Phil PowisChief Wisdom Keeper @ Sacred Business Flow

How long to keep inactive subscribers #substack #shorts

14 May 2026 · 2 min

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In this short conversation, Speaker A asks for guidance on deciding how long to retain inactive email subscribers before removing them, noting that recommendations range from 30 to 180 days. Speaker B explains that 180 days should be viewed as an upper bound rather than a fixed rule. The appropriate inactivity window depends on three main factors: (1) the volume and frequency of emails sent – higher frequency allows a tighter window (e.g., 30‑45 days if you email daily), (2) the total number of touchpoints a subscriber has received – fewer touchpoints require a longer observation period, and (3) the seasonal nature of the business – if you send fewer emails during certain seasons, a broader window (up to 180 days) gives enough time to assess re‑engagement without risking deliverability or reputation issues. The speakers stress that the decision should be customized to each sender’s cadence and audience, using 180 days only as a safety ceiling.

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last couple years and every month people might be surprised because every month I'm letting at least probably 500, 500 people, people go. And that's, it's part of what you're saying, but I'm curious, like you mentioned 180 days and there's a lot of different opinions on that, you know, from, you know, more aggressive 30 to 60 to 90 to 180. How do you, and I, and I don't, my personal belief is that's not a one necessarily a one size fits all, but for someone who's considering you know, this idea of knowing when it makes sense to let somebody go. What, what, what, what would you say? Like, what was it that led you to say 180? Is there, is there any sort of a formula or a decision-making process that you might guide someone through to come to that decision on what the right length is of time?
Yeah, definitely. I would say like 180 is just like the maximum you want to adopt without getting yourself into too much trouble. But it really depends on how many emails you're sending and how many emails somebody has received from you. So like, if you send an email per day and somebody hasn't opened an email in 30 days or 45 days, you can probably remove that. But if you send 2 emails a month, then you're going to have much, much fewer touchpoints on which to evaluate someone's criteria or like if you're engagement criteria, if you have like a seasonal business as well and you don't do a lot of sending in the summer or the winter, um, then 180 days, it's like, is a, it's a broad enough window for you to consider re-engagement, but it's not so broad that it's going to get you into trouble. That's what I would say. So it's like the more you send, the tighter that window can be in a