The two workflows use similar engagement data, but they answer different questions. List cleaning asks, “Who should we exclude from routine sends?” Active profile management asks, “Who has shown sustained inactivity and should no longer remain marketable?”
List cleaning
- Creates an unengaged segment
- Excludes it from regular campaigns
- Protects sender reputation
- Does not necessarily change marketing eligibility
- Does not necessarily reduce the billable count
Active profile management
- Finds long-term inactive profiles
- May use a sunset flow first
- Suppresses the reviewed group
- Changes marketing eligibility
- Can reduce the processed billable count
Exclusion is a sending decision
An unengaged segment can be excluded from ordinary campaigns while its members remain available for selected messages or flows. That can improve engagement metrics and deliverability without permanently changing each profile's marketing state.
Suppression is an eligibility decision
A suppressed email profile cannot receive marketing email. After Klaviyo processes the state change, suppression can remove the profile from the relevant active or billable count. Because it blocks future marketing, the inactivity rule should be stricter than a routine campaign-exclusion rule.
Why a 90-day unengaged segment should not be bulk-suppressed blindly
A buying cycle can be longer than an engagement window. A person may have ordered, checked out, visited the site, or viewed a product even when they have not opened a recent email. Active profile management should protect those signals and avoid treating ordinary email quietness as proof of churn.
Where a sunset flow fits
A sunset flow is a final re-engagement attempt for a group already identified as inactive. Anyone who responds should leave the suppression candidate group. The flow complements a conservative rule; it does not make a broad or poorly defined segment safe.
A practical operating sequence
- Use an engaged/unengaged segmentation policy for regular campaigns.
- Build a separate, stricter long-term inactivity segment.
- Run an optional sunset flow and review the remaining members.
- Snapshot and suppress only the approved group.
- Verify the processed billable count and plan status separately.
Sources: Klaviyo list cleaning, active profile management, and sunset flows.
Measure the stricter group
Deadweight uses the active-profile recipe, not a generic unengaged segment.