Email Analytics Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions

Does Certain use a 3rd party email service for sending email?
Yes.
Certain uses SendGrid.com.
Email is sent via SMTP.
SendGrid/Twilio provides Email Marketing and transactional email solutions to businesses of all sizes.

Email Analytics Event Dashboard & Tabular View

How often is the Email Analytics dashboard refreshed?
The dashboard is refreshed every 10 minutes.
What time zone are the time stamps in the dashboard reflected in?
The Pacific Time zone is consistent with other timestamps in the Certain platform.
When I move my event from ‘Testing’ to ‘Live’ status will the dashboard totals be cleared out?
No.
Totals reflect emails sent to both test and live registrations in the event as well as any deleted emails.
As a best practice, include ‘Test’ in the name of any mass action emails so they can be excluded via filters on the dashboard.
What do each of the email statuses mean?
Sent — the message has been prepared and processed for delivery.
Delivered — the recipient's email server has accepted the message.
% delivered — the percentage of delivered emails equals delivered divided by sent.
Total Opens — the total number of times the email was opened by recipients.
One recipient may open the same email multiple times.
% opened — the percentage of emails opened equals total opens divided by delivered.
Unique Opens — the total number of recipients who opened the email.
Total Clicks — the total number of clicks, including multiple clicks by the same recipient.
Unique Clicks — the count of recipients who clicked on at least one link.
% Not Opened — the total number of unread emails divided by the total emails delivered.
Undeliverable — the number of emails that were undeliverable.
The reason could be bounces (recipient's server rejected the message), dropped emails (no longer processed), spam, etc.
% Other — the total number of undeliverable emails divided by the number of emails sent.

Registration Email Activity Summary Totals and Timeline

How often is the Email Activity list and timeline updated within a registration?
Unlike the dashboard, the list and timeline within a registration are updated in near real-time.
Email Opens
What is the difference between Total Opened and Unique Opens?
Total Opened is the total number of times the email was opened.
Unique Opens is the total number of recipients who opened the email.
How are opens tracked?
An invisible, one-pixel image is added at the end of each email.
If the email recipient has images enabled and requests to SendGrid’s server for the image, an open event is logged.
Open tracking is not recorded for text-only emails.
Is there anything else I need to know about open tracking?
Due to internet routing and other factors, some opens can be recorded multiple times within 0–30 seconds.
When multiple opens of the same link are recorded within 30 seconds, only a single open is displayed in the registration timeline.

Click-Through Tracking

Are link click-throughs tracked?
Yes.
This feature can be enabled at the portal // sub-account // event level.
How do I enable click-through tracking on my portal and sub-accounts?
It is enabled by default on all portals and sub-accounts and can only be enabled or disabled by Certain.
For assistance, contact helpdesk@certain.com.
How do I enable click-through tracking on my event?
Navigate to Plan > Configure > Options > Functional Areas Needed by This Event > Event Module.
Select “Email Click-Through Tracking.”
If you do not see this option, it is not enabled for your sub-account or portal.
For more information, contact help@certain.com.
How does click-through tracking work?
SendGrid is used to send emails.
Click-through tracking overwrites links with a SendGrid domain visible only when the recipient hovers over the link.
Upon click, the browser opens the original website while the displayed URL may differ.
Will recipients be concerned about the overwritten link and think it is a phishing email?
This is a valid concern; however, this URL overwriting is typical of email tracking.
Documentation on tracking is available at SendGrid’s tracking guidance.
Can the domain displayed in the overwritten links match that of my portal?
Yes, this is possible but requires coordination with your DNS manager and best practices with branding the links.
Where can I see the link that a registrant clicked on?
Drill into a registration and navigate to the Email Activity timeline to see the clicked link with a timestamp.
What if a recipient clicks on multiple links in the same email?
Each click is tracked and recorded in the timeline.
Is there anything else I need to know about click-through tracking?
Some clicks can be recorded multiple times within seconds; if so, only a single click is displayed within 30 seconds of another.
Should I have any privacy concerns regarding enabling click-through tracking in my emails?
As a best practice, include your organization’s privacy policy in registrations.
Consider mentioning third-party technologies used to analyze trends and track user movements in emails.

Single Send Emails

What emails are considered Single Send?
Confirmation emails triggered when a registrant completes registration and lands on the Confirm page.
Includes single sends of event confirmations, form confirmations, and email templates.
Any single email sent from the Registration > Email or Profile Email pages.
Forgot Password Emails.
Digital Emails that include a Join URL.
Think of these as running totals for one-time, single-send emails.

Mass Action Emails

What emails are considered Mass Action Emails?
Email sent via mass action from the Report Results window.
This includes Event Confirmation emails, Form Confirmations, and Email Templates.
Scheduled Emails
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Miscellaneous

What is the retention policy for email analytics?
The retention policy is 90 days following the event end date, consistent with the data retention policy for email history and credit card data.
Data is archived for an additional 9 months before being permanently purged.
What emails are not tracked?
Emails sent to Speakers and Reviewers.
Messages sent as CC or BCC.
Email Analytics does not record data for test registrations.
How many emails can I send in a single mass action?
5000 is the maximum number of records in a single mass action.
If you have more than 5000 records, you must break the send into smaller batches.
You can track who an email has been sent to by setting a custom registration property or by placing a registration on the “To-Do List.”
How are emails that include a CC or BCC handled?
Emails sent to CC and BCC, as well as additional and assistant emails, are not tracked.
Is email sent from Certain CAN-SPAM compliant?
No.
However, CAN-SPAM compliant requirements can still be implemented in your emails.
Learn more about CAN-SPAM compliance from the linked resources.

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