Clubspot uses Amazon SES (simple email service) for delivering your bulk messages that you draft and send through the system such as your transactional messages like online receipts, registration confirmations, and statements. Amazon will provides of messages depending on the response they get back from the recipient’s mail server. Clubspot displays this detail in the Clubspot Platofrm to help track the messages sent from the system. This article explains what those statuses are and how to troubleshoot any emails that members may not have found in their inboxes.

• Delivered → Accepted by recipient’s mail server.

• Bounced → Couldn’t be delivered.

• Suppressed → Email was not sent as a result of prior bounces or complaints, or unsubscribes.

• Complaint → User reported as spam.

• Skipped → Email was not attempted by Clubspot. (specific to statements)

• Opened → Recipient’s email client opened the email.

• Clicked → Recipient clicked a tracked link. (Statement links are tracked)

• Definition: The receiving mail server (SMTP endpoint) accepted the email from Clubspot via Amazon SES.

• Key Point: The sender’s job is done here. Acceptance by the recipient’s server doesn’t guarantee inbox placement though it could still land in spam or be filtered/dropped afterward.

A permanent or temporary failure to deliver the email. Bounces are categorized into:

• Hard Bounce

  • Definition: Permanent failure. Recipient’s email address is invalid, domain doesn’t exist, or the server has blocked delivery permanently.

  • Effect: Clubspot automatically places the address on its suppression list.

• Soft Bounce

  • Definition: Temporary issue. Mailbox full, temporary server error, greylisting, or connection timeout.

  • Effect: Clubspot may retry for a period. If repeated, it may turn into a hard bounce and the address will be added to the suppression list.

• Definition: An email was blocked as a result of the recipient address being on the suppression list

• Effect: Email never was attempted

• Definition: The recipient marked the email as spam/junk (via their mail client, e.g., clicking “Report Spam”).

• Source: Clubspot, via Amazon SES receives this feedback via ISP/ESP feedback loops.

• Effect: Address is added to the suppression list, and sending reputation can be impacted.

• Definition: Specific to statements, Clubspot did not attempt the statement send (often for the case that there was no balance due).

• Definition: A secondary status after a succesful delivery. This indicates the recipient’s client has loaded the tracking pixel.

• Key Point: It is possible that the email client opened the email without a direct interaction from the user depending on the systems that the user may have on their inbox. Typically however this does mean that the recipient themselves opened the email

• Definition: A secondary status after a succesful delivery. This indicates the recipient’s client has also clicked a tracked link. Tracked links are included in Statement emails

• Key Point: It is possible that the email client also clicked the email without a direct interaction from the user depending on the systems that the user may have on their inbox. For example some antivirus software will test links by clicking them. Typically however this does mean that the recipient themselves clicked into the link.

When an email is marked as delivered in Clubspot, it means that the message was successfully handed off to the recipient’s mail server. However, this does not guarantee the message reached the user’s inbox. The recipient’s email provider may filter, block, or redirect it.

Here are steps your users can take to track down the missing email:

• Look in Spam, Junk, or Bulk Mail folders.

• Some email providers aggressively filter bulk or transactional emails.

• Use the email client’s search bar to look for:

  • The sender’s email address

  • The subject line (or part of it)

• Sometimes messages are hidden under “All Mail” or grouped into conversations/threads.

• Gmail often categorizes bulk messages under Promotions, Updates, or Social.

• Ask the user to check these tabs.

• Verify whether the user has email filters or rules that may auto-move, archive, or delete messages.

• For example, Outlook or Gmail filters may silently route emails to folders.

• Ensure the sender’s domain or address is not blocked in their email settings.

• Ask them to whitelist (mark as safe) your sending domain/email.

• Corporate or school accounts often use tools like Proofpoint, Mimecast, or Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance that place emails into a quarantine system.

• The user may need to log in and release the message.

• If the recipient is using a work or school email:

  • Their IT team might have firewall, spam filters, or policies that blocked or dropped the email.

  • Provide them with the sending domain and timestamp so IT can trace logs.

Yes, it is possible, but highly unlikely that it was completely lost after. Ff Amazon responds to Clubspot showing “Delivered,” the message could still be lost after they handed it off:

• The recipient’s mail server may have accepted the message but then discarded or filtered it.

• Some providers silently drop suspected spam.

• Blacklist issues, poor domain reputation, or missing authentication records (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) may cause filtering or rejection after delivery.