When emails bounce back, it can hurt your reputation as a sender and make it harder for your emails to reach people’s inboxes. This article will teach you 11 proven methods to reduce the number of bounced emails, so your email marketing can be more effective.
Imagine this: Someone gives you their email expecting to receive useful information, but if they don’t get it, nobody wins.
Unfortunately, bounced emails are common in email marketing. People change their email addresses without telling the mailing lists they’re on, or they abandon their accounts for a long time before they’re deactivated.
However, having too many bounced emails can harm how well your emails are delivered overall. That’s why it’s important not to ignore this issue. By working on reducing bounced emails, you can increase the number of people who open and click on your emails, and make sure you have a healthy list of subscribers to communicate with regularly.
Email bounce rate definition — what is it?
If you’re wondering about terms like “hard bounce” in email marketing or how to figure out your bounce rate, you’re not alone.
Your bounce rate in email refers to the percentage of emails that don’t get delivered back to you. The lower this rate, the better, because it means more of your emails are reaching their intended destinations.
You can calculate your bounce rate using a simple equation:
(# of bounces / # of delivered emails) x 100 = your email bounce rate
For instance, if you send out 2,000 emails and 10 of them bounce back, you’d calculate 10 / 2000 x 100, which gives you a bounce rate of 0.5%.
There are two main types of email bounces:
1. Soft email bounce: This occurs when there are temporary delivery issues, like the recipient’s inbox being full or your email being too large.
2. Hard email bounce: This indicates a permanent delivery failure, such as sending an email to an inactive or invalid address, or to a domain that no longer exists. When an email hard bounces, it never reaches the intended recipient.
The reasons emails bounce
There are various reasons why emails bounce, and pinpointing why a specific email didn’t reach its target can be challenging.
Possible reasons include:
– The recipient no longer uses the email account.
– The email account has been dormant for a while or has been deleted.
– The email server is undergoing maintenance.
– The recipient’s email inbox is full.
– The recipient has blocked your email address.
Instead of dwelling on the reasons for individual email delivery failures, it’s more productive to focus on improving your overall bounce rate.
Why your email bounce rate is important
Your email bounce rate can impact how effectively all your emails are delivered. If your bounce rate stays consistently high, it damages your reputation as a sender.
A poor sender reputation increases the chances of your emails being marked as spam, even by recipients who usually engage with your emails.
This decline in engagement shows up in lower open rates, fewer clicks, and ultimately, reduced conversion rates.
To avoid this, you should aim for a clean email list with minimal bounces. This ensures that most of your subscribers receive your emails in their inbox.
So, what’s an acceptable bounce rate?
Generally, the average bounce rate falls between 2-5%, depending on your industry. If your bounce rate exceeds 5%, it’s a red flag, indicating the need to clean your list or investigate why your emails are bouncing.
Your email provider also contributes to maintaining low bounce rates through technical setups like DKIM, DMARC, and SPF.
For more detailed statistics, check out our comprehensive report on email benchmarks categorized by region and industry.
How to reduce your email bounce rate
If you’ve noticed a higher than average bounce rate or simply aim to lower yours for better outcomes, here are some methods you can use to decrease your email bounce rate.
1. Double opt-ins
Encouraging subscribers to double opt-in is a strong step in itself. This ensures that your list doesn’t include invalid or inactive email addresses. By sending emails only to valid addresses, you enhance your metrics and pave the way for more successful campaigns in the future.
A double opt-in process operates by sending an email verification to each new subscriber and adds them to your list only after they’ve clicked the confirmation button.
For this process to work, the initial confirmation email must reach the recipient’s mailbox, allowing them to confirm. This step verifies that the address is accurate (for instance, ensuring there are no typos) and that the recipient accepts emails. Using automation for double opt-ins can streamline contact list management.
Leading email service providers like Brevo promote this practice because it boosts the effectiveness of email campaigns and maintains the health of mail servers.
2. Clean your list regularly
If you neglect to clean your email list, it will gradually accumulate inactive accounts and problematic recipients. Similar to any maintenance task, periodic cleanup ensures your list remains healthy and active, with a minimal bounce rate. In doing so, you’ll mainly encounter soft bounces caused by full inboxes.
Begin by removing inactive users and individuals who haven’t engaged with your emails recently. You can also initiate a campaign targeting disengaged contacts, inquiring if they still wish to receive your emails. Some recipients might not bother to unsubscribe, but you can take the initiative to remove them if they don’t reconfirm their interest.
3. Make sure your emails aren’t spammy
Statistics indicate that over 53% of emails sent worldwide are categorized as spam. While your emails likely don’t fall into this category, there are certain crucial metrics that recipient email servers utilize to detect spam. Unintentionally, your emails might resemble those of a spammer to these servers.
To steer clear of triggering the spam filter, avoid using images that are excessively large or small, and refrain from using language that raises red flags for spam detectors. Certain phrases should be omitted from your email content, such as:
– $$$
– Sale
– Clearance
– Act now!
– Big bucks
– Cash bonus
– Free offer
– Make money
– No catch
Consider what would seem like spam to you in your own inbox and ensure you avoid using those terms and phrases in your email content. Instead, focus on implementing best practices for crafting email subject lines.
4. Segment your list
Segmenting your email list ensures that subscribers receive only the information they find relevant, reducing the likelihood of them blacklisting or marking your emails as spam. Maintaining low unsubscribe rates is essential for optimal email performance.
One highly effective segmentation method is based on engagement levels. By grouping your most active subscribers together and sending them emails more frequently, you acknowledge their positive response to your content. Increasing engagement rates among this segment enhances the overall performance of your email campaigns.
5. Regularly show up
We’ve all experienced receiving an email from someone unfamiliar, only to realize we signed up to their mailing list long ago and haven’t heard from them since.
Rather than creating an email list and then disappearing, make it a habit to consistently appear in your subscribers’ inboxes. By doing so, they’ll become accustomed to opening and engaging with your emails regularly. This proactive approach helps keep your subscriber list active, reducing the need for frequent cleaning.
6. Don’t use free sender domains
It’s considered a business best practice to send emails from your own domain rather than using addresses from free platforms like Gmail or Yahoo. These free platforms are imposing stricter requirements, making it more difficult to send a large volume of emails through them.
Sending emails from your own domain, typically associated with your website (e.g., hello@yourbusiness.com), establishes you as a legitimate individual or business. This practice reduces the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam. Email service providers (ESPs) have email verification procedures in place to safeguard legitimate senders and improve the chances of their emails reaching their intended recipients.
7. A/B test emails
Some emails outperform others. Experiment with crucial elements such as subject lines, email content, and calls to action (CTAs) to identify which phrases and characteristics resonate most with your subscribers.
8. Remove hard bounced email addresses from your list
In your routine list maintenance, it’s essential to promptly remove hard bounced email addresses. Holding onto them serves no purpose since they are either incorrect or inactive, resulting in your emails never reaching their intended recipients.
By eliminating hard bounced emails as they occur, you’ll maintain a low and healthy email bounce rate.
9. Use a signup form with a good CAPTCHA system
A captcha system efficiently detects bots or spam accounts attempting to sign up for your email list. Implementing one on your signup form guarantees that only genuine individuals who genuinely wish to subscribe to your list are able to do so.
10. Make your opt-ins relevant
Typically, individuals subscribe to your email list by opting in to receive an incentive such as an ebook, checklist, demo, or special offer that brings them closer to making a purchase.
To ensure you attract high-quality subscribers who will engage with your emails down the line, develop opt-ins that specifically target your desired audience. The more closely aligned the content is with their interests, the more likely they are to provide an active email address initially and continue opening your emails thereafter.
It’s about time you looked at your email bounce rate
Although often neglected, your email bounce rate significantly impacts email delivery. If it’s excessively high, it can harm your entire email marketing campaign, making it challenging to achieve desired results.
Maintaining a low bounce rate ensures a healthy and engaged email list. By implementing the tips provided above to reduce your bounce rate, you’ll ultimately foster more email opens, increased click-through rates, and higher sales.
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