How to use segmentation during recovery (start small)?

You've fixed your authentication, cleaned your list, and you're ready to start sending again. The temptation is to hit your entire list at once and get back to normal. Don't. Your sender reputation is fragile right now, and mailbox providers are watching closely. Starting small and earning trust back methodically is the only way this works.

Think of it in three phases, each gated by your metrics rather than by a calendar.

Phase 1: Your most loyal 30-day engagers

Start with subscribers who opened or clicked something in the last 30 days and came from a confirmed, high-quality opt-in source. This is your smallest, cleanest, most engaged slice. Volume might feel uncomfortably low, and that's fine. You want mailbox providers to see a signal that looks like people genuinely want your emails. Target a bounce rate under 2% and a spam complaint rate under 0.08% before you consider moving on.

Phase 2: Add your 60-day engagers

Once you've sent a few campaigns to phase 1 and your metrics are holding steady, you can fold in subscribers who engaged in the last 60 days. Watch your numbers carefully after each send. If your bounce rate climbs above 2% or complaints tick upward, pause and hold at phase 1 until things settle. Don't rush this. One bad campaign can undo two weeks of careful progress.

Phase 3: Stretch to 90-day engagers

Still if phase 2 stays clean, you can expand to 90-day engagers. The pace of expansion should actually slow here, not speed up, because each new group added carries slightly more uncertainty. Still keep an eye on your key recovery metrics after every campaign, not just periodically.

Who stays off your list during recovery

Still some addresses shouldn't be in any phase right now. Subscribers who haven't engaged in six months or more are risky territory during recovery, and honestly, many of them shouldn't come back at all until you've done a proper re-engagement campaign with them as a separate effort. Also exclude anyone from an unknown or questionable source, and anyone who previously reported your email as spam. No exceptions on that last one.

The logic behind all of this is simple. You're feeding mailbox providers a diet of positive signals, opens, clicks, replies, no complaints, no bounces. Once they start trusting your domain again, expansion gets easier. But skip the early discipline and you risk resetting to zero.

Not sure how to structure this in your ESP or what counts as an engaged subscriber? Our SOS hotline is free and we'll walk through your specific setup with you.