What is the ideal engagement rate and timeframe for automatically churning non-engaged email subscribers?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests to look at your data, and slice and dice your sends by those past engagement ranges/windows. Mentions using Sailthru and setting up nested smart lists to control those windows to show how much an audience shifts if we move from looking back 90 days to 180 to 270. States that 180 to 270 is almost always a negligible increase.
Email marketer from StackExchange noted in a thread that they define inactive users as those that haven't logged into your website or haven't engaged with emails within the last 6-12 months. The timeframe that works will depend on your business.
Email marketer from HubSpot recommends running re-engagement campaigns to win back inactive subscribers before automatically churning them. These campaigns can help identify subscribers who are still interested in receiving emails.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign suggests using automation to identify and remove unengaged contacts and automate the process of email list cleaning. This involves setting up rules to automatically unsubscribe contacts who haven't opened or clicked an email in a specific timeframe.
Email marketer from Reddit shared in a forum discussion that they automatically remove subscribers who haven't opened or clicked an email in 9 months. They noted a significant improvement in their sender reputation after implementing this practice.
Email marketer from Sendinblue emphasizes the importance of regularly cleaning your email list to remove inactive subscribers. They suggest defining a timeframe for inactivity (e.g., 6 months or 1 year) and automatically removing subscribers who haven't engaged within that period.
Email marketer from MailerLite suggests segmenting your email list based on engagement and sending targeted re-engagement campaigns to inactive subscribers. If subscribers don't respond to these campaigns, they recommend automatically removing them from your list to improve deliverability.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares they've been using 180 days, 270 for paying customers sometimes and 90 days when they need things to be tight. Looks at several different engagement metrics since opens alone isn’t good.
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that 180 days is default normally and 90 for dire situations. Also varies by industry as well as by send frequency and that it can be difficult to document this. Instead, recommends looking at your data to see a clear point where someone who has not engaged suddenly engaging again is extremely low to find a custom solution.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource highlights the need to balance the removal of inactive email addresses with business goals. Highlighting the need to maintain email list health in relation to IP and Domain reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that 12 months is usually where they start when clients are having issues with engagement rate, and then continue to dial it in if things don't improve quickly.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that list hygiene, including removing unengaged subscribers, is a critical aspect of maintaining a good sender reputation. She answers that there isn't a one-size-fits-all answer and the best timeframe depends on the sending habits of your list.
Expert from Email Geeks clarifies that 90 days is where they start when things are dire in terms of engagement rate.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft Docs advises that you should remove inactive subscribers from your list. Highlighting that inactive email addresses can become spam traps, which can negatively impact your sender reputation. Microsoft recommends defining clear inactivity criteria.
Documentation from Gmail Help indicates that Google recommends removing unengaged users from your mailing list. They state it will help improve deliverability and reduce the chances of your emails being marked as spam. Senders should establish clear guidelines about how long to wait before unsubscribing non-responding recipients.
Documentation from Validity emphasizes the importance of proactively managing subscriber engagement and removing inactive users to maintain a healthy list. They suggest regularly monitoring engagement metrics and implementing strategies to identify and remove unengaged subscribers. Recommending strategies that can help determine when a subscriber should be removed from the list.
Documentation from SparkPost stresses the importance of maintaining good list hygiene by removing unengaged subscribers. It highlights that a high percentage of unengaged subscribers can negatively impact your sender reputation and deliverability. Suggests to set timeframes for segmenting unengaged users for removal.