Outbound emails FAQs
Answers to common questions about Outbound Email sending, subscriptions, replies, analytics, and deliverability.
Written By Markus from Featurebase
Last updated 14 days ago
Sending and scheduling
Can I send Outbound Emails to visitors or leads?
No. Outbound Emails can target Users only.
If you need to reach visitors or leads while they are on your site or in your product, choose a different Outbound channel, such as Chat, Banner, or Survey.
Can an Outbound Email use page URL, time-on-page, or CSS selector triggers?
No. Page URL, time-on-page, and CSS selector triggers apply to in-app Outbound surfaces such as Chat, Banner, and Survey.
Outbound Emails send to the user audience you define, based on the frequency and schedule you choose.
How quickly are Outbound Emails sent?
Featurebase starts sending when the Email becomes eligible to send. The final send time depends on the audience size, message state, approval status, schedule, allowed send window, sending safeguards, and delivery provider processing.
For large audiences or Emails with Dynamic audiences, some users can receive the Email later than others because Featurebase checks eligibility and delivery conditions before each send.
Can I pause an Outbound Email?
Yes. Open the Email from Dashboard → Outbound, then click Pause. Pausing a live Email with a Dynamic audience stops future sends while the message is paused. Users who already received the Email keep it in their inbox.
For an Email with a Locked audience, the message is a one-off send. If it has already been sent, pausing stops any remaining delivery work, but it does not recall emails that were already sent.
Can I unschedule an Email before it sends?
Yes. If an Email is scheduled, use Unschedule to turn it back into a draft before the scheduled start time.
Check the audience, content, subscription, and schedule again before setting it live or scheduling it again.
Can I recall an email after it has been sent?
No. Once an email has been sent to a recipient, it cannot be recalled from their inbox.
Pause the Email if you need to stop future sends, then duplicate or edit the message for a corrected future send if needed.
Can I CC or BCC people on an Outbound Email?
No. Outbound Emails do not support CC or BCC recipients.
To reach more people, add them to the audience rules as Users who are eligible to receive the Email.
Audience and delivery
Why is my audience preview different from the sent count?
The audience preview estimates who matches your audience rules right now. It does not guarantee the final delivery count.
Before each send, Featurebase still checks that the recipient:
Is a User
Has a valid email address
Still matches the audience rules for dynamic Emails
Has not unsubscribed from all emails
Is allowed to receive the selected Subscription
Is not suppressed because of a previous delivery issue
Can be sent to within the Email's schedule, frequency, and delivery checks
This is why the final sent count can be lower than the preview.
Why did one matching user not receive the Email?
Check whether the person is a User, has a valid email address, matches the audience rules, and has not unsubscribed from the selected Subscription or from all emails.
If those details look correct, the address may have been skipped because of a previous bounce, spam report, provider block, invalid email response, schedule rule, or delivery safeguard.
What does suppressed mean?
A suppressed address is skipped because Featurebase has recorded a serious delivery issue for that email address, such as a bounce, spam report, provider block, or invalid email response.
Suppression helps prevent repeated sends to addresses that should not receive more email.
Subscriptions and unsubscribes
Can I send an Outbound Email to users who unsubscribed from all emails?
No. Users who unsubscribed from all emails are skipped before delivery.
This applies even if they match the audience rules.
What happens if a user opted out of the selected Subscription?
If the Email uses a Subscription and the user has opted out of that Subscription, Featurebase skips that user before sending.
If the user opted out of a different Subscription, that opt-out does not automatically block this Email.
What happens if no Subscription is selected?
If no Subscription is selected, topic-specific Subscription rules are not applied. Featurebase still checks global unsubscribe status, valid email address, suppression status, and the Email's schedule and audience rules.
When possible, select the most relevant Subscription so recipients can manage the specific types of emails they receive. You can manage the available lists from Dashboard → Settings → Outbound → Subscriptions.
Why can't I select a Subscription for my Email?
Only live Subscriptions can be selected for new Outbound Emails.
Draft Subscriptions are hidden until they are published. Archived Subscriptions are hidden for new Emails, but may still appear on older Emails that already used them.
What happens if someone unsubscribes after an Email is live?
Featurebase checks unsubscribe and Subscription status before delivery. If the user has not received the Email yet, they are skipped.
If the user already received the Email, unsubscribing affects future sends.
Customization and replies
Can I switch email templates after writing the message?
Yes. You can choose between the Plain, Personal, and Company templates from the Email content settings.
Switching templates changes the surrounding email style, but the subject and body remain editable.
Can I upload a custom HTML email template?
No. Outbound Emails use the Featurebase email editor and the built-in Plain, Personal, and Company templates.
If you need a more branded layout, use the Company template and the available brand settings.
Can I embed a video in an Outbound Email?
Most email clients do not reliably support embedded video playback inside emails.
Use a text link that opens the video in a browser instead.
Why does my email look different in different inboxes?
Email clients can render fonts, spacing, images, and buttons differently. Keep the message readable without images, avoid image-only emails, and send a preview before sending to customers.
Why does the sender photo or logo not always appear in the inbox?
Featurebase lets you choose the sender and template style, but the recipient's email client decides how sender avatars, logos, and inbox previews are displayed.
Use the Company template and brand settings when you want the email body itself to feel branded.
What happens when a recipient replies?
Replies to Outbound Emails thread back into the Featurebase Inbox so your team can continue the conversation from there.
If you selected an assignee for the Email, replies are routed to that teammate or team.
Analytics and deliverability
Do preview emails count in analytics?
No. Preview emails are for testing only and do not count toward Email analytics.
Use previews to review formatting, links, sender details, and the unsubscribe experience before sending.
What Email analytics can I review?
Outbound Email analytics show delivery and engagement events such as Sent, Opened, Clicked, and Replied.
The Outbound list can also show failed delivery counts when recipients enter a failed state.
Can Featurebase guarantee inbox placement?
No. No email platform can guarantee that every email lands in the primary inbox.
Inbox placement depends on your audience quality, sending reputation, recipient engagement, complaint rates, email content, and each mailbox provider's filtering rules.
How can I avoid spam traps?
Send only to users who should reasonably expect to hear from you. Avoid purchased, scraped, rented, or very old lists.
Good list hygiene also helps:
Remove invalid or inactive addresses from your user data
Use Subscriptions so users can opt out of specific email types
Avoid sending the same message to users who have already ignored or rejected similar emails
Make the subject and body match what the recipient signed up for
Keep the unsubscribe path clear