Email statuses (all metrics explained)

When sending newsletters, tracking email statuses helps you understand performance and improve deliverability. With Zencity, you can see if messages were delivered, opened, clicked, bounced, marked as spam, and more — all from the same dashboard.

Interpreting these statuses correctly allows you to measure engagement, spot issues, and boost your overall communication strategy.

Main Email Statuses

Delivered

Indicates that the email was successfully sent and accepted by the recipient’s server.

• Delivered ≠ Inbox: A delivered email may still end up in the recipient’s spam or junk folder.

• Delivered count = Sent emails – Delivery errors (bounces or blocks).

• Quality of your contact list is key to maintaining high delivery rates.

Opened

Measures how many recipients opened your email.

• Open Rate = % of unique opens ÷ total delivered emails.

• Requires open tracking (enabled by default). A small invisible tracking pixel is loaded when the email is opened.

• Keep in mind:

  • Opens may be undercounted (if images are blocked).

  • Opens may be overcounted (if emails are auto-previewed).

Clicked

Shows how many recipients engaged with your content by clicking a link.

• Click Rate = % of delivered emails with at least one recorded click.

• More reliable than open rate, as all clicks are trackable.

• High click rates indicate strong engagement and relevant content.

Unsubscribed

Indicates how many recipients opted out of your list.

• Unsubscribe Rate = Unsubscribes ÷ Delivered emails.

• Every marketing email must include an unsubscribe link (required by Zencity’s Acceptable Use Policy).

• A higher unsubscribe rate may signal irrelevant or overly frequent messaging.

Reported as Spam

Shows when recipients actively mark your email as spam.

• Spam complaints = % of delivered emails marked as spam.

• Different from being filtered to spam by an ISP.

• High spam complaint rates can hurt your sender reputation.

• To reduce spam complaints:

  • Only email users who have given explicit consent.

  • Always include a clear unsubscribe link.

  • Keep content relevant and aligned with subscriber expectations.

Bounced

Indicates that an email could not be delivered.

• Soft Bounce: Temporary issues (e.g., inbox full, server timeout).

• Hard Bounce: Permanent issues (e.g., invalid address, non-existent domain).

• Hard bounces harm your reputation. Zencity automatically flags invalid addresses.

• Best practice: regularly clean your contact lists.

Blocked and Pre-Blocked

Zencity may block emails before sending if delivery is impossible or harmful to your reputation.

Examples:

• Sending to an address that already hard bounced.

• Content flagged as spam (ALL CAPS, poor text/image ratio, “spammy” words).

• Duplicate messages via SMTP relay.

Blocked emails are visible in your Stats page with detailed reasons.

Retrying

Means Zencity is still attempting delivery.

• Retries can last up to 24 hours.

• If unsuccessful after that, the email is marked as a soft bounce.

Queued

Indicates that the email has been accepted by Zencity and is waiting to be sent.
No delivery attempt has been made yet.

Additional Metrics

Open Metrics

• Total Opens: Number of times emails were opened (counts multiple opens).

• Unique Opens: First open by each recipient.

• Average Opens per Message: Total opens ÷ unique opens.

• Delivered Messages Opened: % of delivered emails that were opened.

• Average Open Delay: Average time between delivery and first open.

Click Metrics

• Total Clicks: Number of times links were clicked (counts multiple clicks).

• Unique Clicks: First click by each recipient.

• Average Clicks per Message: Total clicks ÷ unique clicks.

• Delivered Messages Clicked: % of delivered emails that were clicked.

• Average Click Delay: Average time between delivery and first click.

Unsubscribe and Spam Metrics

• Total Unsubscribed: Number of recipients who opted out.

• Delivered Messages Unsubscribed: % of delivered emails with unsubscribes.

• Total Marked as Spam: Number of recipients who flagged the campaign as spam.

• Delivered Messages Marked as Spam: % of delivered emails reported as spam.

Summary

Tracking email statuses in Zencity provides valuable insights into resident engagement, list health, and campaign performance. By monitoring deliverability, clicks, opens, unsubscribes, and spam complaints, you can continuously refine your outreach strategy and maintain strong sender reputation.