No matter how good your newsletter is, it’s inevitable that some subscribers will eventually go quiet. They’ll stop opening and clicking, and one day you’ll realize you have a large chunk of inactive subscribers in your mailing list.

But rest assured, this doesn’t mean your content has failed. It just means that inboxes are crowded, and people’s priorities change. 

Research shows that running regular re-engagement campaigns can improve open rates from 14% to 45%, with 71% of marketers agreeing that re-engagement efforts are effective in reigniting inactive subscribers (Campaign Monitor).

Over the years, I’ve run a range of different re-engagement campaigns that have transformed inactive subscribers into the loyal fans they once were. 

I managed to achieve this by using beehiiv’s segmentation and automation tools. I was able to build repeatable systems that identified inactive subscribers and sent them targeted messages at the right time. 

This article breaks down how I ran my re-engagement campaigns, from what worked to what didn’t, and the lessons I learned along the way. 

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What is a re-engagement campaign?” or have been trying to revive a quiet mailing list, this is the guide for you.

Inactive subscribers hurt deliverability. If users aren’t opening or clicking on your emails, inbox providers assume your content isn’t relevant and may end up directing your emails into a user’s spam folder. This is why re-engagement campaigns are so important, as they are directly tied to long-term growth.

There’s also a metrics issue with silent subscribers. A large list with inactive users will naturally skew open rates, click-through rates (CTRs), and conversion data, making it look like a campaign is underperforming when, in reality, it may have resonated deeply with your active subscribers.

Re-engagement campaigns can revitalize your ROI (return on investment) strategy. You’ve already paid for your subscribers, whether it be through the time taken to source them or via a paid list, and so winning them back will outperform acquiring new users for your list.

A re-engagement campaign aims to reconnect active subscribers, giving them a clear reason to stay, and removing those who are no longer interested in receiving your content. This can improve list health, boost campaign engagement, and strengthen deliverability – three great reasons to embark on a re-engagement campaign.

This focus on engagement over vanity metrics is something many of our beehiiv customers are in tune with. Milk Road has shared how maintaining strong engagement and list quality played an important role in their scalability. Check out the full case study here to see how this worked in action.

You can’t re-engage all inactive subscribers. This is important to remember, as your aim should be to keep the right people, rather than the ones who won’t engage and will only drag down your metrics.

Before launching my re-engagement campaigns, I spend some time identifying which subscribers are inactive and which may be temporarily distracted. beehiiv makes this so much easier by surfacing engagement data at both individual and segment levels. 

Here are some tips for how I identify inactive subscribers.

The first step in understanding who is truly inactive is to look at user behavior. 

In beehiiv, I analyze opens and clicks to spot patterns. For example, someone who opens your emails occasionally but never clicks is different from someone who hasn’t opened an email from you all year.

I tend to create segments based on the following:

This data provides me with information on where my engagement is breaking down. A subscriber who never clicks may need a different message than someone who has stopped opening your emails completely.

Check out this beehiiv roundup of the most successful newsletters of 2024, which highlights how newsletters that focus on high engagement and relevance achieve the best results.

There are no universal rules for timing, with the correct re-engagement window being informed by how often you send and what type of content you like to publish.

For daily or multi-weekly newsletters, 30-45 days of inactivity can be quite telling. 

If you send your newsletter weekly or bi-weekly, I’d advise waiting 60-90 days before labelling someone as an inactive subscriber.

Consistency is key here. You should pick a timeframe that works with your publishing schedule and stick to it, ensuring that your re-engagement campaigns are always proactive rather than reactive.

A mistake I used to make again and again was holding onto inactive subscribers for too long. I didn’t want to let them go, but this was just hurting my performance, and I had to learn to accept this.

These days, I tag unresponsive users in beehiiv, which allows me to exclude them from regular sends and target them with re-engagement campaigns. And, ultimately, if they don’t engage, I remove them cleanly from my lists.

beehiiv’s segmentation tools make cleaning your list super easy and reversible, if necessary. You’re not blindly deleting data; you’re making informed decisions about your subscribers that will benefit both you and them in the future.

Over my 10 years working in digital marketing, I’ve refined a repeatable framework that works across different industries and niches.

These are my re-engagement campaign examples from what I’ve run in beehiiv, with each campaign following a clear sequence.

This email sets the tone for re-engagement, with a friendly, human, and pressure-free feel.

I like to acknowledge the silence from my subscribers, without manipulating them or making them feel guilty. I send something like:

“I’ve noticed we’ve not seen you here for a while and wanted to check in!”

Pairing this with a simple call to action (CTA) like “Click To Stay Subscribed” encourages them to re-engage, without making them feel obliged if they’re really not interested.

This email alone receives a great re-engagement rate. Sometimes people just need reminding that your brand still exists or that they need to update their preferences.

If I don’t receive a response to my first email, my second email focuses more on value. This is where I highlight what subscribers are missing from not reading my emails, such as a free resource, a popular post they may have missed, or an exclusive download.

This step answers the question many people ask: “What is a re-engagement message supposed to say?” It asks the user why staying subscribed is worth their attention and if they should re-engage (or not).

Remember to always offer genuine value with these campaigns, rather than heavy discounts or gimmicks, to consistently improve your engagement rates.

The third message in the sequence is arguably the most important.

It’s a respectful, “If I don’t hear from you, I’ll remove you from our list” message, creating a sense of urgency and clarifying which users want to stay on your list. 

This step is crucial for list quality, as it prevents spam complaints. When subscribers know what is about to happen, they’re more prepared and less likely to react negatively towards your brand.

The last email in this sequence either informs removal or gives unengaged subscribers a chance to opt back in.

This email is purely informational and shouldn’t include any content that makes subscribers feel ashamed that they haven’t engaged recently.

This ensures that unengaged subscribers are cleaned from your list, improving future deliverability and respecting your previous list members.

Why Listen to Me? I have been working in the digital marketing space for nearly 10 years, predominantly helping brands with their email marketing and online presence. I now specialize in creating great content for beehiiv to help people nail their email strategies!

beehiiv allows creators to automate and segment without external tools, which is why I rely on it for my own re-engagement campaigns.

Everything from segmentation to automation is built in, negating the need to learn other tools and saving me money on multiple subscriptions.

Below are the main ways beehiiv helps make my re-engagement campaigns easier and more consistent.

When setting up a re-engagement campaign, I use beehiiv to create segments based on inactivity windows. These could be “No opens in 60 days” or “No clicks in 90 days.”

Once these segments have been created, they automatically update, which means that new inactive subscribers will flow into this segment without me needing to add them manually.

This makes it really easy to run re-engagement campaigns quarterly or monthly, without needing to rebuild your list every time.

Automation is an area where beehiiv really stands out.

I love that I can set rules like:

This level of automation is based on user behavior, which ensures that subscribers only receive what is most relevant to them.

This also improves overall engagement levels by avoiding unnecessary emails that don’t apply to certain groups of subscribers.

List clean-up always used to scare me because I was worried about losing historical insights or long-term trends.

beehiiv has reassured me here by preserving historical data even after cleanup. This allows me to keep analyzing engagement levels before re-engagement, reactivation rates, and long-term retention after campaigns.

This data helps me refine future re-engagement campaign best practices and proves what works best for my subscribers.

I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my own re-engagement campaigns, which means you can learn from the errors I made rather than making your own.

The biggest mistake I made in the early days was sending subscribers too many reminders. I thought more emails equaled better results, but I actually found that this just irritated people, leading to reduced engagement and more unsubscribes.

Another mistake I made was offering weak incentives. If the value wasn’t compelling enough, people wouldn’t re-engage. Discounts or generic promises rarely work for newsletters; the user is already disengaged and needs something really special to bring them back into the fold.

I also learned how important personalization is within my re-engagement emails. Broad messaging would typically underperform, while segmented, behavior-based campaigns would resonate with people and encourage them to re-engage.

Today, I rely heavily on beehiiv’s ongoing segmentation tools for consistent re-engagement campaigns, rather than sending one-off emails.

Identifying inactivity early, sending thoughtful messages, and cleaning your list with intention helps to protect deliverability and strengthen campaign engagement. 

I love that beehiiv makes this process really easy with built-in segmentation, automation, and analytics that are designed for contemporary newsletters. 

If you’re ready to reignite your subscribers, start a free, 14-day trial with beehiiv to run smarter re-engagement campaigns at scale.

Effective re-engagement emails should be clear, respectful, and provide instant value. They should always avoid guilt-based messaging and naturally mention any noticed inactivity in a non-shaming way.

When writing a re-engagement email, you should explain what the subscriber will gain by remaining a member of your list. This could involve clarifying whether there will be more insights, resources, or exclusive content to enjoy. 

Strong re-engagement campaign examples focus on clear CTAs, like clicking to remain subscribed or a link to update preferences. They also use personalization and timing for re-engagement campaign best practices.

A re-engagement message is one email sent within a sequence that aims to reignite an inactive subscriber. This message may say something along the lines of “we miss you,” highlighting content they may have missed or asking if they’re still interested in hearing from you.

The goal should be to spark interest without putting pressure on the subscriber, improving campaign engagement while respecting the user’s inbox.

You can re-engage past clients or subscribers by sending relevant re-engagement emails. Show what’s changed since they last interacted with you, such as new content formats, improved insights, or better value.

You can use segmentation to tailor messaging based on user behavior to avoid generic outreach. Re-engagement campaigns that are focused on value and clarity will outperform those that rely on urgency alone, particularly when they’re automated through a platform like beehiiv.

A re-engagement campaign is a structured email sequence that is designed to reconnect with inactive subscribers. This involves sending them different content from your regular newsletters, focusing on understanding whether someone still wants your content or not.

This type of campaign can improve engagement, deliverability, and ensure that your list is healthy by retaining interested subscribers and removing those who are no longer engaged.

The best way to re-engage an email list is to start by segmenting subscribers who haven’t opened or clicked on your emails in a certain timeframe, such as 60 or 90 days. Then, run a re-engagement campaign that reminds them of why they first subscribed to your mailing list, offers clear value, and gives them an easy out if they want to unsubscribe.

Tools like beehiiv make it super easy to automate follow-up campaigns and measure engagement throughout the process to ensure that you’re achieving the best results possible.