In email marketing, size isn’t everything. A list of 10,000 people who never open your emails is actually worse than a list of 1,000 people who engage every week. Why? Because Gmail and Yahoo track how many people ignore you.
A Sunset Policy is a systematic way to stop emailing inactive subscribers before they damage your sender reputation.
1. Why You Must “Sunset” Inactive Leads
Every time you send an email to someone who hasn’t opened your mail in months, you are sending a signal to ISP filters that your content is irrelevant. If enough people ignore you, providers will start “throttling” your emails, moving them from the Primary Inbox to the Promotions tab, or worse, the Spam folder.
2. How to Implement a Sunset Sequence
Before you say goodbye forever, try a Win-Back campaign. This is a final attempt to re-engage the subscriber.
- Identify Inactives: Create a segment in Send Onyx for users who haven’t opened an email in 90 days.
- The “Are You Okay?” Email: Send a very simple, text-based email with a subject line like “Should I stay or should I go?” or “Is this goodbye?”
- The Incentive: Offer them a reason to stay—perhaps a special discount or a high-value resource.
- The Cut: If they don’t open that final email, it’s time to move them to the Blacklist or a “Sunset” list.
3. The Benefits of a Lean List
By following this policy, you will notice:
- Higher Open Rates: Your percentages will skyrocket because you are only mailing people who care.
- Lower Costs: Why pay to store 5,000 contacts who aren’t reading your messages?
- Primary Inbox Placement: Gmail loves senders with high engagement-to-send ratios.
Summary
A Sunset Policy isn’t about losing leads; it’s about protecting your assets. Clean your list regularly, and your “Active” subscribers will be much more likely to see your emails at the top of their inbox.