How to reconfirm your contacts in Connect

If your database has a lot of subscribed contacts who haven't heard from you recently, it's worth checking they still want your marketing emails. Sending to stale or invalid addresses can lead to high bounce rates, spam complaints, and unsubscribes, all of which damage your sender reputation and reduce deliverability for everyone on your list.

Even if an email address is still valid, a contact may file a spam complaint simply because they've forgotten who you are or no longer want to hear from you. These stale addresses quietly erode your campaign performance over time.

A reconfirmation campaign lets you identify who's still interested, clean up who isn't, and improve your open rates going forward.

When to run a reconfirmation

Consider reconfirming your contacts when:

You haven't sent any campaigns in 3+ months and are about to restart
Your open rates are declining and you're not sure why
You've recently migrated contacts from another platform
A large portion of your database was imported rather than organically captured
You're seeing increased spam complaints or bounces in campaign reports

Step 1: Build a segment of quiet contacts

Start by identifying contacts who are subscribed but haven't engaged recently.

Go to Contacts → Search Your Contacts
Add the following criteria:
- Last email opened is more than 90 days ago (or 180 days for a less aggressive approach)
- Subscribed (email) equals Yes
Set match mode to Match all conditions (AND)
Optionally, add filters to exclude contacts who have already bounced or previously unsubscribed
Click Search, then Save This Segment
Name it clearly — e.g. "Reconfirmation – inactive 180d"

See: How to search your contacts in Connect

Step 2: Send a reconfirmation campaign

Create a campaign targeted at your inactive segment. The goal is simple: give contacts a clear, easy way to confirm they still want to hear from you.

Subject line ideas:

"Still want to hear from us?"
"Do you want to keep receiving our updates?"
"We'd hate to see you go — confirm your subscription"

What to include in the email:

A clear "Stay subscribed" button — this is your primary call to action
A brief reminder of what they'll receive and how often (e.g. "We send monthly specials and event invites")
A link to manage preferences or unsubscribe — make it easy and obvious
Optionally, an incentive to re-engage (e.g. "Here's 20% off your next visit")

Keep the email short and direct. This isn't a marketing email — it's a permission check.

Step 3 : Send a reminder to non-openers

After 7–10 days, send one polite follow-up to contacts who didn't open the first email.

Use a different subject line to improve the chance of an open — e.g. "Last chance to stay on our list"
Keep the content the same or similar
Make it clear this is their final opportunity to confirm

💡 Tip: Don't send more than one reminder. Multiple follow-ups to unengaged contacts can trigger spam filters and do more harm than good.

Step 4: Handle non-responders

After your reminder window (typically 14 days from the first send), anyone who still hasn't opened or clicked should be unsubscribed or removed.

You have two options:

Option A - Bulk unsubscribe in Connect (fastest)

Open or re-run your reconfirmation segment
Filter to contacts who did not open either the original or reminder campaign
Select all → click Update
Set Email Subscription to Unsubscribed (and SMS Subscription if relevant)
Click Apply
Do a quick spot-check to verify the update applied correctly

Option B - Export and re-import via CSV (best for audits)

This approach gives you a file for the venue's records before making changes — useful if they may want to re-add contacts later.

Export the target segment as a CSV, including email, mobile, and subscription columns
In your CSV, update the subscription fields to reflect opt-out:
- If your columns use "unsubscribed_email" or "unsubscribed_sms", remember that Connect uses subscribed fields — you may need to invert the values (0/1, true/false)
Re-import the CSV:
- Map identifiers (email and/or mobile) to match existing records
- Map subscription fields correctly
- Apply a tag like "Suppressed Apr 2026" to track the change
Verify a sample of records to confirm the subscription status updated correctly

See: How to bulk upload contacts in Connect · How to edit, tag, and delete contacts in bulk

💡 Pro tip: Exporting before suppressing or deleting gives the venue a backup file they can keep. If they ever want to re-add those contacts (e.g. for a one-off campaign, or if the business is sold and a larger database adds value), they have the data on hand without cannibalising their live database. This is a good habit for any cleanup operation.

Compliance and deliverability guardrails

There are a few important rules to follow when reconfirming contacts:

Only send reconfirmation emails to currently subscribed contacts — never to contacts who have already unsubscribed or are on the do-not-contact list
Make preference and unsubscribe links obvious and easy to find — burying them undermines trust and may breach anti-spam regulations
Never re-subscribe contacts via automation — moving a contact from Unsubscribed → Subscribed must always be a deliberate human action (e.g. the contact filling in a sign-up form). Integrations may automatically move Subscribed → Unsubscribed when they detect opt-outs, but the reverse should never happen automatically
Don't treat reconfirmation as a marketing campaign — the goal is permission, not promotion. Keep incentives simple and secondary to the confirm/unsubscribe choice

What to expect after reconfirmation

After cleaning up non-responders, you should see:

Higher open rates — you're now sending only to contacts who actively chose to stay
Fewer spam complaints — stale contacts who would have complained are no longer receiving emails
Improved deliverability — email providers reward senders with healthy engagement metrics
A smaller but more valuable database — every contact on your list is there because they want to be

FAQs

How often should I reconfirm? Most venues won't need to do this regularly if they're sending campaigns consistently. It's most useful after a long gap in sending, after a migration, or if you notice deliverability declining. Once a year is a reasonable cadence for a proactive check.

What if a contact wants to re-subscribe after being removed? They can use your sign-up forms (website, social, or in-venue) to opt back in. This ensures proper consent is captured.

Should I delete non-responders or just unsubscribe them? Unsubscribing is the safer first step — the contact stays in your database for reporting and historical data but won't receive marketing. Deletion is permanent and can't be undone. If you want a clean break, export first (Option B above), then delete.

Will this affect my contact count for billing? Yes — Connect only charges for contacts with a subscribed email address. Once a contact is unsubscribed, you're no longer charged for them, but they remain in your database for reporting and historical insights at no cost. So unsubscribing non-responders directly reduces your billable contact count.

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