Contact Rating System

This page describes our contact rating system and how we value each star rating

Overview

Cymbal assigns a star rating (1 to 5 stars) to email and SMS subscriptions based on how often they engage with campaigns and purchase tickets. This rating helps organizations understand which contacts are most active.

• Higher-rated contacts (4–5 stars) frequently open emails, click links, and buy tickets.

• Lower-rated contacts (1–2 stars) rarely engage with campaigns or make purchases.

• Ratings change over time based on a contact’s activity

What Do the Ratings Mean?

Star Rating	What It Means
⭐ (1 star)	Rarely engages with campaigns and is often excluded from marketing.
⭐⭐ (2 stars)	Newly subscribed or re-engaging after inactivity.
⭐⭐⭐ (3 stars)	Occasionally interacts with emails or texts.
⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 stars)	Regularly engages with campaigns and sometimes buys tickets.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5 stars)	Highly engaged—frequently interacts and purchases tickets.

New Subscription Ratings

• When someone subscribes for the first time, they start at 2 stars.

• If a subscription bounces or unsubscribes, it will not have a rating until it is subscribed again.

What Causes Ratings to Increase?

A contact’s rating improves when they engage with marketing campaigns, such as: ✅ Opening emails ✅ Clicking links in emails or texts ✅ Buying tickets after receiving a campaign

More engagement leads to a higher rating (up to 5 stars).

What Causes Ratings to Decrease?

A contact’s rating decreases if they ignore multiple campaigns in a row: 🔻 If an email contact does not open emails over time, their rating will drop. 🔻 If an SMS contact does not click links in texts, their rating will drop.

Once they engage again, their rating can increase and stop declining.

Refreshing Inactive Contacts

Since 1-star contacts are often excluded from campaigns, Cymbal periodically refreshes them. If a contact remains at 1 star for over 2 months, they may be given another chance and move back to 2 stars to re-engage.

What Happens to Suppressed or Bounced Contacts?

• Bounced or unsubscribed contacts do not have a rating.

• Suppressed contacts keep their rating but do not change while suppressed. If they are unsuppressed, they continue from where they left off.