What are inactive subscribers?
Inactive subscribers are those who have received multiple emails from you but haven't opened or clicked them in an extended period of time.
Regularly removing inactive subscribers helps improve your open and click rates and frees up space in your current plan for more engaged subscribers.
How to clean up inactive subscribers
Using the Clean up inactive tool
The Clean up inactive tool allows you to easily identify your inactive subscribers and remove them from your list.
Go to the Subscribers page.
Click the Clean up inactive tab.
Use the Time inactive and Emails sent drop-down menus to set your inactivity filters.
Click Unsubscribe inactive.
Using subscriber filters
Subscriber filters can be used to customize your inactivity criteria and keep only the most engaged subscribers on your list.
Go to the Subscribers page.
Add the filter Time inactive and specify the number of days.
Alternatively, you can use these filters to be more precise:
Stats > Emails sent > Is greater than > specify your number
AND
Stats > Emails opened/clicked > Is less than > specify your number
Click the downwards pointing arrow to Select all filtered subscribers.
Click the Actions button and select Move to unsubscribed or Delete from the dropdown menu.
How to re-engage inactive subscribers?
Before cleaning up your list, you can send your inactive subscribers a re-engagement campaign to remind them why they signed up in the first place.
Navigate to your Subscribers page and apply the Time inactive filter for your preferred period of time.
Click the Save as segment button.
Then, select this segment as the recipients of a targeted win-back email campaign. Consider implementing a win-back automation workflow to systematically re-engage inactive subscribers before permanently removing them. This provides a structured approach to confirm inactivity before finalizing their removal.
How to prevent subscribers from going inactive
While you can’t ensure that 100% of your subscribers are going to love and read your newsletter every time, there are simple adjustments you can make in order to maximize engagement:
Enable double opt-in to ensure only genuine and engaged subscribers make it onto your active list.
Read up on the best ways to manage your email list while ensuring list quality.
Try using segmentation to create highly targeted content that speaks to your subscribers’ interests or activity.
Keep your content fresh to keep the reader excited. Check 100+ newsletter content ideas for your next email for content inspiration and discover the latest email marketing trends.
Experiment with email frequency to find what works best for your readers.