Emails bounce. It’s just a fact of marketing life. You line up your list, hit Send, and a handful fly right back like clockwork. Maybe the inbox was full. Or perhaps the email address was fake. Whatever the reason, your email didn’t reach its intended destination.
But here’s the part that trips people up: Not all bounces are the same. Some are temporary, giving you another chance to connect. Others? Not so much. No matter how many times you resend, those emails won’t reach the intended recipients.
That’s not even the worst part. If too many emails bounce, it can hurt your sender reputation. That’s why knowing the difference between hard and soft bounces is important. Let’s take a closer look at what each one means.
Email bounces, defined
Email bounces happen when your message cannot be delivered. It’s like getting a letter back in the mail marked Return to sender. Something blocked the delivery. The nature of that “something” tells you the types of bounces you’re dealing with.
What is a hard bounce?
A hard bounce is a permanent delivery failure. Your email will never reach that address, no matter how many times you try.
Common causes include:
- Invalid email address: The address has a typo or isn’t real.
- Nonexistent domain: The domain (after the @) doesn’t exist.
- Email authentication failure: Your email didn’t pass security checks.
- Blocked email address: The recipient’s server blocked your domain or email address.
If hard bounces occur over and over, it can seriously damage your sender reputation and hurt your email campaign’s deliverability rates. You should immediately remove these contacts from your list to protect your sender score.
What is a soft bounce?
A soft bounce means you’re dealing with a temporary delivery issue. It doesn’t mean the address is bad, just that it might need another try later.
Common causes include:
- The recipient’s inbox is full: The recipient has no storage space left.
- The email message is too large: Your message or attachments are too big.
- Temporary email server issues: The recipient’s mail server is down or busy.
- Spam filter block: Your email got flagged but might go through later.
Email soft bounces don’t mean you need to remove the address right away. Your email platform will likely retry sending the message over the next few days. If it still doesn’t go through after several tries, it might be marked as a hard bounce later on.
What bounce types say about your email list
Think of bounce rates as your email list’s health report card. Getting lots of hard bounces? That’s a red flag. It usually means you’ve got some cleaning up to do. Maybe you bought an email list, didn’t verify addresses at signup, or your list has just gotten stale over time.
Soft bounces are less worrying. Everyone gets a full inbox sometimes, and a recipient’s email server may occasionally take a coffee break. But if you’re seeing the same addresses soft bouncing over and over, that’s telling you something, too. It could be they’ve abandoned the account, or their filters just don’t like what you’re sending.
Why you can’t ignore high email bounce rates
Why do bounce rates matter so much? It’s simple. They can make or break your email marketing efforts. Here’s the deal: Every time your emails bounce, the big email providers like Gmail or Yahoo make a little note about you. Too many notes, and they start filtering your messages differently.
If that happens, all of your carefully crafted marketing emails might suddenly get redirected to spam folders or, worse, blocked entirely. This happens because high bounce rates signal to mailbox providers that you’re not maintaining a clean email list, which is something they take very seriously.
The worst part is that this creates a nasty downward spiral. As more of your emails get filtered out, fewer subscribers see your content. Lower visibility leads to decreased engagement, which further damages your sender reputation. It’s a vicious cycle that can derail your entire email strategy.
Plus, most email marketing platforms have their own bounce rate thresholds. Exceed those limits, and you might face sending restrictions or even account suspension. At that point, you’re not dealing with delivery issues anymore. You’re completely unable to reach your audience.
What to do about each bounce message
So, now that you know why bounce rates matter, what can you actually do about them? The good news is that not every bounce means you need to panic. Soft bounce problems often clear up on their own, with your platform making a few resend attempts behind the scenes.
Hard bounce error messages are a different story. Since they’re permanent delivery failures, those hard-bounced addresses need to come off your list right away.
You may also need to step in if a soft bounce keeps happening with the same recipient’s address. After a few failed attempts, it’s unlikely the message will go through. In that case, consider pausing or removing the address to keep your list healthy and your emails landing where they should.
Best practices for improving email deliverability
Want to stay in email service providers’ good graces? Here are some tried-and-true practices that will help your messages reach their destination.
Turn on double opt-in
Double opt-in ensures you’re only collecting real email addresses from people who genuinely want your content. How does it work? When someone signs up, they’ll get a confirmation email that they must click before being added to your list. Yes, it adds friction to the signup process, but the quality of your list will more than make up for any drop in subscriber numbers.
Segment your email list
Not all subscribers are interested in the same content. By dividing your list using various bases of segmentation (like demographics or behavioral data), you can deliver more relevant content to each group. More relevance means better email engagement, and better engagement helps improve deliverability.
Authenticate your emails
Authenticating your emails is essentially proving you are who you say you are. To do that, you’ll need to set up email authentication protocols like DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM). While this might sound intimidating, most email platforms provide step-by-step instructions. Once it’s set up, the protocols will tell email providers you’re a legitimate sender and not an imposter trying to spoof your domain.
Avoid spam filters
If your emails look even a little suspicious, filters on the recipient’s email server might block them before they reach the recipient’s mailbox.
Avoid these spam filters by steering clear of things like:
- Writing in all caps
- Clickbait subject lines
- Using too many exclamation points
- Including too many links or large attachments
- Using deceptive or “too good to be true” language
- Overloading your email with images and little to no text
- Poor formatting or messy code behind your message
Your email recipients can also mark your messages as spam with a single click. Always deliver content that they signed up for and find valuable to prevent this from happening. Also, be sure to add an easy unsubscribe link. It’s better for your subscribers to leave quietly than flag your emails as spam.
Key takeaways
- Know your bounces: Hard bounces are permanent failures, while soft bounces are temporary and might resolve on their own.
- Remove hard bounces fast: When you spot hard-bounced emails, remove the contact from your list to maintain a healthy sender reputation.
- Watch for repeat soft bounces: If the same recipient’s email address keeps soft bouncing, it’s time to remove it from your list before it starts hurting deliverability.
- Monitor your email list health: A high bounce rate usually means your list needs cleaning, better signup practices, or both.
- Use deliverability best practices: Best practices like double opt-in, list segmentation, and email authentication can all help keep bounce rates low.