When an email cannot reach its intended recipient, it results in what we call a "bounce." Bounces occur for various reasons, and they play a crucial role in your email communication strategy. In this article, we'll explore the concept of email bounces and their significance.
What Is An Email Bounce?
An email bounce occurs when an email cannot be delivered to the recipient.
Imagine you have an automation that sends out 100 messages to different contacts, each taking a unique path to reach their inbox. It's like a technical conversation between your email platform and the recipient's email provider. Let's take Joe as an example, with his Gmail address ([email protected]). Here's how the conversation goes:
WolfPack CRM: Hello, Gmail!
Gmail: Hi there!
WolfPack CRM: We have a message for Joe.
Gmail: Alright, send it over, and we'll make sure Joe gets it!
This whole exchange happens in a matter of milliseconds, but it's crucial to understand because sometimes things don't go as smoothly as we'd like. Now, let's see what happens when we try to send a message to an address at Gmail that doesn't exist, like [email protected]
WolfPack CRM: Hello, Gmail!
Gmail: Hi there!
WolfPack CRM: We have a message for Bill.
Gmail: Sorry, but Bill doesn't have a Gmail account. That email address doesn't exist. Goodbye.
In this case, Gmail informs us that the email address doesn't exist. Maybe Bill closed his account, or perhaps it was never real to begin with. This is what we call a bounce - when an email fails to reach its intended recipient.
This can happen for several reasons, such as:
Hard Bounce: This occurs when the email address doesn't exist or is invalid. These bounces have a bounce code starting with 5xx. It's normal to have a few hard bounces in each send because inbox providers deactivate unused accounts.
Temporary Bounce: These bounces have a bounce code starting with 4xx or 5xx. They occur due to temporary errors like a full mailbox or a brief server outage at the inbox provider. If we receive three consecutive temporary bounces for a contact, we consider it as a "bounced" contact, similar to a hard bounce.
Reputation: If you receive many spam complaints, certain inbox providers may block your emails based on your poor sending reputation.
Message Content: If your email contains phrases, blocklisted links, bad images, or links to sites with malware, inbox providers will bounce the message.
DKIM Key: If there is an issue with your public DKIM key, it can cause bounces. You should check for common DKIM mistakes.
Restrictive DMARC Record: A restrictive DMARC record for your sending domain can result in legitimate messages bouncing. You can use a DMARC Record Check tool to verify your DMARC record. Having a p=reject record will cause all messages to bounce if you haven't set up DKIM.
"From Email" Address: Using a "From email" address that you are not allowed to use, such as @yahoo.com or @chasebank.com, will cause the message to bounce.
Auto-Bounce Bad Email Addresses: We automatically bounce certain contacts with bad addresses, like [email protected]. These contacts appear as "bounced" in the message report with a 9.1.5 bounce code because we identify them as invalid addresses.
Understanding these different types of bounces can help you diagnose and address any issues that may be causing a high bounce rate.
Why Bounces Matter
Understanding and managing email bounces is crucial because a high bounce rate can impact your email deliverability. Email providers like Gmail may perceive your emails as risky and relegate them to recipients' spam folders if you have a consistently high bounce rate.
Monitoring And Reducing Bounce Rates
If you notice a sudden increase in your bounce rate, it's essential to take action.
Potential Causes
Adding old or inactive email addresses to your mailing list.
Action: You should take a hard look at the lists you used to ensure you didn't accidentally add in some old contacts who shouldn't be there.
Triggering spam filters with your email content. Ex: A message that contains phrases or links that trigger certain major spam filters.
Action: In future campaigns, you can fix this temporary issue by avoiding that phrase or link.
Receiving a high volume of spam complaints from recipients.
Action: These usually resolve themselves if you don't have a history of high complaint rates.
Strategies To Reduce Bounce Rate
To reduce your bounce rate, here are some methods you can start using today:
Secure Opt-In Forms:
Use secure opt-in forms to ensure that subscribers willingly join your mailing list. Using secure opt-in forms for data collection ensures healthy practices and leads to a low bounce rate.
While some addresses may bounce due to natural list churn or misspelled addresses like [email protected], it is normal to have a 0.5-1% bounce rate caused by these factors.
However, if you are experiencing a high bounce rate, it indicates a problem with how contacts are added to your list or the frequency of communications. To reduce your bounce rate, here are some methods you can implement immediately.
Double Opt-In:
Implement a double opt-in process, where subscribers confirm their intent to receive emails.
If you are using a WolfPack subscription form, make sure the "double opt-in" feature is turned on by following these steps:
Click on "Website" on the left side of your accounnt
Go to the Forms page and click on "Edit" for the desired form.
In the editing mode, click on the "Options" tab.
Next to the "Subscribe to List" action, click on the gear icon.
Check if the opt-in option is enabled.
Captcha Protection:
Add Captcha verification to prevent spam sign-ups.
To add a Captcha field to your form:
Click on "Website" on the left side of your account.
Go to the Forms page and click on "Edit" for the desired form.
In the editing mode, click on the "Fields" tab.
Select the "Standard" option.
Drag and drop the Captcha field onto your form.
Note: Captcha can only be used with Inline form types.
Regular Email Sending:
Send emails consistently to maintain engagement.
Avoid bounces and being marked as a spammer by regularly communicating with your subscribers and removing inactive ones.
Engagement Management Automations:
Set up automations to manage and re-engage inactive subscribers.
Utilize a free 2-part automation recipe that assigns tags to contacts based on their interaction level with your communications.
These tags (Engaged, Disengaged, Inactive) help analyze data, segment contacts, keep your list clean, and trigger other automated actions.
For more information, reach out to our Support team.
Real-Time Verification Services:
Utilize real-time email verification services to validate email addresses before sending.
Recommended for senders with high daily sign-up volumes.
Exceptional Cases
This typically occurs when the recipient's inbox provider chooses to block the message you sent, for various reasons. This temporary issue should resolve itself, as long as the contact is valid.
In rare instances, the inbox provider may make an error and provide us with a misleading bounce code, indicating that the address is invalid when it was actually bounced for a different reason. If this occurs, we will trust the inbox provider's information and treat the account as invalid (hard bounce), even if it is not accurate. If you know a specific bounced address is valid, contact our support team, and we can help you.