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Understanding Email Bounce Rates and How to Improve Deliverability
The Importance of Email Deliverability
The first step to a successful email campaign is ensuring your emails actually reach your contacts. If your messages aren’t getting to your prospects’ inboxes, it doesn’t matter how well-crafted your content is.
This is where understanding your bounce rate comes into play. There are two main types of email bounces to monitor: hard bounces and soft bounces. Let’s break down the differences and learn how to keep your bounce rate as low as possible.
Hard Bounces vs. Soft Bounces
What is a hard bounce?
A hard bounce means an email can’t be delivered due to a permanent issue. Here are some common causes:
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- The email address doesn’t exist (it’s fake or misspelled).
- The recipient’s email server rejects all incoming emails.
In these cases, emails will never reach the intended inbox.
What is a soft bounce?
A soft bounce occurs when an email fails to be delivered due to temporary issues. Some reasons include:
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- The email file is too large.
- The recipient’s inbox is full.
- The email address is inactive.
- The message content is blocked.
- The email doesn’t meet the server’s anti-spam or anti-virus requirements.
These issues might resolve over time, so the email could be deliverable later on.
How to Avoid High Bounce Rates
To maintain a healthy email sender reputation, keep your bounce rate under 2%. High bounce rates can damage your sender reputation, causing ISPs to block your emails.
Here’s how to manage and reduce your bounce rate:
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- Regularly Review Bounce Details: Use your email marketing platform’s reports (like those from HubSpot, Mailchimpor our own LeadStrike) to identify and remove addresses that frequently bounce. Most platforms automatically remove hard bounce addresses but may retain soft bounce addresses for a while.
- Validate Email Addresses: Always ensure the email addresses you collect are valid. Use first-party data and implement systems to prevent fake email submissions.
- Use an Email Verification Service: Our service can identify which addresses will bounce, allowing you to exclude them from your lists. It also flags addresses that might bounce, letting you take appropriate action.
By staying proactive about your email hygiene, you can improve deliverability and make your email campaigns more effective. Learn more about bounce rates and optimize your marketing strategy today.
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