What small email marketing best practice makes the biggest performance difference?

Hi! If I had to pick one “small” best practice that consistently makes the biggest measurable difference, it’s regularly sunsetting (pausing) inactive subscribers instead of continuing to email everyone. It usually improves deliverability/inbox placement first, and then you’ll see a lift in open rate, click-through rate, and fewer spam complaints because you’re concentrating sends on people who still want your emails.

Here’s a simple, practical way to do it without overcomplicating your email marketing:

• Define “inactive” by actions, not just time. A common approach is “no opens/clicks in 90–180 days,” but if you have click/website tracking, weight clicks (and purchases) more than opens.
• Run a short re-engagement sequence (2–3 emails). Keep it straightforward: “Still want these?” + what they’ll get + a clear “yes, keep me subscribed” action (click a button/link).
• Then stop mailing the rest (don’t keep hammering them). You can either:
  • move them to a “paused” segment (best if you want to keep them in your system), or
  • suppress them from campaigns but allow them to resubscribe later.
• Keep collecting new consent normally. The goal isn’t to shrink your list forever—it’s to protect your sender reputation so your engaged subscribers reliably see you in the inbox.

Why it tends to work: mailbox providers pay a lot of attention to engagement signals and complaint rates. When you keep sending to people who aren’t engaging, you’re more likely to hit the spam folder (or promotions tab more aggressively), which drags down performance even for your best subscribers.

If you tell me your rough sending frequency (daily/weekly/monthly) and how long it’s been since you last cleaned the list, I can suggest a safe “inactive” cutoff and a re-engagement flow that won’t tank results in the short term.