If you’re paying for email marketing software, you’re likely spending money on subscribers who will never open another email from you. It’s not intentional; it just happens. People change jobs, lose interest, or simply forget they subscribed in the first place.
But here’s the thing: those inactive subscribers are costing you money and giving you inaccurate data about what’s actually working in your email marketing.
Today, we’re walking you through a simple “Review and Refresh” process that takes about 15 minutes and can dramatically improve your email marketing performance.
The 30% Rule: When It’s Time to Clean Your List
Start by looking at your last 10 emails. What’s your average open rate?
If you’re consistently observing open rates below 30%, it’s time to refresh your list. You won’t know if your content is engaging or if your offers are resonating without removing your unengaged subscribers.
Low open rates aren’t just a vanity metric problem. They signal to email service providers that your emails might not be wanted, which can hurt your deliverability across the board. Plus, you’re likely paying for those inactive contacts every single month.
Step 1: Identify Your Disengaged Subscribers
The first step is to create a segment of people who haven’t opened an email in the last six months. Depending on your sending frequency and industry, you might extend this to nine months or a year, but six months is a good starting point for most businesses.
Here’s what you’re looking for:
- Zero opens in the past 6 months
- No clicks on any links
- No other engagement with your emails
Most email marketing platforms make this easy with built-in segmentation tools. If yours doesn’t, you can usually export your list and filter by last engagement date.
Step 2: Send a Re-Engagement Email
Before you remove anyone, give them one to two chances to opt in. This is where the re-engagement email comes in.
Your message should be simple and direct:
“We’ve noticed you haven’t been opening our emails lately. We want to make sure we’re only sending valuable content to people who want it. If you’d still like to hear from us, click the button below. If not, no worries—we’ll stop sending and you won’t need to do anything.”
Include a clear call-to-action button that takes them to a simple thank-you page. This accomplishes two things:
- Anyone who clicks has re-confirmed their interest
- You get clear data on who wants to stay subscribed
Step 3: Clean Your List
After you’ve given your re-engagement email a week or so to do its work, it’s time to clean house.
Anyone who:
- Didn’t open the re-engagement email
- Opened it but didn’t click
- Took no action whatsoever
These individuals should be moved to a “do not send” list or unsubscribed. Yes, it might be uncomfortable to remove people from your list, but remember: they weren’t engaging anyway.
The Two Big Benefits of List Cleaning
1. Save Money on Email Software Fees
Most email marketing platforms charge based on the number of subscribers you have. If 40% of your list is inactive, you’re paying for 40% more contacts than you need.
2. Get Accurate Marketing Metrics
When you have a clean, engaged list, you finally get truthful data about what’s working.
If you send an email and get a 25% open rate on a list full of inactive subscribers, that tells you very little. But a 45% open rate on a properly engaged list? Now you know that the subject line worked and that the content resonated.
Accurate metrics help you:
- Test and optimize more effectively
- Understand your audience better
- Make smarter content decisions
- Prove ROI to stakeholders
Make This a Regular Practice
List cleaning shouldn’t be a one-time event. We recommend reviewing and refreshing your email list twice a year. Set a reminder for every six months to:
- Check your recent open rates
- Review engagement over the past 6 months
- Send re-engagement campaigns as needed
- Remove truly inactive subscribers
This keeps your list healthy, your costs down, and your data accurate.
Remember: a smaller, engaged email list will always outperform a large, disengaged one. Quality beats quantity every single time.
