How to Identify and Re-Engage Unengaged Contacts in HubSpot

If your HubSpot marketing contacts list has grown too large, it’s time to clean up unengaged contacts. Using HubSpot’s AI List Builder, you can quickly create an Active List of contacts who haven’t engaged in a while. This guide will help you make a decision and decrease the number of contacts, solving the issue of “Marketing contacts limit reached” and rising costs.

Step 1: Create an Active List of Unengaged Contacts

1. Navigate to Contacts > Lists in HubSpot.
2. Click Create List and choose Active List.
3. Select AI List Builder and paste the following criteria:

Below is the prompt I used

Adjust this to fit your business requirements but this is a good place to start.

"Last marketing email open date" is more than 180 days ago 
AND
"Marketing contact status" is "Marketing contact"
OR
"Last clicked marketing email date" is more than 180 days ago 
AND
"Marketing contact status" is "Marketing contact"
OR
"Last website visit" is more than 180 days ago 
AND
"Marketing contact status" is "Marketing contact"
OR
"Form submissions" is unknown OR "Form submissions" is less than 1 in the last 180 days 
AND
"Marketing contact status" is "Marketing contact"
OR
"Lifecycle stage" is not any of Customer, Sales Qualified Lead 
AND
"Marketing contact status" is "Marketing contact"
OR
"Recent deal activity" is unknown 
AND
"Marketing contact status" is "Marketing contact"
OR
"Contact create date" is more than 365 days ago
AND
"Marketing contact status" is "Marketing contact"
OR
"Email subscription status" is "Unsubscribed from all email" OR "Marketing email status" is "Bounced"
AND
"Marketing contact status" is "Marketing contact"

4. Click Apply Filters and save the list.

Step 2: Send a Re-Engagement Email

Once your list is ready, send an email encouraging contacts to stay subscribed or be removed.

1. Go to Marketing > Email and create a new email.
2. Use a clear subject line, such as:
   • We Miss You! Click to Stay Subscribed
   • Still Interested? Confirm to Keep Receiving Emails
3. Write a simple, direct message, such as:

Hi [First Name],
We noticed you haven’t engaged with our emails in a while. If you’d like to keep receiving updates, click below to stay subscribed. Otherwise, we’ll remove you from our marketing list.

4. Add a CTA button: Yes, Keep Me Subscribed linking to a confirmation page.

5. Send the email and monitor clicks.

Step 3: Mark Unresponsive Contacts as Non-Marketing

After a 7-14 day waiting period, review the list:

• If a contact clicked the CTA, keep them as a marketing contact.
• If they did not engage, update their status to non-marketing to save space in your database.

Summary

This method ensures your list stays healthy, engaged, and cost-effective. By reducing unengaged contacts, you can lower HubSpot costs and prevent hitting marketing contact limits. If you need help optimizing your marketing contacts and reducing costs, feel free to contact me for assistance!