9 Email Exclusion Lists & How To Use Them
If you want to keep your open rates high, your unsubscribe rates low, and your deliverability score strong, you need to be using email exclusion lists.
These are segments you build to deliberately EXCLUDE from certain email campaigns.
A common example is excluding recent customers over the last few days from an email announcing a new sale that’s starting today.
You don’t want to annoy the people who’ve paid full price recently, and you certainly don’t want to issue any partial refunds.
This is the tip of the iceberg with exclusion segments, here’s some more you should be using.
Exclusion #1: Recent Subscribers (14 Days)
Why Use It
Once you’ve got a bulletproof welcome sequence that you’ve split tested, and you know it works at converting new first time customers, this should be the only emails new subscribers receive when they join your list.
You don’t want to spam them with your welcome emails, AND your random manual campaigns. It creates mixed messaging.
So instead, build your welcome sequence to focus on introducing your brand, values, and key products.
How to BUILD IT
Build a segment that excludes new subscribers over the last 14 days.
To do this, add an “update profile property” trigger to your welcome flow, with the property named “InWelcomeFlow”.
Then build this segment based on the profile property, i.e “InWelcomeFlow = True”.
Make sure you add a closing profile property update at the end of the welcome flow, so that the profile updates to “InWelcomeFlow = Complete”, to mark that the subscriber has completed the welcome flow.
Exclusion #2: Refunded or Canceled Order
Why Use It
Customers who have recently canceled an order or received a refund may have unresolved issues or negative feelings towards your brand.
Don’t send them emails about reviewing products, or anything else that could trigger a negative reaction, especially emails that are heavily focused on buying your products.
How to BUILD IT
Exclude these customers from promotional emails until their issues are resolved.
Instead, send them personalized emails addressing their concerns and offering solutions or incentives to regain their trust.
To build the segment, simply add in the criteria that someone has “canceled order” OR “refunded order” at least once over all time.
Exclusion #3: Email Preferences = Discounts
Why Use It
Some customers only want to receive emails about discounts.
Respecting their preferences keeps them engaged and reduces the risk of unsubscribes, which negatively affect your deliverability score.
For this, you’ll need to have a Preference Center in place, so that people can let you know what types of content they want to receive.
Check out THIS POST to learn more about how to build a preference center.
How to BUILD IT
Create a segment for customers who have indicated a preference for discount emails ONLY.
Some people might be interested in discounts and product recommendations, so make sure the segment is built for people who only want to receive discounts.
This is how the segment should look.
Next, simply exclude them from receiving other types of emails such as business updates or new product launches.
Exclusion #4: Email Preferences = Product Recommendations
Why Use It
Similar to discount preferences, some customers prefer to receive emails about product recommendations based on their browsing or purchase history.
They might not be interested in blog content, but might love reading about new products.
Again, a preference center is needed in order to use these email exclusion lists.
How to BUILD IT
Follow the same approach as #3, but for “product recommendations”. Example:
Exclusion #6: Email Preferences = Informational/ Updates
Why Use It
Customers who are interested in company updates want to stay informed about new developments, blog posts, or industry news, but not necessarily about discounts or product recommendations. Again, a preference center is needed.
How to BUILD IT
Follow the same approach as #3, but for “informational/ updates”. Example:
Exclusion #7: Bounced Emails (60 Days)
Why Use It
Continuing to send emails to addresses that have bounced repeatedly does huge damage to your email sender reputation.
How to BUILD IT
Exclude email addresses that have bounced in the last 60 days from your campaigns. Regularly clean your email list to maintain a healthy sender reputation.
Exclusion #8: 90 Day Unengaged
Why Use It
Subscribers who haven’t engaged with your emails in the last 90 days are likely to be less interested in your content and more likely to unsubscribe if they continue to receive emails. Plus, they drag your open & click rates down.
How to BUILD IT
Exclude these unengaged subscribers from your regular email campaigns. Instead, try re-engagement campaigns specifically designed to win back their interest.
Exclusion #9: In Flow
Why Use It
Subscribers currently in an automated email flow (e.g., customer winback, cart abandonment) should not receive additional promotional emails, as this can lead to email fatigue as well as confusion.
How to BUILD IT
Exclude subscribers who are currently active in any email flow from your promotional campaigns, by building in an “InFlow = True” or “InFlow = False” profile property into all of your flows.
Allow the subscriber to complete the flow before reintroducing them to your regular email list.
Caveat: Excluding Based on Preferences
When setting up exclusion lists based on email preferences, it’s important to be thorough.
A subscriber might want to receive emails about discounts and product recommendations but not updates.
Ensure you create all necessary variations to avoid unnecessarily excluding people who still want to hear from you.
Conclusion: Email Exclusion Lists
By implementing these nine exclusion lists, you can create a more personalized and relevant email experience for your subscribers.
This approach not only boosts your open rates but also reduces unsubscribe rates, keeping your audience engaged and satisfied with your communications.
Remember, the key is to respect your subscribers’ preferences and interactions with your brand, delivering the content they find most valuable.