Every list decays. People change jobs, abandon addresses, lose interest, or subscribed for one thing and never wanted the rest. Left alone, those addresses do more than nothing — they actively damage you, because mailbox providers read low engagement as a signal that your mail is unwanted.
A re-engagement campaign does two jobs at once: it wins back the people worth keeping, and it gives you permission to remove the ones who are not. Below are four complete templates, plus the sunset policy that should follow them.
Why this matters more than it looks
Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook all weigh engagement heavily when deciding between the inbox and the spam folder. A list where 20% of addresses never open is not neutral — it drags placement down for the 80% who do. Cleaning is not housekeeping; it is deliverability work.
There is also a cost argument. On per-contact pricing you pay every month for addresses that will never open again. On send-based pricing you do not — but you still pay in reputation.
Define dormancy before you start. For most senders, no open or click in 90–180 days is the right threshold. For a low-frequency B2B list, stretch to 12 months. For daily ecommerce sends, 60 days is plenty.
Template 1 — The honest check-in
Send this first. It performs best because it is not a sales email.
Subject: Should we stop emailing you?
Preheader: One click either way — no hard feelings.
Hi {{first_name}},
You haven’t opened anything from us in a while, which usually means
one of two things: either we’re not sending anything useful, or
life got busy.
Either is fine. But we’d rather not clutter your inbox, so:
[ Keep me subscribed → ]
[ Unsubscribe me → ]
If we don’t hear from you in the next two weeks, we’ll take you off
the list automatically. No action needed.
— {{sender_first_name}}, {{company}}
Why this works
- The subject line is the highest-performing pattern in this category, and it is not close. “Should we stop emailing you?” gets opened because it is a genuine question with a consequence, and it is impossible to mistake for a promotion.
- It offers the exit as prominently as the stay. Counter-intuitive, and it is exactly why it works. The reader feels respected rather than pursued, and a meaningful share click “keep me”.
- The automatic removal is stated up front. This converts inertia into a decision. It also means the silent majority remove themselves without ever filing a complaint.
- No discount, no product, no urgency. Adding a sales pitch to this email collapses its response rate, because it stops reading as sincere.
Template 2 — The what-you-missed
Use for content and newsletter lists, where the value is the writing rather than a product.
Subject: A few things you missed
Preheader: Three of the best from the last few months.
Hi {{first_name}},
It’s been a while. Rather than ask you to catch up on everything,
here are the three pieces people found most useful:
1. {{article_1_title}}
{{one_line_summary}}
2. {{article_2_title}}
{{one_line_summary}}
3. {{article_3_title}}
{{one_line_summary}}
If none of that is interesting any more, that’s genuinely fine —
[unsubscribe here] and we’ll stop.
Otherwise, we’ll see you {{frequency}}.
— {{sender_first_name}}
Why this works
- It leads with value, not guilt. “We miss you” makes the reader responsible for a relationship they did not agree to. Three useful links make no demand at all.
- Three, curated, with summaries. A digest of everything published since they went quiet is overwhelming and gets deleted.
- The unsubscribe is offered in plain language mid-email, not buried in the footer. Explicit exits reduce spam complaints, and a complaint costs you far more than an unsubscribe.
Template 3 — The incentive (ecommerce)
For stores, where a dormant subscriber may still be a viable customer and margin exists to spend.
Subject: 20% off, because it’s been a while
Preheader: Your biggest discount of the year — then we’ll stop asking.
Hi {{first_name}},
You haven’t shopped with us since {{last_order_date}}. We’d like you
back, so here’s the largest discount we give anyone:
COMEBACK20 — 20% off anything
Valid for 14 days
[ Use it → ]
A lot has changed since you were last here:
• {{new_thing_1}}
• {{new_thing_2}}
• {{new_thing_3}}
If you’d rather we stopped emailing, [unsubscribe here] — we’ll
take the hint and we won’t send this again.
— The {{company}} team
Why this works
- The discount is bigger than your usual. A dormant subscriber has already ignored your standard 10%. Offering the same thing again is asking a question they have answered.
- “What’s changed” gives a reason beyond price. If someone left because the product was not right, a discount does not fix that — new range, faster shipping or a fixed complaint might.
- It commits to stopping. Saying “we won’t send this again” is what makes the offer feel like a genuine last attempt rather than the start of a nagging sequence.
Template 4 — The preference downgrade
The most underused email in this set. Many dormant subscribers do not want to leave — they want you to email less. Offering frequency as an option recovers subscribers a binary keep-or-go loses.
Subject: Too many emails? Let’s fix that
Preheader: Monthly, or only the important ones. Your call.
Hi {{first_name}},
We send {{current_frequency}}. That’s clearly too much for you —
so rather than lose you entirely, pick a setting:
[ Monthly digest only → ]
[ Big announcements only → ]
[ Keep it as it is → ]
[ Unsubscribe from everything → ]
Whatever you choose takes effect immediately.
— {{company}}
Why this works
- It reframes the problem correctly. Disengagement is usually a frequency mismatch, not a rejection. See email frequency best practices.
- Four options, ordered from most to least engaged. The unsubscribe is present and honest, but it is the last option rather than the default.
- A downgraded subscriber is worth far more than a removed one — they still open, still buy, and still count as positive engagement.
The sunset policy — what happens after
A re-engagement campaign is only half the work. The other half is acting on the silence.
- Send the sequence. Two or three emails over two to three weeks. Template 1, then 2 or 3, then a final short reminder.
- Segment the responders. Anyone who opens, clicks or updates preferences returns to the active list.
- Suppress the rest. Do not delete immediately — move them to a suppressed segment so you retain the record for consent and compliance purposes without mailing them.
- Re-test annually, at most. One further attempt a year later is reasonable. Repeated attempts are not.
The step people skip is the third one. Running a win-back campaign and then continuing to mail everyone who ignored it is worse than doing nothing, because you have now confirmed they are unengaged and kept sending anyway. More on this in email list cleaning.
What to expect
Re-engagement campaigns have low response rates by definition — you are mailing people who have already ignored you repeatedly. A single-digit reactivation rate is a normal outcome, and it is still worth doing, because the deliverability gain from removing the rest benefits every future send.
Judge it on two numbers, not one: how many came back, and what happened to your open and bounce rates afterwards. For context on what normal looks like, see our bounce and unsubscribe rate benchmarks.
Frequently asked questions
When is a subscriber considered inactive?
No open or click in 90 to 180 days suits most senders. Low-frequency B2B lists can stretch to 12 months; high-frequency ecommerce lists can use 60 days.
Should I delete unengaged subscribers?
Suppress rather than delete. Suppression stops the sending while preserving the record you may need to demonstrate consent history. Under GDPR and similar regimes, keeping a suppression record is a legitimate reason to retain the address.
How many re-engagement emails should I send?
Two or three over two to three weeks. More than three to people who have already ignored several is how you generate spam complaints.
Does a re-engagement campaign hurt deliverability?
Briefly, sometimes — you are deliberately mailing your least engaged segment. Send it in smaller batches rather than all at once, and the short-term dip is repaid by the improvement once the non-responders are suppressed.
Run this without paying for dormant contacts
On per-contact pricing, every dormant address on your list is billed monthly whether you mail it or not — which is a strange incentive when the right answer is often to stop mailing them. Bluey Email bills on emails sent, so suppressing an unengaged segment costs you nothing and saves you sends.
Start free — 500 emails a month, no card required. Or read the full strategy in our guide to re-engagement campaigns.
Part of our email template library. See also: welcome email and abandoned cart email.