How do I use Email Scoring to target my audience?

Email Scoring is a built-in tool in Targeted Email that automatically assigns every email address in your database a score from 1 to 10 based on engagement history. It's a helpful shortcut for filtering out disengaged contacts, but it works best when used alongside other targeting practices, not as a standalone strategy. Follow these steps to get the most out of Email Scoring.

Step 1: Understand how scores work

Every email address in your database is automatically assigned a score, regardless of any action you take.

• Scores range from 1 to 10. All addresses start at 5.

• Opens and clicks push the score up.

• Bounces and long periods of inactivity pull the score down.

• Each email address is scored independently — even if multiple addresses belong to the same contact, each one has its own score. If a duplicate address exists for a contact, both instances share the same score.

What Email Scoring is not:

• Not a guarantee of inbox placement. Mailbox providers like Gmail and Outlook do not see or use this score.

• Not a replacement for segmentation by engagement recency (last open date, last click date).

• Not a fix for content issues or poor consent practices. Engagement starts with sending wanted mail.

Step 2: Exclude low-scoring addresses from a send

When creating a new email in Targeted Email, you can exclude addresses by score during the audience selection step.

Navigation path: Targeted Email → Select Recipients → Exclude from Audience → Show Additional Exclusions → Email Address Performance

From there:

1. Set the minimum score threshold. New email addresses start at 5, so for broad outreach include scores of 5 and above as a starting point.

2. Contacts with scores below your threshold will be automatically excluded from the send.

3. For more targeted sends, you can raise the threshold (e.g., score of 6 or above) to further limit your audience to higher-engagement contacts.

Domain-level exclusions: You can also apply score-based exclusions to a specific domain. For example, if you have recurring deliverability issues with contacts at a particular organization's domain, you can exclude all addresses at that domain with a score of 3 or below without excluding the same low scores from other domains.

Step 3: Combine Email Scoring with engagement recency filters

Email Scoring reflects overall engagement history. Recency filters tell you whether that engagement was recent. Used together, they give you a much more reliable picture of your active audience.

Recommended approach:

• In Create A List → Targeted Email Summaries, filter contacts by the most recent date they were sent, opened, or clicked an email.

• Combine this with an Email Score filter. Example: Score ≥ 3 AND opened or clicked in the last 6 months → a reliable audience for general outreach.

• Reserve lower-score contacts (who haven't engaged recently) for dedicated re-engagement campaigns rather than including them in standard sends.

A good general rule: only send to contacts who have engaged with your email program in the last 6–9 months unless you're running a deliberate re-engagement campaign.

Step 4: Monitor your list health with Email Scoring

Email Scoring isn't just useful for individual sends, it gives you a bird's-eye view of how your overall list is trending over time.

1. Navigate to the Email Address Status Report in Targeted Email.

2. Add the Email Score column to your report view.

3. Use the Group By → Email Score dropdown to see a count of how many addresses sit at each score level.

4. Schedule this report to run weekly or monthly so you can track changes over time without pulling it manually.

What to look for:

• A high concentration of scores at 1–3 signals that a significant portion of your audience has gone inactive; a prompt for list hygiene or a re-engagement campaign.

• A healthy list typically has most addresses clustered between 4–8, with a smaller tail on each end.

What else do you need help with?

• Navigate back to the Email Deliverability Index.

What is Email Scoring in EveryAction? | How do I exclude low-scoring email addresses from a send? | Does Email Scoring affect Gmail or Outlook deliverability? | How do I combine Email Scoring with engagement recency filters? | How do I monitor my list health using Email Scoring? | What does an Email Score of 5 mean in EveryAction? | How do I find the Email Score column in the Email Address Status Report?