Unengaged Contacts and Automated List Management in Keap™: How It Works and How to Configure It

Keep your contact list clean automatically — without manual review every week. Automated List Management monitors how recently your contacts have engaged with your emails and assigns engagement-based statuses to them on a weekly basis. This ensures that contacts who stop engaging are flagged before they become a deliverability risk, and that contacts who re-engage are automatically returned to an active marketing status. If you have noticed that fewer contacts are eligible to receive your broadcast emails than expected, or that contacts are blocked from your marketing emails, the Unengaged Non-Marketable status is the most likely cause. This article covers what the two engagement statuses mean, why contacts become blocked from receiving marketing emails, how Max Classic users can configure the thresholds, and what options are available when contacts are no longer reachable.

1. Why Automated List Management protects your email deliverability
2. Understanding the two engagement statuses
3. What to do when contacts are blocked from receiving your marketing emails
4. How to configure Automated List Management — Max Classic only
5. Trusted partners for email deliverability and list management
6. Frequently asked questions

Why Automated List Management Protects Your Email Deliverability

Sending marketing emails to contacts who have stopped engaging is one of the fastest ways to damage your sender reputation. Inbox providers monitor engagement signals across your entire list — when a large portion of your recipients never open or click your emails, providers interpret that as a signal that your emails are unwanted and begin routing them to spam or blocking them entirely.

Automated List Management removes the need to manually review and segment your list for disengaged contacts. The feature automatically assigns engagement statuses to contacts based on how recently they opened, clicked, or submitted a form — and updates those statuses every week on Saturday. Contacts who re-engage are automatically returned to an active status. Contacts who remain unengaged are flagged and eventually blocked from receiving marketing emails until they re-engage on their own. This keeps your sending list focused on contacts who actually want your emails, which protects your deliverability and improves your campaign performance.

Automated List Management is on by default for all Keap accounts. Max Pro users cannot adjust the engagement thresholds — the default thresholds apply automatically. Max Classic users can configure the thresholds in the Marketing Settings panel. See How to configure Automated List Management — Max Classic only for steps.

Understanding the Two Engagement Statuses

Automated List Management uses two engagement statuses to categorize contacts who have not engaged with your emails within the configured time thresholds. These statuses apply to all Keap accounts regardless of edition. Understanding what each status means is important before taking any action on blocked contacts.

Unengaged Marketable

A contact receives the Unengaged Marketable status when they have not opened an email, clicked a link, or submitted a form within the Unengaged Marketable threshold. Contacts with this status can still receive your marketing emails — the status is a warning indicator, not a block. The default threshold for this status is 4 months. Max Classic users can adjust this threshold in Marketing Settings. Max Pro users cannot adjust this threshold — the 4-month default applies automatically.

When a contact with the Unengaged Marketable status opens an email, clicks a link, or submits a form, their engagement status automatically updates back to their previous active status. No manual action is required.

Deliverability risk: Continuing to send marketing emails to contacts who have not engaged in 4 or more months increases the risk of spam complaints and bounces — especially if those email addresses have become inactive. Contacts with the Unengaged Marketable status should be moved into a re-engagement workflow rather than continuing to receive regular marketing sends.

Unengaged Non-Marketable

A contact receives the Unengaged Non-Marketable status when they have not opened an email, clicked a link, or submitted a form within the Unengaged Non-Marketable threshold. Contacts with this status are not eligible to receive your broadcast emails or automation emails. The default threshold for this status is 6 months. Max Classic users can adjust this threshold in Marketing Settings. Max Pro users cannot adjust this threshold — the 6-month default applies automatically.

You cannot manually reactivate a contact from the Unengaged Non-Marketable status regardless of your Keap edition. The only way for a contact to leave this status is for the contact to re-engage on their own — by opening one of your emails, clicking a link, or submitting a form. When a contact re-engages, their status automatically updates back to their previous active status. No manual action is required on your end.

Note: Unengaged Non-Marketable is not the same as the standard Non-Marketable status. Standard Non-Marketable is caused by missing import permission and can be resolved with bulk opt-in. Unengaged Non-Marketable is caused by disengagement and cannot be resolved manually. Bulk opt-in does not apply to Unengaged Non-Marketable contacts.

What to Do When Contacts Are Blocked from Receiving Your Marketing Emails

If your contacts have the Unengaged Non-Marketable status, they are blocked from receiving broadcast emails and automation emails. This applies to all Keap editions. This is the most common reason a contact group shows fewer eligible recipients than expected when creating a broadcast. For example, if a contact group contains 131 contacts but only 1 is shown as eligible, the remaining contacts likely have the Unengaged Non-Marketable status or another non-sendable status such as Unsubscribed or Bounced.

You cannot manually reactivate contacts from the Unengaged Non-Marketable status. The only way for a contact to leave this status is for the contact to re-engage on their own — by opening one of your emails, clicking a link in an email, or submitting a web form. When a contact re-engages, their status automatically updates back to their previous active status.

The most effective option available to you is to send a re-engagement email. A re-engagement email is a one-time send specifically designed to invite unengaged contacts to opt back in to your marketing. Contacts who open or click the re-engagement email will automatically have their status restored to an active, sendable status. To learn how to send a re-engagement email, see Send a Re-Engagement Email to Unengaged Contacts Using Keap.

If a large portion of your contact list has reached the Unengaged Non-Marketable status, it may indicate that your list has not been emailed regularly enough to maintain engagement. Going forward, a consistent sending cadence — even a simple monthly newsletter — helps keep contacts in an active status and prevents the list from degrading over time.

How to Configure Automated List Management — Max Classic Only

Max Pro users do not have access to the Automated List Management configuration panel. The engagement thresholds are applied automatically in Max Pro and cannot be adjusted. If you are a Max Pro user, see What to do when contacts are blocked from receiving your marketing emails for your available options.

Max Classic users can follow the steps below to enable Automated List Management and configure the engagement thresholds for their account.

1. Click the Marketing menu in the top navigation bar. At the bottom of the Marketing menu, click Settings. The Marketing Settings page opens.
   
    
2. Click Automated List Management on the Marketing Settings page. The Automated List Management configuration panel opens. The panel displays two sections: Unengaged Marketable Status and Unengaged Non-Marketable Status.
   
    
3. In the Unengaged Marketable Status section, set the Unengaged Marketable Status Threshold field to the number of months of inactivity after which a contact should receive the Unengaged Marketable status. The default threshold is 4 months. Contacts with this status can still receive marketing emails — the status is a warning indicator only.
    
4. In the Unengaged Non-Marketable Status section, toggle the Enable Unengaged Non-Marketable Status switch to the On position to activate the Unengaged Non-Marketable status for your account. If the toggle is already in the On position, this step is complete.
    
5. Set the Unengaged Non-Marketable Status Threshold field to the number of months of inactivity after which a contact should be blocked from receiving marketing emails. The maximum threshold is 18 months. The Unengaged Non-Marketable threshold must be set to a value equal to or greater than the Unengaged Marketable threshold.
    
6. Click Save Email Address Status Limits to save your configuration. Your settings take effect on the following Saturday morning when the weekly status update runs.

Weekly update schedule: Automated List Management updates contact engagement statuses once per week on Saturday mornings. Changes you make to your threshold settings will take effect on the following Saturday — they do not apply immediately after saving.

Turning the feature off does not reverse past status changes. If you toggle the Enable Unengaged Non-Marketable Status switch to the Off position after it has been enabled, contact statuses that were already assigned by the feature will not be reverted. Contacts who were set to Unengaged Non-Marketable will retain that status and will remain blocked from marketing emails unless they re-engage on their own.

Trusted Partners for Email Deliverability and List Management

If you would like professional guidance or additional tools to improve your email deliverability and list health, the following trusted partners offer relevant services.

Email deliverability training, consulting, and software

• EmailSmart — Email deliverability training, consulting, and software

List cleaning services

• SpamClean — Email list cleaning service
• ListDefender — Email list protection and cleaning
• Klean13 — Email list verification and cleaning
• EmailSmart Pro Tools — Advanced deliverability tools

Form security and list protection

• Spamkill — Web form spam protection
• ListDefender — Form protection and list defense

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this article cover? This article covers what Automated List Management is, what the Unengaged Marketable and Unengaged Non-Marketable statuses mean, why contacts become blocked from receiving your marketing emails, and how Max Classic users can configure Automated List Management thresholds. This article does not cover manually opting contacts out, managing individual contact email statuses, or the standard Non-Marketable status caused by import permission settings. To learn how to send a re-engagement email to unengaged contacts, see Send a Re-Engagement Email to Unengaged Contacts Using Keap. To learn about all contact email status types, see Contact Email Status Types in Keap.

Why are most of my contacts not eligible to receive my broadcast email? If your contact group shows significantly fewer eligible recipients than the total number of contacts in the group, the most likely cause is that the excluded contacts have a non-sendable email status. The most common non-sendable statuses are Unengaged Non-Marketable, Unsubscribed, Bounced, and Non-Marketable. Contacts with these statuses are automatically excluded from broadcast sends. To identify which contacts are excluded and why, click Reports in the left-hand navigation, then click Email Engagement Tracker. The Email Engagement Tracker displays contacts grouped by email status so you can see exactly how many contacts have each status. For contacts with the Unengaged Non-Marketable status, the only available path to restore broadcast eligibility is a re-engagement email. See Send a Re-Engagement Email to Unengaged Contacts Using Keap for steps.

How often does Automated List Management update contact statuses? Automated List Management updates contact engagement statuses once per week on Saturday mornings. Changes you make to your threshold settings will take effect on the following Saturday — they do not apply immediately after saving. This schedule applies to all Keap editions.

Can I change the Unengaged Marketable threshold from 4 months? Max Classic users can adjust the Unengaged Marketable threshold in the Automated List Management configuration panel under Marketing Settings. Max Pro users cannot adjust this threshold — the 4-month default applies automatically and cannot be changed.

Can I change the Unengaged Non-Marketable threshold from 6 months? Max Classic users can adjust the Unengaged Non-Marketable threshold in the Automated List Management configuration panel under Marketing Settings. The threshold is adjustable between 1 and 18 months, and must always be set equal to or greater than the Unengaged Marketable threshold. Max Pro users cannot adjust this threshold — the 6-month default applies automatically and cannot be changed.

What happens to contact statuses if I turn Automated List Management off? This option is available to Max Classic users only. Turning the Unengaged Non-Marketable Status toggle to Off stops the feature from assigning new statuses going forward. It does not retroactively change the status of contacts who were already assigned the Unengaged Non-Marketable status while the feature was active. Those contacts will retain their Unengaged Non-Marketable status and will remain blocked from marketing emails until they re-engage on their own.

How does a contact with the Unengaged Non-Marketable status get reactivated? A contact with the Unengaged Non-Marketable status can only be reactivated by re-engaging on their own — by opening one of your emails, clicking a link, or submitting a form. When a contact re-engages, their status automatically updates back to their previous active status. You cannot manually reactivate a contact from the Unengaged Non-Marketable status regardless of your Keap edition. Bulk opt-in does not apply to contacts with the Unengaged Non-Marketable status.

Can the Unengaged Non-Marketable threshold be set to a shorter time period than the Unengaged Marketable threshold? No. The Unengaged Non-Marketable threshold must always be equal to or greater than the Unengaged Marketable threshold. For example, if the Unengaged Marketable threshold is set at 4 months, the Unengaged Non-Marketable threshold must be set to 4 months or longer. This applies to Max Classic users only — Max Pro users cannot adjust either threshold.