Email List Hygiene

Overview

This skill covers best practices for maintaining a healthy email subscriber list, with a focus on how to handle inactive contacts before removing them. All practices are sourced exclusively from Exit Five podcast guests and reflect their direct experience and recommendations.

Re-Engagement Before Removal

Before removing inactive subscribers, run a re-engagement campaign first. Invite inactive contacts to opt back in or confirm their continued interest. Only after this attempt — and only for contacts who remain unresponsive — should you proceed with removal. Treat the sunset policy as the final step in a sequence, not the starting point. (Source: Joe, Episode #312)

Important limitation: Joe described this sequencing principle but did not specify the details needed to execute it — including what threshold defines "inactive" (e.g., 90 days vs. 180 days, no opens vs. no clicks), how many re-engagement emails to send, what the emails should say, or what response rate should trigger removal. This skill cannot provide guidance on those specifics. Treat this as a directional principle, not an executable workflow, until more sourced detail is available.

What NOT To Do

• Do not jump straight to a sunset policy without a re-engagement attempt. Removing contacts without first giving them a chance to confirm interest skips a step that could recover engaged subscribers. (Source: Joe, Episode #312)

Where Experts Disagree

No disagreements were identified among guests on this topic based on the available source material.

Sources