Frequently Asked Questions About Email Deliverability and Engagement

The questions below cover common topics related to protecting your email sender reputation, understanding engagement metrics, and interpreting email authentication settings. Strong email deliverability means your emails reach the inbox instead of the spam folder — which directly affects how many contacts see and act on your campaigns.

What is p=quarantine in a DMARC record?

The p= value in a DMARC record is the DMARC policy. The policy tells the receiving email server what to do with an email that fails the DMARC authentication check. A value of p=quarantine instructs the receiving server to treat the failed email as suspicious — which typically means the email is sent to the recipient's spam folder or held in a network quarantine box rather than delivered to the inbox. To learn more about DMARC policies and how to configure them, see how to set up and understand your DMARC record and policy options.

How do I know if contacts on a large email list are not engaging?

The email health widget in your CRM displays engagement statistics for your email list, including metrics that show how actively contacts are opening and clicking your emails. For a broader view of your email sender score and deliverability health, you can also use the free Smart Score tool by EmailSmart — check your email sender score for free. Reviewing both regularly helps you identify unengaged segments before they damage your sender reputation.

What is low engagement?

Low engagement occurs when contacts on your email list stop opening or clicking your emails across multiple sends over a defined period of time. Email providers track this behavior and use it as a signal to route future emails from your domain to the spam or junk folder instead of the inbox.

You can monitor engagement levels in the email health widget in your CRM, which shows how recently contacts have interacted with your emails. The Engagement Days metric measures the contacts you have sent email marketing to in the last 30 days and calculates the average number of days since each contact last engaged with one of your emails. To learn more about the Engagement Days metric and how to interpret it, see how to use the Engagement Days metric to monitor your email list health. For a broader sender score check, use the free Smart Score tool by EmailSmart — check your email sender score for free.

How do I track engagement when sending from a subdomain with replies going to a different inbox?

Engagement tracking is based on how contacts interact with the emails sent from your CRM — including opens and clicks. If the emails are sent from your CRM using a subdomain, engagement data is still captured and available in your CRM regardless of where replies are directed. The reply-to address does not affect whether engagement data is recorded.

How do email providers decide whether an email is engaged or unengaged?

Email providers monitor how recipients interact with every email that passes through their networks. When a recipient consistently opens emails, clicks links, or replies to messages from a sender, email providers recognize that sender as trusted and prioritize delivering their emails to the inbox. When a recipient ignores an email, opens it and immediately deletes it, or deletes it without opening, email providers record that pattern. Over time, a pattern of low engagement causes email provider algorithms to route future emails from that sender directly to the spam or junk folder — even for contacts who previously received emails in their inbox.