Knowledge Center
When email messages cannot be delivered to a recipient’s email address, they are “bounced” back to the sender. It is important to avoid these “e-mail bounces”, as they waste valuable time. Such “return to sender” messages are effectively SMTP replies.
SMTP replies are sent from the recipient’s mail server with a more detailed explanation for the bounce-back.
It is important to understand how and why this occurs so that they can be avoided. After all, you want a positive sender reputation.
Soft Bounces are known as “temporary failures”. In such cases, the message is seen as undeliverable due to a temporary or fixable situation
- Attachment too large
- Mailbox is full
- Mailbox configured incorrectly
- Inactive mailbox
- Recipient Server is down.
- Message may be too large
- Domain name does not exist.
- Blocked due to content/spam
- Violation of recipient server policies and anti-spam or anti-virus requirements
- Missing server credentials such as DMARC
Hard bounces are known as “permanent failures”.
In such cases, a message could not be delivered for a permanent reason—here are two:
- Invalid email address
- Email server no longer exists.
Nothing you can do will change this kind of bounce. Consequently, it is prudent to simply eliminate such email addresses from your prospect list. Note that, when it comes to hard bounces, you will typically NOT see a sudden increase at any point. But bear in mind, if you are sending to a list for the first time without first having validated the recipients, you might see an increased hard bounce rate if there were any typos.
Back to the basics
When deploying e-mail campaigns, it is important to focus on deliverability in order to preserve your sender reputation and not squander limited resources. The problem isn’t so much the bounces themselves as it is the underlying problem that is causing them in the first place.
Bounces are almost always a symptom of out-of-date or poor sending practices, and that means poor deliverability. Before looking to diagnose a deeper problem, it is always advisable to first check to see if the domain name or intended recipient addresses was mis-spelled.
You might have a phenomenal email marketing campaign, but that is pointless if you aren’t landing in the inbox. It helps to know some tactics to help increase the performance of your email campaigns.
Don't send to full mailboxes: It is likely that the recipient’s mailbox is full because the owner has abandoned the account. Full inboxes are usually a telltale sign of an antiquated email list. It makes sense to purge these from a prospect list.
When incurring an inordinate amount of bounce-backs, the first thing you should look at is how old your contact list is; then revisit how the contacts were obtained. Cleaning up your contacts is a top priority. The best way to improve your reputation and preclude soft bounces is to send emails to users who are already engaged, and sending them in tandem with well crafted, relevant messages.
Check the Auto Reply for the cause. A bounced email really is a technical error that can be remedied with some due diligence. The solution depends on what type of email bounces you’re getting.
A couple other possible problems to be aware of:
ONE: You are trying to send too many messages at one time (without having properly warmed up your dedicated IP address).
TWO: You are hitting spam filters due to the fact that you are using risky sending practices or dubious wording, or soliciting recipients that did not consent to your email messages and have complained.
But take heart, there are things you can do to address a sudden increase in soft bounces. Ensure your users are actively engaging with your emails. Focus more on making sure that your sending practices comport with dependable email deliverability. Minimize bounces and keep yourself from being limited by your ESP. So it is imperative that you follow best email practices.
Many make the mistake of sending blast emails with all of the information anyone would ever want to know about their program – and it is too overwhelming, and the message gets lost. Give recipients content that is relevant to them and that they care about. To give solicitations a personalized feel, you need to use SPECIFICS, not generalizations. This means avoiding generic wording, which often feels more like SPAM than a sincere message. Use as many Proper Nouns as possible, and refer to things that (seem) unique to the prospect’s personal interests.
Such targeting is crucial if one wants to engage a target customer. This is why parsing data-sets is so important, segmenting contacts based on their online behavior (social media activity, expressed interests, online profiles, shopping history, etc.) Though they are distinct, targeting / segmentation and personalization go hand in hand. In the end, one must always tailor content (sales pitch, call-to-action) and format to improve results and engagement.
The role of a subject line is to communicate to the target—at a moment’s glance—what is inside the email. For the present purposes, the point is to convince readers why they should open it. While a catchy subject line can lead to higher open rates, ensure that the subject line is not misleading. Nobody likes to feel deceived. If the content does not seem to match the message inside, the email will likely do more harm than good, as it will lead to unsubscribes and SPAM reporting.
One must ensure that the content of an email is captivating if it is going to yield results (that is: lead to actual CONVERSIONS). This requires that you align the content to your business objectives and specific (segmented) target audience. But this isn’t enough. One must include something that actually elicits an actionable response from prospects.
Routine outreach like newsletters keeps your business in the mind of prospects, maintaining brand awareness and sustaining online visibility. Such things are also useful for routing respondents into new campaigns with relevant details, or even up-selling them. The key is to ENTICE the reader to take further action, so that they can be engaged more in the future.
Here are some standard examples of calls to action:
Contact us to set up a phone-call / meeting / complimentary consultation
Sign up for regular email updates / newsletter
Follow us here (link)
RSVP here
Many marketers abort campaigns after just two or three emails; or they simply remove contacts within a specific time frame.
This leads to lost opportunities. Unless a recipient unsubscribes, it can be effective to continue to email them on several occasions and over a longer time period.
Many conversions don’t happen overnight, and just because the sales pipeline is not immediate doesn’t mean that it is defunct. Unless a prospect explicitly requests to be left alone, they are not a lost cause. For some, the journey to conversion is protracted and meandering. You want the email to reach them when they are ready, whenever that may be. When it comes to promotional emails, most businesses surveyed send between 1 and 5 per month. Most consumers prefer receiving emails at least monthly, with a majority (60%) wanting emails at least weekly. So stick with it, and always look for ways to refine one’s message to better appeal to the sensibilities of each target.
For a more in depth discussion of the Follow up Process please click here.
