Why a Sunset Policy Matters

A clear sunset policy is one of the simplest ways to protect both the performance and cost of your email program.

• Improves deliverability: Prevents messages from drifting into spam folders by avoiding disengaged inboxes. Remember, ISPs are judging your emails and your domain by whether they are getting opened and clicked.
  
• Protects sender reputation: Keeps your domain and IP associated with real engagement, not ignored sends. High click and open rates signal that you provide value.
  
• Boosts engagement metrics: Sending primarily to active users lifts open rates, clicks, and conversions.
  
• Saves money: Reduces contact-based costs from ESPs and CRMs that charge by audience size.

How to Build Your Sunset Policy

Think of your email list as a set of concentric circles, each with a clear purpose. Every contact should belong to exactly one of these groups at any given time.

1. Define Your Emailable Range

Suggested name: Emailable or MaxEmailable

This is the largest audience you are willing to email under any circumstances.

When you really need to stretch your list, for example, for a major annual sale or required operational messages, this is as far as you go.

If you’re not sure where to start, anchor yourself in legal guidelines. While the U.S. remains relatively permissive, I typically default to CASL standards as a conservative baseline:

• 24 months for purchasers, volunteers, or anyone with a deliberate, documented relationship (including email engagement)
  
• 6 months for prospects or “looky-loos” who haven’t engaged with an email
  

Yes, there are nuances. You’ll refine this over time. But this gives you a defensible starting point.

This group must be large enough to cover operational obligations, such as:

• Terms and conditions updates
• Pricing or policy changes
• Required legal notifications
  

You may also tap into this group cautiously for rare, high-impact sends.

2. Define Your Sunsetting Group

Suggested name: Sunsetting

This group lives outside your emailable range.

You do not send to them. However, they are close enough to re-entry that you’re willing to give them time to come back on their own.

This group primarily exists for visibility and alignment:

• To show leadership that you’re giving disengaged users a reasonable chance to return
• To avoid premature deletion that might raise concerns internally
  

How long contacts stay here depends on two factors:

1. Pressure from leadership to retain records
   
2. Per-contact cost from your ESP or CRM
   

Once someone ages out of this group, they can be safely removed from your database.

3. Define Your Engaged Group

Suggested name: Engaged or timeperiod_engaged

This is your core audience and should represent the majority of your sends.

To define it, look at your conversion data:

• How engaged were users before they converted?
• At what point does conversion drop to near zero?
  

That drop-off point defines your engagement window.

This is your bread-and-butter audience that drives:

• Revenue
• Retention
• Most of your testing and optimization
  

4. Define Your Highly Engaged Group

Suggested name: Highly_Engaged

These users:

• Open and click consistently
• Have frequent site or app sessions
• Actively recognize your brand
  

Use this group strategically:

• Mini-warming: Send to them first to generate early opens before holiday campaigns, major launches, and high-volume sale days
  
• Perks: Early access, reminders, or after-hours nudges
  

This group is one of your strongest levers for deliverability control.

5. Optional: Define a Very Highly Engaged Group

This is your smallest but most powerful audience.

These are:

• Brand advocates
• Power users
• People who will “go to the mattresses” for you
  

Use them when you want to:

• Generate buzz before a launch
• Test messaging
• Seed momentum organically
  

Not every program needs this group, but when it exists, it’s incredibly valuable.

Re-Engagement Campaigns: Run Them in Stages

A sunset policy only works if you give people clear chances to re-engage before they age out.

1. Brand Re-Engagement

Use this when users still open emails but haven’t interacted with your product or site.

Focus on:

• What’s new
• What’s changed
• New features or offerings
• Fresh value they may have missed
  

This is about reminding them why they signed up.

2. Email Re-Engagement

Trigger this when email engagement itself starts to decline.

Run this before they leave your engaged group.

Tactics include:

• Your most compelling or highest-performing content
• A reminder of the preference center
• Frequency options
  

For example, if they are on a daily email, offer them a weekly digest that hits the week’s highlights.

3. Final “We Miss You” Message

This is your last stop before they leave the emailable range.

Be direct and transparent:

• Let them know they’ll stop receiving emails in X days
• Explain what they’ll miss if they don’t re-engage
• Clarify that they’ll also fall outside the operational notification window
• Give them one clear path back
  

This message should feel respectful, not desperate. It’s about consent and clarity, not guilt.

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A strong sunset policy isn’t about sending fewer emails.
It’s about sending smarter emails to people who actually want it.

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