How to Re-Engage Your Email List After You’ve Gone Quiet
APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE
Abandoning your email list isn’t something to be ashamed of. We all do it, sometimes.
Sometimes it’s for months, for something like maternity leave, or burnout recovery.
Other times, we just… kinda forget for a few weeks.
Either way, smart, capable business owners decide to return to email marketing and have no idea what to say.
If my clients are dealing with this, there’s a good chance you are too.
So let’s normalize it and talk about how to re-engage your list without accidentally getting flagged as spam or coming on too strong.
Your First Goal Is Engagement, Not Sales
Before you write your first email in this new season, it helps to get clear on why you stopped emailing in the first place. Common reasons to step back from using email in your business are capacity like if you were out on parental leave or lost a team member. Other times, it’s because you took a sabbatical, took a job, pivoted your business, or something that you just don’t want to share with your email list.
All of those are valid.
What matters now is deciding how you want to reconnect. Be intentional moving forward, friends!
And there’s one important technical thing to keep in mind before you hit send:
If you’ve been quiet for a while, your email provider might not fully trust you.
If your first email back is a hard sell, there’s a real chance you’ll get flagged or sent to spam. THIS IS HARD TO COME BACK FROM.
So for your first few emails, think engagement over conversion.
That means sending emails to small segments first, and ensuring that you encourage opens, clicks, and replies. Give value freely. Point people to something useful. Remind the internet gods that real humans want to hear from you.
Pro tip: If you send emails to a small segment first, you may want to reach out to people on social media or personally and ask them to reply or click on the email. This engagement inside of the email will signal that you are trustworthy when you start sending to other segments or your full list!
That foundation makes everything easier later.
What To Write: A Few Smart Ways to Ease Back In
You don’t need a dramatic “I’M BACK” announcement. I always say that business is not an airport: you don’t need to announce your arrival.
Respectfully, nobody is paying as much attention to your emails as you are. So there’s a chance folks didn’t even realize you were gone.
A Few Ideas For Reengagement:
Here are a few things you can try when sending that first email upon your return. What’s important to remember is that these ideas can be combined! Check out the sample email below to see how I’d reengage if I had been gone for a few months.
A Gift for Engagement
You might send people straight to a free resource they already opted in for, without asking them to sign up again. Just value, delivered. You might point them to something you’ve published recently, a podcast episode, a blog post, or even your Instagram, and say, “This felt important to share.”
2. An Unengagement
Some people use this moment to clean their list, and that’s okay too. If you’ve pivoted your business or changed direction, you can say so plainly. Invite people to stay if they’re curious about what’s next, and give them permission to unsubscribe if it’s no longer for them. That kind of clarity builds trust, not resentment.
3. An Announcement
Others come back by sharing news like a life update, business shift, or something else. Sometimes people stopped emailing because something big happened, good or hard, and naming that reconnects you faster than pretending nothing changed.
4. Ignore & Repurpose
My favorite tip for anyone, not just people coming back to their lists is to repurpose a well-clicked or well-opened email from the past. Your audience does not remember everything you sent last year. Find something that performed well before and send it again. Or pull language directly from old emails and reuse it.
5. Show Off Your Besties
Another gentle re-entry point is spotlighting other people. Share something a peer is doing well. Talk about a collaboration. Ask your audience what they’ve been excited about lately. That “same side of the table” energy goes a long way when you’re rebuilding rhythm.
6. Set Expectations
If you left email because it was a lot for you and you plan to come back differently, that’s great! This is an opportunity to give your audience a heads up and set expectations. It can be as simple as saying, “I’ll be showing up here weekly.” Or, “You’ll hear from me when I have something useful to share.” People like knowing what they’re opting into.
7. Re-Introduce Yourself
Finally, don’t underestimate the power of a re-introduction. Some people joined your list right before you went quiet. Others remember you for one specific offer and don’t realize how your work has expanded. Let them see the full picture again.
An Example “Coming Back” Email
It can be as simple as this:
“Hey, it’s Sam. A few months ago I stepped back from email. I was taking the time to feel out the new direction for my business, and am so excited to send more copywriting and sales resources here in the future.
While I’ve stepped back from emailing, I’ve still been out & about in the online space AND in real life! Here’s a picture of me at the super cool conference back in December:
[Insert photo]
Also, people have been telling me how much they love writing their opt-in pages in a matter of minutes - they’re getting wildly good conversions.
[Grab the Opt-In Copy Bot Here]
Going forward, you’ll hear from me each Monday with practical copy advice and occasional introductions to people I love working with. If that sounds good, stay. If not, you can unsubscribe here. Either way, I’m glad you’re here.”
That’s it.
Add a link or two. I highly recommend adding a photo of yourself or your logo so people visually recognize you.
You don’t need to come back with full chutzpah and a 75-Hard-style email schedule. Be kind to yourself. Send a couple emails over a few weeks so that you don’t get flagged for suddenly spamming folks.
And let me reiterate: What matters is that you’re here. I’m proud of you for showing up
Next Steps:
I can write this email for you inside of Can You Write This For Me, my hourly done-for-you copywriting service.
And of course if you have questions for me, you can find me at the links below!
Connect with me here:
Watch episodes with subtitles on my YouTube
See my services → sales pages, emails, websites, and more.
Get on my calendar → if you’d like me to write your sales copy for you!
Opt-In Copy Bot → Write high-converting opt-in pages in minutes
Watch episodes with subtitles on my YouTube
Nomad Copy Agency writes copy that CONVERTS for service-based businesses. Inquire about done-for-you services here.
