List Hygiene
Using List Hygiene is a great way to remove Contacts from your Audience after a period of inactivity. Removing Contacts who are not engaging with your content is an easy way to maintain your sender reputation with great deliverability and boost engagement!
In This Article
Before Getting Started
To get the most out of List Hygiene, your account should have at least one List with Contacts who have been active for at least 30 days and have received at least one email.
Please Note
List hygiene is enabled per list. If a Contact is on multiple lists, this tool will only remove them from the specified list.
If you'd like to remove inactive contacts that have been on a list for less than 30 days, the best way to do so is with a Segment. Learn more about that process here.
Smart List Hygiene
Smart List Hygiene is a one-time, manual removal of Contacts who have not engaged with any emails in a certain number of days. Choose this option if you'd like to remove Contacts at one point in time rather than on an ongoing basis.
- Click on the Audience icon in the left-hand menu bar → Lists tab → View icon next to the List you'd like to process
- Click the black Hygiene button
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Choose the number of days Contacts should be unengaged for before they are removed
Please Note
The minimum removal threshold is 10 days of inactivity and the maximum is 365 days.
- Click Remove Inactive Contacts to start processing your List!
Once the process is complete, inactive Contacts will be removed from your List and you'll receive an email with an export .csv file that includes all of removed Contacts' details.
Automatic List Hygiene
Automatic List Hygiene automatically runs Smart List Hygiene at regular intervals. Choose this option if you'd like to continuously remove unengaged Contacts automatically!
- Click on the Audience icon in the left-hand menu bar → Lists tab → View icon next to the List you'd like to process
- Click the black Hygiene button
- In the List Hygiene pop-up, click the Automatic tab
- Click the toggle to Enabled
- Choose the number of days Contacts should be unengaged for before they are removed and how often you'd like List Hygiene to process for the selected List
Please Note
We recommend removing contacts that have been unengaged for 60 days, and running list hygiene every 14 days.
- Click Update Automatic Hygiene and List Hygiene will automatically run for you!
Every time List Hygiene runs, Contacts will be removed according to the unengagement settings you've specified and you'll receive an email with an export .csv file that includes details on the Contacts that were removed.
List Hygiene History
The History tab shows the date and time of all past List Hygiene processes, the number of Contacts removed during each process, and the ability to download a .csv file of the removed Contacts' details or the option to restore the removed Contacts to the List.
Please Note
Be cautious when restoring contacts removed by list hygiene. If these contacts were not engaging with your content previously, it is very unlikely that they will start engaging in the future.
Sending to unengaged contacts will hurt your deliverability and open rates, and may even damage your sender reputation over time.