Does pruning your email lists help with deliverability?

Summary

The consensus is that pruning email lists generally helps deliverability. Removing unengaged, inactive, or invalid subscribers improves sender reputation by signaling to ISPs that you are sending mail only to interested recipients, reduces bounce rates and spam complaints, and focuses efforts on engaged contacts. However, experts caution against overly aggressive strategies based solely on opens and clicks, as this can inadvertently remove active but unmeasured subscribers. Best practices include using historical data for informed pruning decisions, implementing re-engagement campaigns before permanent removal, prioritizing the removal of invalid addresses, and aligning segmentation and pruning strategies with the type of email being sent.

Key findings

  • Sender Reputation Improvement: Pruning improves sender reputation by demonstrating engagement to ISPs, leading to better deliverability.
  • Reduced Bounce Rates & Spam Complaints: List hygiene reduces bounce rates and spam complaints, both of which negatively impact deliverability.
  • Focus on Engaged Contacts: Pruning allows for concentrated efforts and resources on engaged subscribers, improving ROI and campaign effectiveness.
  • Mail Client Metrics vs. Sender Metrics: Mail client engagement metrics (e.g., opens) can differ from sender-tracked metrics, requiring caution when assessing engagement.
  • Importance of List Hygiene: Regular list hygiene, including removing invalid addresses, is crucial for maintaining deliverability.

Key considerations

  • Avoid Overly Aggressive Pruning: Pruning strategies based solely on opens and clicks can remove engaged subscribers due to factors like image blocking or alternative reading methods (e.g., RSS readers).
  • Data-Driven Decisions: List pruning should be based on historical recipient behavior and data analysis rather than arbitrary cutoff points.
  • Re-engagement Campaigns: Implement re-engagement campaigns to win back non-responders before permanently removing them from the list.
  • Segmentation and Email Type: Segmentation strategies and pruning frequency should be aligned with the purpose and type of email being sent (e.g., less aggressive pruning for newsletters).
  • Subscriber Lifecycle Management: A holistic subscriber lifecycle management approach, including win-back campaigns and prompt handling of unsubscribe requests, is essential for long-term deliverability.

What email marketers say
14Marketer opinions

Pruning your email lists is generally considered beneficial for deliverability. Removing unengaged subscribers improves sender reputation, reduces bounce rates and spam complaints, and focuses efforts on engaged contacts. This practice signals to ISPs that you're sending emails to interested recipients, increasing inbox placement rates. However, pruning should be done carefully, considering the type of email being sent and potential impact on active but unmeasured subscribers.

Key opinions

  • Sender Reputation: Pruning improves sender reputation by demonstrating engagement to ISPs.
  • Reduced Bounces & Complaints: List hygiene lowers bounce rates and spam complaints, positively impacting deliverability.
  • Focus on Engaged Contacts: Pruning allows for concentrated efforts and resources on engaged subscribers, improving ROI.
  • Improved Inbox Placement: A clean list increases the likelihood of emails landing in the inbox rather than spam folders.
  • Re-engagement Window: The likelihood of re-engaging users decreases significantly after 122 days of inactivity.

Key considerations

  • Segmentation Strategy: Segmentation for pruning should align with email purpose (e.g., less aggressive for newsletters).
  • Active vs. Measured Engagement: Be cautious not to remove active subscribers who may not be engaging in measurable ways (e.g., image blocking).
  • Re-engagement Campaigns: Implement re-engagement campaigns before permanently removing subscribers.
  • Prompt Unsubscribes: Always honor unsubscribe requests promptly, regardless of perceived engagement.
  • List Type: Approaches to pruning may differ for marketing emails versus newsletters.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that pruning inactive subscribers enhances engagement rates, which mailbox providers use to assess sender reputation, directly impacting deliverability and inbox placement.

September 2022 - Sendinblue
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares an unpublished study, revealing the likelihood of re-engaging users decreases significantly beyond 122 days of inactivity. They advise initiating re-engagement efforts between 60-90 days and pruning after 120 days.

November 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus explains that not pruning your list can lead to deliverability issues, including lower inbox placement rates and increased risk of being blacklisted, impacting your ability to reach engaged subscribers.

February 2024 - Litmus
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that removing contacts without positive engagement signals helps deliverability, as mail filters see a larger percentage of users engaging, leading to more positive filtering decisions.

April 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign states that pruning helps focus your efforts on engaged contacts, improving deliverability and return on investment, by not wasting resources on unengaged recipients.

October 2022 - ActiveCampaign
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that segmentation based on engagement should align with the purpose of the emails. Prune non-clickers for emails aimed at driving website visits. However, for emails intended to be read, use less aggressive pruning.

February 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor advocates for pruning unengaged subscribers after a re-engagement campaign, stating that it helps improve deliverability by focusing on recipients who actively want to receive your emails.

April 2022 - Campaign Monitor
Marketer view

Email marketer from ZeroBounce advises that pruning invalid and inactive emails can significantly improve your sending reputation, resulting in better deliverability rates and more efficient email campaigns.

March 2024 - ZeroBounce
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests assuming that actively subscribed users want to receive emails and promptly unsubscribing them if they request it. He also states that removing subscribers who want your email based on perceived lack of engagement is unlikely to impact deliverability.

November 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit suggests that pruning helps improve your sender score, as it shows email providers that you're only sending emails to people who want them, increasing the chances of your emails landing in the inbox.

August 2023 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains that list hygiene through pruning reduces bounce rates and spam complaints. Both impact deliverability and helps keep your sender reputation in good standing with ISPs.

October 2023 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Neil Patel Blog shares that pruning your email list by removing inactive subscribers improves your sender reputation, leading to better deliverability rates as ISPs see you're only sending to engaged users.

January 2025 - Neil Patel Blog
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that maintaining basic list hygiene, including segmenting non-engagers and running win-back/re-engagement campaigns, is important as a list heavy with unengaged subscribers can negatively influence metrics and trigger filters.

August 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from HubSpot explains that cleaning your email list reduces the likelihood of sending to spam traps and disengaged users, thus improving deliverability and protecting your sender reputation.

March 2024 - HubSpot

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Experts generally agree that list pruning can help deliverability, but caution against overly aggressive strategies based solely on opens and clicks. Mail client engagement metrics often differ from what senders track, potentially leading to the removal of active users. They suggest using historical data for informed pruning, prioritizing the removal of invalid addresses and managing spam complaints. A key aspect of this is a subscriber lifecycle management approach, using win-back campaigns to re-engage non-responders before complete removal.

Key opinions

  • Differing Metrics: Mail client engagement metrics and sender metrics can differ, leading to inaccurate engagement assumptions.
  • Data-Driven Decisions: List pruning should be based on historical recipient behavior rather than arbitrary cutoff points.
  • Subscriber Lifecycle: Managing non-responders through win-back campaigns is essential before removing them.
  • Essential Hygiene: Removing invalid addresses and managing spam complaints are key components of list hygiene.

Key considerations

  • Avoid Aggressive Pruning: Pruning strategies based solely on opens and clicks can remove engaged subscribers.
  • Image Blocking: Consider the impact of image blocking on open rates when assessing engagement.
  • Engagement Lags: Implement a strategy to handle subscribers with engagement lags before removing them.
  • Prioritize Invalid Addresses: Focus on removing invalid addresses and managing spam complaints for deliverability.
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks advises against arbitrary cutoff points for list pruning, suggesting using historical recipient behavior data to make informed decisions.

September 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks warns that mail client engagement metrics differ from what senders see and removing subscribers based on opens or clicks can remove active readers who won't harm deliverability.

March 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that while aggressive pruning based solely on opens/clicks can remove engaged subscribers (due to factors like image blocking), maintaining list hygiene by removing invalid addresses and addressing spam complaints is essential for deliverability.

January 2025 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains the importance of retiring non-responders to prevent engagement lags, especially at Gmail, using win-back/re-optin campaigns. This is framed as Subscriber Lifecycle Management, a need for marketing mail.

October 2024 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Email marketing documentation consistently highlights the importance of pruning email lists for improved deliverability. Regularly cleaning lists of unengaged, inactive, or invalid subscribers helps maintain a healthy list, reduces bounce rates and spam complaints, and improves sender reputation with major inbox providers like Gmail and Outlook. This practice ensures that emails are delivered to active and engaged recipients, minimizing the risk of being flagged as a spammer and maximizing inbox placement.

Key findings

  • Healthy List: Regularly cleaning email lists maintains a healthy subscriber base.
  • Reduced Bounce Rates: Pruning helps in reducing bounce rates, signaling better list quality to ISPs.
  • Fewer Spam Complaints: A clean list leads to fewer spam complaints, a key factor in sender reputation.
  • Improved Sender Reputation: Sending to engaged users improves sender reputation with major providers like Gmail and Outlook.
  • Enhanced Inbox Delivery: List hygiene ensures emails are more likely to land in the inbox rather than spam.

Key considerations

  • Regular Maintenance: Email list pruning should be a routine practice, not a one-time event.
  • Inactive Subscribers: Focus on removing subscribers who haven't engaged in a defined period.
  • Invalid Addresses: Prioritize the removal of invalid email addresses (hard bounces) to avoid deliverability issues.
  • Compliance: Ensure pruning practices comply with email marketing regulations (e.g., GDPR, CAN-SPAM).
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost shares that a key factor in maintaining good deliverability is regular list hygiene, including removing inactive or invalid email addresses to avoid being flagged as a spammer.

November 2023 - SparkPost
Technical article

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools indicates that maintaining a clean email list with engaged users is crucial for ensuring your emails are delivered to Gmail inboxes, avoiding spam filters.

October 2023 - Google
Technical article

Documentation from Mailchimp explains that regularly cleaning your email list of unengaged subscribers helps maintain a healthy list, improving deliverability by reducing bounce rates and spam complaints.

July 2024 - Mailchimp
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft explains that sending emails to active and engaged recipients can positively impact your sender reputation with Outlook, leading to improved deliverability and fewer emails being marked as spam.

June 2021 - Microsoft