Subscriber didn't receive a Broadcast, but you're not sure why?
In this article, we'll go over how to determine whether the Broadcast was delivered (or attempted to be delivered) to a subscriber, plus how to troubleshoot why they may not have received it.
NOTE: This article is for troubleshooting Broadcast sends. We have similar guides for Email Sequences and confirmation emails.
Check the subscriber's profile
The first thing to check for is whether that Broadcast shows up in the email history on the subscriber's profile.
To do this, search the subscriber's email address via the search bar on the Subscribers page.
Then, click the subscriber from the list of results to view their profile. You'll be on the profile's Emails tab by default:
The Emails tab shows every email you've sent to this subscriber from your Kit account, listed from most to least recent activity.
Scenario 1: The Broadcast is in their email history
If you can find the Broadcast in the subscriber's Emails tab, check its status, which is shown just under the Broadcast's subject line.
Here's what each possible status means and what you should do next:
Bounced: We were unable to deliver the Broadcast. This is sometimes just a temporary issue, and we'll still try to send them future emails. You don't need to take any action.
Failed: The Broadcast failed to send. Please reach out to us and let us know the Broadcast's subject line and the subscriber's email address. We'll investigate possible behind-the-scenes causes for you.
Sent: We've sent the Broadcast, but the recipient's email provider hasn't sent us confirmation that they've accepted it yet. In some cases, we never receive this confirmation, and this usually isn't a problem. Typically, the best next steps are the same as for the Delivered, Opened, or Clicked statuses.
Delivered, Opened, or Clicked: The recipient's email provider accepted the email, and we no longer have control over it. It's up to the recipient's email provider to place the email in the subscriber's email account, such as in their inbox or spam folder. The next step is to gather information from the subscriber directly:
Did the email end up in the subscriber's spam folder?
If the subscriber is a Gmail or Google Workspace user, did the email end up in their Promotions tab?
If the subscriber is using an organizational email address, does it have automatic opens/clicks enabled as a security setting?
If the subscriber is using an organizational email address, was the email blocked due to a security setting? They may need to contact their company's IT team to verify this.
Scenario 2: The Broadcast isn't in their email history
If you can't find the Broadcast in the subscriber's Emails tab, this indicates we never attempted to deliver it to that subscriber. The most likely reason for this is that the subscriber was excluded from the Broadcast's recipients list at the time of sending.
To verify this, duplicate the Broadcast by clicking the three horizontal dots next to it on the Broadcasts page > Duplicate.)
Once you have the duplicate Broadcast in your account (it'll be created as a draft), navigate to its Publish page and check the Send email checkbox if it isn't already checked.
Then, view the Broadcast's subscriber filters, which will be identical to those of the original Broadcast.
Here's an example of how those filters might look:
Using this information, you can determine whether the subscriber in question fit the recipients' list criteria at the time that Broadcast was sent.
Let's say you'd set up your Broadcast to send to all your subscribers except those who have the "Photography Pros" Tag. If a subscriber didn't receive the Broadcast, this could be because they had been tagged with "Photography Pros" at the time the Broadcast was sent.
Verify the date and time a particular Tag was added to a subscriber by going to the subscriber's profile. Click the dropdown icon to expand the Tags section if it isn't already. Then, hover your cursor over the date listed to the right of the Tag in question.
☝️ TIP: Try creating a Segment in your account with the same filters you used for your Broadcast send.
If your subscriber matches those criteria, they should appear in that Segment. This is a handy way of checking whether the subscriber is included in your Broadcast's recipients list.