What does Optimized mean?

Optimized means SendFox is protecting your email deliverability by sending to your most engaged subscribers. Here's why optimization happens and how to send to everyone again.

What "Optimized" means

If a sent email on your Emails page shows an Optimized badge, SendFox sent it to your engaged subscribers — the contacts who opened one of your emails in the past 90 days — instead of your full list. As the badge's tooltip puts it: "To help you get better results, SendFox will automatically send this email to your best contacts."

If emails keep going out to subscribers who never open them, Gmail and other inbox providers start routing your emails to spam — and can flag your whole sending domain. Optimization keeps your open rates high and your sender reputation healthy, which is what keeps you out of the spam folder.

Why your account gets optimized

SendFox places an account into Optimization mode when a recent email's key metrics — open rate, click rate, unsubscribe rate, bounce rate, or spam-complaint rate — fall significantly below industry standards. When that happens:

• You receive an email notification telling you your account was placed into Optimization mode.
• Your future campaigns are sent only to engaged subscribers (opened in the past 90 days).
• Automation emails skip imported contacts who aren't engaged. Contacts who signed up through your forms or Smart Pages still receive them — see how automations work.

"Warming Up" — your first large send

Warming up is related but separate: it applies once, to your first email to 100 or more contacts. SendFox first delivers the email to a limited number of subscribers and measures the results over roughly 24 hours. Hover over the Warming Up badge to see how much time is left.

• If the results look good, the email automatically goes out to everyone else on your list.
• If the results are poor (for example, a bounce rate several times higher than industry standards), the send is stopped and the badge changes to Limited — hover over it to see the exact reason.
• While an email is warming up, you can't schedule another campaign — the next send unlocks after the measurement window ends.

This is a standard email-marketing practice: it builds a good sending reputation for your address before high-volume sending.

How to avoid (and exit) Optimization mode

• Send to people who want your emails. Double opt-in confirmed subscribers open more and complain less.
• Clean your list. Remove or stop emailing contacts who haven't opened in months.
• Check your content before sending. Tools like mail-tester.com score your email for common spam triggers.
• Write subject lines people open. Higher engagement is the single biggest deliverability lever.

Once your engagement metrics recover, contact the SendFox team at support@sendfox.com to have your account reviewed.

Troubleshooting

My email went to fewer people than expected

• Optimization is one of three common causes — the Engaged only checkbox and unconfirmed contacts are the others. See why are my emails not being sent to everyone?

My email shows "Limited"

• The send was stopped because of poor results — hover over the badge for the exact reason (for example, "Bounce rate is 3x higher than industry standards."). Clean your list, then email support@sendfox.com if you'd like a review.

I can't schedule my next email

• If a campaign is still Warming Up, scheduling unlocks after its ~24-hour measurement window completes.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as an "engaged" subscriber?

A contact who opened one of your emails in the past 90 days.

Does warming up happen on every send?

No — warming up applies to your first send to 100 or more contacts. Account Optimization is separate and only happens when sending results fall well below industry standards.

Does Optimization affect automation emails?

Partly. Imported contacts who aren't engaged are skipped; contacts who joined through your forms and Smart Pages still receive automation emails. See do automation emails count towards the send limit?

Can I turn Optimization mode off myself?

No — improve your engagement metrics, then contact support@sendfox.com to have your account reviewed.