Overriding unengaged contacts with exclusion lists

[KBarrett94]

Hi HubSpot Community,

Our "unengaged contacts" list is growing—and it's becoming a major issue. As a membership organization (association), accurate email engagement is critical, yet nearly half of our members are showing up on the "unengaged" list in HubSpot.

I understand HubSpot defines "unengaged" contacts as those who've received 11 or more emails without engaging. However, due to Apple's Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), we're concerned many contacts are being incorrectly categorized as unengaged. Because MPP automatically loads emails upon delivery (not actual opens), causing active members to incorrectly appear inactive.

We're urgently seeking advice or workarounds to ensure our engaged members aren't mistakenly marked as unengaged. Many members tell us they want emails but claim they "never receive anything," with some even leaving because of it.

Has anyone else experienced this and found a successful workaround or adjustment? We've tried to use an exclusion list, but the "unengaged contacts" list created by Hubspot cannot be modified. 

Thanks in advance for your help—this issue is seriously impacting our retention!

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @KBarrett94,

If the standard suppression is an issue, you can always simply deactivate the setting entirely: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/marketing-email/what-is-graymail-and-how-can-i-avoid-sending-my-email-...

Once disabled, you could simply create your own suppression list based on custom criteria, either using the "Sends since last engagement" property (defining your own threshold) or using other criteria entirely (Last seen, Last marketing email click date, Recent conversion date etc).

Best regards!

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @KBarrett94,

If the standard suppression is an issue, you can always simply deactivate the setting entirely: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/marketing-email/what-is-graymail-and-how-can-i-avoid-sending-my-email-...

Once disabled, you could simply create your own suppression list based on custom criteria, either using the "Sends since last engagement" property (defining your own threshold) or using other criteria entirely (Last seen, Last marketing email click date, Recent conversion date etc).

Best regards!

[franksteiner79 · Accepted solution]

Hi @KBarrett94 

Just adding to @karstenkoehler's point.

You do not have to check the "don't send to unengaged contacts" checkbox in all emails. It really depends what you are sending and how often. You would normally make sure that important emails are setup without the checkbox being ticked.

Frank