In email marketing, we spend so much time trying to grow our lists — but rarely talk about the courage it takes to shrink them.
Yet, smart senders know that sometimes the best way to protect deliverability is not to send more, but to send less — and better.
That’s where sunset policies come in.
They define when and how you stop emailing people who no longer engage with your messages.
🔍 What Is a Sunset Policy?
A sunset policy is a structured process for managing inactive subscribers — the users who haven’t opened, clicked, or interacted with your emails for a defined period.
Instead of sending to them indefinitely, you decide:
- • When to stop sending;
- • Whether to attempt re-engagement first;
- • When to remove or suppress them completely.
It’s a deliverability hygiene practice and a sign of respect for your audience’s attention.
🧭 Why It Matters
Inactive users are silent reputation killers.
Mailbox providers like Gmail and Outlook use engagement signals to decide whether your emails deserve the inbox or the spam folder.
If a large percentage of recipients:
- • Never open your emails,
- • Delete them without reading, or
- • Let them pile up unread…
your sender reputation slowly erodes — even if your content is good.
Low engagement = Low reputation = Poor inbox placement.
A sunset policy helps you break that cycle.
⚙️ What a Good Sunset Policy Looks Like
There’s no universal formula — it depends on your audience and sending frequency — but here’s a solid framework:
1️⃣ Identify inactivity.
Decide what “inactive” means for you — 3 months without an open? 6 months without a click?
Use metrics that truly reflect engagement, not vanity stats.
2️⃣ Trigger a re-engagement campaign.
Before saying goodbye, give users one more chance to stay.
Send a friendly message like:
- “We noticed you haven’t opened our emails in a while. Still want to hear from us?”
- Include a simple one-click confirmation.
3️⃣ Respect their silence.
If they still don’t respond, sunset them — stop mailing or move them to a low-frequency segment.
4️⃣ Track and review results.
Measure how pruning your list affects open rates, spam complaints, and deliverability.
You’ll likely see improvement within weeks.
📊 A Real Deliverability Boost
Brands that apply sunset logic often see:
- • +20–40% increase in open rates,
- • Lower spam complaints,
- • Improved sender reputation and inbox placement,
- • Fewer hard bounces and resource waste.
Why? Because mailbox providers reward consistent, positive engagement.
When you stop sending to unresponsive users, your active audience signals become stronger.
💬 Common Objections
- “But I worked hard to build that list!”
True — but keeping disengaged addresses helps no one.
You wouldn’t keep calling phone numbers that never pick up — why treat email differently?
- “What if they come back later?”
Then they can re-subscribe!
Include a simple signup option or re-activation form on your site.
Let them return on their own terms.
🌅 Letting Go = Growing Smart
A sunset policy isn’t about cutting your list — it’s about curating it.
It says: We value quality over quantity.
When you remove the noise, you let real relationships thrive.
You protect your sender reputation, reduce spam complaints, and make room for people who actually want to hear from you.
So next time you review your CRM or ESP metrics, ask yourself:
- “Am I sending emails that add value — or just emails that add volume?”
Sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do for your deliverability…
is to stop pressing send.