Understanding Email Delivery

When you send a broadcast or automation email through Thryv, both Thryv and the sender share responsibility for successful email delivery. Thryv provides and maintains the email infrastructure used to send messages, while the sender is responsible for factors such as list quality, recipient permission, engagement, email content, and domain reputation.

Email providers such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and Comcast evaluate these factors when deciding whether to accept, defer, reject, or filter a message. As a result, successful delivery is not guaranteed, and acceptance decisions are often based on the sender's reputation and mailing practices.

Once an email is accepted by the recipient's provider, that provider determines whether the message appears in the Inbox, Promotions, Updates, Spam, or Junk folder. Thryv cannot control how individual providers classify or display accepted messages.

If a contact reports that they did not receive an email, ask them to:

• Check their Inbox, Promotions, Updates, Spam, and Junk folders.
• Search their mailbox for the sender's email address, business name, or subject line.
• Add the sender's email address to their contacts or safe sender list.
• Confirm that the email address was entered correctly.
• Verify that they have not unsubscribed from receiving emails.

If the contact still cannot locate the email, review the troubleshooting questions below to determine whether the address is unsubscribed, suppressed, blocked, invalid, or experiencing another delivery issue.

How to verify if they are opted in.

Each email address in Thryv has an email status that states if they can receive emails or not. There are four positive email statuses that indicate the contact has opted in to marketing content (Confirmed, Unconfirmed, Confirm (Legacy) and Unengaged Marketable. To find their status you can look in their contact record or through the Email Status Search report.

From their contact record, locate their work email address on the right side info area of the contact record. The status is listed below the email address. 

The Email Status Search report is located under "Reports" on the left nav. Search Email Status.

Any other status will cause email delivery issues. To view the full list of email status click here. 

Why is my automation email not sending to this contact?

A contact may not receive an automation email if they are unsubscribed, have not yet reached the email step, or never entered the automation.

Another possible reason is the From Address set in one ore more email templates does not have an authenticated domain.

Email Sending capabilities could be disabled. Not common but in severe situations Automation email sending could be disabled.

Why is my broadcast not being received by this contact?

If a specific contact did not receive a broadcast, verify that they are not unsubscribed, or otherwise restricted from receiving emails.

The contact says they want to receive emails. Why are they still not getting them?

Even if a contact requests emails, they may still be blocked due to a previous bounce or spam complaint. Their email status should be reviewed before emails can resume.

Could the email address be restricted from being sent to?

It is uncommon for an email address to be on Thryv's Restricted Sending List. More commonly, the contact has opted out, the address has previously bounced, or the email was delivered to a Spam or Junk folder. If you have ruled out these possibilities and believe the address may be restricted, please contact Support for assistance reviewing the address and determining whether it is eligible for removal from the Restricted Sending List.

What is the difference between an unsubscribed, bounced, and a suppressed contact?

An unsubscribed contact has chosen to stop receiving marketing emails (opt-out, spam complaint).

A bounced email status indicates that there was an issue delivering the email to the recipient's email provider.

A suppressed contact has a system-wide block that prevents emails from being delivered. This block may be in place for several reasons, including:

• The recipient requested to be suppressed.
• The email provider requested the address be suppressed.
• Security or deliverability concerns were identified.

Can you check if a specific email address is blocked from receiving emails?

Support can review an email address to determine whether it is suppressed, unsubscribed, bounced, or experiencing other delivery restrictions.

What information should I provide when reporting an email delivery issue?

To help investigate the issue, provide:

• The contact's email address
• The name of the broadcast or automation
• The approximate send date and time
• Whether the issue affects one contact or multiple contacts
• Any relevant screenshots from the contact record or email reports