Purpose
This article aims to provide an overview of Sequence Engagement Score and understand how it can help users gauge prospect engagement within sequences on the Outreach platform.
Intended Audience
- Outreach Admins
- Outreach Users
Overview
The Sequence Engagement Score helps Outreach admins assess and optimize sequence performance by measuring how well the prospects you have targeted are engaging with your sequence.
The score evaluates the extent to which your targeted prospects are interacting with your sequence. It assigns a score to an active Sequence based on the positive engagement observed within that sequence over the previous 90 days. It is contingent upon at least 20 prospects being in end sequence states, including "bounced," "opted_out," "finished," "failed," and "disabled."
The Sequence Engagement Score measures positive prospect engagement across the following:
- Emails replied with positive intent
- Emails replied with a clear referral contact
- Emails replied with a specific reason for objection
- if a Kaia call summary available, we count the call as positive prospect engagement, else use call duration >5 minutes as a fallback when Kaia data is unavailable.
It also helps stack rank the top performing sequence and helps the Admin make changes to content when their performance drop.
Hover Insights helps Admins easily understand and compare the performance of sequences based on step level insights on prospects’ positive engagement.
Score formulatation
The Sequence Engagement Score is presented as a scale of 0 - 100, with zero representing no positive prospect engagement and 100 representing positive engagement from 94% or more of prospects.
The score provides context on how a sequence is performing relative to the other sequences in their own org based on positive prospect engagement and is divided into five segments with different engagement levels and color coding:
- Top Engagement (Dark green) - Sequences with a score greater than or equal to 70
- Above-Average Engagement (Green): Sequences with a score ranging from 60 to 69, inclusive
- Average Engagement (Yellow): Sequences with a score ranging from 46 to 59, inclusive
- Below-Average Engagement (Orange): Sequences with a score ranging from 35 to 45, inclusive
- Lowest Engagement (Red): Sequences with a score less than or equal to 34
Hover Insights
When hovering over the Sequence Engagement Score, an insights module will appear to highlight high-performing aspects within a sequence and pinpoint steps that require attention. This diagnosis helps leaders and admins quickly understand which sequence steps are positively impacting your business outcomes or detracting from your objectives.
- What’s Going Well
- Best Email Reply: [Displays email step number with best reply rate]
- Best Performing Email Channel: [Manual email or auto email]
- Best Call Reply: [Displays the call step number with best reply rate]
- Where to Focus
- Least Engaging Email: [Displays email step number with lowest positive engagement]
- Most Frequent Objection Reason: [Displays Outreach objection reason]
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What determines whether a sequence has a score?
A: To show a score, a sequence must meet the following minimum criteria:
- At least 20 prospects have completed the sequence in the last 90 days.
- The sequence must contain a mix of email steps or call steps. A sequence that only has LinkedIn tasks, for example, would not be eligible for a score.
- Call only or email only sequences can have a score
Scores are refreshed weekly, so any sequences that meet the required criteria above within a week will show scores.
Q: What factors are considered for the Sequence Engagement Score?
A: The Sequence Engagement Score first looks at deliverability, which is measured by the percentage of prospects who get emails delivered or calls put through, out of all prospects that the rep had attempted to email or call. It also considers the following signals to assess prospect engagement within a sequence:
- Emails replied with positive intent
- Emails replied with a clear referral contact
- Emails replied with a specific reason for objection
- if a Kaia call summary available, we count the call as positive prospect engagement, else use call duration >5 minutes as a fallback when Kaia data is unavailable
Q: What is the historical window of the Sequence Engagement Score?
A: The sequence engagement score currently looks at the last 90 days (~3 months) of activity.
Q: How does the Sequence Engagement Score correlate to the number of prospects who have engaged with it?
A: Sequence Engagement is presented as a scale of 0 - 100, with 0 representing no positive prospect engagement and 100 representing positive engagement from 94% or more of prospects. This threshold was selected because it is unlikely 100% of prospects will engage with a sequence.
Q: What does it mean if two sequences have the same score?
A: If two sequences have the same score, it means they are seeing an equal amount of engagement, though it is possible that the way prospects are engaging with the sequence is different.
Q: Why are calls longer than 300s or 5 mins used as an indicator for a successful call?
A: This duration serves as an indicator of a meaningful conversation with a prospect. During model training, this proved to be a reliable indicator of positive engagement. Shorter durations proved to be too noisy and less indicative of positive outcomes, while calls lasting 300 seconds or more often correlate with favorable results.
Q: Why don’t we consider Opens and Clicks as Positive indicators of engagement?
A: As a result of industry changes to tracking within email systems, Opens and Clicks are no longer consistently reliable metrics. In our research positive replies and longer call durations are stronger leading indicators to achieving a meeting booked. For example, if we rank by email reply rate, or positive email response intention rate, we might rank call only sequences as not engaging, or we have to filter call only sequences out of that comparison.
Q: Why might a score not be available?
A: For a score to be available it needs to have had 20 prospects complete the sequence in the last 90 days. When a sequence first starts it will not meet this criteria. When a sequence has not been used in over 3 months it would also not meet this criteria. A sequence needs to have a mix of email and call steps to be eligible for a score.
Q: How often is the Sequence Engagement Score updated?
A: The score is updated weekly and reflective of the previous 90 days of sequence engagement activity, as to be representative of recent prospect activity.