Last-engaged date drives re-engagement

> Cost: Paid. ActiveCampaign runs from $15 a month (Starter, 1,000 contacts, billed annually), but most steps here need Plus at $49 a month or higher; there is no free plan, only a 14-day trial.

Honest note: Rules, not AI. A vendor customer story (ActiveCampaign), so figures are vendor-reported. The headline is a 54.6% open rate against an industry average of 35.6% that the vendor cites; open rates are inflated by email privacy features (Apple Mail Privacy Protection), so judge the build by clicks, unsubscribes and sales. Contacts up 189% a year came with social media growth, and 212,000 webinar registrants is a volume, not a result. The "last engage date" idea is the reusable part and the page describes it clearly. Consent flag: the re-engagement email warns that inactivity may lead to removal; honor unsubscribes immediately, and if you email EU or UK contacts you need a lawful basis (see your privacy adviser). Do not delete people from legal-hold lists.

Prerequisites

• An ActiveCampaign account on Plus or higher (Cost: to start; Starter allows only 5 actions per automation).
• A custom contact field of type Date named *Last engaged*.
• A list or tag that marks who should get re-engagement emails, and 3 emails written.
• Optional: a quiz tool or an ActiveCampaign form for interest tags.

Step-by-step setup

Step 1. Create the date field. In ActiveCampaign add a custom contact field of type Date called *Last engaged* (ActiveCampaign's "Custom contact field overview" explains custom fields).

Step 2. Stamp the date on every engagement. Click Automations → Create an automation → Start from scratch → Add a start trigger, choose the trigger for a contact who opens or clicks an email (the trigger list is in "Automation triggers explained"; the story used opens and clicks), and set Runs to Multiple times so it fires every time. Add an Update Contact action, open its Custom tab, add the *Last engaged* property, and choose Use contact's current date. Name it, then turn it on.

Step 3. Build the inactive segment and the re-engagement series. Create a segment of contacts whose *Last engaged* is before a cutoff (for example 90 days ago) using the segment builder. Make an automation that starts when a contact enters that segment or you add a tag, sends two or three emails (best content, a reminder that you will stop emailing if they do not engage), then removes the tag or unsubscribes people who still do nothing (Wait → If/Else on whether they clicked).

Step 4. Tag by interest. The story ran a quiz and passed answers to ActiveCampaign through the API; the simpler route is an ActiveCampaign form with a choice field, then an automation with Submits a form as the trigger and Add tag actions for each goal (such as debt, career, investing). Build segments from tag combinations.

Step 5. Welcome series first. The page describes at least three value emails before any product mention for new subscribers; build that as a separate automation triggered by Subscribes to a list.

Easier: let your AI do it. ActiveCampaign publishes a remote MCP address (Settings (gear) → Developer → Remote MCP URL) that you can add to Claude (Settings → Connectors → Browse Connectors → ActiveCampaign → paste the URL → approve). I did not verify which actions it can take, so keep approval on for every write. ActiveCampaign's built-in Active Intelligence can also draft an automation from a typed prompt, which you review and then click Activate.

What success looks like

A test contact who opens an email is stamped with today's date, a contact you set to an old date flows into the re-engagement series, and clean-up reduces inactive sends. Watch clicks and unsubscribes, not opens.

Common issues & fixes

• The date does not update: check Runs is set to Multiple times and that the contact reached the Update Contact action.
• Everyone looks inactive at first: the field is empty at launch; seed it with a recent date for current subscribers.
• Starter plan limits: more than 5 actions per automation needs Plus.

Optional: Maintenance

• Monthly: review who was removed and why.
• Quarterly: adjust the inactivity cutoff.

Copy-paste prompt

Use this prompt with any AI chat to write the three re-engagement emails; fill the brackets.

Write three short re-engagement emails for subscribers of [BUSINESS DESCRIPTION] who have not opened or clicked in [NUMBER] days. Email 1: our three most useful resources ([LINKS]). Email 2: a friendly "is this still useful?" with a button to stay. Email 3: a plain last note saying we will stop emailing unless they click. Under 100 words each, no guilt, include an easy unsubscribe line.

Sources

• Case: ActiveCampaign customer story: personal finance education company for women. Credit: the marketing team of a personal finance education company (vendor customer story)
• ActiveCampaign pricing
• ActiveCampaign help: Automation triggers explained
• ActiveCampaign help: Custom contact field overview
• ActiveCampaign help: Create an automation