep it concise (2-3 emails max).
Offer a survey to inactive users to understand their reasons for disengagement; this data can inform future campaigns.
Beyond emails, explore other channels like SMS or targeted ads for high-value inactive segments.
If deliverability is a major concern, clean your list with a reputable email verification service before sending.
Have a clear sunsetting strategy for those who remain unengaged after the reactivation attempt.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that the definition of "recently" fallen off is crucial. The longer users have been disengaged, the higher the risk of encountering spam traps, which can harm your deliverability. Weeks or a few months are generally safer than years of inactivity.
2024-04-02 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says it is more about how long they have been disengaged. Going past 12 months of no engagement risks spam traps. Higher bounces from inactive addresses can also impact reputation depending on volume.
ESP) about your plan to send a one-time reactivation campaign to an inactive segment. They can provide specific guidance based on their platform's policies and your sending history, and may even offer tools to help manage the send more safely.
