How long should users be inactive before deleting them from my ESP?

Email marketer from Sendinblue suggests defining inactive subscribers as those who haven't opened or clicked an email in the last 3-6 months. They explain that once a subscriber meets this criteria, they should be targeted with a re-engagement campaign, and if they still don't engage, they should be removed from the list.

Email marketer from OptinMonster mentions the importance of removing subscribers to benefit from higher engagement rates, improved deliverability, better sender reputation, and reduced costs.

Email marketer from Constant Contact explains that email list hygiene is vital for maintaining a healthy email marketing program. They say you should consider removing contacts that have been inactive for six months or more, but also suggest sending re-engagement campaigns.

Email marketer from Neil Patel Digital emphasizes the importance of regularly cleaning your email list. He explains that removing inactive subscribers leads to higher engagement rates, better deliverability, and cost savings by not paying to store and send emails to unengaged users. He doesn't specify a time frame but highlights regular list cleaning is essential.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that sending constant messages to contacts that haven't engaged in even 12 months can cause problems, depending on the percentage of your overall list they make up. If free users are not active on your platform for X days then you need to segment them into a win-back flow that will ultimately result in the a/c being closed and them being removed from further mailings. This is best current practice, however not everyone does it. Those that don't often end up with expensive problems to solve.

Email marketer from Email on Acid suggests using segmentation based on engagement levels. They explain creating segments for highly engaged, moderately engaged, and unengaged subscribers and tailoring your approach accordingly. Subscribers in the unengaged segment who don't respond to re-engagement efforts should be considered for removal.

Email marketer from HubSpot recommends implementing re-engagement campaigns before removing inactive subscribers. They explain that a well-designed re-engagement campaign can win back subscribers who may have simply become disengaged due to overflowing inboxes or changing interests. They highlight that removing subscribers should be a last resort after re-engagement efforts have failed.

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign shares that the length of time you wait to clean out unengaged subscribers depends on your sending frequency and sales cycle, but on average, you should remove people who have not engaged with your emails within the last 90 days.

Email marketer from Reddit suggests the timeframe for defining an inactive user depends on how frequently you send emails. If you email daily, 3 months of inactivity might be enough. If you email monthly, 6-12 months might be more appropriate. They explain that the goal is to identify users who are unlikely to engage with your emails in the future.

Email marketer from MarketingProfs outlines several signs of email fatigue that might indicate a subscriber is becoming inactive, including decreased open rates, increased spam complaints, and a rise in unsubscribes. They highlight that monitoring these metrics can help identify at-risk subscribers before they become completely inactive and need to be removed.

Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) emphasizes that maintaining a clean email list is crucial for deliverability. While she doesn't provide a specific timeframe for deleting inactive users, she suggests creating segments based on engagement and focusing on sending valuable content to active subscribers. She also highlights the importance of having a clear unsubscribe process and honoring unsubscribe requests promptly, because unengaged users become spam complainers. This implies removing unengaged subscribers after re-engagement attempts fail.

Documentation from Mailchimp advises identifying inactive subscribers based on engagement metrics like opens and clicks. They explain that after a certain period of inactivity (often 6-12 months, depending on the sending frequency and business type), these subscribers should be considered for removal. They also recommend sending a final re-engagement email before unsubscribing them.

Documentation from SparkPost highlights the importance of list hygiene for deliverability. They explain that regularly removing inactive subscribers helps maintain a good sender reputation, as it reduces the likelihood of sending to spam traps or users who report emails as spam. They do not provide a specific timeline for removing inactive users, but emphasis cleaning inactive addresses.

Documentation from AWS highlights the importance of suppression lists and addresses best practices. AWS recommends automatically adding to your suppression list (do not email again) all addresses that hard bounce or manually unsubscribed. AWS details automatically doing this will improve your sender reputation.

Documentation from Klaviyo focuses on using a 'sunset policy'. They explain the importance of automatically identifying and removing unengaged subscribers using a sunset flow. Klaviyo allows you to define criteria for unengaged subscribers and then automatically move them into a sunset flow to try and re-engage them before removing from your lists.