At Hesper, we specialize in scalable, data-driven solutions that drive business growth. One of the most common issues we see when auditing a client's CRM ecosystem is a bloated subscriber list full of unengaged contacts. If your database hasn't been cleaned recently, you likely have a significant portion of subscribers who haven't opened an email or clicked a link in months—or even years.
Ignoring these inactive users isn't just bad for your engagement metrics; it actively damages your brand's ability to reach the inbox. The solution? Implementing a strategic Dormants Journey (also known as a Re-engagement or Win-Back Journey) in Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC).
The Hidden Cost of Inactive Contacts
Why should you care if someone simply deletes your email without opening it? There are two massive reasons:
- Sender Reputation: Modern email providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook use sophisticated algorithms to determine inbox placement. They heavily weigh subscriber engagement. If you consistently send emails to a massive list of people who never open them, these providers will classify you as a low-quality sender and start routing your emails directly to the spam folder—even for your engaged subscribers.
- Platform Costs: Salesforce Marketing Cloud bases its pricing structure largely on your contact count. Holding onto hundreds of thousands of "dead weight" records is a direct drain on your marketing budget.
How a Dormants Journey Works
A Dormants Journey is an automated process built within Journey Builder to identify fading subscribers, give them one last chance to engage, and gracefully remove them if they don't.
Here is how our certified technical CRM experts typically architect this solution:
- Identify the Target Audience via Automation Studio: Using SQL queries against SFMC Data Views (like
_Sent,_Open, and_Click), we isolate subscribers who have been sent emails over the last 6 to 12 months but have zero recorded opens or clicks. - The Win-Back Campaign: These users are injected into a Journey Builder flow. They receive a specialized, highly compelling email. The subject line should be direct (e.g., "Do you still want to hear from us?"). The content should offer an easy way to opt down their frequency or confirm they want to stay on the list.
- The Clean-up Action: If the subscriber opens the email or clicks the link, they are routed back into your active audience pool. If they ignore this final attempt, SFMC can automatically change their status to 'Unsubscribed' or flag them for deletion using the Contact Delete framework.
The Results You Can Expect
Once this architecture is in place and running automatically, the impact on your marketing program is immediate. Your open rates and click-through rates will artificially "skyrocket" because the denominator (your total send volume) has shrunk to only include people who actually care about your brand.
More importantly, your deliverability rates will stabilize. ISPs will see that your list is highly engaged, ensuring that your most critical marketing messages land right at the top of the inbox.
Setting up your CRM from the ground up, fixing your data flows, or custom-coding a new trigger can be complex, but you don't have to do it alone.