Risk Scoring

Why Risk Scoring Matters

Sending to unscored or high-risk addresses can:

• trigger spam filters
• reduce inbox placement
• increase bounce rates
• harm domain/IP reputation
• create warm-up failures
• elevate compliance risk

Risk scoring helps prevent these issues before they occur, ensuring campaigns reach real, engaged recipients.

Key Risk Factors

Risk scoring evaluates multiple categories:

1. Engagement & Behavioral Risk

• opens, clicks, replies
• inactivity
• rapid unsubscription or deletion
• low engagement trends

2. Data Quality & Syntax

• malformed addresses
• duplicates
• invalid domains

3. Source Risk

• weak acquisition channels
• scraped or harvested emails
• low-quality partner feeds

4. Trap & Toxic Risk

• spam traps
• honeypot addresses
• recycled or malicious accounts

5. Exhaustion & Decay

• inactive subscribers
• abandoned inboxes
• previously engaged but now unresponsive

Behavioral Signals & Risk Assessment

Behavioral risk is one of the strongest predictors of inbox placement. High-risk behaviors include:

• no opens or clicks over extended periods
• deletes without opening
• multiple signups from the same IP or domain
• bot-like form completion
• negative engagement feedback

Impressionwise integrates these signals into predictive risk scoring, ensuring high-risk emails are flagged before sending.

Source & Acquisition Risk

The origin of your email addresses significantly impacts risk. High-risk sources include:

• purchased or rented lists
• scraped addresses
• unverified partner feeds
• weak opt-in forms
• automated or bot-prone submissions

Risk scoring evaluates source reliability alongside individual behavioral signals.

Trap & Toxic Email Risk

Trap detection and toxic email identification are critical. Sending to:

• spam traps
• recycled addresses
• bot-generated accounts

Can immediately damage reputation. Risk scoring identifies these addresses proactively, preventing catastrophic inbox placement issues.

Predictive Risk Scoring in Action

Impressionwise combines multiple layers of intelligence to assign a predictive risk score:

1. Behavioral Analysis – inactivity, engagement patterns, and deletion signals
2. Source Integrity – partner feeds, opt-in verification, and acquisition trustworthiness
3. Domain & IP Reputation – historical performance and trap activity
4. Trap & Toxic Detection – predictive scoring of potential dangerous addresses

Addresses with high risk are suppressed, segmented, or monitored, preventing them from harming campaigns.

Benefits of Risk-Based Hygiene

Using predictive risk scoring provides measurable advantages:

• improved inbox placement
• reduced bounces and complaints
• preserved domain and IP reputation
• safer warm-ups
• higher engagement and conversions
• fewer regulatory and compliance issues
• long-term data quality maintenance

How Impressionwise Implements Risk Scoring

Impressionwise’s risk scoring engine:

• assigns numeric and predictive risk values
• evaluates each email, domain, and source
• continuously updates based on engagement trends
• integrates with ESPs and CRMs for seamless suppression and segmentation
• provides actionable dashboards and insights

This proactive approach ensures campaigns reach real, engaged recipients, not harmful or inactive addresses.

Final Recommendations

✔ DO:

• implement risk scoring before sending
• monitor behavioral and engagement signals continuously
• evaluate acquisition sources for trustworthiness
• suppress high-risk or toxic addresses
• integrate predictive scoring into segmentation and sending strategies

✘ DON’T:

• rely on verification alone
• ignore engagement decay or inactivity
• send blindly to all new signups
• underestimate the impact of traps and toxic addresses
• assume past performance guarantees future inbox placement

Risk scoring is the foundation of safe, high-performing email programs.

Impressionwise protects your lists, reputation, and revenue by proactively identifying and mitigating risk before it becomes expensive.