I don't send emails to my subscribers, other than actual posts. Therefore, I'm not paying Mailchimp or anyone for them. Why should I bother removing inactive ones?
Thanks for the clarification. I use a different autoresponder service, and I clean my list daily. It's a must if you ask me. Especially if you have a list of 1000 or more. It makes sense in the long run, not to mention the cleaner your list, the better your deliverability. It can be a little sad at first seeing people go, but that's the nature of the beast. I don't want anyone on my list who doesn't want to be there anyways.
This is hard to comprehend but necessary to pursue! Inactive subscribers don't add any value to your business. But I treat them differently - I don't completely remove them. I create another segment in kit for this pruned guys and then try to engage them differently by changing the angle of my communication, sharing a story or asking their pain points. Till now I could make 20-30% of such subscribers into active ones by doing this! If more people are interested I can publish detailed post on how to do this.
Someone just messages me saying that I accidentally cleared them off, they don't open my emails because they typically use the app. So this isn't an infallible method of detecting who's reading and who's not.
I’m just starting out, but this makes perfect sense. I’m always intrigued (okay, maybe a little fixated) when someone unsubscribes… Like, what did I say that was that powerful?
Is there any way to know who they are or what triggered the exit?
In my view the typical question „quantity of quality“ doesn‘t help - we need to change that towards „quantity of quality“ meaning more of the right people. Therefore I fully agree with your approach.
I’ve seen notes encouraging people to subscribe to newsletters they don’t have time to read just to help each other’s subscriber counts - I like your approach better! Cleaning up your list is unthinkable from a social media dopamine perspective, but it’s common sense from an email marketing perspective.
hi! Technically, for marketing only, perhaps it helps. But Substack is buggy, and some readers who engage and count show up with zero activity. Plus, we all lurk. Unless, the open rate matters so deeply for someone, I hardly ever advocate deletion. Every approach is different , I suppose. More targeted emails to that filtered list with an ‘Unsubscribe’ if you will button may be a gentler nudge. App readers show low to zero activity on Substack. One helpful addition to your suggestions - even without ‘Prune,’ you can send email to a filtered list, so maybe that step would help if people do want to delete the list. Thanks for sharing your tips.
With email clients that block tracking bots, how would you know that the person who never seems to participate isn't actually reading your posts, and sending them to his friends and relatives.
I've got people who are on proton and other services that never tell me if mail gets read.
The filters are baffling. If I filter "Emails Opened (last 6 months) is 0", I see a long list of subscribers, many of whom have Activity stars. If I filter "Email last opened at is on or before 1 Nov 2024" (i.e. 6 months ago), the list is empty.
I don't send emails to my subscribers, other than actual posts. Therefore, I'm not paying Mailchimp or anyone for them. Why should I bother removing inactive ones?
In general yes.
Too many inactive subscribers and low open rates can lead to your emails landing in spam. That’s one reason.
you mean in spam folders for those inactive users? Or for other people?
Thanks for the clarification. I use a different autoresponder service, and I clean my list daily. It's a must if you ask me. Especially if you have a list of 1000 or more. It makes sense in the long run, not to mention the cleaner your list, the better your deliverability. It can be a little sad at first seeing people go, but that's the nature of the beast. I don't want anyone on my list who doesn't want to be there anyways.
This is hard to comprehend but necessary to pursue! Inactive subscribers don't add any value to your business. But I treat them differently - I don't completely remove them. I create another segment in kit for this pruned guys and then try to engage them differently by changing the angle of my communication, sharing a story or asking their pain points. Till now I could make 20-30% of such subscribers into active ones by doing this! If more people are interested I can publish detailed post on how to do this.
Good point. I never just remove them either. I email those inactive ones beforehand with a few questions. To see if they engage then
Someone just messages me saying that I accidentally cleared them off, they don't open my emails because they typically use the app. So this isn't an infallible method of detecting who's reading and who's not.
Yes. The filter must be based on activity. Not simply email opens. So the app activity is included.
Is there any evidence that inactive subscribers have negative effects in the Substack ecosystem, or is it just for sponsors?
It can have an impact on spam. Your emails can go into the spam folder more often if you have high inactivity and low open rates.
Hi from Colorado!! ❤️🌞
Can you email them specifically from Substack to try to reactivate them?
You can. In the settings under subscribers you can filter and email only a subset which you should definitely do.
It’s a bit early for me to start my “buy or die” programme but your article has made me think about my time working for a direct mail company :)
I’m just starting out, but this makes perfect sense. I’m always intrigued (okay, maybe a little fixated) when someone unsubscribes… Like, what did I say that was that powerful?
Is there any way to know who they are or what triggered the exit?
In my view the typical question „quantity of quality“ doesn‘t help - we need to change that towards „quantity of quality“ meaning more of the right people. Therefore I fully agree with your approach.
I’ve seen notes encouraging people to subscribe to newsletters they don’t have time to read just to help each other’s subscriber counts - I like your approach better! Cleaning up your list is unthinkable from a social media dopamine perspective, but it’s common sense from an email marketing perspective.
Its very useful and great article.
Super helpful, thank you!
hi! Technically, for marketing only, perhaps it helps. But Substack is buggy, and some readers who engage and count show up with zero activity. Plus, we all lurk. Unless, the open rate matters so deeply for someone, I hardly ever advocate deletion. Every approach is different , I suppose. More targeted emails to that filtered list with an ‘Unsubscribe’ if you will button may be a gentler nudge. App readers show low to zero activity on Substack. One helpful addition to your suggestions - even without ‘Prune,’ you can send email to a filtered list, so maybe that step would help if people do want to delete the list. Thanks for sharing your tips.
With email clients that block tracking bots, how would you know that the person who never seems to participate isn't actually reading your posts, and sending them to his friends and relatives.
I've got people who are on proton and other services that never tell me if mail gets read.
"But I'd rather increase my open and click-rates now than wait months on end for this to happen. Especially with a large email list."
Seems like an arcane ritualistic effort to change a number. Why does that number matter?
Open rates do matter. Low open rates can lead to your emails ending up in spam for all your subscribers
The filters are baffling. If I filter "Emails Opened (last 6 months) is 0", I see a long list of subscribers, many of whom have Activity stars. If I filter "Email last opened at is on or before 1 Nov 2024" (i.e. 6 months ago), the list is empty.