Managing your subscriber list effectively is key to maintaining a strong email marketing strategy. Whether you’re cleaning your list to boost engagement or adjusting your billing plan, understanding the difference between suppressing and deleting profiles is critical. Here’s a detailed guide to help you make the right decision.

What Are Active Profiles?

Active profiles are email subscribers who remain eligible to receive communications. Their engagement directly affects your metrics, such as open and click-through rates, and impacts your billing plan if you use platforms like Klaviyo.

When you suppress or delete profiles, the changes in active profiles should reflect immediately. However, there are cases where counts might be delayed or data overlaps cause confusion. Let’s explore suppression and deletion in detail.

Suppression: Retain Data Without Engagement

When to Suppress Profiles

• Best For: Maintaining historical data while ensuring inactive profiles do not receive emails.

• Why Use It?

  • You want to keep records for future analytics or reporting.
  • You may want to re-engage these profiles later.

How to Suppress Profiles

1. Navigate to the Profiles tab.
2. Select unengaged profiles.
3. Click Suppress Profiles.

What Happens After Suppression?

• Suppressed profiles are excluded from your active list.
• Historical data (e.g., past campaigns and engagement metrics) remains accessible.
• Suppressed profiles can be unsuppressed if reactivation is needed.

Important Note: Suppressing profiles does not immediately affect your billing plan. Downgrades are manual and require you to adjust your plan in the billing settings.

Deletion: A Permanent Solution

When to Delete Profiles

• Best For: Completely removing profiles you no longer need.

• Why Use It?

  • You’re confident the data tied to these profiles is no longer useful.
  • You want to free up space and reduce clutter in your account.

How to Delete Profiles

1. Go to the Profiles tab.
2. Select the profiles you wish to delete.
3. Click Delete Profiles.

What Happens After Deletion?

• All associated data, including engagement history, is permanently erased.
• Deleted profiles cannot be recovered or unsuppressed.

How Often Should You Clean Your List?

Cleaning your list should be a regular practice to ensure optimal engagement and deliverability. Here’s a recommended schedule:

• Quarterly: For most businesses, cleaning your list every three months aligns with seasonal changes and helps maintain a healthy subscriber base.
• Monthly: If you send frequent campaigns or notices, a monthly review can keep your list optimized.
• Event-Triggered: After major promotions, such as Black Friday or a product launch, clean up unengaged profiles to improve post-campaign metrics.

Pro Tip: Export Your Segments Before Deletion

Before deleting profiles, always export the segment as a CSV file. This gives you a backup of the data in case you need to reference it later.

How to Export Profiles

1. Navigate to the segment of profiles you plan to delete.
2. Click the Export Segment option.
3. Save the CSV file securely for future reference.

By doing this, you retain a record of email addresses, engagement data, or any custom fields that may be useful later.

Suppression vs. Deletion: Key Considerations

Recommendation

• Suppress Profiles if you might need the data in the future or want to maintain historical insights.
• Delete Profiles only when you’re certain the data is no longer relevant, and always back up the segment before proceeding.

Why Your Active Profile Count May Not Update Immediately

If your active profile count remains unchanged after suppression or deletion, here’s why:

1. Already Suppressed Profiles: Suppressing a profile multiple times won’t change the count.
2. Delayed Count Updates: Occasionally, profile counts take time to refresh. Check back after a short period to confirm the update.

Final Thoughts

Cleaning your list is an essential part of email marketing. Suppression provides a flexible way to reduce clutter without losing valuable insights, while deletion offers a more permanent solution. By scheduling regular list cleanups and exporting segments before deletion, you ensure a strategic approach that safeguards your data and optimizes performance.

If you’re still unsure or have additional questions, feel free to reach out! We’re here to help.