Re-engagement campaign
A planned attempt to revive inactive subscribers before pruning them from the list.
A re-engagement campaign is a planned 2-5 email sequence sent to long-term inactive subscribers (typically 90-180+ days without an open) attempting to either revive their engagement or get them to formally unsubscribe so the list can be pruned cleanly. The goal is not to keep them on the list at all costs — it's to convert their dormancy into a decision.
Effective re-engagement campaigns are honest. "We noticed you haven't opened in a while — should we keep sending?" outperforms "We miss you! 50% off!" because the former respects the recipient's actual behavior. The 50%-off approach often reactivates briefly but doesn't fix the underlying disengagement, and these subscribers churn again within weeks.
The deliverability case for re-engagement is straightforward: every email sent to a non-engaging address slightly degrades sender reputation. Re-engagement campaigns force a binary outcome — engage or get suppressed — that protects the rest of the list. After the campaign concludes, non-engaging addresses should be permanently suppressed, not "kept just in case." That suppression is the actual win.