What is a re-engagement threshold?
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A re-engagement threshold is the point of inactivity at which you stop just hoping and start doing something about a subscriber. Hit the threshold and you trigger either a re-engagement campaign or a removal.
Most programs use 60 to 90 days without an open or click as their threshold. High-frequency senders (daily newsletters) often set it lower because engagement signals accumulate faster. Low-frequency senders (monthly digests) set it higher because a subscriber might genuinely be active but just hasn't had a reason to click yet.
Why does the threshold matter beyond list tidiness? Because ignoring inactive subscribers damages your sender reputation. Mailbox providers watch how recipients treat your mail. If a growing segment never opens, never clicks, and occasionally hits spam, providers notice. Your domain's trust score erodes quietly until filtering gets heavier across your whole list, not just for the inactive people.
There's also the spam trap risk. Old email addresses that go completely dormant sometimes get repurposed as traps by anti-abuse organizations. The longer you keep sending to them, the closer you get to hitting one.
Setting your threshold is judgment, not science. Start with 90 days for most programs. Track what happens to overall engagement when you suppress that segment. Adjust from there.
Our list hygiene guide walks through how to clean and segment a list that's gotten out of hand.
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