Why I Deleted 3,370 Subscribers On Purpose (And Why You Should Too)

In partnership with

The Day My Email List Felt Like a Graveyard

You ever open your ESP and feel like you’re running a ghost town?

That was me a while back—staring at a list of 17,000 subscribers. On paper, it looked impressive.

But under the hood? Not so much.

Engagement was soft. Replies were few and far between. My “hot list” felt… cold. And Gmail? Gmail was starting to treat my emails like unsolicited faxes in 1999.

I knew something was off.

So I did something that felt extreme at the time—but ended up being one of the smartest moves I’ve made in email marketing:

I deleted over 3,000 subscribers in one afternoon… And it changed the way I email forever.

Let’s break it down.

Sponsored

The newsletter every professional should be reading

There’s a reason Morning Brew is the gold standard of business news—it’s the easiest and most enjoyable way to stay in the loop on all the headlines impacting your world.

Tech, finance, sales, marketing, and everything in between—we’ve got it all. Just the stuff that matters, served up in a fast, fun read.

Look—over 4 million professionals start their day with Morning Brew’s daily newsletter, and it only takes 5 minutes to read. Sign up for free and see for yourself!

Check it out

The Moment I Knew Something Had to Change

I used to treat my list size like a scoreboard.

More leads meant more growth. More subscribers meant more sales.
Or at least—that’s what I told myself.

But over time, something felt off.

The numbers weren’t lying… but they weren’t telling the whole truth either.

Emails were going out, but the energy coming back was flat.
Fewer opens. Fewer clicks. Fewer replies.
Even my best subject lines were falling on deaf inboxes.

It was like shouting into a crowd that had quietly slipped out the back door.

That’s when I realized… I needed to purge my list. “Bigly”

But…Why Would Anyone Do That?

Once I took off the “bigger is better” blinders, I saw the truth:

Most of those subscribers weren’t real fans.
They weren’t buyers.
They weren’t even readers anymore.

They were ghosts.

And keeping them around was quietly sabotaging my engagement, deliverability, and—yep—revenue.

The Purge: What I Did (and How)

I didn’t go in swinging wildly. This was a clean, strategic cut.

Here’s how I approached it:

1. Segmented my list
   → Anyone with zero opens or clicks in 90+ days went on the “gray zone” list.

2. Ran a re-engagement sequence
   → 3 short, human emails. Think:

   • “Are we still good?”

   • “Want to keep hearing from me?”

   • “Last call—speak now or I’ll assume you’ve ghosted.”

3. Watched the replies, opens, and clicks
   → Anyone who showed a pulse? They stayed.

4. Deleted the rest
   → Not unsubscribed. Not archived. Fully removed from the platform.

And you know what? The moment I hit delete… it felt like a weight came off.

Not just technically—but mentally.
I wasn’t dragging digital dead weight anymore.

“But What If You Deleted a Future Buyer?”

That’s the fear, right?

We all play the “what if” game:

Maybe… but unlikely.

Here’s my take:
If someone hasn’t opened or clicked in three months—and ignores multiple re-engagement attempts—they’re not a future buyer.

They’re a “ghost”.

And keeping ghosts around out of fear is like saving expired milk because maybe it’ll un-expire.

It sounds silly—but that’s how many marketers treat their lists.

What Changed After the Cut?

I’m not going to hit you with exaggerated metrics.

But I will tell you this: the list got sharper.

• Replies came back to life

• Inboxing improved

• Clicks became more intentional

• I felt more excited to hit “send”

Because now I wasn’t yelling into a void.
I was talking to people who were actually listening.

And when that shift happens?
Every email hits harder.

Want to Run Your Own Cleanout?

Here’s a super simple playbook to run your own digital detox:

1. Filter out non-engagers
→ No opens or clicks in the last 60–90 days.

2. Send a 3-email re-engagement sequence
→ Keep it short, friendly, and honest. Let them know what’s happening.

3. Set a deadline and delete
→ No guilt. No begging. Just a clean break.

Run this every 3–4 months like clockwork, and your list will stay lean, clean, and highly responsive.

The Wrap-up: Your List Is Not a Museum

Your email list is not a trophy case.
It’s not a scrapbook of every opt-in you’ve ever collected.
It’s a living, breathing engine that needs attention and maintenance.

So don’t let it rot.

Don’t fear the delete button.

Because when you start treating attention as a privilege—not a guarantee—you’ll write better, sell smarter, and grow faster.

That’s it for today’s InBoXer.

Tomorrow?
We’re diving into The 3 Most Seductive Lies in Email Marketing—and how they’re quietly killing your conversions.

Hint: One of them is buried in your welcome sequence... 👀

See you in the inbox,
The InBoXer Team