It's not enough just to build a large list. You want users who are engaged with your content – people who read and click on your emails.
Sailthru classifies users into distinct groups based on their engagement level:
Engaged users not only have recently opened or clicked one of your emails, they have spent time browsing your website. (To track Engaged users, you must use the
Horizon tracking beacon.)
Active users have recently clicked on one of your emails.
Passive users have recently read one of your emails with images turned on, but have not clicked recently.
New users have recently signed up, but have not yet read or clicked your emails.
Disengaged users opened or clicked your emails in the past but have not done so recently.
Dormant users have never clicked or opened your emails.
Hardbounce users have provided email addresses that are invalid. They will not be emailed.
Optout users have opted out from all emails. They will not be emailed.
The following terms are used for super-groups:
Live users are all users who are Engaged, Active, or Passive. These are the users you are reaching with your emails.
Valid users are all users who are not Hardbounce or Optout. These are the users you are able to email – your effective list size.
What defines "recently"? It depends on your particular needs. If you are sending:
| Type | Sailthru Recommended Value |
| Daily emails | 7 days |
| Weekly emails | 30 days |
| Monthly emails | 90 days |
The Sailthru default is 7 days. You can change this setting at the settings page.
You will see the Engagement groups in many reports on Sailthru, including your lists report and individual email lookups.
You can use the user engagement level dynamically in your emails – see user_engagement.
