How sending to fewer subscribers helps more of your list actually see your emails.
Welcome to Day 24 of the 30 Days of Growth.
This is a pop-up newsletter put together by Chenell from Growth In Reverse. I’ve pulled 30 creators together to help give one short, actionable way you can either grow or improve your email list.
You can view all past issues of the 30 Days of Growth here.
Here’s something that feels backwards: you can get more unique opens and clicks by sending to fewer subscribers.
That sounds wrong. But it’s how email reputation works. Gmail, Yahoo, and other providers are constantly watching how your subscribers interact with your emails. If a big chunk of your list ignores you, your sender reputation drops and more emails land in spam or the promotions tab. Even the people who want to read you stop seeing you.
Matt McGarry has a fix for this. It’s a 4-week sending progression that starts narrow and widens gradually. You begin by sending only to your most engaged subscribers, prove to the email providers that people actually want your stuff, and then slowly open the gates.
The result: 20-30%+ improvement in open rates and click-through rates within a month. And you’re not writing differently or changing your content. You’re just changing who sees it first.
How Matt Does It
He starts by building what he calls a Base Sending Segment (BSS). This is a slice of your list that only includes your most active readers. Depending on your list size and engagement, it’s usually about 50-80% of your full list.
The criteria for the first week are tight: subscribers who signed up in the last 10 days, OR opened at least 1 email in the last 30 days, OR clicked at least 1 link in the last 60 days. Everyone else sits out.
In Week 1, you only send to that BSS. If you send weekly, that’s 1 send. If you send daily, that could be 7 sends. Either way, you’ll see engagement improve almost immediately because you’ve stripped out the dead weight that was dragging your numbers down (and tanking your reputation with providers).
Then each week, he widens the window.
Week 2 opens up to signups in the last 14 days, opens in 45 days, clicks in 90.
Week 3 goes wider: 21 days, 60 days, 120 days. By Week 4, you’re at 30-day signups, 90-day opens, and 180-day clicks.
By the time you reach Week 4, your sender reputation has been climbing for 3 weeks.
Gmail and Yahoo have been watching your engagement rates get better and better, so when you finally send to the larger segment, more of those emails actually land in the primary inbox.
Why It Works
Email providers use engagement signals to decide where your emails land. When you blast your entire list (including the people who haven’t opened in 6 months), your open rate drops, your reputation drops, and more emails get filtered. It’s a cycle that feeds itself.
The BSS progression breaks that cycle. By sending to engaged readers first, you’re stacking up positive signals. High open rates, high click rates, low spam complaints. The providers see that and start routing more of your emails to the primary inbox.
The gradual widening is the clever part. You’re not just cleaning your list and calling it a day. You’re systematically “retraining” the algorithms to trust your sends, then carefully bringing in more subscribers once that trust is established.
Results
- 20-30%+ improvement in open rates and CTR within 4 weeks
- More emails landing in the primary inbox (not promotions or spam)
- Higher unique opens and clicks from sending to fewer people (which sounds impossible until you try it)
- Better deliverability that compounds with every send
How You Can Implement It
Step 1: Build your Week 1 BSS in your ESP. The criteria: signed up in the last 10 days, OR 1+ opens in the last 30 days, OR 1+ clicks in the last 60 days.
Step 2: Send only to that segment for all of Week 1. Watch your engagement numbers.
Step 3: For Week 2, widen to: signups in 14 days, opens in 45 days, clicks in 90 days.
Step 4: Week 3, widen again: signups in 21 days, opens in 60 days, clicks in 120 days.
Step 5: Week 4, your final BSS: signups in 30 days, opens in 90 days, clicks in 180 days. By now your sender reputation should be noticeably stronger.
Step 6: Keep using a version of the Week 4 BSS as your default sending segment going forward. You’ve built the reputation, now maintain it.
Tools
- Your ESP’s segment builder (Kit, Beehiiv, etc.)
- Analytics to track open and click rate changes week over week
- A spreadsheet or doc to log your weekly numbers (so you can see the progression)
Final Thought
Sending to your full list feels like you’re reaching the most people. But if half of them aren’t opening, you’re actually reaching fewer people because the providers are burying your emails. Matt’s progression flips that.
4 weeks of disciplined sending, and the same content starts performing 20-30% better.
See you tomorrow,
Chenell
P.S. You can follow Matt McGarry on LinkedIn or check out his work at Newsletter Operator.
