The Sent Message Report tells you how a specific email performed: who received it, who opened or clicked, which links pulled the most interest, and how recipients answered any polls. It's the primary place to check the health of an individual send and the starting point for deciding what to change on the next one.
Who does this: Email marketers, campaign owners, and anyone reviewing email performance
Time needed: 5 to 10 minutes to orient yourself the first time
Why this matters: Every decision about email, from subject-line testing to list hygiene to content strategy, draws on what the Sent Message Report says. Reading it accurately, knowing whether a number refers to unique contacts or total actions, is what separates a useful review from a misleading one.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users) - Click to Expand
- Open from Outbound > Sent Messages, click the down-arrow next to an email, choose Report.
- Top to bottom: Filters, Sent/Delivered/Engagement numbers, Charts, Action Tracking, Clickthrough Tracking, Survey Responses.
- Most percentages are unique counts over Unique Sent. See Definitions below.
- Use the Device and Client tab for mail client and device breakdown.
- For multi-email views, use the Rollup Report or Campaigns.
- Allow a few hours post-send for data to populate.
Try it like this: Go to Outbound > Sent Messages, click the down-arrow beside a recent email, and choose Report. Scan the top row of numbers (Sent, Delivered, Opened, Clicked), then scroll to Clickthrough Tracking to see which links drew the most attention.
Note: Report data may not appear immediately. Allow a few hours after the email sends for data to be collected.
Access the report
- Choose an email from Outbound > Sent Messages.
- Click the down-arrow beside that email.
- Click Report.
Want performance across several emails at once? Use the Campaigns feature for a rollup view, or generate the Rollup Report.
Report sections
Filters
The top of the report lets you filter by time frame, including a custom date range. You can also filter by clicking on specific charts further down the report.
Sent, Delivered, and Engagement metrics
The headline numbers show who received the message and how they interacted with it.
Hover over any field to see a short definition. Click on many of the numbers to drill down to a list of the matching contacts.
Sent, Delivered, and Engagement charts
Click a chart segment to isolate or filter the data elsewhere in the report.
Action Tracking table
Click any count to drill down to the contacts behind it. Hover on percentages to see how they're calculated.
Clickthrough Tracking
This section breaks down performance by individual link in your email, so you can see which calls to action earned the most clicks.
Tip: If you see multiple entries for View in Browser, turn on the Labs setting to ignore those clicks. See Ignore Clicks on the "View in Browser" Link.
Survey Responses and Participants
If your email included a poll, or a Multiple Choice Block in legacy emails, the responses appear here.
Device and Client tab
Switch to this tab to see the browsers and operating systems your recipients used to open the email. It's useful for knowing which devices to test and optimise for. If you see a lot of Unknown Devices, see Identifying the Device and Client for the Sent Message Report.
Definitions of report data
Metrics
| Addressed | Unique email addresses in the list or segment targeted with this message (Sent + Suppressed). |
| Not Sent / Suppressed | Unique email addresses removed from this send due to suppression or send failure. "Not sent" usually means an invalid address or missing personalization field. "Suppressed" usually means an opt-out or a duplicate already sent. The number shown is de-duplicated by email, so one contact with multiple suppressed duplicates adds 1 to the total. Click the number to see every underlying record. |
| Sent | Unique email addresses included in the send. |
| Bounced | Unique email addresses that didn't reach an inbox due to hard or soft bounces. |
| Delivered | Recipients who received the message (Sent minus Bounced). |
| Opened | Unique email addresses that opened this message. If a recipient has images off or views in plain text, the open isn't counted unless they also click a link. See Calculating Email Opens. |
| Clicked | Unique email addresses that clicked any link in the message. See Calculating the Clicked Rate in a Message Report. |
| Opt-Outs | Unique email addresses that submitted an opt-out request. |
| Spam Complaints | Unique email addresses that submitted a spam complaint. |
| Total Sent | Can exceed Unique Sent if the message was sent more than once to the same recipient, via an Automated Program or a resend. Includes any internal IP addresses otherwise excluded from reporting. |
| Total Opened | Total opens including multiple opens by the same recipient. |
| Total Clicked | Total clicks including multiple clicks by the same recipient. |
Percentages
| Open Rate | Opens / Delivered × 100 |
| Click Rate | Clicks / Delivered × 100 |
| Click-to-Open Rate | Clicks / Opened × 100 |
| Bounced Rate | Bounced / Sent × 100 |
| Delivered Rate | Delivered / Sent × 100 |
| Did Not Open Rate | Did Not Open / Delivered × 100 |
| Opt-Out Rate | Opt-Outs / Delivered × 100 |
| Spam Complaint Rate | Spam Complaints / Delivered × 100 |
Key terms glossary
| Total Sent | The total number of messages sent to valid recipients. Does not include recipients that failed or were suppressed. |
| Not Sent / Suppressed | Messages that didn't send due to a failure (invalid address, missing personalization field) or were suppressed (opted out, duplicate already sent, on a hard bounce list, or on one of the suppression lists chosen for the send). |
| Opened | Unique individuals who have opened your message. |
| Bounced | Messages that bounced upon reaching their domain. Soft bounces are temporary (server issue, full mailbox). Hard bounces are permanent (invalid address, sender blocked). |
| Did Not Open | Recipients who received the message but didn't view it. |
| Clicked | Unique recipients who clicked any link in your message. Click to see who clicked a specific link and when. |
| Total Times Opened | Total views including multiple views by a single recipient. |
| Total Times Clicked | Total clicks on links. For the number of unique people who clicked, see Clicked. |
| Last Opened | The last date and time your message was viewed by a recipient. |
| Last Clicked | The last date and time a link in your message was clicked by a recipient. |
| Opt-Outs | Recipients who opted out from communications related to this message. |
| Spam Complaints | The total spam complaints against this message. A complaint means the recipient flagged it as spam in their mail client, not that a filter tagged it. Complaints and hard bounces hurt deliverability; opt-outs don't. |
| Responses So Far | Appears when the email contained a multiple-choice option. Shows each recipient and their response. |
Common pitfalls
- Treating Total Opened and Opened as the same thing. Total Opened counts every view; Opened counts unique people.
- Assuming a low Open Rate means poor content. Image-blocking and tracker-blocking extensions can suppress pixel loads. See Calculating Email Opens.
- Trusting clickthrough numbers that look too good. Anti-spam scanners can inflate clicks, especially on the "View in Browser" link. See False Opt-Outs & Email Clicks.
- Comparing Act-On's Click Rate to another tool's. Act-On divides by Unique Sent by default. Other tools may divide by Opens. See Calculating the Clicked Rate in a Message Report.
- Acting on a report immediately after a send. Data can take a few hours to finish collecting.
What you've unlocked: You can read any Sent Message Report with confidence, and you know when to drill down, when to widen your view, and when a number might be misleading. Next, look at multi-email views with the Rollup Report or Best Performing, or keep your numbers clean with Ignore Activity from Known IP Addresses.