ActiveCampaign List Cleaning: 5 Effective Strategies

[@loveyourdesign]

Max you are my new favourite person on earth. I was looking for someone who could set all this up for me and here you are, it took me hardly any time at all and the bonus is I actually understand how to do it and how it works!!

[@NexusCircuit]

Max, why'd you stop making videos? These are absolutely fantastic, even though they're getting older

[@yuvalackerman]

Max, I kid you not, I wish I had found this video months ago. I wasted SO much time on chats with AC about understanding how to hack this and track the engagement of my subscribers. You have my eternal gratitude!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Haha, happy to hear it's helpful Yuval! 🤗

[@franziskawaltherderportfol3570]

Hi Max, I just wanted to say a quick thank you! This tutorial was super helpful!! Thanks! Greetings from Finland!

[@gigworkmama]

This was a great tutorial. As a suggestion, if someone imports your automation (like I did), they would have to set the fields that you are going over in this tutorial. But they cannot exit the setup to create fields (for example the engagement threshold). So I had to exit the import, set up the fields needed then import the automation again. You might need to update with a tutorial on how to use your templates which shows this fact.

[@YOGASANALIFE]

Hi Max, I love your channel! You have helped me a lot with this one and also with your other videos! Great job, thanks for sharing! :)

[@maxvcollenburg]

Cool, thanks! 🤗

[@emmelieginste6798]

Very Helpfull, thank you so much for sharing!

[@AmandaHorvath]

OMG this is so helpful. THANK YOU!!!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Amanda! Happy to hear it's helpful! 😄🙌

[@Aeviae]

Excellent Value. Thank you so much!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Thanks Anthony! Glad you like it! 😄 Any suggestions for other tutorials I should make in the future?

[@clairefeldman-thefoodfreed8447]

this was so helpful, thank you!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Happy to hear it's helpful! 😄

[@JuanOrtiz99]

sooo goood! thank you Max!!!!!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Thanks! Glad you like it Juan! 😄

[@creators-circle8437]

love your tutorials. So clean and straight and easy to follow. Keep going, you are doing a great job by helping us! :) Thx a lot!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Thanks a lot! Happy to hear you like it! 😄

[@kderckx]

Super dit! Dankjewel!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Graag gedaan! 😄

[@mrchrisk]

Great video, is there a way to use and engagement threshold type trigger with Broadcast/Campaigns?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Good question! I think increasing the Engagement Threshold custom field is only possible inside automations.

[@maxvcollenburg]

@Ed Trevisan a workaround would maybe be to create an automation that increases the engagement threshold by 1. Then, you'll add everyone that received your campaign to that automation after you've sent it 🙃

[@guiaraki]

@@maxvcollenburg First of all, your content is amazing, thank you! Secondly, If I send a second (and a third etc) campaign/broadcast, should I add the contacts who received those campaigns everytime in the automation?

Very good, thanks!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Glad you liked it!

[@fenbury]

you deserve more subs

[@maxvcollenburg]

Haha, thanks!

[@B2Schools]

thx for details explanation.

[@maxvcollenburg]

Glad it was helpful!

[@yoRRnl]

This is Awesome!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Glad you like it! 😄

[@ralphalmeida]

very useful, tks!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Glad it was helpful! 🙌

[@UmerQureshi]

Awesome Video

[@maxvcollenburg]

Thanks! Glad you like it 😄

[@Momen.Medhat.Official]

man you are great ! thank you

[@maxvcollenburg]

Glad it helped!

[@carolmills8562]

Hi Max - this tutorial is great -thank you so much. I have one question - with the recent FB/IOS changes, how do we know that we're not unsubscribing people with IOS who are opening emails but have opted out of tracking? I know we can track link clicks, but I guess my concern is unsubscribing people too soon who perhaps shouldn't be. Do you have a solution?

[@strategie-video]

Thank you Max, really helpfull !

[@maxvcollenburg]

You're welcome 😄 If you would like to see any other tutorials, let me know 🙌

[@strategie-video]

@@maxvcollenburg I'm watching all your content. Really changed the way I'm using AC. I just don't see how you can increase the engagement treshold when sending a common email (not in an automation but when creating a new campaign, new email). Is it in the option field on "summary" tab? If yes it means you have to create a new automation for every new campaign. Is there a simpler way? Tanx again

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Olivier! Awesome! Happy to hear my tutorials helped you 😄 And you're right, there's no native way to increase the Engagement Threshold field when you send out a campaign. A simple workaround is to create a short automation that increases the field by 1. And then, whenever you send out a regular campaign, you add the people that you've sent the campaign to to that automation 🙃 Hope that helps!

[@strategie-video]

@@maxvcollenburg I wouldn't have thought of it! Tanx again

[@FesteTech]

This is awesome Max! Love iT! Simple question. I can only use the first two method?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Sure! Do whatever works best for you! 🙃 Just keep in mind that open tracking isn't 100% accurate, so it might happen that you unsubscribe people who open your emails but have tracking blocked. That's why I would also throw in click tracking, page tracking, etc. to make it more reliable. Good luck! 🙌

[@FesteTech]

@@maxvcollenburg thank you mate! Appreciate your value! Just finished and activeted the first two automation

[@howtostopdieting]

Thanks so much for this. At the end Max, you talk about Permission Based Marketing and I was wondering if you had a way to ask people that or segment your list with people wanting to hear more from you over those who just want the lead magnet?

[@ankitm1169]

Max, you are super awesome. My heartful gratitude

[@maxvcollenburg]

Thanks for the kind words! 🤗

[@viveksanghvi5488]

It was great!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Glad you like it! 😄

[@pattywoods]

Max, you're doing a fantastic service to those of us who are hopping in to clean up messes created before us. Thanks so much! I do have two questions for you though. First Q: You said we should add the math blocks to every one of our automations. To be clear, basically, I go into our existing automations and just add that block before every email is sent, correct? Second Q: For those of us who send new campaigns regularly and want to keep tabs on engagement...You said in the comments section below to create a new automation with the math block, then add the campaign email copy, and then send it out. If I want it to trigger immediately to my entire Master List, can I do that with an automation? Basically, are you bypassing using the campaign function in order to keep track of engagements?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Patty! Glad you like it! 🙌 1) Yes, that's correct! Simply add the math block before every email inside an automation. Not such a neat solution, but I didn't find a way to trigger an automation when an email is sent. 2) Yes, that's how I'm doing it. But if you really like campaigns, you could also create a simple automation with only the math block, and then you add people to that automation after you send out a campaign to those people.

[@BastiaanVercouteren]

Fantastische video Max! Erg helder uitgelegd ook. Ik ga je volgen. 👍

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Bastiaan! Goed om te horen! 😄🙌

[@ebiznessonline1]

This is fire🔥🔥 Thank you so much!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Haha, happy to hear! 😄

[@marketerankit]

thanks for this detailed explanation

[@maxvcollenburg]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RainHubpr]

for some reason in the second automation "faling out of love" I cannot put the action inside the segment of has replied falling out of love of up to 7 days. The time limit option is not appearing. Any reason why or how can I fix this?

[@patrickduhaut3783]

Great video, great ideas, great automations! Thanks

[@maxvcollenburg]

Happy to hear you like it 😄 If there's any other tutorial you would like to see, let me know 🙃

[@patrickduhaut3783]

@@maxvcollenburg Sure! how to use RSS from WordPress to send newsletter. I did an automation, but it doesn't work.

[@maxvcollenburg]

@@patrickduhaut3783 cool idea! I'll write it down and see if I can create some content about it.

[@MoneyLab]

In the Last Interaction and Engagement Threshold Update Automations, you have it starting with Opens and Clicks. Would you also add Replies as a start to the automation?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey MoneyLab! You could add that as well, but keep in mind reply tracking only works if you turn it on for each email 😄 I don't use reply tracking myself because it generates such a weird reply-to email address.

[@MoneyLab]

@@maxvcollenburg Ah! Good call. I'll stick with just opens and clicks. Just worried about open rates and iOS updates.

[@RebelLove]

This is super helpful, thank you! :)

[@maxvcollenburg]

Happy to hear! 😄

[@FesteTech]

Hello Max at 13:21 you trigger automation in one list, I have multiple list, I have to add same command in this automation and change list? Thanks Mate

[@anthonycorcoran6356]

A question max. in the mail list cleaner. Does your first condition mean, that if your eng threshold is say 5, you will automatically go into the No section and receive the falling out of love mail ?

[@erezdav1]

Great Great video max! Very informative and helpfull

[@maxvcollenburg]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bodycomestomind]

Hi Max, thanks for your video! Regarding the list cleaner. I have list of different companies with different branding and a master list. How do I approach that? Do I need to make an automation for the every company list with branded emails? And how to tackle that some people are on different list? They might read the email of company A but not be (so they get the automation) but I don't want to unsubscribe them from the master list.

[@maxvcollenburg]

Heyhey! Glad you like the video! It's always slightly more difficult with multiple companies within one account because all this data can easily get messed up. That's why I always keep each company in a separate ActiveCampaign account. But I understand that creating multiple accounts also becomes more pricey quickly. Another option would be to create a separate Engagement Threshold custom field for each company, and then you reset that custom field only when someone opens one of the emails related to that company. I hope that helps!

[@doriancarter5819]

Great video, I am cleaning up a mess. Since I have a few on my list that are over 6 months, can I use this automation to look back through my list?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Dorian! Unfortunately I'm not aware of a way to look back and see who stopped engaging with your emails. Best way is to turn on the list cleaning automation, and set the last interaction field for everyone to today. That way, in a few months, your list will be clean 🙂 The only other quick workaround you could do is to check who hasn't opened any emails and hasn't clicked any links. Then, unsubscribe those people 🙃 (be sure to check that they didn't subscribe very recently, otherwise they didn't have a chance to open anything) Hope that helps!

[@doriancarter5819]

@@maxvcollenburg thanks for the great info

[@maxvcollenburg]

@@doriancarter5819 you're welcome! Let me know if you've any other questions! 🙃

[@BastiaanVercouteren]

I also want to clean up now. I was thinking of creating an automation in where I manually add the last 10 to 15 emails. And then for older users. When a user hasnt opened them all, i can unsub them. I also create a waiting period just before the unsub to see how many this involves. What do you think of this?

[@delanocronie]

Hi Max, wederom een mooi filmpje. Nog even voor de duidelijkheid, moet je bij elke automatisering die engagement threshold activeren voor en na elke mail?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Yes! Voor (of na) iedere email verhoog je de Engagement Threshold met één. Je telt als het ware hoeveel emails je hebt gestuurd.

[@darciayur]

Brilliant way to start off using AC! Max, I think they removed the Engagement Threshold option, I cant find it...

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Darci! You have to create the Engagement Threshold yourself 🙃 1) Create a custom field and name it Engagement Threshold. 2) Increase the value of this custom field by 1 with the math function inside automations. 3) Trigger an automation when the value of the custom field reaches 10.

[@darciayur]

@@maxvcollenburg Thank you! I added the Engagment threshold but it hadnt shown up yet. probably because I had AC open in 3 tabs. ;) TY!!!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Ah, happy to hear you got it to work! Sometimes you have to refresh the automation before new custom fields show up, also had that issue a few times 😋

[@darciayur]

@@maxvcollenburg yup that's what it was. :)

[@irinalitvin3525]

Hi Max! Thank you for another great video! I started setting ups this automation but for some reason when I choose "If/else" to specify a reply to which email, I only get three options (any email, campaign and 1:1 email). All the campaigns wouldn't work for this... Do you know why I don't see the right option there by any chance?

[@sarahquwave2168]

HI there Max - thanks for your amazing videos. I would never have found this elsewhere as I have been looking for exactly this info and not even the Active Campaign helpline could give me this info. You are the best! One question - is there any way to see the progress of the automation over the 6 months? Or do we only see it "work" at the 6 month unsubscribe deadline?

[@ramsiskasis]

hello thanks for your videos :) i have a question please > in the date is 30 days after subscription they condition was if they opened any email so what happens if they opened but it did not track it ? and why we did not add the not clicked ant link ? and does clicking any links means for actiivecampaign that they opened? does clicking influence by default the last open even if the open track did not work?

[@maxvcollenburg]

I would always check if someone did NOT open any emails AND did NOT clicked any links. In some cases, people block images which prevents the ActiveCampaign tracking pixel to load. That's why I would also track link clicks. It's not 100% bulletproof, as someone could open emails, block the pixel & not click any links. But I think that chance is acceptable, as it's such a great way to keep your list clean.

[@ramsiskasis]

@@maxvcollenburg ok thank you so in the video you checked only if they did not open so what should i add? And or or did nor clicked?

[@maxvcollenburg]

@@ramsiskasis depends on what you're trying to do.

[@ramsiskasis]

@@maxvcollenburg i am trying to check if after 30 days from subscription they did not open an email and did not click a link so they can enter the main list cleaner you showed in the video. in the video you conditioned it with just did not open is it enough? or should we add did not clicked any link and it will be "and" or "or" >>>> i hope i am clear now and thank you for your jelp i wait for your course to open :)

[@maxvcollenburg]

@@ramsiskasis it's not absolutely necessary, but if you really want to be sure you could also check if the contact didn't click any links in any emails. The start trigger would then then be; 30 days after subscription date - Has not opened any emails AND - Has not clicked a link in any email AND - Is not currently in list cleaning automation

[@katrinafung9072]

Great tutorial, thanks! Do you still send them campaigns/weekly newsletters if they are in this list cleanup automation?

[@maxvcollenburg]

No, I'll wait until they they are not currently in the list cleaning automation 🙃

[@djstizz4060]

Can i change the specific value to 5 if i want to unsub contacts who have not opened 5 emails instead of 10?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey DJ! Yes you can! Just change the start trigger of the list cleaning automation to 5 instead of 10. That way, it will start the automation when the Engagement Threshold is equal to 5 🙂 Oh, and also make sure to change the wait conditions and if/elses to "below 5".

[@djstizz4060]

@@maxvcollenburg Hey thanks for the reply. You're very helpful

[@maxvcollenburg]

@@djstizz4060 thanks! Happy to help 🤗

[@guiaraki]

Hi Max, don't know if you'll see my comment but I have to try it hahaha Do you still use the "engagement threshold" segment to clean your list? And do you come up with the number 10?

[@jaynicetv640]

Is there a way to archive old lists? Or do you just delete them?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Not that I'm aware off. You could maybe just put [Archive] in front of the name if you want it to stay visible in ActiveCampaign. Another alternative is to export the list first, and then delete it. Hope that helps! 🤗

[@andrewbull9838]

Hi Max. Great video. I would like to separate super fans (people who open many campaigns) from regular subscribers. What would you advise for this?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Andrew! I would do that with lead scoring 🙌 I created a tutorial about it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZ_VaJt3rK2WhK8

[@ebiznessonline1]

Is there a way to set this up for one-off emails or does this just work for automations? Thank you

[@maxvcollenburg]

You could increase the engagement threshold manually for everyone the one-off campaign was sent to. Go to bulk edit » select the people it was sent to » add them to a super simple automation that increase the Engagement Threshold by 1. Hope that helps!

[@ebiznessonline1]

@@maxvcollenburg I'll try to figure this out and let you know. Thank you .

[@LaurieAnnMurabito]

QUESTION: the first automation that updates the field of last interaction, how long does that take to populate that information within AC? Is it automatic or from that date on?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Laurie-Ann! It will update the custom field usually in a couple of seconds, but it will only start updating the custom field from now on. So it won't update your current contacts with their past interaction. Only when their interact again, it will update. Hope that helps!

[@KunioIshida]

@@maxvcollenburg Thank you for your great automation tutorial! I have a related question with Lauire-Ann. I already have over 15,000 list and some of them are not read my campaign for sure. Now I activated your list cleaner but they will not open my emails anyway so they never get the date stamp in Last Interaction fields. Is it correct? If so how can I remove them from my list or how can I put them into List Cleaner Automation? Is there any idea? ex, Put the current date to Last Interaction field in all list first by some how. Thanks a lot!

[@maketingdigital]

Hi Max, great video, it´s really helpful. I have a question about it: I have a newsletter that I send weekly to all contacts in the list, now I need to put that in an automation to add the +1, and make a copy of the automation each week with a new email, but I am having trouble with the trigger to send the email to all contacts in the list. How would you do it? Cheers

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey David! Glad you like the tutorial! There are a few different approaches to what you're asking. 1) I've created an evergreen newsletter, which is just one long automation with a 1 week wait between each email. 2) What's also possible is that you use one automation for a newsletter that you send every week, like you described. But instead of creating a new one, you just change the one that you already have. You can then go over to contacts and add all your contacts to the automation, there isn't really a trigger for that. I hope that helps!

[@maketingdigital]

​Hi@@maxvcollenburg​, That helps a lot. I got another couple of questions if you don´t mind :) - In the case 1: how and where do you add the contacts that signed up in the last 7 days so they get the next newsletter? - In case 2: if I understood well, Do I need to add contacts each week?

[@YOGASANALIFE]

Hi Max, I have a question - When I set everything up like that, it takes 6 months/30 days/10 unread emails for the list cleaner automation to start, right? because I just set up the last interaction field now. Do you have an idea how I can check my list and figure out which contacts have been inactive for say 3 months? And how I can add them then to the list cleaner automation? Thank you!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Yogasana! It doesn't work retroactively unfortunately, it will only start tracking people now. So what I would suggest is to set today's date to everyone's Last Interaction custom field. That way, in 3 or 6 months, your automation will start unsubscribing people if they stay inactive during that time 🤗

[@YOGASANALIFE]

@@maxvcollenburg thanks! How can I set the date?

[@robbertag808]

How can I exclude someone who bought from our store on the Main list cleaner, what is the best option to do this??

[@maxvcollenburg]

You could give all your customers a tag, and exclude everyone who has that tag in the triggers 😄

[@richliao5327]

Hi Max, is that in the Manychat site or your program specific CRM that you opened to segregate their e-mail?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Rich! This is all inside ActiveCampaign, which is my Email Service Provider 😄

[@joshcull8539]

Hey, great video. Kind of a random question for you about fields. Is it possible to assign a number to each new subscriber you get, and increment that number for each new member? So subscriber 1 would have a custom field with value 1, subscriber 2 would have a custom field with subscriber 2, etc... Thanks!

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Josh! I'm not sure what you need to use it for, but isn't it easier to user the unique ActiveCampaign ID of the contact? By default the first contact is 1, the second is 2, the third is 3, etc.

[@jeefersontorres8693]

if I send the email as a Campaign, how do I add the "+1" calculation?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Jeeferson! Good question! In that case, I would create a simple automation that adds the plus 1. Then, add everyone who you send the campaign to to this automation.

[@hyt5213]

@@maxvcollenburg Instead of doing this in each automation, can we have a separate automation that says each time an email is sent to a contact to add the plus one?

[@therealmarknelson]

I uploaded your templates but couldn't get the Master Cleanup to work.

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Mark! Where do you get stuck?

[@therealmarknelson]

@@maxvcollenburg I figured it out. I didn’t use template I used your video instructions to make a new one. It was great. Thank you

[@maxvcollenburg]

​@@therealmarknelson great! Happy to hear you got it to work 😄

[@ryantowart2291]

big quesution.. what about campaigns you send out? you cant add the Plus 1?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Good question Ryan! I created a simple automation that adds +1 to the Engagement Threshold, and then I add the people the campaign was sent to to that automation.

[@ryantowart2291]

@@maxvcollenburg AWW AMAZING!! HOW DO YOU DO THAT for like email campoigns sent via that marketing way not automations .. would be so helpfulk!!

[@maxvcollenburg]

@@ryantowart2291 you create the automation, and then you add them manually to it like this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqfVaamXebZqgtU Hope that helps!

[@ryantowart2291]

@@maxvcollenburg ahh thats not answering my question Im try to Add 1 eveytime a email campign is sent through the campig tab like email marketing?

[@maxvcollenburg]

@@ryantowart2291 yes, I understand. You can't add 1 every time a email campaign is send out, that's why you need to create an automation that does that for you.

[@AwesoundTV]

Awesome tutorial! One question: For the main list cleaning automation, can I exclude contacts with a certain tag from being removed from the list? I would like to keep my customers emails and not have them automatically removed. How would I do that?

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Peter! Yes, sure! That's possible 🙃 At the start trigger of the automation, set the condition to "tag does not exist: X" That way, people with that tag can't enter the automation 🙌

[@AwesoundTV]

@@maxvcollenburg Ok awesome will try that thank you!

[@maxvcollenburg]

@@AwesoundTV you're welcome! Let me know if you've any other questions 🙃

[@AwesoundTV]

@@maxvcollenburg Actually I have another question. Can I email it to you?

[@maxvcollenburg]

@@AwesoundTV sure, go ahead 🙃

[@iMurasev]

Hi Max! Many thanks for the tutorial, the ways that you describe are the best! I updated our list cleaning strategy to yours but have one questions, please: Do you think it will work if we change the start trigger for 30-Day new subscribers in the Main List Cleaner automation to 'start 30 days after the contact's SUBSCRIBED field date', here is a screenshot - d.pr/VWkJAM The SUBSCRIBED field is set when a contact subscribes to any list, here is a screenshot - d.pr/IsBrPe

[@maxvcollenburg]

Hey Igor! From what I can see, your setup should work perfectly 🙃 I'm just not sure why you would create a separate "Subscribed" custom field as you can use the native "Subscription Date". Hope that helps

[@iMurasev]

@@maxvcollenburg many thanks! That's totally makes sense 😉