Unengaged contacts that are actually highly engaged

[#1]

Hello, I have created a list in Hubspot to identify our unengaged contacts so I can do some more research as to where they have come from. The criteria I used is "sends since last engagement is greater than or equal to 11". 

In reviewing the list, I'm finding some of these contacts are incredibly engaged. For example, I have a contact on this list who has 602 page views and has submitted 3 forms.  Of the names on the list, over 1,500 have visited our site at least once. We have only been Hubspot customers for about 3 months so these are all recently active. These are exactly the kind of contacts I want more of. 

I'm not questioning the validity of the data, but I'm wondering why they aren't engaging with email. The logical assumption is the email isn't reaching them. So what I'm wondering is, what is the best way to address this? Is it white listing? Re-engagement? Does anyone have some real world steps they have taken to deal with a situation like this? 

Thanks. 

[#2 · Accepted solution]

While it's safe to presume that SOMETHING is going on with your emails, it's not a foregone conclusion that deliverability is the issue. Other than obvious junk folder concerns, here are just a few items that hurt engagement AFTER email is delivered.

-- email format isn't appropriate (e.g., poorly displayed for a large segment of your list, or is not responsive)
-- email content doesn't compel action (i.e., focuses on opens instead of CTR)
-- email isn't preferred communication method (as determined by the RECIPIENT)
-- email send from name is less than ideal (e.g., generic or not recognized)

Regarding deliverability, consider the following.
-- email sender reputation is damaged == impacts deliverability
-- email sending domain isn't clearly identified == impacts deliverability
-- email sending IP address had/has low deliverability score for timeframe in question == impacts deliverability

- see [RESOURCES] HubSpot Email Deliverability

Hope that helps.

Best,
Frank

-ps
Depending on who your audience is and what you're sending them, 11 emails with no engagement over the course of just 12 weeks may be symptomatic of a bigger issue with your list -- e.g., dirty list, poor segmentation, spam.

Help answer your question? If so, remember to accept this solution now.

Best,
Frank

Chief HubSpot Consultant

---

MFrankJohnson.com | Perfect HubSpot Series | Connect on LinkedIn

Help find posts quickly ... accept this solution now.

[#3 · Accepted solution]

Hey brianmcgann1!

The sends since last engagement property measures marketing email interaction specifically, as opposed to other types of engagement (website, social media, form submissions, etc.). This is limited to marketing email opens. If you haven’t yet, I’d definitely recommend checking out this article about graymail and how to improve deliverability by avoiding sending to unengaged contacts.

As for why contacts are not engaged with mail, it may help to look into a few things:

• Origin: How did the contacts came to be a part of your email list in the first place?
  For example, were they added to the database after filling out a subscription form, imported, other?
  
  
• Permission: How did these contacts give you permission to send them bulk, ongoing marketing email?
  Contacts that have opted in are far more likely to be expecting your mail and will engage with it.
  
  
• Expectations: Have you made it clear what you will be sending them and how often?Again, if recipients know what is coming their way, they are more likely to engage.

If you find that a significant portion of your database is unengaged, a database cleanup may go a long way. When it comes to your email lists, think of each relationship with your contacts as a symbiotic one: contacts sign up because they want to hear from you, and as they engage with your mail you gain a few sender reputation points which increases the likelihood of your mail reaching the inbox on subsequent sends. If you continue sending stuff they want, the cycle continues in everyone’s favor. It’s a win win!

Sending to unengaged contacts usually means your mail will begin to be placed in the spam folder so it never has a chance to be seen. This also negatively impacts your sender reputation and deliverability as ISPs begin to learn that you are a sender sending mail that their users do not want.

[#4]

Hi there

We are doing somethign similar as well to our unengaged customer contacts. 

Some of them are saying they view emails and have done so in reply to an reengagement campaign emal that I sent via Hubspot which isn't showing as being opened even though they are replying to me from it.

Can you let me know what the reasons would be for this and if there is any manual way to swtich them back to engaged?

Thanks

Kate

[#5]

I have found that recipients who open email in Outlook may not be counted in open rates depending on the recipient's "Automatic Download" settings. Since open rate dictates an "unengaged contact", it might be inadvertantly leaving out recipients who are actually opening in Outlook but not automatically downloading pictures. 

This is just a guess though and I am curious to know HubSpot's response!

[#6]

Here's an article from over 10 years ago that sums up nicely why email open rates are notoriously unreliable as a KPI, and why there's not much we can do to change that even 10 years later.
- see Email Open Rate Metrics - Why Falling? Why Unreliable?