Does sending to unengaged hurt deliverability for that SPECIFIC email?

So I know reputation scores all those signals that will make or break my emailing. But… Lets say I have a list of really good subs and a list of subs who are not unengaged per se… but are at the lowest tier. When I send to all of these contacts, 50k, I seem to get less overall opens than when I send to just 30k of the most engaged? Is there a technical reason for this? Is HS sending my emails in pieces and seeing Im not getting as good of open rates and the ESPs are blocking some of my GOOD contacts by spam/promo box’n me?

If I send to each of these segments separately I do get 6% opens on the lesser part so its not like its dead. But I do wonder if by targeting both, I am getting less overall?

Yes, sending emails to unengaged contacts can negatively affect your overall deliverability. When your open rates decline, it signals to email service providers (ESPs) that your emails may be less relevant, which can also impact how your emails are delivered to engaged contacts.

Over time, this can lead to negative effects. It’s a good practice to stop sending emails to those who aren’t opening or clicking on your messages. You can implement win-back or re-engagement strategies as a final attempt to revive interest, but if those efforts fail, it may not be worth continuing to email that segment of your audience. Always remember to have a sunset policy in place.

Over time, yes, but what about a specific email?

In your volume range, yes. Are you using Google Postmaster Tools? It’s free and the latest version provides insights into how your Gmail subscribers are engaging. You might also want to implement Microsoft’s Smart Network Data Services (SNDS).

I have a lot on my plate but I need to make time for this.

Yes, I’ve observed this happen frequently, particularly with Gmail and Yahoo Inc.

Try mixing unengaged profiles with engaged ones. I suggest sending to your entire list once a month to gradually move some unengaged subscribers over to the engaged list. Over time, this approach can help boost your engagement rates. If it doesn’t work, it might be best to remove the unengaged subscribers altogether.

Yeah, that’s what I’m doing, mixing in some colder emails with my engaged list. Just worried it might be hurting deliverability for the engaged folks compared to if I just sent to them.