How to Find Your Most Engaged Subscribers in Flodesk
Learn how to identify your most active subscribers and why it matters for email deliverability, domain warm-up, and stronger campaign results.
Overview
Your most engaged subscribers are the people who open, click, and interact with your emails the most—your biggest fans. Identifying and nurturing them helps you:
Build a strong sender reputation (especially during domain warm-up)
Test new campaigns or offers with a high-confidence audience
Send targeted “VIP” or early-access campaigns
Improve deliverability and inbox placement for all your future emails
Flodesk’s Filter feature makes it easy to segment these subscribers based on engagement data, like opens, clicks, and recent activity.
What Signals Show Engagement
You can look for several types of activity that show interest and interaction:
Primary signals
Clicks: The strongest indicator that someone actively engaged with your content.
Purchases or sign-ups: For e-commerce or lead-capture campaigns, these are clear signs of value.
Replies or form submissions: Subscribers who take the time to respond are deeply engaged.
Recent activity: Subscribers who opened or clicked an email within the last 30–60 days.
Secondary signals
Opens: Still useful, but less reliable due to mail privacy updates and security bots (more below).
Site visits from emails: If you track UTM links, visits from your campaigns are a good engagement cue.
Subscription recency: New subscribers are often your most active in the first few weeks.
Why Open and Click Rates Aren’t Perfect but Still Useful
Metrics like open rate and click rate are helpful signals, but they’re not 100% accurate across platforms. Here’s why:
Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP): Automatically loads tracking pixels, inflating open rates.
Bot clicks: Security filters and spam scanners can click every link to test for threats.
Gmail clipping: For long emails, tracking pixels may not load if the email is clipped.
Image blocking: Some subscribers disable images, preventing open tracking entirely.
Multiple devices: Subscribers who open on multiple devices can appear as multiple opens.
Even with these challenges, opens and clicks are still directional signals. They help you see general engagement patterns, especially when viewed over time rather than per send.
How to Find Engaged Subscribers in Flodesk
Go to Audience > All Subscribers.
Click Filter (top right, next to “Add subscriber”).
In the filter panel, start with these ranges:
Engagement Signal | Start with | Adjust if |
Click rate | > 10% or at least 1 click in last 30 days | If too few results → lower to 5% or extend to last 45–60 days |
Open rate | > 50% | If open rate is abnormally high on a consistent basis, ignore opens and focus on clicks instead |
Last activity | Within 30 days | If you send monthly, extend to 60–90 days |
Emails delivered (optional) | ≥ 3 in last 60 days | |
Status | Active only |
Click Apply to view results.
Select all and add them to a new “Engaged” or “VIP” segment to use in your next campaigns.
Fine-Tuning Your Filters
If your filter returns too few or too many subscribers, adjust the thresholds until the segment feels representative of your real top performers.
Too few subscribers? Try lowering your thresholds slightly (e.g. Click rate > 5%) or expand your timeframe to 45–60 days.
Too many subscribers? Tighten your filters. Raise the click rate or shorten the timeframe to 30 days.
Unreliable opens? Focus on clicks, replies, or purchases instead; opens can be inflated by privacy tools.
Just starting to build data? Include new subscribers added in the last 15 days. They’re often naturally engaged.
There’s no single “right” percentage of engaged subscribers. What matters most is tracking how engagement changes over time.
Every list behaves differently. Your ideal engagement window depends on factors like:
How often you send (weekly vs. monthly)
Your industry or niche (B2B, ecommerce, education, etc.)
List size and age
Email content and offer types
Audience habits (mobile vs. desktop, location, inbox provider)
Pro Tip
Engagement fades naturally. People’s interests shift and inboxes fill up. Review your “most engaged” segment every 60–90 days to keep it fresh, and use it for domain warm-ups, loyalty campaigns, or testing new content.
Don’t Forget the Other Side: Segment Out the Least Engaged
When you’re identifying your most engaged subscribers, it’s just as useful to find the least engaged ones. You can filter for subscribers who:
Haven’t opened or clicked in the last 90+ days
Haven’t received or engaged with your last 10 emails
Were added a long time ago but show no recent activity
Keeping this group separate lets you run re-engagement campaigns or remove truly inactive contacts to improve deliverability.
Before deleting subscribers from your audience, make sure to download a CSV of your list. This way, if someone was deleted in error, they can be added back. If you unsubscribe them instead of deleting, you won’t be able to add them back as active subscribers.
Keeping Engagement Healthy Over Time
Engagement isn’t fixed. It’s influenced by how often you send, what you share, and how relevant your content feels to your audience.
Best practices to follow:
Send consistent, valuable content your audience expects.
Personalize when possible. Use first names, preferences, or past activity.
Avoid sending too often or too rarely; aim for a steady rhythm.
Clean your list every 3–6 months.
Test subject lines and send times to optimize open and click behavior.
Always provide clear unsubscribe options (it protects deliverability).
Summary
Engagement isn’t a perfect science, but it’s a powerful signal. By identifying your most active subscribers, focusing your sends on them, and regularly refreshing your segments, you’ll:
Strengthen your sender reputation
Improve inbox placement
Keep your audience excited to hear from you
Identify Your Most Engaged Subscribers — FAQs
What does “most engaged” mean?
Your most engaged subscribers are the people who regularly open, click, and interact with your emails. They’re your most responsive, loyal audience.
Why should I identify them?
Engaged subscribers help you:
Warm up a new sending domain
Boost deliverability and inbox placement
Test new campaigns safely
Send exclusive or early-access offers to your biggest fans
What signals should I use to measure engagement?
Clicks, purchases, replies, and recent activity are the strongest signals. Opens can still help, but treat them as secondary because privacy updates (like Apple Mail Privacy Protection) make them less reliable.
Why aren’t open and click rates always accurate?
Several factors can distort tracking:
Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) auto-loads pixels, inflating opens
Security bots can “click” every link to test for spam
Gmail clipping can prevent tracking pixels from loading
Image blocking and multiple devices can skew open data
Are opens and clicks still worth tracking?
Yes. They’re still valuable directional indicators, especially when you compare trends over time rather than single-campaign results.
How often should I review my engaged segment?
Every 60–90 days. Engagement changes as subscribers’ interests evolve, so refresh your filters regularly.
What if my results look off?
If too few subscribers appear, loosen your filters (lower the click-rate threshold or expand your timeframe).
If too many appear, tighten them (increase thresholds or shorten the timeframe).
Should I also look at the least engaged subscribers?
Yes. Segmenting out inactive subscribers helps you clean your list, run re-engagement campaigns, and maintain strong deliverability.
How many engaged subscribers should I expect?
It varies by audience, industry, and send frequency. Many healthy lists see around 20–30% of subscribers actively engaging within the past 30–60 days, but your own trends matter more than the averages.
Why does engagement matter for deliverability?
Mailbox providers monitor opens, clicks, and spam complaints. Consistent engagement tells them your emails are wanted, helping keep your future sends out of spam and in the inbox.